I quite loved Jedi Outcast. My computer began treating it badly after a couple system upgrades, but it was a great game nontheless. Some bugs, some kinks--but the best lightsabre-combat game ever. The actual first-person shooting in my first-person shooter was very much an afterthought. My only complaint, as it was with many other players, was the lack of freedom in gameplay: after Dark Forces 2 and the freedom in how you developed, it was a bit distressing to go back to a linear path. You can imagine my joy, then, upon hearing of the impending release of Jedi Academy. Jedi Outcast with a revamped lightsabre system, with personalized characters, with your own personal skill gains...glory day, it was, glory day.
And now that I have played the demo, I weep. Much akin to Jesus, or some similarly holy guy weeping on his crucifix not for his pain but for the sins of humanity before him, I have sacrificed my own naive beliefs for the slothful sins of LucasArts R&D.
Or something.
The point is, for how hyped the personalized nature of characters was--and as that was the feature I, personally, was most looking forward to--I am sorely disappointed, especially given the template of SWG they could have had to work with. The details:
You have 5 races: Human, Zabrak, Rodian, Kel Dor and Twi'Lek. As there are "Male" or "Female" gender tags for some, I presume you will be able to switch between genders in the full version: as it is, the only race for which you have an option are the noble Humans.
This was where the disappointment began to set in.
You have around 9 choices for torso skins, and 4 choices for leg skins; one choice of color. Not bad.
However, as humans, you have exactly three choices as far as the face mesh goes: a black guy with short hair or two white guys with short hair (one blonde, one black). This also determines your pigmentation. The Twi'Lek females, on the other hand, get around 8 choices--which almost solely alter the positions of their freaky head-tentacle things, or put neat leather straps on them instead.
Now, this I can believe is a matter of "don't give everything away in the demo." WHY one would choose not to showcase a wide range of customization is somewhat beyond me, but that's LucasArts' prerogative. (they can do what they want.) I will return to this point in a moment.
You get to customize your lightsabre. You can pick, as stated, one of the three battle styles: traditional one-handed sabre, a sabre in each hand, or the Darth Maul special. You also get to choose from a festively plump selection of sabre handles, and pick one of the six sabre colors (blue, orange and other shit; the point is, it glows).
The first thing I realized upon hitting the "next" button after this screen was "hey, it never asked me for a name."
Having now experimented with all the combinations, I understand why.
You, noble player, are Jaden. Whether you're a man or a woman, you're Jaden. Whether you're a Human or a Rodian or a fucking octopus-headed Kel Dor, you are Jaden, and you speak in perfect english and act youthfully exuberant.
Your force powers are simple: you get a point, you put it in one of them. Except for the core powers (the ones that are neither light nor dark) which you of course have no control over.
"But Leo, you big, beautiful stud of a computer geek, you," you may be asking, "how does it PLAY?" Rather a good question.
I will not deny that playing with either of the new saber combinations is fun. It is as much a blast as playing with the single sabre was in Jedi Outcast.
And that's the problem.
It's Jedi Outcast.
I could understand entirely the customization not being fully implemented in the demo. I could understand missing dialogue, no plot, etc. I could even understand the lack of polish.
But what I can't understand is gameplay that is, basically, Jedi Outcast all over again. As far as I can see, the gameplay has suffered no change or upgrade. The animations are still the same, the attacks are still the same: every attack strategy I used in JO worked fine here. Even the two new sabre combinations got old quickly, because while they looked cool, and while the attacks were new--the mechanics were the same. You're still just blocking shots thrown at you, running at your opponent, slicing, and running away. You're still doing the same old mind trick, the same lightning et. al. The lion's share of the changes appear to be purely cosmetic--there's a slight warping effect when you force push or pull, a mist around you when you heal, etc.--and even those aren't that numerous. Hell, they appear to have simply recycled the Kyle Katarn and Luke models from JO.
The best example I can give is this: You pick out your weapon loadout prior to missions. You're stuck with the lightsabre and a Han Solo-style pistol: every other weapon is, in fact, taken straight from JO. At least, thought I, the pistol is new, and thus it was with glee that I equipped it to blow up a demo charge.
The primary fire still fires a straight shot, the alt fire still fires a charged shot, and the sound and visual effects are--you guessed it--taken right from Jedi Outcast.
