From a certain point of view... *SPOILERS*

[StormHammer]

From a certain Point Of View…

 

WARNING: This personal perspective of the game contains major spoilers, so if you have not completed the SP game, and do not wish your experience to be spoiled, please discontinue reading. Thanks.

 

WARNING 2: This is a Force Long Post

 

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I have to say, I’ve read a lot of comments about this game on the forums and elsewhere, some negative, others positive, some in the form of rants, and others in an almost beatific appraisal forgiving all flaws. They are all…from a certain point of view…

 

In that respect, this thread is no different, because I’m going to highlight the good and bad points from my own certain point of view. I’m going to focus mostly on the SP game…because I’ve not been able to play much MP yet, and the MP I have played has been laggy. Hopefully, this is a balanced and objective view, and it’s based solely on my own experiences of the game. I’ve been around quite a few FPS’s in my time (starting with the original Wolfenstein 3D), so hopefully I’ve picked up on a few things in that time. To say the game is the best game ever is to ignore or entirely forgive it’s flaws. To call it the worst FPS in recent times, is to ignore the many elements that made it more than simply an FPS. I prefer to look at both sides of the equation, and see if they balance each other out. So without further ado…

 

Technical

 

As with all things, there must be some bad things to balance out the good, and Jedi Outcast is no different in that respect. Also in that respect, it is not on it’s own. Flaws and inconsistencies can be found in any game, even those that have been elevated on pedestals and dubbed the best games of all time. So here are the things I found disappointing with this game…

 

Bugs.

 

Some people have encountered them, some others have not. Not encountering them does not mean they are not there, however, so you are fortunate if you have completed the game without encountering any bugs. I did encounter some, so I am more open-minded when reading about others. There do seem to be a number of bugs, from the small, to the game-stopping variety.

 

The three game-stoppers that I encountered were these…

 

The Lando bug.

 

This is on the level where you have to refuel the ship. You get to a checkpoint as you enter the hangar containing the ship…and are immediately thrown into a battle. Lando says ‘Get to the ship’, and so you do. Except, if you don’t stick to Lando like glue, and he actually survives…he may not get on the ship at all. This is what happened to me. If Lando doesn’t get on the ship…you can’t refuel the ship, and can’t complete the level, or indeed, the game. I thought I had to use the two panels to refuel the ship…but without Lando aboard the ship, they do not function. So I went looking elsewhere in the level, in case I had missed something – like an over-ride switch. I searched in vain for nearly two hours, and finally admitted there was something wrong. So I visited the forums…and voila, someone else had experienced the same problem, and offered a solution. I kept close to Lando all the way, and he got aboard without a hitch. Bug Solution: If Lando is alive, and you’ve cleared the area of enemies, his AI should then kick in and he should board the ship.

 

The two Kyle’s bug.

 

I only experienced this once in the entire game…funnily enough, at the start of the level to refuel the ship. I’d gone past that checkpoint (above), got killed, and respawned at the beginning of that level. Hang on, I thought, I quick-saved after that point. So I automatically hit the quick load button before the game had finished reloading from the start of the level. Result…I ended up with two Kyles, one inside the other, at the start of the level. Pretty unnerving. Of course…I couldn’t continue the game with Kyle looking like that…but when I tried to load from the beginning of the level again…the saved file was corrupted, so I kept ending up with two Kyles. So I had to reload a save from a previous level. I’m still not sure what caused this bug, but suffice it to say that it was annoying.

 

The ‘stuck in place’ bug.

 

I only encountered it once, on the first Artus mine level. I was trying to avoid the spotlight, took a step back, and slid into a rut between the ground and a building – and could no longer move. Jumping, jiggling, all were to no avail, so I could not continue. As it was not too far from the start of the level, it was no problem just to kill myself and restart – but it was a bit of a show-stopper, nonetheless. To be fair…this is a bug common to many games. It is sometimes possible to get jammed behind objects in some other games, especially if you are jumping around a lot in places you aren’t really meant to be…but it was the ease with which I got stuck by taking a back-step that I found disappointing in Outcast.

 

Regrettably, I have not encountered game-stopping bugs of this nature in the other games I’ve recently played, so it was a real shame to see them creep into the game I’ve wanted the most. I do not believe these are problems associated with system specs or drivers…they are game bugs, and I can’t help feeling they could have been identified during a more rigorous testing period.

 

The other bugs I have experienced have also been identified by some others…

 

The Impregnable Enemy bug.

 

I noticed a few times that when a Stormtrooper (for example) was close enough, and I started shooting, they took no damage. In fact, I invariably died, because they did manage to shoot me in return, at close range. When I shoot someone with the E-11 secondary fire at point blank range, I expect them to fall down dead. The only thing I can think of is that my weapon passed through my opponent, and because it was inside them, every time I fired it therefore did not register as a hit. Of course, this sometimes also happened when using the lightsaber – a slash sometimes just passed through with no effect. This seems to be an issue with the clipping.

