Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Review
| Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast appeared on the PC early 2002 and was
the long awaited sequel to 1997's Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and
the 1998 expansion Mysteries of the Sith, which were both good
sequels to the original Dark Forces. What does the Gamecube version of Jedi Outcast offer that is new? Well, nothing really, but that does not necessarily make it bad for those who don't own the PC version. Graphics 9/10: A lot of people say ''These graphics are old!'', however not many FPS' that you see these days actually have character models with actual fingers instead of one flat surface. The lightsaber glow is also very movie like giving the game more of a movie feel than it's JK: DF 2 predecessor. While the graphics may not be up to par with the more recent gamecube releases, Metroid Prime for example, they still are very good especially when you look at other shooters. The movies, now this is the biggest disappointment in the gamecube port, while the movies were excellent on the PC, the GC version had to degrade them a bit. For those of you who have not played JK II for the PC, than this problem won't bug you at all. Sound 9/10: The music in Jedi Outcast is mostly the John Williams score from the original trilogy, which is good. The return of interactive music (Picks up speed when you get into a fight and slows down when you are just exploring) was good, I don't know why they took this feature from Dark Forces out of JK and MotS. The voices are good, most of the time. I personally can't stand what they did to Kyle's voice. The sound is where the gamecube version falls short, sometimes it skips and this does tend to get quite irritating, the sound effects however are all from the movies. The blasters and sabers especially sound movie-like. Story 10/10: The story borrows the 'Doomsday army' idea from the original Dark Forces but that is not a bad thing, it's just your typical Kyle Katarn versus Secret Imperial Weapon story, for those of you who are just getting introduced to the DF series with Jedi Outcast for the gamecube, than this won't seem like a repetitive storyline. Actually, even if you have played the previous ones it won't seem repetitive, for there are many twists along the way that will keep you glued to your TV until the end. Other than that it is the same storyline as it's PC counterpart. Gameplay 9/10: The gameplay is where this game truly shines, you must balance between your lightsaber (which you don't obtain until a later mission.) The unfortunate thing is, you don't have to balance much at all. You can play through most of the game wielding a lightsaber, then pull out your blaster rifle or disruptor to take care of the occasional sniper and rocket launcher wielding stormtrooper standing on a bridge, and of course the AT-ST's. Multiplayer is of course not as good as it's PC counterpart, but if you want to duel your friends to compete for who is the greatest Jedi among you, then you will probaly like the multiplayer part of JK II quite a bit. Replayability 7/10: Jedi Outcast is probaly the least replayable game in the entire four chronicle series, but that won't stop you from playing through single player again later on. To sum it up, Jedi Outcast is one of the greatest Star Wars games to hit any system, PC or Console this year. The Gamecube version may fall short compared to the PC version, but for all who own a Gamecube but not a real good PC, you should be able to live with the slight downgrades. The only people who based JK II was Extended Play, so if you like Star Wars, Jedi, or just want to play a good Sci-Fi shooter than Jedi Outcast is for you, I rank it right up there near the top with the system's other excellent game, first person game, Metroid Prime. |
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| Reviewer's Score: 8 / 10 | ||