Iodius Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I just recently purchased Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast, and after 3 days of constant playing I have completed it so here is my review (note: I have not tried Multiplayer, so I won't comment on it ) Graphics: I don't see what the problem is with so many people concerning the graphics. I think they are absolutely brilliant, smooth and represent the true Star Wars feel. My computer is a p3 1ghz, 512 mb SDRAM, BF3 ti200 oc'd to a ti500. Everything from the textures to the character models to the lighting effects amaze me every time I play. However, it is slightly dissapointing that RAVEN didn't make the lightsabre illuminate dark rooms like it once did in JK1. Frame rates, even at high detail, 2x FSAA, 1024X768 are at a constant 40+ for me (dropping to about 30 on Yavin Swamp. Still highly playable though!). The only fault I can find with the graphics that is a truly valid one (certain pathetic nit-picks I don't consider as faults) is the jerkiness of the character movement in the cutscenes, especially when walking of moving their bodies. The twitch and nudge un-naturally. Nothing too serious, but a little bit annoying to say the least. Overall, JO's graphics are of a very high standard, not as good as Unreal 2's for example, but they are well above the usual standard and should not be used as an example when discussing the games flaws. Sound: What can I say? Everything from the Vrmmm! and Kscchschh! of the lightsabres is in there, and of course John Williams brilliant score running throughout. Voice acting was also good. Could of been a bit better, but now I'm nitpicking! Gameplay: The game, admittedly, does start off a bit slow. Maybe it was because I wanted to get my hands on that danged lightsaber! Or maybe because I was dying to use those nifty force powers! Whatever it was, it made the first few levels of the game a bit slow. However, after playing through to the end of the game, I see that the first levels, albeit a bit tedious, set up the rest of the game story wise, and made the overall experience all the greater. Forgiven. The puzzles. Everyone seems to be complaining about the puzzles being too hard and illogical. Well sorry to tell you boys and girls, but you are spoilt little gamers. I have been YEARNING, yes YEARNING for a game where everything wasn't fed to me on a narrowly scripted silver platter. I loved the puzzles, all of them. Sure some were a bit overwhelmingly hard (Yavin swamp for example) but the vast majority, once solved, gave me great satisfaction, something missing from todays Mohaa type games, were puzzles are easy and unsatisfying. Lightsaber: That's right, I gave the lightsaber it's own section. Because it is, as Triple H would say, "that damn good!". It makes all the standard Vrmm! and Kschschh! sounds that I've come to expect. It also is much deeper than JK1's "swing and pray" style. And, once in combination with moves like force choke and saber throw, the possibilities are endless. I could slice and dice stormtroopers all day! The reborn and dark jedi battles are absolutely brilliant! In the hands of an experienced lightsaber wielder like myself ( ) the battles are fast, complex and satisfying. Also, the lightsaber control setup is very very good. In combination with strafe, jump, primary fire keys and the 3 fighting stances (light, medium and strong) each with it's own set of moves, lightsaber battles become fast and tactical. However, the use of the strafe keys in pulling off moves does make the character move around a bit too much, but that is, yet again, a very minor quibble. OVERALL: I cannot recommend this game enough. Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast satisfies old dinosaurs like me and new gamers alike. Don't let the first few levels of the game trick you, this is one piece of software you can't afford to miss. --Iodius edit: grammar, spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iodius Posted April 5, 2002 Author Share Posted April 5, 2002 Some responses would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PissedJedi Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I would respond in detail but I Am hurrying off to another FFA game.. Some newb Cursed me out in Wookie... so I have to shove the business end of my sabre up his Foolish ass. Oh yeah.. your review is good. now join me in mp.. so your traing will be complete. mwahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Spiff Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I would agree with your entire review. But, go check out MP. It's quite a load of fun too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryudom Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I agree with your review too. the only thing i'd lke to add is i though the game felt kind of short- i was hoping it would take me longer to beat... one thing i liked more in the original JK though is the secret. in that game the secrets gave you stuff. plus wherever you saw a badguy you knew you could get too. not so in JK2, or at leats i don't think so. this game is amazingly amazing though, i suprised it runs on my system as well as it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryudom Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 oh one more thing i don't like is the lag stuff. I HATE when i cet that disconnected stuff all the time and get moved around even if i'm not moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontyPython Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 Nod my head, I agree with your opinions. If you ask me for one disagreement than I would say I like the cut scenes in Jedi Outcast very much. Why? After playing through Star Trek Elite Force, produced by Raven soft and used the same graphic engine, I didn't expect too much in the cut scene character movement department. However, after many hours of single player experience I must say Raven improved itself a great deal in character movement used in the cutscenes. They are not perfect, agreed, but you can't help to watch in satisfactory after the unsatisfactory experience of its previous product. