JA SP- Worth Playing?

[Prime]

Why not just try it and see if you like it?

[kel-dor male]

Originally posted by Amidala from Chop Shop

Actually, I tried to play Dark Forces but it is the only FPS game that ever gave me motion sickness, so I couldn't play it.

 

Now Jedi Knight also made me nauseated, but for different reasons....

 

Yeah it gave motion sickness to, I've only played like the first two or three misions, I can't wait till that group finishise DF for JA.

[AJL]

If I remember right the first 3/4 of Jedi Academy SP levels are

pretty good... After that it will become pretty frustrating when

all you do is hack down endless waves of saber hooligans...

 

And about the story and characters... It was OK (bit stupid like

Jedi Outcast) when I first time played it... but now after I have

played KOTOR... I don't know if it could be more pathetic...

 

I hope that in next Jedi Knight game they move far to the past

or future or "overwrite" EP 4-6 story so that your actions can

change how things play out... There should be much more RPG

elements and with enemies and combat they should set quality

over quantity (even one stormtrooper with blaster rifle should

be dangerous opponent and going against squad of those

shouldn't be a good idea even for jedi...)

[Kurgan]

Sorry for the thread revival, but I meant to post this a long time ago, but the boards were acting up, so I just saved it on my desktop and forgot about it until now... enjoy! ; )

 

I played the DF demo (3 level for dos) back when it first came out.

 

While it was a cool concept (whoa, it's like "Star Wars Doom or something dude, cool!" and "Like, the weapons have two fire modes, sweeet!") I quickly got bored with it since the levels were pretty generic.

 

Fast forward to late 1997. A friend of mine was talking about how great Dark Forces II was going to be and he showed me the game in college. At first I wasn't that impressed but the gameplay was enough to win me over and get me hooked. After beating the game, I went back and bought Dark Forces to see the "backstory."

 

Let me tell you, while the graphics in DF1 were "bad" compared to JK (well in some ways, in other ways they were okay, since they had some more detail, even though they used sprites 95% of the time) the later levels were much better than the demo levels I had previously played. The game was frustrating in places due to the fact that you couldn't mid-level save, but overall quite fun once you got into it.

 

When MotS came out of course I jumped right into that game too. SP was cool but more forgettable an experience than JK's was, I don't know why. Maybe the levels didn't feel as "vast" (even though size wise they were probably comparable, just MotS was more mazelike, but JK would SHOW YOU just how small you were compared to everything else), and the developers for some reason chose to use lower quality sound for this game so it wasn't as pleasant to listen to as JK1, but the MP was impressive for the sheer number of options available to you (even moreso than JK). It had a few annoying bugs that were never fixed, but again, a very enjoyable game and a "step up" from the previous games.

 

Moving on to Outcast I enjoyed some aspects of the game, mainly the "improved technology" of the engine, but some things that were left out from JK/MotS. MP of course was 'where its at' for me. I did the dueling thing for awhile, alongside my real favorite CTF. I missed the entire 1.03 patch thing due to stuff I was doing in Real Life at the time. By the time 1.04 rolled around I wasn't playing as much anymore so I missed out on a lot of the "corruption" (as some of us cynical ones call it now) that largely turned the community into an 'honor-dueling-only' society at the mercy of whiners with admin mods.

 

When Academy came out I was pumped. I'd read all about Siege mode and it sounded awesome (having been a big Unreal Tournament player I was really looking forward to Assault "Star Wars style" let me tell you). I was not let down (though there were quite a few things in Siege that felt unfinished). Siege was a ton of fun (and still is). So that aspect of the game has given me the opinion that JA is another "step up" in the series, even if much of the rest of the game isn't a huge leap forward, more like some people would say "an expansion pack + new patch" (I'm not saying I agree with that reasoning, only that I can see how it's not the jump between say DF and JK1 or between JK1 and JK2).

 

The small tweaks and changes between 1.04 and JA 1.01 to me are mostly positive and the ones I didn't like I can live with. Mods of course are always nice (with some exceptions, and I think you can guess what I am implying), and mods like OJP and the official unofficial mods (like Asteroids) really flesh out the game for me.

