While on paper this sounds like a great idea, its implementation is poor at best. They can also be completed in any order you wish. In between each of the main campaign missions, you have five contract missions set across the galaxy, although you only need to finish four to progress. In the meantime though, you’ll fulfill a variety of mercenary contracts across the galaxy. Dark Side users are waging a war against Luke Skywalker’s temple on Yavin IV and you are caught in the middle of the mess. While each entry previously was a very slow burn of a personal journey, Jedi Academy jumps straight into the action. There are some unique combat encounters in here, but they don’t happen nearly often enough for such a combat focused game. While he does make an appearance as your Master, he’s relegated to tutorial and exposition delivery, which is a disservice at best. It makes sense, as the whole theme is centered around building your own Jedi, which couldn’t be done with an established character, but the game is sorely lacking Katarn’s sarcastic tone and insulting jabs.

Which makes Jedi Academy’s decision to switch from him to a blank slate custom character an unfortunate one. Secret Dark Trooper projects, family revelations, Dark Side crises, he’s been through it all and become the better for it. Over the course of the franchise we’ve seen him develop from a hardened mercenary into a true Jedi Master. There’s many highlights of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games, but the best has always been Kyle Katarn. You’re not a merc anymore, you’re a Jedi. You get your lightsaber at the start of this game, and most people use it exclusively until the end. It should be noted that there’s also the ability to use a variety of ranged weapons, but nobody plays this game like that. This, combined with the new custom character creator, allows you to build your Jedi in a way few other Star Wars games allow. Each come with their own set of styles that affect attack speed and moves available.

You start off the game with the standard single saber, but during the campaign you will unlock both duel-wielding and double-bladed variants. The biggest additions are weapon types and styles. Lightsaber combat is phenomenal, a clear step-up from Jedi Outcast. They’re just so damn cool.įirst, the great things. Your first order of business in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy to customize your blade, the wet dream of most Star Wars fans, yours truly included.

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