Star Wars™: Jedi Knight™ - Jedi Academy™

The nostalgia and fanservice definitely go overboard here. You're constantly being reminded of the movies by where you go who you fight and how etc. It is very cool that you get to choose your appearance and lightsaber and such at the very start, limited by today's standards but not bad by those of the day it came out. It's also very clear that they really badly want you to use lightsaber and force powers here which is not something that bothers me personally because that's how I play these anyway but I appreciate that if that's not you it might be really frustrating. It's cool that you can play this without having played any of the games in the series that came out before it. I think the Jedi training should have been longer after all it's actually shorter than what we got in Jedi Outcast. Also, I think the loosely connected if at all missions are fairly hit and miss. I do appreciate that we get a lot of one-offs that there's no way they would have been able to turn into an entire game at the very least not with the same game play as this and some of them are definitely deeply memorable. Like the one with the giant worm, the one where you have to fight your way through an imperial ship, etc. The story is fine but probably the weakest of the series. Ultimately the fact that there's not that much going on in these stories other than riffing on the original trilogy did catch up to them by this point. It's another light side versus dark side and there's something in the past that's really powerful. One issue with it is that you're not particularly connected to it. Because it's happening close to the character you play as but you’re not being directly targeted, any more than any of the other Jedi padawans. Like in the first Dark Forces, it's the fact that it's the right thing to do and it is technically your job because of who you are. But after two games and an expansion pack where it's specifically something that happens to Kyle Katarn, it feels like a step backwards.

Nice game that i first played a demo version in 2003! Glad to get this nostalgia back even at the first start of the Lucas Arts logo!

This game, while looking quite the same as Jedi Outcast, manages to improve on most areas. While this is a sequel to Jedi Outcast, I love the idea that you actually now make your own MC and even build your own lightsaber. What's more, you actually decide the order in which to do missions and what Force powers to upgrade so you can actually get the... "build" you want before actually finishing the first set of missions. The only thing I wish this game had more of would have been decisions between light and dark to actually feel more immersive and impactful. Considering the year this game came out, though, I guess I can understand why that's not a thing here. Still would have been great. Still, I highly recommend this game.

Although visuals are old and looks dated in may aspects. The game play loop is pretty good. Not ideal as it's a bit janky plus camera control is weird. However you get a plenty, easy to do missions. With ability as you progress to learn more fighting styles or change a saber. Sadly campaign is a one way trip, keep your saves if you want to reply some missions. Otherwise there is no option to replay missions.

This game is a classic. It provides a great Jedi Knight experience. You get to slash enemies with a lightsaber and use various Force abilities. Besides that, it's also a decent shooter. You can play as a Force empowered gunslinger. However, you will probably stick to a lightsaber because of many dark force users. That is a good thing, because lightsaber duels are a lot of fun. Missions are varied. You're tracking down a gangster on Coruscant, saving prisoners from a rancor, investigating a planet inhabited by sandworms... Maps offer different environments and high degree of verticality. They are fun to explore. After succesful completing of a stage you level up a chosen force ability. You can choose between light side and dark side abilities. "Neutral" powers will level up automatically after certain story missions. The game can be little iffy to work to on modern systems. However, both Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy run pretty ok with OpenJK. Despite its age, this game is still fun to play even today. And thanks to modders, you can make it work on modern systems and with better resolution.