 

So it's been a great series so far. Would I enjoy it as much if I wasn't a Star Wars fan? Perhaps not.

 

But I see Star Wars as more the "Hook" that got me into the series, and not so much what keeps me here, but the gameplay.

 

Sure, once in awhile while playing Siege I imagine in my head that I'm "in the movie" but usually I'm just playing a fun game and having a good time.

[Prime]

Originally posted by AJL

And about the story and characters... It was OK (bit stupid like

Jedi Outcast) when I first time played it... but now after I have

played KOTOR... I don't know if it could be more pathetic...

Ah! So it's not just me.

 

I really enjoyed JO's story and didn't have as big a problem with the Reborn as some others did. I liked being able to battle saber-wielding opponants. When JA came out I had a good time with SP and although the story and some characers were weaker I didn't mind it as much as others did. Both were just fun games to play.

 

Then I went off and played KOTOR. Oddly, at first I had a hard time getting into the RPG point and click style of combat, but it quickly grew on me. Of course the story was far superior to JA but that is underatandable considering the genre of the game. In the end KOTOR is right up there with my all-time faves.

 

Then I decited to go back and have another go at JA for some FPS fun. But after KOTOR the story so far has been almost unbearable. If Rosh is part of the future of the Jedi, Palpy should have finished the job. Jaden doesn't seem much better to me. Tavion is such an awful boss after facing Malak. The whole story is decidedly uninspiring to me now.

 

Even the gameplay hasn't been nearly as much fun this time around. The only people around are enemies and most don't put up much of a fight. The emptiness of the galaxy just seems so much more apparent after playing KOTOR. And the RPG elements, even though it is a nice attempt, just feel so lame to me now.

 

If and when I finish JA SP again, I'm defintiely going to go back and give JO yet another shot. My memories of it are so fond it will be interesting to see if I enjoy it just as much. I suspect I will, since Kyle as a character is so much better, and not just a whiny punk.

 

Don't get me wrong, JA is still a great game, but it is amazing how playing something like KOTOR brings out all its flaws, especially storywise.

[lukeskywalker1]

It would be sooooo cool for JA to have a story like KOTOR! Of course, I still favor the time period of JA. KOTOR was cool.. its just.. sometimes I forgot it was star wars... it was just some game. Without luke.. it just not as good. Chewie was an added bonus in JA for me! Although I wish they had made a Han Solo (he should have been there!)

 

And what was that stuff chewie was talking about Leia for? She should have made an appearence.. somewhere (I waited through the game hoping she was a part of the story!) Too bad.

[Khier]

Prime hit the nail on the head for me. Having played KOTOR a couple times through, it was frigging difficult to accept the characters and story in JA.

 

The next JK game needs to have depth, my dream would be of a SW game combining the fast action of the previous two games with the immersive atmosphere of something like KOTOR, and the lack of the latter is where we feel that 'emptiness' that is so present in JA's gameplay.

 

I'm also a little sick of the Q3 engine now that we're surrounded by all this new technology with their advanced physics and superior graphics and whatnot.

[lukeskywalker1]

Well, I think the graphics are good, the models could use some work, and they need more advanced shader stuff, but overall the graphics can compete with games of today, no problem (unless your thinking Doom3 or something)

 

A physics system like they had in Max Payne 2 would be cool (I think MP2 was built on the Havoc engine?) You know, just walking into stuff, and everything was moveable...

 

Imagine using force push and you pushed every object in the room. That would be so cool, or even pull would pull stuff to you (like medpacks, and bacta, or even a console, but that would hurt you)

 

Yeah, that would be cool, like there are advantages and disadvantages to using force powers (like pull, you can pull stuff to you, like guns, and health, or even guns from other players, or you can also pull big objects, like rocks or consoles, and hurt yourself.)

 

Everything should be breakable, like in real-life too... like screens, and even vehicle windsheilds... stuff like that.

[Tinny]

ooohh, combine havok engine with Redfaction's geo modding :eek:

[Ace-_Ventura]

Ja SP worth playing? hmmm, even easier than jk2 sp, so.. NO

[Kurgan]

Yeah but it's a GOOD kind of easy.

