Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

THE BAD:
Combat system: The original combat system is a little difficult to get along with at times, especially after using a mod which massively improves things.

Storyline: I would have liked to see a more detailed and open storyline, and maybe *SPOILER* the choice of the Light or Dark side to have come earlier on.

SUMMARY:
After purchasing Jedi Outcast by accident, I then bought Jedi Academy to follow up the story. JA is a big improvement over JO in many areas, especially the combat which I feel is pretty decent now.

The story is pretty linear; you're a Jedi apprentice named Jaden under the watchful eyes of Kyle Katarn (main character from JO) and assist the galaxy in a variety of tasks including capturing crime lords, investigating suspicious activity and rescuing workers from the Hutts. Missions come in clusters of five, four of which you must complete before proceeding, the fifth being optional, and between each cluster is a mission along the main storyline. After each mission, you can learn a force ability from a pool of light and dark forces, such as heal, protect, lightning and grip. Each force power has three levels of mastery; each progressively getting far more useful. For example, Heal 1 forces you to kneel down while healing, but Heal 2 can be done while running. Heal 3 improves the speed and efficiency (using force points) of healing from level 2. The best strategy is to keep a balance; going all-light will limit the damage you can do using the force, while turning dark will limit your defence and healing. Lightning, Grip and Heal are the most useful I've found, and also the most fun.

Throughout the game you'll be slaughtering a lot of weak gunners, either stormtroopers or guards of a crime lord, but there are also a lot of lightsaber-wielding enemies who can be fun to duel. The gameplay never gets tiring as you progress along, so you'll still be having the same fun in the last missions chopping up the dark Jedi as you were in the first levels. These fights are broken up by find and collect tasks, a few puzzles and big boss fights (mutant rancor, wtf?!)

About half-way through the story you get to make a new lightsaber, which can either be a single saber, two dual-wielded lightsabers, or a saber staff (think Darth Maul) as well as customising the colour and hilt. Each type offers different animations and different positive and negative aspects, but all are pretty deadly. A single saber offers the wider choice of styles (fast, strong, balanced) while the others are limited to two styles. I just couldn't help diving in with a purple saber staff, it was pretty cool.

The best bit for me though was the multiplayer. Bots were entertaining for a while and allow you to get used to a multiplayer style game, but the AI leaves a lot to be desired. In the single-player mode the AI is pretty stupid, and will shoot / run after you no matter what, while the multiplayer bots follow pretty linear paths which can be exploited fairly easily. f you can find a good online server however, you can have some pretty amazing times with a group of fun-loving gamers. What makes these times even better is if you download a modification for this game; a personal favourite of mine being Movie Battles. This adjusts the combat system to be more comfortable and more like the movies, while adding new maps and game types which reflect scenes from the movies (Duel of the Fates takes place on Naboo as the Jedi try to take back the throne room from the Trade Fed).

The graphics are pretty average but they get the job done well. There's some jagged landscapes here and there and some textures look a bit rough, but overall it's pretty good, especially inside buildings where you've got some strange looking machinery.

Overall this is a pretty solid game, and one of the best lightsaber games I've played. What's lacking in the technical department is made up for in sheer fun. Hopefully the next in the series (if there is one) will bring the enjoyment of Jedi Academy into a modern game. But for it's time it's a solid contender, and still has a big online following.

THE BAD:
I would've liked a little more variety in the character making process

SUMMARY:
This game is a definite buy, it has a great mix of action and puzzles to keep your mind ticking, not to mention all the cool jedi moves you can pull off. You start off as a student on his way to the jedi academy who's ship crashed, so you and a fellow padawan (jedi student) have to make way to safety.

You go on a variety of missions that go from rescue missions to searching or just slicing whoever you see with your lightsaber. You start off with a lightsaber you can design yourself (SWEET!) and later on can use one in each and or a dobule-ended lightsaber (a.k.a. Lightstaff)