JediXMan on - Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Remember what I said about them dropping the Dark Forces name and continuing it from Jedi Knight? No? Then go read my other review!

Anyway, Outcast was for many their first introduction to the EU in the modern era. The prequels had begun, Episode II was right around the corner and people were hyped to play as a real Jedi. And what did we get? What game did we get to make us feel LIKE a real Jedi?

Well it sure isn’t the Force Unleashed. No, this is the real deal, right here. And of course:

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You return as Kyle Katarn, who has turned his back on the Jedi and just works as a mercenary (who is on a mission from the New Republic… so essentially, he’s just back to his Dark Forces days). Jan Ors, Kyle’s partner and girlfriend, is back and fighting alongside Kyle as they search a small Imperial Remnant outpost. Their mission follows a seal of trails from that outpost to a mining facility. During their mission, they discover a dark plot involving the mining of Cortosis and Force sensitive crystals. Kyle and Jan liberate the slaves on the mining planet and lead a rebellion against their Imperial captors. Then, a Dark Jedi known as Desann and his apprentice Tavion come down and capture Jan. Kyle is unprepared and it has been a long time since he used his abilities, and is easily defeated. Jan is apparently killed at the hands of Tavion and Kyle is left behind on the planet as the two Dark Jedi flee.

Kyle, in a fit of rage, races off to the Valley of the Jedi, where he decides to use its power as a quick method of regaining his abilities, rather than spend time relearning everything. Unbeknownst to him, however, Desann has followed Kyle, and intends to use the Valley for his own ends (sound familiar?). Kyle needs just one thing: his lightsaber, which is in Luke Skywalker’s hands at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV. He retrieves the lightsaber after a series of trials, and goes on his path of revenge – or redemption.

Now let me say it now: I love this game, and it hurts me to do this, but I have to complain.

First of: I don’t really get why it seems like Kyle cut himself off from the Force. Yes, it’s explained that he’s basically in a rush and he doesn’t want to waste time training himself. I’ve certainly learned more about Star Wars since those days and I get it, but I don’t know; I still think it feels like he was cut off. And keep in mind: I thought this before I played KOTOR II (yes, I will review KOTOR II. Be patient)

Second, why is Kyle’s lightsaber suddenly blue? This strikes me as odd. He used a green lightsaber throughout Dark Forces II. But in fairness, that lightsaber used to belong to Qu Rahm, the Jedi who trained Kyle through the Force after his death. So it’s very possible Kyle simply made a new lightsaber before leaving the Order (even though he never really officially joined it). I’ll forgive it, despite the fact that the reason behind the change was most likely for marketing reasons and not a story-related decision.

This really pissed me off: Luke Skywalker is shown as WEAK. Holy crap he’s so weak in this game! In one section, he meets up with Kyle and they are ambushed by some Shadowtroopers (I’ll talk about them later – in a positive light. Kinda). Now me, the innocent gamer, thought I could fight them like I usually do: picking them off one by one without fear. I’m with Luke! For the sake of gameplay, I understand that he’s not all powerful and won’t do my work for me. But get this: HE CAN DIE! What is wrong with you?! I have to watch out for LUKE SKYWALKER’S safety as well as my own?! That’s wrong! Just wrong! As I said, it’s understandable that he’s not so powerful that he can solo the group and I can sit back and laugh, but he should have INFINITE HEALTH so he can’t die! There’s nothing like seeing “LUKE SKYWALKER DEFEATED. MISSION FAILED” in big red letters flash on the screen! Never in a million years would I ever expect to see those words. Later, we see a cut-scene where Luke is dueling Desann. What happens? DESANN DROPS SOME ROCKS ON HIM! That’s right! Luke GRANTMASTER Skywalker was defeated by ROCKS. Now this doesn’t kill him or KO him, but it distracts him enough for Desann to get away. This is STUPID!

I also have to question Desann’s goal here. I get it, he wants to raise an army using the Valley’s energies (here I thought the spirits were freed, but whatever). But what is the “Doombringer” ship? We see it as this big ominous Star Destroyer undocking from the Asteroid base en-route to Yavin IV. I thought it would be this big deal. But what does it turn out to be? A transport. …. A Transport. A. TRANS. PORT. This was our big bad super weapon? A TRANSPORT?! Fine, it’s used to invade Yavin. But come on, really? It’s a transport? That just feels weak. I was really with the story here until I got to this part of the game.

