These reviewers are complete idiots.

[TheDarkSide]

Hardly. Especially compared to MOH. Don't get me wrong, I love MOH, and I played it non-stop from the time it came out until JK2 came out, but what else could you possibly call the lack of an in-game server in a Q3 game? Even when they patched it in, if you attempted to connect to server but were unsuccessful (either due to pwd or server full) it kicked you out to the main menu and totally wiped away the server list, forcing you to get a new one EVERY time. I will admit though, nothing in JO has come close to making me feel how I did the very first time I hit the Omaha beach SP mission.....that's still hands down the best SP mission in a FPS ever.

 

TDS

[Temperamental]

Jedi Outcast = Best. Game. Ever. End of discussion.

[toolboi]

yes, JK is an 8.5 game. Why?

It has the coolness and the gameplay (best gameplay of a game Ive played for a long time. Max Payne came close, but it was so repetitive)

it has the graphics

it lacks the sound

it lacks the story & characters (thats a big one)

it lacks the non-linear level design that a 9 game has

 

Imagine, if you will, this game with huge non linear levels, with a great plot, and amazing sound (and original music). That would be a 10 game.

[Creston]

Toolboi,

 

I will agree with the level design. I will (to a point) agree with the story and characters (hello, we get to fight alongside Luke. If that isn't every geek Jedi's dream? ).

 

But the SOUNDS and the MUSIC??

 

It HAS the SW Music. It HAS the SW sounds. What else do you want?

 

Creston

[Bacon00]

You guys want to read an ignorant review? Read my post about TechTV's review.

 

THAT is crap. I'm quite angry after reading that.

 

I'd give JK2 about a 95%, -5% because of the slow start and some quirks... but nothing to make the game any less fun.

 

Game reviewers are becoming worse than movie critics, and it's starting to piss me off. I used to read reviews and use that as a guide for buying games. But now, I start double guessing a reviewer, thinking "what if he's an idiot?"

 

Take Bridge Commander for example.. it got a 72% in PC Gamer, but I loved that game. If PC Gamer gives JK2 anything lower than a 90%, I will be extremely pissed off.

[Camerhil]

PC Gamer gave it over 90%. But I wouldn't trust them for faithful reviews at all, since they reviewed the game in January, two months before it had even gone gold.

 

I'd trust PC Zone over Gamer any time, even if they did give JO 91%, which is a wee bit high IMO. But at least the score is justified and they were playing the finished game, not a dodgy beta.

[Jovialjuggler]

The only thing this game is really missing is good maps, those maps on platform thingys that you can run around with grip killing people kinda ruined some of the mp game for me.

Will they ever have player made maps?

[PRAXEUM]

FELLOW JEDI,

 

DOnt laungh me out of the board but what the heck is MOHAA?

 

PRAXEUM

[Threetall]

I would give it a 75%. If it wasn't Star Wars based I would give it a 60% and put on the shelf.

 

Try Wheel of Time. Its from 1999 but everything in JK2 was done there and done better. Including the graphics.

[Crack 6K]

MOHAA = Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

 

I don't understand the fuss going around about the "slow start" in JO. Obviously these reviewers weren't real Dark Forces fans. The beginning missions reminded me so much of the Dark Forces levels that it made me nostalgic and had me going back and playin some of the levels from Dark Forces (still a great game).

[Emon]

That's because the reviewers you mentioned have complete and total MORONS as staff. The only reviewers I listen to are the PCG US staff. Very few of their games are overrated (which isn't that bad a thing), some are Half-Life, Sims, maybe one or two more. Unlike many other reviewers the editors there BACK UP their opinions. That's why I like their reviews.

[GreyJedi]

Originally posted by Oberiko

Take out the force powers and light sabres and you'd end up with a pretty mediocre product.

 

Games like Deus Ex have raised expectations for what we expect in a single player experience to be more then a series of roadblocks, each one cleared by finding a key or hitting a switch.

 

I believe that his comment is very objective. Remove the saber and the force, and you have a mediocre game.

 

However, it is the inclusion of these powers and the lightsaber that MAKES Jedi Outcast an excellent game. The fun factor of these elements, which were well-implemented by Raven, elevate the game far beyond mediocre.

 

For me, Deus Ex has been the pinnacle of all Single Player FPS-like games. Excluding its ending, it was a rather linear game, but it gave the player an amazing illusion that you could do whatever you wanted to do. It wasn't that the story actually branched significantly (you couldn't join the antagonists for instance), but rather it was the seemingly "real world" of the game.