 

The Elusive Quick Save bug.

 

I too experienced this bug a few times. You hit quick save just before attempting some death-defying leap…die anyway…quick load, and realise you are back at a previous quick save position…resulting in you having to work your way through a large part of the level again. Part of the reason may have been the sheer number of save files that I had created – without realising it. So after a couple of levels, I took to going into the save files and deleting the majority of them to ensure there was enough space. Possible Solution: I don’t see why the save function could not have been implemented in the same fashion as some other games, with a fixed number of saves, and you click the one you want to save over. On the other hand, RTCW allowed multiple-file saves, and I did not encounter this problem with that game. (I use RTCW as an example, because it is also based on the Q3 engine.)

 

I can’t remember encountering any other obvious bugs, but even those listed above gave a bad impression. If nothing else, their presence seemed to affirm my fears about the relatively short development cycle for the game, because I am sure many of these bugs would have come to light during a longer and more rigorous testing programme.

 

Features and Effects

 

The dynamic crosshair.

 

It was a nice idea, but I found it simply too annoying to use – especially using guns in 3rd person – so I switched it off via the console. Now, I’m no stranger to 3rd person crosshairs, even those that move to track your enemy or adjust your aim, because Heretic II is one of my favourite games. It worked fine in that game. But for some reason, it doesn’t work in this one (not for me, anyway). Part of the reason could be that many of the ‘weapons’ in Heretic II were magical, and had quite a large area of effect on impact. Another reason could be that there are a few more enemies on screen in JKII, and they are moving faster, dodging, etc. JKII requires a great deal more precision because you are mostly using blasters. I used over twice the ammo to take down an enemy with the dynamic crosshair enabled…because it did not remain focused on enemies. As soon as I switched to a static crosshair, and stuck to 1st person when using guns, the problem instantly went away. This is unfortunate, because I was hoping to play through the whole of the game in 3rd person at a later date…but it would be twice as difficult using the 3rd person crosshair. The only solution (at the moment) is to go without a crosshair, and use judgement as to where to shoot, like in JK.

 

Zero-G.

 

When you get to the zero-g level, Kyle was a little hard to control – requiring pin-point accuracy to get through some doorways. For the life of me I spent a good two minutes trying to get through that window I broke earlier. I think this may have been due to the slow acceleration when moving in any direction…and may even be more realistic. However, when I was trying to rush for the exit, it became a little annoying.

 

The rotating slow-mo camera.

 

I had no problem with the game showing the killing blow in slow motion – it was quite cool actually – except that the camera tracks around, and most of the time you just end up seeing Kyle – and not the death of your enemy. I would have preferred to have an option to turn on/off the rotating camera view, while retaining the slow motion effect.

 

A Cut Below

 

I thought the in-engine cut scenes did not attain the same quality as the pre-rendered CGI. Although some of the issues about dynamic action and camera angles was addressed, the in-game characters simply could not convey the same physical nuances of character that CGI or live actors might have produced. The voice acting, on the other hand, was excellent.

 

The opening scene was quite short, and jarred a bit, IMO. I just sat back stunned for a moment when I found myself at the start position, after being aboard the ship a millisecond before. JK smoothly led you into the start of the game (you start at the same point where the cut scene ends), and even MotS, with it’s own in-engine cut scenes, managed to lead you to the start point (mostly because it only shows the same installation where you begin). This might have been alleviated in Outcast by adding perhaps another 30 seconds of footage… (3 seconds showing the ship cutting through the atmosphere of the planet – fade – 5 seconds for a landing – fade – 10 seconds while Kyle and Jan get off the ship, look around and set out – fade – 10 seconds to overlook the installation and exchange worried glances, or trade a few words – and then a second to show Kyle jump down – and fade). I feel it would have made a wealth of difference to the opening of the game.

 

Graphics

 

Yes, it has to be said, Raven have done a fantastic job with the graphical elements of the game. There are those who disagree, and you’re entitled to your opinions, but I think they have managed to put a great amount of detail into each and every level, and with high texture detail turned on it’s a graphical feast. The only thing I found missing were detail textures when walking up close to walls, or some consoles, etc., and their addition could have enhanced an already great-looking game.

 

The character details on very high settings are especially good, standing up to close scrutiny – just try walking up to the Gran and Rodians in the cantina before all hell breaks loose, and you’ll see what I mean.

 

There were a few occasions when I experienced some banding in dark areas, even when using 32 bit textures/colour. This may have been a problem with my particular hardware, however, and it did not detract from the gameplay.

