Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (PC Games, 2002)

This is the LucasArts game from 2002 that took the Dark Forces franchise to the next level in a good way. It pays homage to the original in its first few levels of "Force-free" gameplay while providing an intruiging and challenging action setting allowing the player to blast through scads of Stormtroopers, blow up stuff, and in general solve basic puzzles to complete missions. Later on, with addition of being able to use the Force, the player is treated to a rewarding experience of playing a Jedi. The environment requires the use of Force abilities to not only defeat enemies but to complete missions and manages to make it fun as well. Cameos from a couple of prominent characters from the films as well as familiar settings round out the experience. Wanted to see more of Cloud City? No problem. Want to visit the Yavin IV Jedi Praxeum? No worries! Want to "slice and dice" bad guys with your lightsaber and cut off limbs and digits while besting the baddies? You got it. It's a rewarding experience and true to Star Wars production values, it looks, sounds, and feels like you're playing your own little movie.

Those concerned about inappropriate levels of violence or gore should not worry too much. The level of gore is typical Star Wars fare. There are no gratuitous blood or splatters (lightsabers and blasters cauterize after all). Violence may be something to watch as there are at times plenty of foes to dispatch and the pace can get frenetic. Certain foes' demise (as well as the player's) result in a panoramic view of the death which does tend to glorify it (or rub your face in it).

Unfortunately, as is Raven Software's (the developer) pattern, while the game play is great, the depth of it is only skin-deep. Players wishing for actual conversations with NPCs will be disappointed as will those wanting to customize certain aspects of a Jedi that are "supposed to be" customizable accoridng to Star Wars canon, namely the lightsaber and Force abilities. All are mapped out for you ahead of time and you don't get any say in the matter during the single-player experience.

The multiplayer-experience, however, is wide open. You've got full bot support for deathmatch, team deathmatch, and CTF. Customizability is good as you can customize your character, abilities, saber color, etc. from available models. Gameplay is also quite good with bots providing a reasonable challenge enough to hone your skillz for internet play but if you're like me, you'll still get your proverbial Force-sensitive backside handed to you by the real thing if you practice only with the bots. :)

Overall rating, quite nice. Quite enjoyable and worth the time and money to play. Yes it's pushing 5 years old but you'd be hard pressed to find a more rewarding first-person Star Wars experience that bundles standard FPS fare with Force-wielding SW gameplay.

[Reviewer is obviously a Star Wars fan, please don't hold that against him]

I really love the game. The light saber combat and force powers provide a one-of-a-kind gaming experience that this still great fun today. However...

The first half of the game is rather underwhelming. You don't even get the force powers and light saber until several levels into the game and then, even after you do, the next few levels are full of jumping puzzles and sniper duels.

The first time i played it, years ago, I almost quit mid-way. But I'm so very glad that I did not because the 2nd half was one of the most fun single-player gaming experiences I've had (and I've had a LOT). Your force powers become more...er...powerful as the game progresses and the level designs begins to cater much more toward saber comabt, which is truly sumblime.

So, 1st half 6/10. 2nd half 10/10.

Buy it! In the end you will be very glad you didn't miss this remarkable game.

Pros:

1. Runs right out of the box on my GeForce2Go laptop.
2. The game's graphics- especially the environments are wonderful. Very immersive vistas. I could almost feel the wind.
3. Force powers are much better than original JK1 by deepening its impact. E.g 1st stage of lightsaber throw is simple throw in direction of view. 2nd stage is a steerable lightsaber. 3rd stage of throw is autohoming lightsaber. As you mature in your Force abilities you will be able to do better things with them, not just more of the same as in JK1.
4. Lightsaber fighting system is the most advanced of any so far (compared to JK1, Jedi Power Battles, Phantom Menace, Obiwan). 3 types of fighting styles- from quick and weak to slow and powerful. You learn these during the course of the game (or you can use them immediately in multiplayer mode.)
5. Level designs are excellent. Very 3 dimensional interconnected spaces- providing more than 1 order to solve a problem.
6. Haven't gone thru the whole game yet, but plot line seems pretty compeling.
7. At 1280x1024 frame rates are very high.

Cons:
1. Initial part of the game is a not very different from a standard Quake or Elite Force game, but level designs in JK2 are better.

2. The incessant jumping and puzzle solving starts to get a little dull, if not annoying. The scene with the stompers in Galaxy Quest comes to mind a lot: "why would anyone put these in a starship?!?!"

I've been playing the games of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series since the original came out in 1995, and I've never been disappointed. Jedi Outcast is a great sequil to Jedi Knight and the gameplay is spectacular. You can do almost literally everything in this game that you've seen done in a Star Wars movie. I loved it.

I bought this for my son to include in his star wars collection. Item was in excellent condition. He liked the game.

I actually purchased Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (aka Jedi Knight III) before I bought this game. I loved the focus on lightsaber battles, puzzle solving and exploring. Games like Knights of the Old Republic are more rich in story but the Jedi Knight series are much better if you want some lightsaber action.

The graphics are good and you don't need to have the latest computer maxed out with CPU and memory to play it. The puzzles are challenging but not impossible. You can save your progress and the controls are pretty straight forward.

The only thing I didn't like about the game is the heavy reliance on a blaster (instead of a light saber) in the beginning of the game. Other than that it actually has great replay value and a pretty good multiplayer free for all.

I wish they would make a Jedi Knight IV game now!

Seriously, The best Star Wars game I have ever played. Probably one of the best out there. The only Star Wars game I have seen where you can do so many things, (except maybe its sequel Jedi Knight III: Jedi Academy.)Also i have not seen a game with such an extensive BGM soundtrack, which consists of Classic Trilogy songs...(Binary Sunset, Cantina, Imperial March, Shootout in The Cell Bay, etc.)
Also in the multiplayer gameplay, you can choose all characters in the game, Which includes Kyle Katarn, Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, Mon Mothma, etc. You can also download Characters, Locations, and Weapons from the internet! The gameplay (of Multiplayer and Single Player,) lets you possess all of the Force Powers displayed in all six films! Including Jump, Push, Pull, Mind Trick, Choke, Lightning, and others not seen before! If you want a game that is just as good as the films, this is the game for you!

I had Jedi Outcast a while back but gave it to someone and now got it again for cheap and had fun playing it again. I love Star Wars games and it was fun to play all the levels again and beat it lol.

This seller provided everything I needed for this game, and it arrived quickly and in the condition it should be in. That is impressive of any seller.

Taking into consideration this game is 7 years old, it is amazing. For the first time in the Dark Forces series, the AI respond to the environment, the force powers actually can manipulate stuff, and the levels aren't just one long, linear path. Though the graphics aren't anything compared to something like Force Unleashed, for its time, it was cutting edge. Looking at it now, they can still are decent. One of the downsides is that the levels can drag on with trying to accomplish something - You could have to go from point A to point B, but you don't have a map to show you where B is. A mild frustration that doesn't compare to the ability to slash stormtroopers and dark jedi for hours on end in a 3D FPS. Multiplayer with bots allows for more fun to be had, perfecting combos with the lightsaber and force

I really like that it has some different options to fight with instead of the usual guns only. I also like the futuristic 'sets' or buildings and stuff.

I love this game because it has really good graphics and sounds effects. There is nothing about this game I don't like. I would recommend it to anyone who loves Star Wars. I would give this game a 5/5.

This Game is Awesome!
Been playing about 5 months
the internet part of the game is the best
Many different servers you can play on
Hope to see you there!