 

I honestly only played through JK2 SP once, but I went back and replayed various sections (with or without cheats) because they were so cool.

 

Likewise with JA, I beat it on lightside, then went back and played a lot of other parts over and over. Not to mention all the time I spent with the demo!

 

I still have yet to beat the Dark Side ending, but then I have been somewhat busy for games lately, but I will get to it eventually. ; )

 

JA is actually longer than JK2 (unless you skip a bunch of missions, as you have the option to) and has somewhat more replayability due to the customization and alternate ending (even if it is a throw-away choice thing at the very end of the game). While JK2 is definately harder, the difficulty factor is more of an "annoyance" factor for me.

 

Jumping puzzles and puzzles that take a long time to complete that are just busy work (like that "code" mission with the multi colored codes in that floating maze, yikes!), as well as those missions where you would step outside and be nailed by a half dozen snipers that you have no way of hitting or avoiding, except blind luck and memorization. Or the maps where you're forced to use underpowered and inaccurate guns against enemies who can dodge them too easily and take too many hits to die, arrrrgggh!

 

Not that JK2 wasn't a fun game, but it definately had a lot of "throw down keyboard & mouse in disgust and take a long break" moments than JA did, for me.

[Ace-_Ventura]

well, i was talking more about the dark jedis of sp. like.. jedi master of ja it's the padawan on jk2. just that. it's to easy. and i prefer for a game like jedi knight 1 sp like jk2 and not like ja

[Kurgan]

Originally posted by Khier Serakk

Prime hit the nail on the head for me. Having played KOTOR a couple times through, it was frigging difficult to accept the characters and story in JA.

 

The next JK game needs to have depth, my dream would be of a SW game combining the fast action of the previous two games with the immersive atmosphere of something like KOTOR, and the lack of the latter is where we feel that 'emptiness' that is so present in JA's gameplay.

 

I'm also a little sick of the Q3 engine now that we're surrounded by all this new technology with their advanced physics and superior graphics and whatnot.

 

Well, JA & JK2 are First Person Shooters, while KOTOR is a full blown RPG. So of COURSE it's going to be "more immersive" have better character development, more choices, etc. (since that's what that genre is SUPPOSED to do...). FPS games are about blasting up & killing stuff and having a lot of action. One's about adrenaline, the others about telling a nice story and having deep characters.

 

Also, KOTOR used the Baldur's Gate 2 engine, which wasn't exactly new when the game was released.

 

 

I know, I'm nitpicking, but c'mon. I mean Doom3 comes out hailed as the Second Coming, and what is it really... it's a very basic FPS game with great graphics. That's IT.

 

Nobody is touting it as a failure because the story is cliched or the characters are two dimensional or that the universe isn't populated by much more than dead guys and stuff trying to kill you.

[Kurgan]

Sure, we'd all love a game with the depth and atmosphere of KOTOR, the size and scope of SWG, the action and sword play of the JK series, the ship combat of XWA and the graphics of Doom3, UT2k4, etc.

 

But who's going to make such a monster? It would cost a fortune and take many years to develop. By the time it came out people would have problems with stuff already.

 

Developers strategies these days focus on doing one thing and doing it right. Or they end up in development hell like Duke Nukem Forever. Or else companies make "modules" of a game that add new content, breaking it up rather than having to create an entire game with everything (like the "Jump to Lightspeed" expansion for SWG for example).

[Prime]

Originally posted by Kurgan

Well, JA & JK2 are First Person Shooters, while KOTOR is a full blown RPG. So of COURSE it's going to be "more immersive" have better character development, more choices, etc. (since that's what that genre is SUPPOSED to do...). FPS games are about blasting up & killing stuff and having a lot of action. One's about adrenaline, the others about telling a nice story and having deep characters.

True. But I'm finding that taht doesn't change the fact that I miss those story elements a lot more now that I'm playing JA again. I am enjoying the story of the game a lot less, even though I know the reason for it.

 

Originally posted by Kurgan

Also, KOTOR used the Baldur's Gate 2 engine, which wasn't exactly new when the game was released.

That's not true. The game was built on a completely new engine and is entirely 3D. So it was exactly new when it was released.