Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

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Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Cover art
Cover art
Developer(s) Raven Software (Windows), Vicarious Visions (Xbox & GameCube)
Publisher(s) LucasArts, Activision, Aspyr, CyberFront
Designer(s) Chris Foster
Series Star Wars: Jedi Knight
Engine Quake III: Team Arena (with Raven's custom SDK)
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS X, GameCube, Xbox
Release date(s)
Genre(s) First-person shooter, Third-person shooter, Action
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Media/distribution CD-ROM, GameCube Optical Disc, DVD

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, often abbreviated JK2 or JO, is a first/third-person action game developed by Raven Software and published by LucasArts and Activision. The PC version was released in March 2002[1] and the Mac OS X, Xbox and GameCube versions in November 2002.[2][3][4] Powered by the Quake III: Team Arena game engine, the game primarily revolves around ranged and melee combat, with the playing capable of wielding classic Star Wars weapons such as blasters, lightsabers and Force powers.[5]

The game features both single-player and multiplayer modes. The story-driven single-player campaign is set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe two years after the events of Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Outcast's predecessor. The plot follows protagonist Kyle Katarn as he fights against the Dark Jedi Desann and his followers.[6] The game was critically well-received on all platforms, with scores between 75 and 89/100 according to Metacritic's composite averages.[7][8][9]

In 2003, a sequel titled Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was released for the Xbox, Mac OS and PC.[10] In 2006, the PC version was re-released with four other Star Wars games in a pack entitled Star Wars: The Best of PC.[11] On September 16, 2009, the game was re-released with the other Jedi Knight games (Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Mysteries of the Sith and Jedi Academy) onto Steam and Direct2Drive.

Following Disney's decision to close LucasArts on April 3rd, 2013, the developers at Raven Software released the source code for the game on Sourceforge under GNU GPLv2 licensing.[12] Shortly after this release, the source was removed because it had been found to contain proprietary libraries specific to the Xbox and Bink Video.[13]

Contents

Gameplay [edit]

Kyle Katarn fighting a saber-wielding Reborn.

As a first/third-person shooter set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Jedi Outcast allows the player to wield a variety of firearms from the Star Wars franchise, as well as lightsabers and Force powers. The player can choose whether to use first or third-person perspective for each weapon, including the lightsaber. Combat is typical for the shooter genre, offering players an array of energy and projectile weapons, plus a variety of explosives. Players have health and shield meters, each of which is replenished separately.

Jedi Outcast places a strong emphasis on lightsaber combat. As in the films, lightsabers can be used to deflect shots from blasters. The game offers three lightsaber styles; fast, medium and strong, with each style differing from the others in terms of the speed of attacks and damage dealt. There are also a number of combos, many of which are unique to the selected saber style.

Force powers (such as Push, Jump, and Lightning) are available in both single player and multiplayer modes, but more powers can be used in the latter. The use of powers is restricted by a "Force Meter", which depletes with each use and gradually refills over time. The "level" of a Force power determines the strength of the power and the amount depleted from the Force meter during its use.[14] The multiplayer mode divides players into Light Siders and Dark Siders, pitting each side against the other in team battles. Each side has access to both shared "Neutral" Force powers, which are mostly focused on increasing speed and athletic ability. There are also numerous powers unique to both Light and Dark sides. As in the previous games, Light Side powers are mainly focused around protection and healing, while Dark Side powers are openly aggressive. Unlike previous games, however, Kyle does not exclusively select Light or Dark powers in the single-player, instead receiving a selection of both.

Single player [edit]

The single player campaign follows Kyle Katarn as he moves through the levels in a linear manner, meeting friendly and hostile NPCs. Friendly NPCs will occasionally assist the player in combat. In addition to combat, the campaign features a variety of puzzles.

When the game starts, Kyle has forsaken The Force after the events of the previous game, and as such, the player has no access to a lightsaber or any Force powers. However, after a few missions, Kyle regains his Force abilities, and as the game progresses, the number of powers available, and their strength, increase. Progression of Force abilities is fixed, and cannot be customized. Having previously fallen to the Dark Side, Kyle has access to both Light Side powers (such as Force Heal and Jedi Mind Trick) and Dark Side powers (such as Force Lightning and Force Grip), along with neutral ones (such as Force Speed, Force Jump, Force Pull and Force Push).

Multiplayer [edit]

Jedi Outcast features a set of multiplayer modes. In the PC and Macintosh versions, these can be played over a LAN or the Internet, but combat is limited to two players on the console versions.[3][4] There are a variety of game modes (such as "Free-for-All", "Team Deathmatch" and "Capture the flag") which can be played with other players, bots, or both.[15]

Each player has limited customization control over his or her avatar. He or she can choose the player model (with access to nearly every character in the game, as well as some characters from the films not seen in the single player mode) and lightsaber color. Before a match, the server specifies the game rules, including Force ranking. Force ranking controls how many points the players have available to allocate into Force powers. Players then customize their powers for the match. The server can also choose to disable normal weapons so as to create lightsaber-only matches.