 

JK1 achieved a primitive version of this by allowing you to choose the light v dark side and by including civilians, and consequences for killing civilians in the game.

 

In the end, JO is not innovative, but has immense fun factor due to the excellent implentation of Star Wars elements.

[Jedi_Monk]

Try Wheel of Time. Its from 1999 but everything in JK2 was done there and done better. Including the graphics.

I think Wheel of Time is an excellent game. I've played through it, start to finish, six times, and still jaunt into an arena game to kick butt (when in form, I rarely come in below third place). Wheel of Time is fun, it's a good (though not perfect) reflection of Robert Jordan's book series. The graphics are good, but some of the skins are terrible (the way the skirts behave, mostly). The cutscenes have a much more polished quality than JO, certainly... but there are problems, like Elayna Sedai's duck-walk. But all in all, the WoT game has dictated my vision of Jordan's world, and it was the best visual depiction of that world until the RPG came out.

 

But this is Star Wars... there were periods when WoT overtook Star Wars as my favorite obsession, but those times are gone. Does Wheel of Time have a better MP set-up? Yes. Does it do everything better? No... two things.

 

1) You don't have the Force. You have ter'angreal, over fourty of them. Most of them are worst than useless, some of them are great. A fight involving Seekers and Reflects can be intense and hilarious. But it's not the Force. And they're not the same as the powers in JO. You don't have Push, or Pull or Jump. You have charges... they're basically guns. You can't recharge them, they're not always with you. Basically, the mana system in DF2:JK and JO are what every fan of the WoT books wanted in the WoT game. They wanted you to actually draw in the One Power, and release it in any weave you selected. That's what JO's done. That's better than WoT.

 

2) You don't have a Lightsaber. Need I say more? Need I say that the Lightsaber is the most awesome weapon ever created? It's the elegant weapon from a more civilized time--that mutilates your enemies! The lightsaber combat against Reborn takes skill, luck. It has the danger of real combat, because one good, clean swipe will end your life, doesn't matter if the Reborn's cowl is red or orange, they can kill you! The saber locks, the dueling stances, the jumping, the rolling... in all these things, it exceeds even DF2:JK!

 

I love this game! I'm emersed in Star Wars! I'm seeing and hearing things that just put me into that universe! "Did you hear about the new T-17?" "I liked the T-16 more..."... "They're using cortosis ore..."

 

I do have a couple problems that don't knock it out of my place as my favorite game ever, but are as annoying as 'ell because of it.

 

1) The choppy animation in the cutscenes. I want live-action again! Bring back the same actors who played Jan and Kyle... you could've even had Billy Dee as Lando, instead of just his voice! My gosh, that'd've been awesome! Another actor as Luke would be alright, too. I wouldn't really care, so long as he had short blonde hair, a black uniform and a green lightsaber! Also, Tavion would've been great as a live actress, too

 

2) I hate, HATE, HATE Desaan! What the heck species IS he? He's just a dinosaur! He looks like that creature out of the original Star Trek show! Please, stick with an existing Star Wars species, or at least make something more interesting than Barney on crack! Jerek was great, he was THE Dark Jedi. Powerful, but infirmed. Yun was the picture of a young Dark Jedi; he liked the adventure, the excitement, the things that a Light Jedi aren't supposed to need. But when it came down to it, when the adventure became too real, he switched sides. Saris, Boc, and the other ones whose name I can't recall... they were all great. Desaan doesn't belong in their ranks!

[Hubris]

Deus Ex is definitely one of the greatest games ever, single player wise anyway. But, some places gave Deus Ex the same less than admirable reviews JK2 is getting. Deus Ex was not perfect, it did not ship with multiplayer, on some video cards it just didn't work or had major FPS issues (I had about 15 fps all throughout the game on a machine that was beyond cutting edge at the time.)

 

And now those places that gave it 80 percent are comparing JK2 to it as though JK2 is not good enough, when in fact they gave Deus Ex the same low caliber reviews initially. The irony is just comical.

 

The single player is great, not revolutionary, but fun, and the multiplayer is going to be some of the best yet. Once the SDK are released and Raven patches it up a bit, we'll be in business. If they fail to support their product though, this game will be dead in six months, so it's really on them.

[WickedGames]

Originally posted by GreyJedi

For me, Deus Ex has been the pinnacle of all Single Player FPS-like games. Excluding its ending, it was a rather linear game, but it gave the player an amazing illusion that you could do whatever you wanted to do. It wasn't that the story actually branched significantly (you couldn't join the antagonists for instance), but rather it was the seemingly "real world" of the game.