The two missions you get are rather uninspired. The first is a 5-minutes-tops "run through a tiny Tatooine hangar" affair with Chewbacca following you and shooting things for half of it, for sake of drama. It was again that I felt the onset of deja vu: almost every enemy I recognized from Jedi Outcast--right down to the death animations. The second is a jumping-puzzle hell, centered mainly around your ability to leap between ledges that, of course, collapse, while fighting the occasional lightsabre duel--with fighters that act, of course, just like the Reborn...from Jedi Outcast.
You may have gathered a theme from this review.
Look, I would be pissed, but if you really WERE left with a preset identity and purely cosmetic character customization changes--hell, that I could live with. But if the entire game is like this demo--Jedi Outcast with a makeover and a few new bells and whistles?
That's not a game. That's an expansion pack.
At this rate, my $50 are secure.
-Leo, misses X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
Additionally there is an kickass Enemy Territory like Multiplayer modus, with different classes, like light attack, scout, jedi etc.
I'm really looking forward to it.
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Tarquinn impressed everyone with:Additionally there is an kickass Enemy Territory like Multiplayer modus, with different classes, like light attack, scout, jedi etc.
Power cell loaded into Death Star! Fire ze Death Star!
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Tarquinn impressed everyone with:
In german game magazines there were already reviews of that game. The full version, not the demo. According to them it's one of the best SW games(on a PC) so far. Making everything better than JKII.Additionally there is an kickass Enemy Territory like Multiplayer modus, with different classes, like light attack, scout, jedi etc.
I'm really looking forward to it.
I've played the full version and commented on it here about a month ago. That review is quite off IMHO.The game has slightly improved graphics, three more weapons (saberstaff, dual sabers, and the concusion rifle), a short SP campaign (13 hours first playthrough for me, 3 hours second playthrough and skipping the movies), and a single new MP mode (which has probably been done as a JK2 mod). In short, its really just an expansion pack.
Wait for this game to hit the bargain bin and save your cash for HL2, Pax Payne 2, Deus Ex 2, etc. if you want good FPS games.
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Leopold, the Voice of Reason thought about the meaning of life:
Jedi Outcast with a makeover and a few new bells and whistles?
Uhm... duh? That's what most sequels are, especially sequels of great games. Why fix what's not broken? You know perfectly well had they changed the basic formula after perfecting it with the last game you would be here bitching about the exact opposite.
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The logic train ran off the tracks when Cool Hand Luke said:
Uhm... duh? That's what most sequels are, especially sequels of great games. Why fix what's not broken? You know perfectly well had they changed the basic formula after perfecting it with the last game you would be here bitching about the exact opposite.
Same formula maybe, different implication might be nice. They really didn't improve anything the game, just added a few new lightsabers and added a new storyline. They could have done this whole thing in a JKII:JO patch. I'm not saying by any means it's a bad game, I enjoyed what I played of the demo...but it feels exactly like JO, something new feeling would have been nice.
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Suddar had this to say about Robocop:
JO's formula was not perfected. Sabre combat, while the best we've had so far, has so much room for improvement, and they're not improving it. They're just pleasing the fanboys by giving you the option to use two sabres and the sabre...staff, I guess. Whatever. Leaving that the same is a crime, because it could be so much goddamn cooler.
If by "so much" you mean "none at all".
In fact, the only major change to the game that would have made Jedi Outcast the perfect Star Wars FPS game was multiplayer. Which they "fixed" in the sequel. 
I'll download it when I get home from work.
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Cool Hand Luke thought about the meaning of life:
Uhm... duh? That's what most sequels are, especially sequels of great games. Why fix what's not broken? You know perfectly well had they changed the basic formula after perfecting it with the last game you would be here bitching about the exact opposite.
In RTS-land, Warcraft III took the basic themes of its predecessor and, while staying true to them, added new venues of play to the game--different races, different tactics for each, the hero system, ambient monsters with separate items and experience to be had, tactical spells etc. Warcraft II was one of the greatest games ever: extremely solid core and gameplay that's still fun today. They found a way to maintain the things that made the original great while adding a whole new game into it.
Action: Diablo II is still the same basic game Diablo was: you go through levels and hack innumerable monsters to death. Once again, the Blizzard philosophy kicked in. Whole new categories of weapons, a much expanded spell and skill system that let you take your character on any number of paths, a new layout for levels rather than the "unending dungeon," a real storyline (well, by Diablo standards). Once again, an overlay of new and exciting things on what was already a good game.