Some players adopted rituals such as "bowing" (crouching and bowing one's head down before a duel). The one-on-one master/padawan training system from the films has been used by some clans.[16]

Plot [edit]

Setting and characters [edit]

The single-player game is set approximately two years after the events of Mysteries of the Sith. As with the previous game, the player controls Kyle Katarn, a former Jedi who has cut his link with The Force after almost succumbing to the Dark Side. At the start of the game he is a mercenary working for the New Republic.[6]

Over the course of the game, Kyle is joined by various other characters. Three of the most prominent are Jan Ors, a fellow mercenary and subsequent love interest; Lando Calrissian (voiced by Billy Dee Williams[17]), the sophisticated administrator of Cloud City, seen in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi;[18] and Luke Skywalker, protagonist of the original film trilogy and leader of the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. The player also receives help from other Jedi and New Republic soldiers.[19] Mon Mothma, Chief-of-State of the New Republic, gives Kyle and Jan objectives during the game.[20]

The primary antagonists of Jedi Outcast, Desann (right) and Tavion

There are four main antagonists: Desann, a former student of the Jedi Academy, who killed a fellow student before leaving the Order;[21] Tavion, Desann's apprentice; Galak Fyyar, a general in the Imperial Remnant; and Reelo Baruk, a crime lord posing as a "respectable garbage collector" on Nar Shaddaa. Other enemies include Imperial stormtroopers, numerous thugs and soldiers infused with the Force (known as the "Reborn").[22]

Synopsis [edit]

The game commences with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors investigating a supposedly abandoned Imperial outpost on Kejim. However, when they arrive, they find the base crawling with Imperial forces. They fight their way through the base, discovering a research centre studying cortosis crystals, which are similar to those used to power lightsabers.[23] Following the cortosis link, Kyle and Jan travel to Artus Prime, a mining colony turned into an Imperial stronghold, where the miners have been enslaved and experimented on. Katarn thwarts the Imperial operations, but not before Jan is captured by Desann and Tavion.[24] Kyle tries to rescue her, but, having forsaken the ways of the Jedi, he is easily defeated by Desann, who orders Tavion to kill Jan, before they leave the planet.

Believing Jan dead, Kyle travels to the Valley of the Jedi (a major plot element in Dark Forces II) to regain his Force powers, and then to the Jedi Academy to get his lightsaber. There, he learns of Desann's origins from Luke Skywalker.[25] Luke offers Kyle his lightsaber back if he can complete a set of trials. Kyle completes the trials easily, so easily that Luke quickly deduces Kyle has returned to the Valley. Sensing Kyle's anger about the death of Jan, Luke warns Kyle that the path he is walking is a dangerous one, he nevertheless gives Kyle the information he seeks, linking Desann to Reelo Baruk, a Rodian crime lord on Nar Shaddaa.[26] Reelo proves to have little information, but Kyle stumbles upon Lando Calrissian, who has been imprisoned in Baruk's dungeons. From Lando, Kyle learns that Desann is a part of a huge operation of smuggling cortosis crystals through Cloud City. Escaping Reelo, Kyle and Lando then head for Bespin.

Jan Ors (left) and Kyle Katarn (right) in the opening cutscene of Jedi Outcast.

Lando drops Kyle off at the bottom of Cloud City, and as he works his way up the structure he first encounters a Reborn.[27] He subsequently fights several Reborn, plus numerous Remnants, until he eventually encounters Tavion, who is about to board a ship headed for Galak Fyyar's Star Destroyer, the Doomgiver. Kyle defeats Tavion and threatens to kill her, but Tavion pleads for her life, telling Kyle that Jan is alive and on board the Doomgiver.[28] Jan's faked death was just a ploy to trick Kyle into going to the Valley of the Jedi in order for Desann to follow him there and tap its power. In exchange for her life, Tavion lets Kyle use her ship to travel to the Star Destroyer.[29]

