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The Dark Side of the Schwartz

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Jedi Knight (JK), a first-person shooter game set in the Star Wars universe, is the sequel to Dark Forces - but that doesn't begin to describe its sophisticated gameplay engine or narrative. To begin with, JK brings back Kyle katarn, the hero of Dark Forces. Being a sequel, playing JK is a lot like going to see a Star Wars seuqel that's just opened, and the experience is a mix of the old (familiar charachters, situaitons and John Williams' score) and the new. Because the game-engine of JK is much more sophisticated than that of Dark Forces, the experience of something new is much more palpable than that of seeing a new movie (barring some hyper jump in special FX technology).

In JK, ex-Imperial Scout, Rebel spy and mercenary Kyle Katarn has gone on personal leave, meaning he's gone to hunt down the man who killed (ofcourse) his father. Unfortuntely, the culprit is Jerec, the leader of a band of evil dark Jedi who, to stay in charachter, cruise through the stars in a monster ship larger than some moons, and possess numerous mystical powers. Jerec killed the elder Katarn to extract the location of the fabled "Valley of the Jedi", the battleground containing the force energies of countless fallen Jedi. What begins as a mission of vengeance becomes a race to reach the valley before Jerec. Along the way, Kyle learns the ways of the Jedi, which means that slowly amasses the powers of super-speed, high jumps, to see through walls and make guns fly out of people's hands.

JK has a tighter narrative than Dark Forces - the older game merely sending the player to numerous planets in an effort to learn the secret behind a new Imperial weapon. JK is much more linear, and the different levels join together to form a single cogent story-line. Many of the levels seem like homages to other movies: in one level, Kyle must escape an imperial sckyscraper starting from the roof and proceeding down (faster than you can say "Yipeekyaayy") by way of elevator shafts and ventilation ducts; the tower itself is built on top of a ruined desert town reminescent of pre-WWII Cairo (big desert warriors w/big swords and no guns, not included though); to reach the Valley of the jedi, you pass through another ancient stone temple (another Raiders gibe); and so on.

Technologically, the game is light years from Dark Forces - with more fully realized objects, distances and special FX. Head and body movements, which seemed annoyingly artificial in Dark Forces, are much more natural here. (People who got carsick playing Dark Forces will find definate improvement here.) Just as in DF, though, JK allows the use of add-on levels which can be downloaded from numerous sites on the web (not all levels are star wars related - fans of Starship Troopers take heart!!). This edition of JK includes the once separate campaign disk "Mysteries of the Sith" (MotS) which has better graphics and more aggressively intelligent enemies (while stormtroopers who lose their guns in JK run around like beheaded chickens, their counterparts in MotS are willing to go mano-a-mano).

I originally ran this game on a P-166MMX with 16mb of RAM and found graphics and sound excellent. While a better machine would run newer games like "Half-Life", Jedi Knight has enough to keep my mind off obsolescence for a long time. Set to John Williams' score and relying on the proper sound effects, it's as immersive an experience as a Star Wars junkie can get on anything less than a Pentium II.

Your path is at a moment of change.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This was the first computer game I ever bought. I'd been hearing about it since '96, when PC Gamer did a feature on it, and after reading that article, I knew I'd be buying this game. In fact, I went and bought it BEFORE I EVEN HAD A COMPUTER OF MY OWN TO PLAY IT ON. When it came out in the fall of '97, it blew the doors off every magazine that reviewed it. Until HALF-LIFE came out a year later, this game was the one to beat. And granted, the graphics are pretty seriously dated now in 2005, it's still a great game; a true classic.

Now, let me tell you why.

This was the first game that brought a true melee weapon -- a lightsaber -- and Force powers into an FPS and made them work flawlessly, something no one thought was possible until then. It was also the last game (until ENTER THE MATRIX) that used FMV sequences between missions that actually helped flesh out the story taking place.

Kyle Katarn is the name of the man you play as. He's a former Imperial officer who resigned out of rage when he learned his father had been killed by Imperial operatives. He joined up with the Rebel Alliance, and you played as him in the game DARK FORCES, which was sort of a prequel to this game.

Now, it's a year after RETURN OF THE JEDI. The Empire is reeling, fractured, disorganized, and the Alliance's star is rising. But, the game doesn't begin with that; instead, it starts with the execution of a Jedi Knight who's been in hiding all this time. This Jedi, Qu Rahn, has been living on the run because he has a secret that would've meant absolute power in the hands of anyone who gets it. Who kills him? Jerec, a Dark Jedi, aided by six others like him, who will do anything to get that secret.