Right. Said I’d talk about Shadowtroopers: They’re pretty cool. I love the fact that the Cortosis armor they wear kinda feels like Cortosis. If you don’t know, Cortosis is a metal that is extremely lightsaber resistant and can actually temporarily deactivate the lightsaber. Well, hit them in the right spot, and your lightsaber will go off for a bit, leaving you extremely vulnerable. It’s a bit odd that they are seemingly powered by a Force crystal on their chest; I guess they draw power from it? Eh… still odd, but I think the concept of these Shadows are pretty cool.

Alright. Graphics.

Ah… yeah… no. The graphics are pretty bad, I have to say. There is a really awkward and… creepy looking kissing scene near the end reminiscent of two dolls smashing faces. What I will say is that the graphics are good as far as lightsabers go. Dismembering, when it occurs, looks decent, and the fact that your lightsaber leaves a mark on whatever it hits is a nice touch of realism. As far as cinematic scenes go, however, I would have preferred they stick with actors. Speaking of: the voice actors in this game aren’t bad. They’re okay.

And speaking of lightsabers…

THEY’RE AWESOME! This game has unbelievably good gameplay! The lightsaber feels PERFECT! I couldn’t believe how good it was and how good it still is! It’s… wow. Great. Dark Forces II started it, this improved on it. Force push feels realistic, lightning sends people flying, soldiers die from a single hit (YOU can actually die from a single lightsaber strike), etc. It’s just great and realistic gameplay. Even the blasters feel nice; they’re not perfect, but really, that’s not what you’re here for! You wanna be a Jedi! And this game hits the nail on the head! I’ll be honest, it’s disappointing when you buy a game called Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and you don’t get to hold your lightsaber for quite some time. And even when you do, you’ll only use your lightsaber on occasion because you’re not all that powerful until you hit the halfway mark in the game. But here’s the thing: it’s because the game is HARD. You can be shot and killed rather quickly early on due to your low starting abilities. As you get higher, you’ll be deflecting more blaster shots. But still, some weapons are stronger than others, and you have to stay on your toes.

Overall, this game is great. It has its flaws, but it’s still a great game. Undoubtedly one of my favorite Star Wars games. You want a game that makes you feel like a JEDI? Make the Force Unleashed disc into a fancy coaster, and then go out and buy Jedi Outcast…

… and then buy the next game I’m reviewing: Jedi Academy!

Little note: I should specify that Academy will be the next Star Wars game I’m doing, but not the next game I’m reviewing. I have a nice little surprise for the next, non-Star Wars review. That’s right: I’m branching out! Stay tuned.

Nice review. Your digs at that gigantic POS Force Unleashed made me happy =P

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

Nice review. Your digs at that gigantic POS Force Unleashed made me happy =P

I take every opportunity to rip on TFU.

Good thread! Nice one Jedi! Can't wait for the next one.

Good review, but if it's acceptable for me to respond to your points, I have a couple notes: 1) I actually found Luke well done. The writers could have simply had Luke job to Desaan altogether in order to make Desaan appear more powerful than he is, but instead, they had Desaan pull a trick to distract Luke and then run away. And honestly, Luke was buried under boulders and debris and still broke his way out without any injury. If anything, it gave Luke due credit, and to be honest, Luke and Desaan's duel was fairly short. And given the fact that Desaan had to flee, I disagree that the game underplayed Luke's abilities, especially since Luke has repeatedly shown to be reluctant when fighting a former student. As for when you fight alongside Luke, yes, he can die, but this is just a game mechanic. As well, I have seen Luke fight and actually beat two Reborns on his own during that fight in the duration of the gameplay. He seems good enough to me. Since the entire fight is gameplay, how it all happened exactly is unknown canonically, but we know that Kyle and Luke together killed four or five (forget the specific number) of Dark Jedi on their own. To me, there just seems to be no underselling of Luke's abilities. Lastly, pertaining to Luke, Outcast and Academy both depicted Luke in the teacher role. We see that too little in NR era stories. Luke  was never meant to be the hero in this game; he was the mentor behind the scenes. And I was satisfied with his portrayal. 2) I never remember the Doomgiver being referred to as any special superweapon. It was only shown a couple times prior to the levels that take place on it, and to my recollection, there was no build-up on it, no hype. It was simply shown as Desaan's flagship. It transported and deployed Dark Jedi so they could overtake the praxeum, as you know. If anything, it achieved the purpose its operators intended for it, and while it was destroyed, Kyle sabotaged it from the inside and called freaking Rogue Squadron to deal with it. 
 