After fighting his way past some stormtroopers at the Cairn Installation - an Imperial base hidden on an asteroid in the Lenico Belt, where the Doomgiver is docked - Kyle meets up with Luke Skywalker. From Luke, Kyle learns that Desann has found the Valley of the Jedi, and used its energy to empower an army of Reborn which could number in the thousands. After battling several Reborn together, they part ways. Kyle then sneaks across the Cairn base and finds out it is also a large assault ship construction facility, which is preparing for a full-scale planetary assault. Kyle confronts more Reborn, including "Shadowtroopers" - Reborn equipped with armor which is both lightsaber-resistant, and allows a measure of invisibility. Kyle manages to sneak into the Doomgiver before the ship leaves Cairn, but Luke is left behind. After the Doomgiver completes its jump to hyperspace, Kyle uses the ship's communications array to contact Rogue Squadron. He finds Jan in the detention block, but then learns that Desann was not as interested in the Valley of the Jedi - instead his goal all along was to invade the Jedi Academy. Kyle destroys the Doomgiver's shield reactor, and kills Galak Fyyarr. Narrowly escaping the ship's destruction, Kyle and Jan use an escape pod to land on Yavin IV.[30]

With the invasion fully underway, Kyle heads to the Jedi Academy, while Jan goes to a hangar to assist in the aerial battle. Kyle soon finds the academy overrun with Imperial forces, but with the help of the New Republic troops, he fends them off. Together with Jedi Academy students, he engages in a fight against Reborn warriors and Shadowtroopers. After crossing underground tunnels, Kyle finally confronts Desann. He reveals the Doomgiver's destruction and the defeat of the Imperial forces, but Desann rejects Kyle's offer to rejoin the Jedi and they engage in a lightsaber battle. Kyle prevails and kills Desann.[31] He subsequently reunites with Luke and Jan, politely rebuffs Luke's offer to safeguard his lightsaber, and saying that he is not ready to forsake the Force again.[32]

Development and releases [edit]

On May 17, 2001 at E3 2001, LucasArts announced that Raven Software were developing a third game in the Jedi Knight series. Some plot details were given, such as the locations visited in the game; Cloud City, Yavin IV, Smuggler's Moon and planets original to the game.[6] The following day at E3, LucasArts gave a demonstration of the game, showing the lightsaber and Force combat as well as the "buddy" system: in which certain NPCs would fight alongside the player. Technical details were also revealed: the game would use id Software's Quake III: Team Arena engine, and the GHOUL 2 animation system, seen in Raven's Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, was to be used. The polygon capacity of the engine had also been doubled.[5] The game was also on display at id's QuakeCon 2001, where enemy AI and combat were demonstrated. LucasArts announced that the game would feature multiplayer, although due to being early in development little information was revealed.[33]

On July 17, 2001, multiplayer developer Pat Lipo made a post on his .plan file,[34] revealing that Rich Whitehouse had been brought onto the development team to handle development of the game's multiplayer bots. Rich moved on to tackle the entirety of the game's multiplayer codebase, and was subsequently credited as the game's sole multiplayer programmer.[35]

Screenshot from a multiplayer game on the PC version.

On January 16, 2002 LucasArts launched a new website for Jedi Outcast featuring an overview of the game and information regarding characters, weapons and Force powers. An FAQ, screenshots, concept art, images of player models and downloadable wallpapers were also available.[36] A trailer was released on February 8, showing the game's combat, weapons, characters and environments.[37] On March 13, 2002, LucasArts announced that the game was on track for release later in the month.[38] Two days later, they announced Jedi Outcast was ready for release, set to go on sale by March 29 at a retail price of US$49.99. A new trailer was also released.[39] Jedi Outcast shipped on March 29, 2002.[40]

The game's SDK was released on April 22, 2002. This included a level editor, map compiler, model viewer, shader editor and viewer.[41] Since its release, hundreds of mods have been submitted to sites such as FileFront.[42]

A 66 MB demo was released on May 10, 2002, featuring the same level shown in an incomplete form at E3 2001, which did not feature in the final version of the game.[43] Two patches were subsequently released: version 1.03[44] and 1.04.[45]

At E3 2002, LucasArts announced that Jedi Outcast would be released on the GameCube and Xbox.[46] On May 31, 2002, LucasArts and Aspyr announced that a Macintosh version of the game would be released.[47] The Macintosh version was released on November 5, 2002[2] and the Xbox and GameCube versions on November 20 in North America and two days later in Europe.[48][49]

On November 15, 2006 LucasArts announced that Jedi Outcast would feature with Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Empire at War, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Republic Commando and a 14-day trial of Star Wars Galaxies in a compilation release entitled Star Wars: The Best of PC. It was released during the 2006 holiday season, retailing at US$39.99.[11]

Reception [edit]

The game was generally well received among players and critics alike, with the PC version scoring 85–90% according to review aggregates by IGN[1] and Metacritic.[7]

IGN praised the game, describing it as "not only is this one of the greatest Star Wars games [the reviewer] ever played, [but] one of the best action games period." It commended the "mature plot," "fantastic" graphics and "intelligent" level design. However, it did criticize the puzzles, the lightsaber interface and complained that "the game starts too slowly." Despite this, it was given a rating of 9.0 out of 10 and an "Editor's Choice" award.[50] It received a score of 9.5 from Game Informer, whose reviewer said, "Without question, Jedi Outcast is the most enjoyable and accomplished Star Wars game yet."[51]

