Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

The formula for a decent Star Wars themed game should be so simple, especially with the power and latitude afforded us with this current generation of gaming consoles. This explains how Vicarious Visions brought Raven's well received action-shooter, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, from the PC to the Xbox without losing any of its Force-powered appeal. However, novelty isn't the only thing the Xbox version of Jedi Knight II has lost in the months since the PC version was released. The console game's multiplayer component is devoid of any online play despite the fact that this was one of the strengths of the PC version and Xbox Live arrives at the same time as JKII.

The game that Xbox owners are left with is deep with Star Wars characters, legend and weaponry and boasts superior sound effects and visuals that rival what was seen on the PC. Lightsabers and stormstroopers --unlike battle droids and Gungans-- help negate the effects of level design that can be suspect in some areas. The multiplayer game is bolstered as much as possible with several different game types, lots of customization options and lovable, gullible bots all over the place.

Gameplay

The main story puts players in the role of Kyle Katarn, the sometimes Jedi Knight who has to get reacquainted in the ways of The Force if you're going to see him through this latest adventure. This part of the game has you blasting your way through new and familiar locales throughout the classic Star Wars Universe that everybody likes and even has you running into icons like Lando Calrissian and some Skywalker guy. The main appeal is the assortment of weapons and force abilities you'll acquire from mission to mission. As Kyle, you're developing into a Jedi with all sorts of skills and abilities at your disposal that you will need as the game presses on.

The game takes off when you acquire your lightsaber (on Yavin IV, say about 35% through the game), because before that you're merely playing a first person shooter. Granted it's an FPS with Imperial stormtroopers, blaster rifles and thermal detonators, but taking hold of a Jedi's weapon of peace and justice literally changes everything about Jedi Knight II. Raven's greatest accomplishment with this engine is the seamless transitions it makes between first-person and third-person perspectives just to accommodate the lightsaber combat system. The lightsaber control mechanism itself can take some getting used to since you simply use the right or left trigger for primary and secondary attacks just like you do every other weapon and unleashing automated saber swings like this doesn't feel natural initially.

Using the lightsaber in Jedi Knight II reproduces the same strengths, weaknesses and techniques of using lightsabers that we've been shown in the Star Wars movies. So deflecting blaster fire works automatically as long as you're squared up to the attacker. Hurling your spinning lightsaber boomerang-style at an enemy can be devastating but leaves you vulnerable, especially if you get it caught up around a corner. Even in that situation, the developers stayed true to what we know of Star Wars since a lost lightsaber will return to its wielder's hand once it's within line of sight. Jedi Knight II doesn't make kick ass conventional blasters like the Wookie bowcaster and missile launcher obsolete when you acquire the lightsaber, but they might as well. Once you have it, lightsaber mode will become your main approach to the game and you'll make only occasional forays into conventional weapons.

If the lightsaber is the cake, then surely using The Force is the cream filling of Jedi Knight II, because it completes the equation of making players feel like Jedis. Powers like Force Push, Super Speed and the Mind Trick are great, but look pretty weak next to decidedly Dark Side abilities like Lightning (killed Vader right?) and Grip (as in "I find your lack of faith disturbing."). But there are at least two handfuls of additional Force Powers like Healing and Force Draining that can tickle your fancy as well, especially when you get to the multiplayer games of Jedi Arena and we're not even counting passive abilities like wall running or enhanced Jedi leaping. They all drain your reserve of Force energy but this replenishes automatically over time and even faster as you become one with the Force. But at a glance, being able to slice through legions of stormtroopers while force pushing groups of them off of ledges after doing a super Jedi powered double front flip is the stuff console dreams are made of and Jedi Outcast gives it to you.

Even though we love the pacing of the game in terms of gaining new items and abilities, there are times when wandering around when you're not sure what or where your next move is supposed to be can be frustrating. Of course getting lost in a Star Wars Universe level is a little different because in JKII you're getting to see areas of Star Destroyers (the TIE Fighter Hangar is fascinating) and the rebel base on Yavin IV (That room where Leia and that old guy with the white hair were hangin' during Luke's trench run? It's in there.) that you've always wanted to check out. But bewildered is bewildered and not being able to advance because you can't recognize that all elevators now have orange on them instead of green isn't so cool.

The control scheme utilizes every part of the Xbox controller, so you will feel the mastery over your abilities grow as you get more comfortable on the sticks. Cycling through all of your Force abilities with multiple presses up on the D-pad (down goes through your item inventory) is a bit cumbersome but you can map powers to the black and white buttons for quick access. This way you're not limited to one Force power a time on the left analog stick button.

The multiplayer elements are all under the Jedi Arena menu. Here you can go head to head against a buddy on splitscreen or simply spar with some bots in a variety of multiplayer matches, including team games. You get Free For All, Capture the Flag, Jedi Master, Team Free For All, Duel and Holocron Free For All. The three FFA games are deathmatches with different rule sets so that Holocron FFA means all force powers have to picked up from icons in the level. The ability to use bots and customize each one of them and your own character down to the specific abilities every character will carry into a fight is very well done. Not only can you make up some cool games against your buddy where you each take teams of lightsaber-wielding Jedi Masters against one another, but you can create quite a sparring match for yourself as well. It's basically a snap to create armies of Jedis to recreate your own fantastic Star Wars battle scene. Plus once you play through the main game unlocking new characters for use in Jedi Arena all sorts of potential battles between Lando, Mon Mothma, anonymous Jedi Knights and Luke Skywalker, himself will be at your fingertips