Jedi Knight may not be the prettiest looking game in the series (even sprite-driven first installment is more beautiful), but this game is in some ways a step up from the original and one of the most unusual action games I've ever played. JK combines features of a Quake-like shooter (with its fast-paced crazy gunfight dynamics and open and twisted levels), slasher (our hero is an aspiring Jedi/Sith wielding a lightsaber, after all), and simple RPG (in depending on our attitude towards living beings in the game world, we enter the branch of the "light" or "dark" side of the force, acquiring the appropriate set of abilities; some plot twists and the ending itself also change). All this together looks unexpectedly harmonious, which, apparently, is no small accomplishment. This does not mean that there are no flaws: as I said, the graphics sometimes look ugly; the abilities of the "light" and "dark" sides of the Force are unbalanced in favor of Light; jumps (both regular and "Force-Jump") are a bit clunky; and sword fighting is very simple “click your opponent to death”. It's no easy to get to work on modern OS. But the game is addictive, both because of its unusual gameplay and because of the interesting plot about Kyle Katarn's search for himself. Perhaps Jerec (antagonist of JK) and his minions in FMVs are more goofy than menacing (despite being quite deadly in the actual gameplay). However, with time I more and more think of them as more of external forces (like whirlwind) that can push our hero to one or another choice, and so their (sometimes outright comic) presentation is not much important in that regard. In general JK shares one distinctive feature with the original trilogy – it feels like real adventure in which your hero slightly transforms from cynical and low-life mercenary-like type (like he was in the first Dark Forces) into someone different (for good or for bad - is left to the player). This game feels like it is more than sum of its parts.