Regardless, this is a fair review, and really, there is no way to overemphasize how incredible the gameplay is in this game and its sequel. 
 
PS: Interestingly enough, I just played Outcast a little bit today. LOL.

@JediXMan: Well, I can understand your point about the Doomgiver. There is visual build-up, to a degree. So fair enough.  By the way, not to derail the thread, but is there any fact-checking you need to do to respond to our debate thread? Because if so, I might be able to help with it if you told me what it was.

@Static Shock, I think this thread would interest you.

@Silver2467: It's cool. I've already looked at it.

The game still owns, even today.

@Static Shock said:

@Silver2467: It's cool. I've already looked at it.

You looked at it and didn't reply before?

For shame, Static.

@JediXMan: Sowwy.

Awesome review, I just only found this game the other day and I had to replay and it easily is one of my favourite SW games of all time simply due to the brilliant lightsaber gameplay.

Pretty nostalgic review. But yeah, I wouldn't hold too much against the graphics; the game is, after all, 10 years old.  
 
One thing i missed was the boss fights from Dark Forces II (or Jedi Knight I, damn that's a little confusing), since you pretty much just fight the Reborn dudes instead, right? 

@texasdeathmatch said:

Pretty nostalgic review. But yeah, I wouldn't hold too much against the graphics; the game is, after all, 10 years old. One thing i missed was the boss fights from Dark Forces II (or Jedi Knight I, damn that's a little confusing), since you pretty much just fight the Reborn dudes instead, right?

I didn't have a problem with the graphics in Bounty Hunter, though. And that's only a difference of a few months.

Academy? It had... four boss fights that I can remember. Outcast basically had three. I could be remembering incorrectly, of course. But yeah, it had a lack of epicness. I'll cover Academy soon, though. Promise.

@texasdeathmatch said:

@JediXMan: Let's not forget the epic live action cutscenes as well of Dark Forces II. Betraying Jan Ors never got old, haha.

Oh yeah, that one. Sorry; got confused which one you meant.

That one had many bosses if memory serves. Outcast only had 3. I still love the cutscenes from Dark Forces II. They were unique and it's something I wouldn't mind seeing in modern games.

@JediXMan: I don't recall playing Bounty Hunter? Was it any good?

Also, what's your wish list for a Jedi Outcast 3?

I am... so... confused. You're reviewing a game that's 10 years old? I mean, the Jedi Knight games were awesome and I absolutely loved Academy. But really? Are we that starved for Star Wars games that you have to go back 10 years?

@Deranged Midget said:

@JediXMan: I don't recall playing Bounty Hunter? Was it any good?

Also, what's your wish list for a Jedi Outcast 3?

Was it any good? Perhaps you should read my review.

Basically, the same gameplay with next-gen graphics taking place during the Yuuzhan Vong War.

@virginiaforniquer said:

I am... so... confused. You're reviewing a game that's 10 years old? I mean, the Jedi Knight games were awesome and I absolutely loved Academy. But really? Are we that starved for Star Wars games that you have to go back 10 years?

1. Have there been any good Star Wars games in the last few years? The correct answer is no.

2, Jedi Outcast is timeless. Period.

@JediXMan: Good suggestion :P Have you done a review for the Battlefront series?

@JediXMan: Good suggestion :P Have you done a review for the Battlefront series?

@virginiaforniquer said:

Your correct answer is "no". Me? I enjoyed the living heck out of Knights of the Old Republic and the new Old Republic MMO. I agree that Outcast and Academy are both timeless. I can still go play them now and have fun.

KOTOR was made a year after Jedi Outcast. So I still don't get your reason for criticizing the creation of this review if you're fine with that. I already talked about KOTOR and the Old Republic. So...