Many other outlets had echoed IGN's criticism of the opening and puzzles. Although it gave the game 93%, Game Over Online called it an "an intriguing juxtaposition of pieces of incredibly intense FPS action that had me on the edge of my seat combined with puzzle-like sections of such opacity that they made me want to kill myself."[52] GameSpot's review acknowledged the "slow start" and "too much puzzle-solving," but concluded by saying "the game's strong points - especially its combat - overshadow whatever problems Jedi Outcast may have early on."[15] In one of the few negative reviews, X-Play criticized it as a "disturbance in the Force." Although it called the story "pretty good," the graphics "fantastic" and the audio effects "just right," it complained that the level design "succumbs to the Dark Side," criticising "illogical and frustrating situations." The reviewer also considered the multiplayer mode "not very impressive" and gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.[53]

In June 2007, GameTrailers's list of the 10 best Star Wars games saw Jedi Outcast rank at number one, with the editorial commenting that "this may not be the first time in which you play as a Jedi in a video game, but this is the first time in which you actually felt like one." Also praised were the lightsaber and Force combat systems, a story which is consistent with the films, and the cameos from various key Star Wars characters.[54]

While the Xbox and GameCube versions also received generally positive reviews[8][9] (the Xbox version was described as "truly fantastic"[55] and "the best Star Wars experience on the Xbox"[56] and the GameCube version as "worth spending time with"[57]), their aggregated scores were not as strong as the PC and Macintosh versions. Many critics had issues with the translation from computer to console,[58] citing the slightly inferior, yet still solid controls and sharp graphics as hindrances.[59] The Xbox version was specifically criticized for a lack of Xbox Live support.[60]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "Jedi Outcast PC page". IGN. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  2. ^ a b "GameSpot Jedi Outcast Macintosh page". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  3. ^ a b "Jedi Outcast Xbox page". IGN. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
  4. ^ a b "Jedi Outcast GameCube page". IGN. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
  5. ^ a b Ajami, Amer (2001-05-17). "E3 2001 Hands-on: Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-20. 
  6. ^ a b c Ajami, Amer (2001-05-17). "E3 2001: LucasArts announces Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-20. 
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  8. ^ a b "Metacritic GameCube page". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
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  11. ^ a b Sinclair, Brendan. "Star Wars gets bundled". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-06-20. 
  12. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2013-04-03). "Lucasarts' Closure Convinces Developers To Release Awesome Star Wars Source Code". Kotaku. Retrieved 2013-04-04. "In the wake of Lucasarts' closure today, Raven - the developers of the thoroughly excellent Jedi Outcast - have decided to release the source code for the game. Oh, and the code for its sequel, Jedi Academy, as well." 
  13. ^ "What's happened to the Jedi Academy source?". Reddit. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-04-13. 
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  16. ^ PC Gamer UK (132): 100–103. February 2004. 
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  19. ^ "Chapter XXIII: Yavin Courtyard". IGN Walkthrough. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  20. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Kyle: Mon Mothma must be getting paranoid. She never used to send pros like us out on blue milk runs like this."
  21. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Luke: During a training session [Desann] struck down and killed a fellow student in cold blood. Desann said he was too "weak" to be a Jedi. He fled before we could... counsel him. He's not been heard from since."
  22. ^ "Character list". IGN game guide. Retrieved 2007-07-11. 
  23. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Mon Mothma: Those crystals you're holding are very much like those found in a Jedi's lightsaber."
  24. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Tavion: A prisoner for you, Master Desann./Desann: Well done, Tavion. Secure [Jan] in the cargo hold and prepare her for processing."
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  26. ^ "Chapter VIII: Nar Shaddaa Streets". IGN Walkthrough. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  27. ^ "Chapter XI: Bespin Undercity". IGN Walkthrough. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  28. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Tavion: That... hauler will take you to our base in the Lenico Belt. That's where Galak's ship The Doomgiver is docked. It's also where he's keeping [Jan] for further interrogation."
  29. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Tavion: ...I'm not brave enough... to die!/Kyle: Get out of my sight..."
  30. ^ "Chapter XX: Doomgiver Shields". IGN Walkthrough. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  31. ^ "Chapter XXIV: Yavin Final". IGN Walkthrough. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  32. ^ Raven Software. Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (LucasArts). (2002-03-28) "Luke Skywalker: I'll be happy to hold your lightsaber for safe keeping./Kyle: No, I think I'll keep it."
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  42. ^ "JKII file browser, showing the number of different types of modifications submitted to the site". FileFront. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-22. 
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  55. ^ Official Xbox Magazine: 151. December 2002. 
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External links [edit]