 

I agree that Deus Ex was the first pioneer FPS game to come out in a long time but the FPS game that is closest to perfect was a sleeper called System Shock". That game was the true pioneer to games like Deus Ex. Unfortunately the second edition of System Shock (ie. 2) was a bomb. They changed the design in favor of the Quake audience and as a result it was neither a good FPS or a good predecssor to the orignal. However, if you ever get a chance and can find a copy of the orignal System Shock (and can deal with the dated graphics) you should try it out.

[Hubris]

Originally posted by WickedGames

 

I agree that Deus Ex was the first pioneer FPS game to come out in a long time but the FPS game that is closest to perfect was a sleeper called System Shock". That game was the true pioneer to games like Deus Ex. Unfortunately the second edition of System Shock (ie. 2) was a bomb. They changed the design in favor of the Quake audience and as a result it was neither a good FPS or a good predecssor to the orignal. However, if you ever get a chance and can find a copy of the orignal System Shock (and can deal with the dated graphics) you should try it out.

 

Warren Spector was the lead design on the System Shocks, and was the project leader on Deus Ex, hence the similarities between the two. He just has a passion in making jaw dropping single player games.

 

And personally, I liked System Shock 2, it was a little different, but not all that estranged from the first.

[GreyJedi]

Deux Ex 2 is in development and should be incredible given Warren Spectre's track record. I am aware of the existence of the System Shock series, but have yet to play either game.

 

Could you explain how SS1 and SS2 differ?

[Hubris]

System shock 1 was basically a real time first person RPG, there was a bit of action, which was done as an FPS, but mostly the emphasis was on puzzles.

 

System Shock 2 was the same, but there was a bit more of an emphasis on the action.

 

Deus Ex has more of a similarity to 2, though 1 is definitely a better game. They're both identical identical interface wise, but the emphasises in the gameplay are what seperate them.

 

You can probably get both for 20 bucks nowadays, and they both won game of the year from different respectable sources.

[Torquemada]

jeez hubris, I didn't think there was a better game than SS2 until Deus ex came out. It's good to see so many people were into Deus ex, it's $20 now, and the single player in that is better than JO (IMHO). The single player game just has to many puzzles to be fun. For me, that's what would make a 10 game. I give it a 9 overall, just because I can't stop playing multi-player!

[Guest buffyoda]

Just to let you guys know. I review games for a newspaper. My review for this game will be published the weekend Episode 2 is released. I'm giving it a perfect score.

[toolboi]

the elegant weapon from a more civilized time--that mutilates your enemies!

 

I dont think that I could have put it better my self

 

As for DX. It was a great game, I consider it way better than JK2 (though its saber fights sucked ), but it wasnt what it should have been. It fell to the same key problems that JO has (no, not its level design, DXs levels rocked), its script . Face it, it was a neat idea but they blew it as soon as they introduced the illuminati. The Illuminati were like the throw in plot catcher for all those conspiracy fans. And soon after that the game fell to peices, the characters started getting crappy, the plot started dieing, and the gameplay, while still amazing, started to get old.

 

They tried to make a book out of a game. They attempted the plot like a novel instead of like a movie. Thats why MGS's plot, though nonsensical at times, rocked. It was made and set out as if you were watching one HELL of a movie.

 

Of course the best will always be Marathon. It only had 3 central characters (4 if you count your self, but you werent really a character as you never talked) who were awsome, a bunch of sub characters, and one of the best plot lines ever. Not to mention some great lines, like the last line of Marathon 1: "All over the ship, dancing through the wreckage

of the Pfhor computer core, Durandal was laughing"

 

Wow Im off topic...

Any how, JO was only about a 80% game, it was cool but lacking in several areas.

[Saient]

I'd give it an 8.5

 

Graphics 8.5

Sound 9.0

Value for Cash 8.5

Single Player 7.0

Multi Player 8.5

Lastablilty 9.5

 

 

I had to knock the graphics because of my current hardware and in game FPS I get ( this will go up when I upgrade)

 

The sound was good all the weapons and sound effects were spot on

 

The vaule for cash will might go up for me in time with mods that will make me say again and again WOW I'm glad I bought this game. I did say it when I bought it too and am glad but I could of been more glad...

