Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

                  Reviewed by Nick Edmunds

Jedi Knight II is the continuing the saga of Kyle Katarn.  Kyle
first appeared in Dark Forces (1995) as a former Imperial Officer
defecting to the Rebel Alliance. Two years later the sequel, Jedi
Knight: Dark Forces II, saw Katarn defend the Valley of the Jedi
from Jerec and the Dark Jedi.  DFII introduced the lightsaber,
Force powers and multiplayer support. The sequel also encouraged
gamers to think as Jedi and had multiple endings depending on the
side of the force chosen.  With little thought for continuity, the
Mysteries of the Sith expansion pack saw Kyle tempted by the Dark
Side and choosing to abandon his powers rather than risk the
consequences.

Set ten years after DFII, Jedi Knight II sees Kyle and his partner
Jan Ors (there's definitely more going on there than the rent) now
working as mercenaries for the rebel alliance.  Things seem pretty
cosy but, as ever, there's trouble a-brewing when they learn of a
powerful new Dark Jedi, Desann, who is creating a technology to
harness the power of the Force.  Katarn's destiny and the future
of the galaxy once again hang in the balance as he confronts
another seemingly insurmountable evil that would choose to usurp
the Jedi way.

At first JKII appears to be little more than a prettier version of
the original.  It has the latest engine and a few new weapons, but
still with plenty of Stormtrooper blasting and thwarting of the
Empire.  Initially the first-person shooter gameplay is a little
clunky due mostly to the dynamic crosshair. Fortunately this can
be changed into a standard FPS static crosshair by typing
'cg_dynamicCrosshair 0' at the command console (SHIFT + TILDE).
However, JKII really comes into its own when, after a few levels,
Kyle is reunited with the trademark weapon of a Jedi, his
lightsaber.  A brief training session, at Luke's Jedi Academy on
Yavin IV, reacquaints him with the ways of the Force and Yoda's
your mothers' brother - Kyle is soon back to his old self again.
Using the light sabre changes the game perspective from first
person to third person and once familiar with the enhanced
lightsaber fighting, I hardly returned to the FP perspective. This
time EA have got the light sabre right.  It's particularly
impressive to watch Kyle's glowing weapon in action as he
automatically deflects enemy blaster shots and slices limbs off
lesser foes. He can even throw the spinning lightsaber like a
boomerang, returning it to his hand using the Force.  To some
extent the lightsaber is even able to damage the environment,
leaving behind scalding red marks on walls and surfaces.

This third title in the series is built on an enhanced version of
the Quake III Arena engine previously employed by Raven in Star
Trek: Elite Force and Soldier of Fortune. In JKII they appeared to
have mastered their craft: effects like reflective surfaces and
lighting techniques work well with a lightsaber glow and the
environments pack a tremendous amount of detail and atmosphere.
Ravens Ghoul II technology means character models are particularly
detailed with a large polygon count and seamless meshing of
textured polygon parts. In fact these models are so good that
in-game cutscenes are rendered through the engine rather than FMV,
making for more natural transitions.  Indeed Kyle himself has
taken full advantage of these features in order to sport a
particularly natty beard.

Unlike DF II this time, players have no choice between the light
or dark side of the Force as Kyle is following a middle path and
so has both light and dark powers at his disposal.  This means
that you don't have to pussy foot around all the time in case you
hurt someone's feelings and inadvertently become the dark lord,
although the engine does complain if you kill too many allies.

There's apparently still no entrance exam for stormtroopers, but
the dark Jedi with their red lightsabers have quite impressive AI
and are capable of unleashing combinations of lightsaber attacks
and Jedi powers during battle.  Force powers include some old
favourites like Force Pull, Jump, Speed and Lightning and some new
powers like the Jedi Mind Trick. The Jedi Master can also fling
his lightsaber across a fair distance, damaging objects or
creatures along the way before returning to his side.  There's
great fun to be had cutting opponents' limbs off with a sabre
throw and hurling them around with force Push.  A number of the
puzzles require Kyle to use some of his other Jedi powers in order
to solve them.

While Dark Forces II offered many hours of play, Jedi Knight II is
a little shorter, but is nonetheless a very respectable length
(unlike Raven's Elite Force).  This longevity is further enhanced
by the comprehensive multiplayer game that offers seven gameplay
modes.  Mostly variations on deathmatch and capture-the-flag, they
make excellent use of the Star Wars mythos, contain bots and
support mods.

After last year's mediocre Stars Wars: Obi Wan on the Xbox, JKII
restores faith just as Episode Two rears its cloned head.
Developed by Raven Software in association with LucasArts, JKII is
a superior product that may well prove to be another classic in
the Lucas arts stable.



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