That secret is the Valley of the Jedi, an ancient Jedi burial ground where the Force is extremely concentrated. Anyone who taps into that massive stockpile of power would gain literal godlike abilities in the Force.

So what does all this have to do with Kyle Katarn? Simple; his father, Morgan, knew the hidden location of the Valley. Morgan was good friends with Rahn. And Morgan was murdered by Jerec, who didn't know what secrets Morgan had. It quickly becomes a journey of self-discovery for Kyle, who takes up Rahn's lost lightsaber and races to beat Jerec and his allies from finding the Valley and stop them from exploiting its power...or taking that power for himself.

This game had two different endings, depending on which path you choose. If you choose dark Force abilities, and you callously slaughter civilians, you become a Dark Jedi yourself, competing with Jerec over the Valley's fate. But if you choose light Force abilities, and you go out of your way to defend civilians, you'll become a Jedi Knight, and work to protect the Valley from Jerec and his Dark Jedi.

JEDI KNIGHT blew me away when I played it. I loved every aspect of it, all of which was thanks to Justin Chin, who was the project leader and who wrote the story. He did an incredible job, make no mistake. Kyle and his allies -- Jan Ors, an Alliance soldier; Qu Rahn, assisting you from beyond the grave; and Wee Gee, the family droid -- are all archetypes cut from the STAR WARS cloth, which is nothing but a good thing in my mind. The Dark Jedi, on the other hand -- Jerec, a twisted and evil former Jedi from the Old Republic; Sariss, a cold, calculating perfectionist; Maw, a hateful being whose rage fuels his power; Boc, a warped and clearly insane Twi'lek; Pic and Gorc, a bizarre set of twins like you've never seen; and Yun, the youngest and best of the bunch -- are almost all inspired by the title characters from Akira Kurosawa's classic film THE SEVEN SAMURAI.

The settings are just what you'd expect, full of atmosphere that could've been lifted directly from the movies. Nar Shaddaa is like Hong Kong in space, with buildings crammed together without planning. Sulon is a pastoral agrarian world, at least where it isn't under the Empire's heel. And the Valley of the Jedi and its tombs evoke are so rich with history, you can almost hear the spirits of the Jedi speaking to you in the hallways of the burial grounds.

Also packaged in this bundle is the one and only expansion pack for it, MYSTERIES OF THE SITH. It's set five years after the events of JEDI KNIGHT, which naturally assumes you chose the light side. You play as Kyle again in the first few missions, who's taken on an apprentice -- Mara Jade, a character introduced in Timothy Zahn's STAR WARS books from 1991-1993 (HEIR TO THE EMPIRE, DARK FORCE RISING, and THE LAST COMMAND). After that first batch of missions, Kyle goes off to chase down a lead, leaving you controlling Mara for the remainder of the game. You take missions aiding both the fledgling New Republic and the newly-rebuilt Jedi Order, until you travel to a forgotten Sith temple to rescue Kyle from the dark side...and from himself.

While SITH had a few flaws -- why would Kyle have to re-learn Force abilities he already had? Why not say who the Sith WERE, instead of just dangling the name around? -- I did like the setting of the Sith temple. This place is genuinely creepy, where the spirits of the dead know no rest, and never will. I also liked how they handled the ending duel. It's audacious, and it fits in PERFECTLY with the Jedi precepts. It's also so simple that you'd never think of it.

I recommend this game as heartily now as I would've eight years ago. It's a low-tech game, so it's practically guaranteed to run on whatever rig you have. And because it's been out for so long, you can pick it up for a fraction of the price of the current games.

Buy this game. It's worth a lot more than you'll pay for it.

Awesome Game, Gotta Love the MODs!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: December 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best games I have ever played. I beg to disagree about cogging as one of the aforementioned articles. If you download modifications (MODs) and programs, you can avoid hackers and coggers. This game is one of the best ever with the Legacy of the Jedi MOD (Spork 1.2) and some of the gun packs available. I definetely reccomend it and it is an awesome game to play on the Microsoft Gaming Zone. There are many available extra levels and it was pure genius of Lucas Arts to allow this game to be easily hackable, since there is always a new program, MOD, or level available that will make the game new again! A must buy!

Add Spice to your boring computer !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

My computer started collecting dust until I saw a video game ad in a magizine . So I went out and bought it. My best choice ever ! There is only one set-back , you don't get to fight Darth Vader (Like on the Box) . When I got home and started playing it. I digged into the box and found the Mysteries of the Sith! It is more confusing (weird missions and creatures). And the Teen rating is a bunch of bull , the Star Wars movies are more violent.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Out of all the Star Wars games I've played, PC and Xbox, this game for the PC is the best. It has the real Star Wars feel, great music, an original storyline that can stand on its own. Great camera angles, with the choice of 1st or third person. I was sad when it was over. I really enjoy the games where the controls make sense, the camera angles are positioned right and you are able to move freely and choose the weapons you want, not feeling like you have a handicap from the fault of one of the programmers. It's a great game that I highly recommend.