 

The FPS single player thing is always an off feature for me.. Since Once you've played it.. there's only a certain ammount of times you can play it again before shelf-ing a game for a few months

 

The Multi-Player is good but needs a little work on here and there, Patches ect

 

And lastly the Lastability of the game. This is where the game will shine for years to come. Once the tools are released we can have more maps, more models, more game modes, and MODS galore

I gave this section close to top marks because this is what will make and break a game for lastability and in turn would put the Vaule for money points up and the multi-player points up

 

so in the end this what I call a good start, not an excellent start but its a solid start

 

and for those of you thinking Im crazy for a 7.0 on a single player game..well 7.5 is my highest mark for single player game, so JK2 was good

 

 

Just my Opinion :fett:

[VeKToR]

Originally posted by Oberiko

Take out the force powers and light sabres and you'd end up with a pretty mediocre product.

 

Games like Deus Ex have raised expectations for what we expect in a single player experience to be more then a series of roadblocks, each one cleared by finding a key or hitting a switch.

 

As for the multiplayer, can anyone really say that they believe Jedi Outcast's mp is better then something like Tribes 2 or Wolfenstien? As is I find it simply a Quake clone with force powers.

 

In case you haven't noticed, Tribes 2 is nearly dead now. (And don't say I don't know what I'm talking about, because you've probably used some of my scripts in the PJ packs, and I've been around since Tribes was just an idea).

[Emon]

1. I can't understand why people like Deus Ex so much. I got the GotY edition with MP, and even then it wasn't too good. It had too much RPG forced into an FPS, it got rather confusing.

 

2. System Shock 2, IMO, is way better than 1. System Shock 2 did NOT bomb! PC Gamer US gave it a 95%! It's storyline was awesome, it had great plot twists, lasted really long, and had such an incredible atmosphere, which was powered by the Dark Engine, the same as Thief. I also liked the RPG aspects of it, it wasn't too much like Deus Ex, it was just right. How anyone could think this game is like Quake is beyond me... I could have gone for the full stealth like Thief had, since it was on the same engine, but oh well.

[BlackDragon]

Firstly, I loved JO. I thought it was, in parts, excellent and a lot better than I expected it to be. I have some criticisms but overall I rate the game as highly as I do JK1 and Dark Forces, if not higher. I think the graphics are superb. They may not be RTCW standard, but they are very accurate star wars textures the artists did their research well. The level design can be criticised as boxy but, as one magazine review pointed out, that's a fault of SW decor - it was still quite accurate and a good comparison. The puzzles were not great. Some of the puzzles in DF were superb. It was linear, but I don't have a problem with that. Most games (all games?) are but some give you the impression that they're not. All games have a sequence of events that need to be followed for areas to be unlocked and more events to occur. The AI wasn't as bad as some games (DX for example) but could possibly have been improved (the grunts from Half Life still rule the squad based AI for me!).

 

But what made it for me, and, it seems, for most other people, was the sabre and the force powers. Up until level 5 I thought, like a lot of other people, that it was not a bad SW shooter, but wasn't great. But the force powers were superbly done. Having speed slow everything down was inspirational, being able to Push multiple enemies felt just like Obi-Wan in Ep1, and the different stances, acrobatics and lightsabre combat really made me feel like I was taking control of a jedi. I can't tell you the amount of times I replayed areas where I had to clear a room of enemies using just the force and a lightsaber and try to do it losing as little shield and health as possible. It was exciting. I didn't even miss the split paths you could take in JK1 and didn't have too much of a problem with not being able to customise my own force powers to suit.

 

I too loved DX. The reason I would put JO above it in my all time favourite games of recent years is simple - it's Star Wars. I'm not a Star Wars freak. I'm a Star Wars SUPER freak and have been since 1978 when it was first shown in the UK. DX though, IMO, has a lot going for it. I like RPGs so that element suited me fine. I liked the interaction with other characters, I like the alternative solutions to problems and the different approaches you could take. I got immersed in all the different sub-plots and mini-quests you could choose to do or not. Listening to conversations and reading datapads for clues and story development was a sweet feature and to be honest, I would have loved it if JO had more of an RPG element. I certainly missed the JK civilians and I think it could have done with more interaction - going to a bar is all well and good, but there were no innocents, there were no smugglers you could talk to about finding out where a character or item was. There was no gossip you could overhear, there were no lowlife Toydarian scrap merchants you could barter with. But then it was built as an FPS.

 

But I do think that a lot of these issues could be addressed in any mods that can be developed (as long as people do make them for SP and not solely for MP). Here's hoping!