I recently jumped at the opportunity to learn the ways of the Jedi and get my hands on my very own customized lightsaber. Who wouldn’t?
Now I didn’t bump into Yoda on my way to class, per se. I simply played the newest installment of Star Wars-related video games, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
The game gives you the opportunity to customize your character. You can choose details from your lightsaber’s hilt and color to your character’s clothing-a feature unprecedented in a Star Wars game.
After customizing your character, the plot starts building-albeit slowly.
The plot is good, especially considering the plots of episodes I and II came from the guy that OK’d the plot for this game. As the game progresses, the plot is revealed in a vague, disconnected manner that only adds more and more intrigue and a bit of confusion as to what is happening. I won’t give the plot away, but just know there is plenty of the dark side to deal with.
My complaint is that I couldn’t choose a name for my young apprentice. His preset name is Jaden Korr. During the character creation process I spent several minutes coming up with a completely terrifying name, but I guess “Master Spock” will have to be relegated to multi-player games.
Korr is a highly gifted Jedi student who has fashioned his own lightsaber with no formal or informal Jedi training. This of course thrusts him to the top of his class and the middle of all the action. Korr starts off with only his lightsaber and the first degree of “Force jump.”
He quickly gains other “Force abilities” as the game progresses. One of the great features of the game is that players can customize, between missions, some of the Force powers Korr gets. Some of the staple Force powers are Force grip, Force push, Force pull, Force heal and Force jump.
The player can also decide whether or not to direct young Korr in the direction of good or evil.
There are pros and cons to each side of the Force. Players should, however, pick one side and stick with it. A “jack of all trades, master of none” won’t do well later in the game.
Throughout the game Korr encounters storm troopers, dark Jedi, bounty hunters and other wretched scum and villainy. Jaden also runs into memorable characters from the movies including Luke Skywalker. C-3PO makes an appearance as a mission guide while Luke is away. Korr also has a run-in with Chewbacca in Mos Eisley while trying to escape from the dark Jedi cult. There is even a mission in which Korr is forced to duke it out with the nefarious Boba Fett.
Game play is simple to learn but relatively difficult to master. The game has an untold amount of light saber combos to discover. In the game, Korr has access to a various assortment of blasters, bowcasters, detpacks and thermal detonators. However, the only weapon besides Jaden’s trusty saber that is truly useful on a regular basis is the Tenloss Disruptor Rifle. For about 95 percent of the game I used a saber. The other five percent I used mostly the Disruptor Rifle. Although I must admit that sticking a Detonation Pack to a storm trooper that I mind-tricked was amusing more than once.
The graphics engine of Jedi Academy is not by any means a next generation visual powerhouse, but it does do a wonderful job rendering some awesome lightsaber effects, including a battle scene in the rain with numerous Jedi.