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iodius Posted April 5, 2002 Author Share Posted April 5, 2002 To be honest with you I have never actually played Elite Force, because Star Trek, well, I hate it. There I said it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fett_72 Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I agree pretty well completely. Very true about the greatness of the sabre, especially compared to JK, and I do get a bit... annoyed... by the jerkiness of the people turning. Running is very smooth and realistic, why can't turning be in a cutscene?? I'm also a little disheartened as well, you mentioned the Yavin Swamp puzzle as being especially hard and frustrating, I just started that Yavin level this afternoon . Looks like I'm in for it. And I too wonder if I'm ever going to get tired of choking a Stormie, using him to soak up blaster fire, and then tossing him down an abyss. Or fighting Reborn guys. Mmmmmm, must get back to the game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fett_72 Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 By the way, you guys that complain about lag, you should keep in mind (with this as with ANY new game), JO is only like a week old now. There still aren't many servers up that will suit you and your location. Give it time, watch and see And Elite Force was awesome, I was happy to pay its price. True, a little mindless, especially compared to JO, but hey, it was still fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassiel_Blaize Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I'd personally add that this is the first game since Deus Ex that I haven't found too 'short'. A lot of recent games play as if they have decades in them and then leave you after you've defeated a boss wondering where the rest of the game went. Though technically JK2 isn't much more complex or long, it runs at a better pace, so when the end finally comes you feel ready for it, not let down that it's over so soon. And of course, like all good rollercoaster rides, the first thing you do after completing it is boot it up again for another crack... -JH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ham Yoyo Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 Good review. Good point on Raven not making lightsabers light up the room. They should have included this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radar_Brian Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 hehe every review I ever read of any game just about always says what to me has now become a cliche... "the voice acting was bad". Now I guess I'm not a Master Thespian or anything, but what exactly is wrong with the voice acting? And while we are on it, what game has what you would say is good voice acting? Maybe I can play it and know so from now on I can say 'wow that voice acting is bad!' hehe. I agree with everything else. Would only add that we need 1st person saber view in MP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxioruben Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 Wow i just beat the game. It was amazing. I've beaten the original dark forces, jedi knight, and now this. My life is complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxioruben Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 and i mean i beat those when they came out originally, not with the collecters JO(which, by the way, i would reccomend to those who havent played DF or JK1) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fett_72 Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 Originally posted by Radar_Brian hehe every review I ever read of any game just about always says what to me has now become a cliche... "the voice acting was bad". Now I guess I'm not a Master Thespian or anything, but what exactly is wrong with the voice acting? And while we are on it, what game has what you would say is good voice acting? Maybe I can play it and know so from now on I can say 'wow that voice acting is bad!' hehe. I agree with everything else. Would only add that we need 1st person saber view in MP. There are plenty of games with great voice acting, although I personally don't think JO had very bad acting... Take a look at Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, FreeSpace 2, Resident Evil... But seriously, if you're convinced by the acting and you don't think about how they're saying it much, it's good in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emon Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 I DEFINATLY agree with you on the puzzles! They are almost as hard as the DF puzzles (nothing matches the Imperial Vault or the Executor puzzles). I'm sick and tired of people whining because the puzzles are simple ones like in JK where it's, "find the key to open the door, find the switch to lower the elevator". Those are not puzzles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabowan Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 Yes...for bad voice acting, look no further than the original Resident Evil for the Playstation (not the Gamecube remake due out this month). They voice acting was TERRIBLE!! Jedi Knight II is Shakespearean by comparison! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon00 Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 The puzzles may be a bit challanging sometimes, but I wouldn't go as far to say that they are "hard." You pretty much just go somewhere where you didn't do anything (or where badguys are), look EVERYWHERE, and just kinda figure it out from there. I've been stuck for about 20-30 minutes 2 or 3 times, but that's not what I consider a "hard" puzzle. A "hard" puzzle is one that you go out to buy the stratagy guide for, and something you get out of bed at 1am to go and try to figure out. These puzzles are perfect in my opinion. Not too hard, not too easy. As for the length, I'm happy to say that I've put at least as much time into JKII as I did into Elite Force (which I beat), and I'm only about halfway through JKII (second Bespin level... I fought the first 2 jedi-type-guys... anyone tell me exactly how far I am?). Though I would like it to last forever, it's turning out to be a decent length game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iodius Posted April 6, 2002 Author Share Posted April 6, 2002 Bacon, you're a bit over 1/3 of the way through. It only gets better, and better! And better!! AND BETTER!!! Until Kapow! It's over... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LessThanJake Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 It'd be cool if someone perfected mutilation to the extent that a straight powerful downward killing slash would split a man in two vertically. And then you oculd force push the two pieces into more bad guys to disorient htem and jump back into the fray. Yeah! Oh, and, nice review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nK_Archangel Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 1) Jake, you're a psycho lol 2) I think voice acting is bad when you actually sit back and say, ''hmmmm, I just ran into this room to cause some serious Jedi-style carnage, and all that officer had to say was ''Rebel scum!'' in this strangely out of place bored, cynical way''... I did think Tavion was voice acted well though... Now, a game with good voice acting? Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Absolutely brilliant RPGg, not least because of hours and hours of quite remarkable voice acting... Oh, and good review Iodius. JO really has improved on JK, a gargantuam feat in itself. The graphics and lightsaber, of course, are the most important improvements...Really do immerse you in the whole Star Wars universe...[EDIT] I remember all through JK thinking, ''Oh my GOD how mind-numblingly cool would this be if it were rendered in Quake 2 graphics''... Ahhh yes...times are good...[/EDIT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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