Review:
Star Wars Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast
Platforms:
Xbox
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Gamecube
PS2
PS4
PC
Macintosh
Release Dates:
2002
2003
2010
2021
Introduction and Opening Commentary
One of several forays into the Star Wars Galaxy.
This one is rife with FPS and 3rd Person lightsaber action.
If you are into decently long levels, with good combat, and a bit of using your noggin, this is probably a good game for you.
And… when I say good combat… many in the Star Wars gaming community cite the Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy games as having the best lightsaber combat system, in terms of out-of-the-box feel and moddability, out of any Star Wars game; I find the high praise as a bit overrated… but nevertheless I agree with the underlying premise that the dueling combat in this game is… quite… fun. With a few tweaks of course.
I might add, with this entry, in addition to fairly decent FPS and melee gameplay… as well as a not-too-shabby Single Player campaign, we wind up with an interesting spiritual theme as well in the storyline.
What it gets right
Gameplay is well done as I’ve said.
Fighting hordes of stormtroopers with a “good blaster at your side” and then taking on the power of the Force and some dueling technique with your saber does the job well.
Some don’t care for the first few levels of this game where you are Kyle Katarn in mercenary mode, as he’s hung up his lightsaber and Force power due to almost… well… I’ll let you look up the story or read on past the spoilers below… but others will definitely get their FPS fix from the first two missions of this game.
I personally agree with those who really think the meat-and-potatoes of this game is once you gain your lightsaber and Force powers… as that’s when the “Jedi Knight” portion of the game comes alive, and you find yourself fighting a small army of wannabe-Sith and Dark Jedi called Reborn and Shadowtroopers, and I think a nice touch in the Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy games is that you fight these more powerful Force-wielding enemies, especially boss Sith/Dark Jedi, by tapping into the Force Speed power, which not only increases your physical speed but simultaneously slows down your enemies and the world around you and greatly increases your attack power, as the developers seemed to want you to “tap into the power of the Force” to face tougher challenges, which reminds me of how in real life, we aren’t meant to merely live by our own strength spiritually.
A slight redemptive theme is made clear at the end of the storyline as well.
What it gets wrong
I can’t think of any serious complaints with the basic structure of the game…
…but it could benefit from plenty of tweaks that are available in the extensive modding communities for these games, and also that can be implemented by more enthusiastic players themselves.
But, to articulate it, I would essentially just include the gameplay enhancements that came with Jedi Academy, without removing the charm of Jedi Outcast, that being, more Force powers in Single Player, more special attacks, and more implementation of punches and kicks into the melee combat, though, of course, you can always just jump on your enemies.
Furthermore, I would increase the importance of walking and guarding saber attacks in both the Single Player and Multiplayer base games, as opposed to the emphasis in the meta-games of the vanilla saber systems on movement, evasion, and acrobatics, but again, nothing that mods and end-user tweaking can’t resolve.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Further Analysis of Narrative Elements and Spiritual Themes
The events of this game revolve around Kyle Katarn, our favorite mercenary-former-Imperial-agent-spiritual-skeptic turned Jedi Knight.
Kyle learns to forgive himself and others a little bit in this game, and the narrative even deals with the difficult themes, whether it means to or not, of whether we should forgive those who don’t deserve it (even though, none of us deserve forgiveness).
He forgives Tavion, an apprentice Dark Jedi, for apparently having killed his best friend and lover-to-be Jan Ors, despite the this Sith apprentice obviously deserving retribution in the normal scheme of things.
And then Kyle even tries to reason with Desann, the one leading the enemy forces, who has mustered a small army of artificially-Force-imbued Dark Jedi.
This touches on what I often believe to be the true theme of Star Wars, that the Force, and that the love between the characters, is not about a balance of Light and Dark, but rather overcoming Darkness.
If I were on the Development team…
…or creating a Re-Release/Remake…
Thematic elements —
A little bit more on how the Force is about overcoming Darkness, not merely… balancing it out with Light.
Gameplay elements —
Nothing except the improved/expanded elements present in Jedi Academy.
A bit more of an emphasis on rolling/evasion in the FPS sections of the game.
Conclusion
Our protagonist Kyle Katarn is a bit skeptical that the Force really cares about anything that matters to him personally, that the lure of the Dark Side can truly be resisted, and that the doctrine of the Jedi really… works.
Perhaps doctrine doesn’t save.
But Luke Skywalker says that if the way of the Jedi was easy, “there would be millions of us, not just hundreds”, or something along those lines.
And it may be the fact that at times, God has different priorities than we do… and that we may not always get what we want easily in this life…
…but as I said in my KOTOR review, will you join this cynical nihilist in putting your trust in Him regardless?