Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - PC

Let me start out by saying that I've played all the Jedi Knight games since back in the old Windows 95 days. I'm a fan of this series, but as good as Jedi Academy is I wasn't able to give it 5 stars because of one simple reason ... KOTOR.KOTOR (or Knights of the Old Republic) is another Star Wars game in which you can assume the role of a Jedi ... and in my opinion, KOTOR (and KOTOR II) does a better job. Even though Jedi Academy gives you a lightsaber to start with and offers more Jedi powers to control, the problem is, well ... control.Jedi Academy requires you to use a complex set of keyboard and mouse controls in order to control your character ... and considering how hard the enemies are (even in easy/Padawan mode) you need the controls to be as simple as possible for combat. In KOTOR, you can do almost everything with just the mouse.I consider myself to be an experienced PC gamer, so keyboard and mouse controls are nothing new to me, but Jedi Academy requires me to jump all over the keyboard to control my character. Maybe KOTOR spoiled me, but seeing how simple the controls can be makes me angry when I have to play a similar game with MUCH more complex controls.Anyway, graphics aren't bad and voice acting is pretty good. If you like being a Jedi I still recommend this game, but if your only experience with Star Wars games is KOTOR or KOTOR II then you probably won't like the controls in this game. Also, this game ran flawlessly on my P4 2.8Ghz machine with 1Gig of RAM and an 128MB ATI card.

I really enjoyed the older parts of this series: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith, and Jedi Outcast. This is in the same vein, with graphics slightly in advance of Jedi Outcast (it was made around the same time), but I didn't enjoy it nearly so much. Part of that, I think, is actually their attempt to make the game more open-ended by allowing you to choose different missions to go on. The result (from my experience) is that it feels disconnected and disjointed, where one thing you do doesn't really have much impact on the rest of the game. It does have a main plot that's not too bad, and there are some really interesting locations (I think Hoth was my favorite), but it really failed to get me into the game.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is the last in the series of "Star Wars: Jedi Knight" from LucasArts (following Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast). I have played every title in the series and they all added to the great game play that was started in SW:DF. Gamers can choose from either 1st or 3rd person play as they control Jaden Korr, a new student at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, who is under the instruction of Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn (the protaganist of the previous editions of the series).The game starts with Korr arriving at the Jedi Temple and beginning his training. The early missions all allow you to learn the various force employment aspects of the game (force push/pull, speed, jump, etc) that will then become necessary to employ as the game expands when Korr takes on actual missions for Luke or Kyle. The mission culminates with the player having the choice of embracing either the light or dark side of the force (similar to the choices that the player can make in the previous editions of the series) which allows for multiple plays of the single-player mission. The game also supports LAN/internet multi-player activities.

This game is great! It's probably my favorite Star Wars game. It looks great, and the details make the environment come to life. Example: When you stand close to a wall, and your saber touches it, it leaves an orange burn mark exactly where you blade was, and it fades after a few seconds. Little details, like blowing grass, and flickering firelight make your surroundings very enjoyable to look at. The loading times are almost non-existent, and this game opens up in a matter of seconds. So refreshing after waiting for the newer computer games to load! (On my computer, it usually take a few minutes!)It's fun, and it's hard without being too hard. You can customize your character and your lightsaber, and you get to make a choice at the end of the game. I recommend this to anyone who is a Star Wars fan!This game also has multiplayer, and if you click on "New List" after you go to the server page, you will see that there are MANY active servers!This game is FUN, and it's easy to get absorbed into the intense missions and the storyline. Enjoy!

Eh, it kept freezing at some point It might be because it was a old game? But it had an interesting story overall.

This game is great fun, but I wish the light sabre wasn't so easy to handle and didn't automatically block rifle blasts - it makes it too easy.Other than that - a reasonable storyline, nice scenery and merely OK AI. Somehow, this game lacks the punch of some other great games, e.g. Half Life.but - if you're in the market for a good fun shoot 'em up - I can recommend this for some pleasing action.Happy shoppingJB

I know some have said that if you've got Jedi Outcast to not bother with this game. However, I beg to differ!!! Jedi Academy is a great follow-up to Jedi Outcast, with Kyle Katarn now teaching at the Academy on Yavin 4 with Master Skywalker. You create your own character, which adds a new variant to the game, and get to choose from three different lightsaber configurations. The premise is that you are now, as the title implies, at the Jedi Academy undergoing training. While you start off at the academy, don't get settled in as you're soon off to others worlds to complete missions, everywhere from Hoth to good ole Tantooine! Did I mention you'll get to work with new Force powers as well!?! I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of Star Wars, or is a fan of the Jedi Knight series of games. I look forward to the next game in the series of Jedi Knight games!!

Not as good as Jedi Outcast, but a fun game nonetheless!