A great game for Star Wars fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Anyone who has ever seen Star Wars has always had 1 reaction: I wonder what it would be like to be a Jedi/Sith. Well now they have the chance to answer that question. Plus you get 2 games for the price of one! Who wouldn't like that deal? Jedi Knight takes you into the eyes of Kyle Katarn, a Jedi Knight. As you play through levels the challenges get harder and harder. You will need to hone your lightsaber practice in order to beat the game. Mysteries of the Sith picks up where Jedi Knight leaves off. This time the game takes you into the eyes of Mara Jade, a former imperial turned Jedi. Once again you will want to hone your lightsaber practice, because this time the challenges are harder(fighting a rancor for example.) These games are worth the money!

A classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Okay, let me start off by saying that I do love this game. When it came out it was a landmark in terms of moving SW gaming in a good direction. There are some big problems with it, but if you're looking for some good SW fun, they can be overlooked.

First, the good: the storyline is simply awesome. Kyle Katarn progresses as a character very well in this game, aided by the cinematic cutscenes that feel like part of the SW movies. These cutscenes, in fact, made me fall in love with Kyle's character, which in Dark Forces was a lot like Han Solo but now is more like a rogue-ish, bad-... Jedi. Many of the other characters, a la the Dark Jedi, are also enjoyable.

Also, in terms of gameplay, the choice between the light side and the dark side is a great idea, and it's a lot of fun to make the choice. The levels are well-done, and the enemies, while lacking somewhat in AI, are well-balanced. They are true to the Star Wars universe but still vary in difficulting, and there is still that one enemy you just HATE--for me it was the dianogas in Dark Forces, and the Mailocs in Jedi Knight.

There are several problems with this game, however. First off, it just doesn't feel entirely true to the Star Wars universe. The Valley of the Jedi idea feels essentially like a spiritual superweapon, but a superweapon that seems to extend beyond the realm of Star Wars. The bowcaster and thermal detonator (which is more like a bomb in ROTJ) aren't true to the movies, either. And some of the Force powers are from the movie, but some are not, and there are some form the movie that aren't included in this game (like Obi-wan's distraction). I especially had a problem with the invisibility-inducing Persuasion, which is supposed to way of implementing the Jedi Mind Trick, expect that it should only work on the weak-minded, not Kyle, Dark Jedi, or against other players in multi-player. Lightning never worked very well for me either. In short, the Force powers were a good idea but could have been implemented better. Same for the lightsaber, which I really only used when fighting the Dark Jedi.

My biggest problem, though, is the engine. This was a period in gaming when the Quak engine was big, mostly because from a programmer standpoint you could do things that were impossible before like true 3D maps and fluid moving characters as opposed to cartoon sprites (if that means anything to any of you). The result, however, was that in those early days of blatantly pixeled characters the environments didn't look very realistic. It is pretty clear Kyle Katarn and his enemies are crafted from polygons. The original Dark Forces looks more realistic in terms of screen shots than Jedi Knight.

These problems shouldn't deter you from buying this game, though. This is a great game, with an excellently scripted single-player and a really good multi-player platform.

Make sure you get the real MotS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Make sure that you get the real Mysteries of the Sith, and not the demo CD - also known as the 'special limited edition.'

Aside from that Jedi Knight is awesome game. Even though it's graphics engine is poor even for its release time, the storyline and gameplay more than make up for it. And if you're into game editing, this game is very editable...

Star Wars: Jedi Knight Dark Forces 2 with Mysteries of the S

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I thought that this game was excellent because you get to use your gun, and when you runout of ammo, you get to use your trusted lightsaber(or you can switch weapons!). Both games have a great storyline and i recommend them to anyone who is looking to have SOOOO much fun playing a starwars game.8)/:)

This Game Rocks!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is truly one of the best games I have ever played! If youo think 1 player is fun log onto the zone and play multiplayer! The fun just never stops! You can battle in a clash of lightsabers on Nar Shaddaa! Or you can have a concusion rifle battle on a canyonous planet! This is truly one of Lucas Arts best games ever! Mysteries of the Sith is also an excellent game but I suggest that you install Jedi Knight 1st because its much better! Have fun with this action packed killer game!

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