Hell, for an example in a closer genre, look at Half-Life 2 as of yet. It's still a first-person shooter, it's even got the same goddamned protagonist. But they're doing what they can to make it new by pumping the physics engine to useful extents, by changing the setting from the closed-in labs of HL to cityscapes and battlefields, crafting a whole new storyline--changing things where they can.
Compare this to all the "if it ain't broke" sequels you're thinking of. Which are more memorable--and more importantly, which are more fun?
All I'm saying is, it'd be one thing if they hadn't hyped it the way they had. But, say, pulling a Dungeon Siege and saying "CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONALIZED CHARACTER AND TURN HIM INTO A JEDI" when WHO you are is already predetermined--and your choices of what you look like are limited anyway?
Simply put, they could have added more stuff: they could have made it more its own game than this. As it is, I'd snap it up if it were a $30 expansion pack. But it's not a sequel.
Or, more accurately...it's the wrong kind of sequel.
I was eh...
I always wanted more Jedi Outcast anyway,
Also, Leo, try doing special moves with the sabers, there's a neat Two-Saber move where you roll forward and thrust a light saber straight out while holding the other up to guard. And the Double Saber has some kicks and stuff you can use.
Also, they didn't have all the weapons in the demo. In the Demo, they only used the weapons that were recycled from Jedi Outcast, but in the 'list of features' section, there were far more listed...
Jump the fuck off of the "omg this game sux" bandwagon and just play it. Its just as fun, if not more fun than Outcast because you can customize your person, use dual and double-ended lightsabers and train in the force powers that you want to.
I agree on the fact that its lame how they spent this much time just to create what is more of an expansion than a new game, but you know what they say:
If you're given lemons, you might as well make lemonade
Its still fun, and thats what matters most... To me anyhow =/
Play it and be merry.
PS: Im speaking to no one in particular, this is more or less an open statement. [ 09-06-2003: Message edited by: Gomateux ]
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Lashanna stopped beating up furries long enough to write:
Also, Leo, try doing special moves with the sabers, there's a neat Two-Saber move where you roll forward and thrust a light saber straight out while holding the other up to guard. And the Double Saber has some kicks and stuff you can use.
Also, they didn't have all the weapons in the demo. In the Demo, they only used the weapons that were recycled from Jedi Outcast, but in the 'list of features' section, there were far more listed...
The new saber moves are mostly useless, and there's only one stance for the saberstaff/DS, not three like you had with just the lightsaber. Most of the time you'll be doing one or two moves with either because they're the only really effective moves.
Concerning weapons, there's only one new weapon that wasn't in JK2, the concussion rifle. That's all. The rest are recylced. Chances are they'll go unused at all by most players, except in one mission where you're required to use them.
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Talonus wrote this:
Concerning weapons, there's only one new weapon that wasn't in JK2, the concussion rifle. That's all. The rest are recylced.
It's from "Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight". I loved that weapon. 
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JooJooFlop spewed forth this undeniable truth:
Does the demo have multiplay?
No.
Point 2: What Tal and Mort said.
Point 3: No multiplay, Joojoo.
But, regardless of all the downsides, I'm still getting it... I like Star Wars too much ;p
Jedi Outcast was an good/awesome game.
Now you're getting a slightly improved Jedi Outcast.
Why are you complaining again?
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Tarquinn had this to say about Captain Planet:
I don't get it.Jedi Outcast was an good/awesome game.
Now you're getting a slightly improved Jedi Outcast.Why are you complaining again?
Because, it's not really all that improved...
Two Sabers was implemented in a JO mod, and Double Saber was basicly in JO (not fully implemented, but available).
There's like.... 0 real new features....
If I wanted to look different, I'd change the Kyle Katarn skin, etc.
The graphics aren't even a step up (in fact, it might just be the demo, but some of the things actually look a bit worse than JO)
I think not.
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Tarquinn thought about the meaning of life:
So, is it worse than it's predecessor?I think not.
Kinda not the point. Its an expansion pack being billed as a full game. Furthermore, compared to other releases this year (HL2, Max Payne, Deus Ex 2, etc) its simply a subpar game. In letting folks know that here they can save their money for the good games rather than waste their money on an overpriced game.