 

The only other major issue was with the implementation of volumetric shadows. Cast shadows did not appear in the correct places, showed graphical glitches, led to framerate drops…and to be honest, the shadowed areas on the characters became very blocky, making the polygonal meshes more obvious. Although I like to see a properly cast shadow…the character models themselves looked better without volumetric shadows turned on. The system overhead was not really worth it either. Perhaps a hybrid – no self-casting shadows on characters, just whole-character shadows cast on the floor – might have worked better.

 

Animation

 

This is where the game really rocks. The motion-captured animations are simply superb throughout the game…from running and dodging, to falling down and getting up again, getting pushed off walkways, and tons of different dying animations. Watching a Rodian stare at a stump where his hand used to be, and then fall over, is just brilliant. And when it comes to using the lightsaber, with all it’s flips, rolls, spins and other attacks, etc., it is simply jaw-dropping. No one can credibly compare the animation in this game with it’s predecessors, because it is in a completely different league.

 

The only place where I found the animations did not remain up to par was, funnily enough, in the cut scenes. The characters seemed a bit stiff in most of the in-engine cut scenes…when this stiffness was not as apparent during the game. I found this rather strange.

 

Gameplay

 

It has to be said, here and now, that the variety of gameplay in Outcast puts both DF and JK combined (and many other FPS titles) to shame, and it’s one of the things in which it excels. Variety? You say. In Outcast? Why, it’s just run-and-gun, and hunt the key, and blitz the level and rinse and repeat…

 

Well, I have to disagree, and perhaps you are forgetting some great gaming moments…

 

1. Controlling a mouse droid.

2. Using gun turrets.

3. Forcing an Imperial to help you at gun-point.

4. Watching the students train at the Jedi Academy.

5. Escorting and protecting an R5 unit.

6. Using Mind Trick to get others to open doors and help you combat enemies.

7. Controlling an R5 unit.

8. Opening the bay doors…and watching the Stormies get sucked out into vacuum.

9. The mini ‘Shoot-the-TIE-fighter’ game (which was a great laugh).

10. Getting to drive an AT-ST (two actually*).

11. Fighting alongside allies such as Jan, Lando and Luke.

12. Multiple lightsaber duels with a variety of opponents.

13. A choice to combat enemies with a combination of enhanced Force powers.

14. Listening to Stormtrooper conversations (some were really funny).

15. Turning on realistic saber combat…and going on a slice-and-dice spree.

 

*For those who missed it, you can swap to another parked AT-ST along your route of destruction – which gives you full shielding again.

 

I don’t think any of these elements were overdone (as they might have been), and each was very well executed, giving a welcome break from the run-and-gun found in most FPS titles. They all add up to a great variety of SP gameplay.

 

So, could it possibly have been any better? Well, in my opinion, yes it could. There are some elements that I would have liked to see in the game, which for me would have made it a ‘best’ game. They are nothing more than excerpts from a personal wish list, and are certainly not technical issues. Some have been discussed before…

 

Sneaky behaviour.

 

I found it almost impossible to use sneak tactics on most of the levels, except after you got the Mind Trick. Even when walking slowly, or crouched, the Stormtroopers and other enemies detected me straight away and came to investigate. You could not, for example, sneak up stealthily behind a Stormtrooper to use the Stun Baton. I tried a few times before giving up. So the choice to sneak-and-stun rather than run-and-gun was largely missing, and I felt this was a missed opportunity to extend the choice in how to play. Having played RTCW recently, it managed to provide for sneaky behaviour throughout the game, whilst also having a stealth mission, so I was disappointed that I could not employ these tactics throughout Jedi Outcast. It started off well enough in the first level, where you could drop down under the large elevator, avoiding confrontation, and getting into the room with the officer – who doesn’t hear you drop to the ground with a very audible thump. I thought this was a good sign…but the only other chance to sneak was during the stealth mission.

 

The choice between Light and Dark.

 

I enjoyed this aspect of Jedi Knight, and I was disappointed it was omitted here. After all, the story really picks up when Kyle thinks Jan is dead. He is angry…and he starts hating Desann and all he stands for. Dark side emotions are they…just as it was in the original JK. Such a plot device may even have worked…because after turning to the Dark side, he could still have gone through much of the story, still fought and killed Desann…but then would have had to face Skywalker, who could have brought him back to the Light side once more. Academic, I know…

 

Levels

 

I thought the level design was a great mixture of the more structured Dark Forces, and the simply vast labyrinthine JK levels. I can’t say I ever really got lost – and that could be seen as a problem too, because there is an apparent linear path through much of the game. To be fair…this is a problem exhibited by many games, and those offering alternative paths are usually the exception rather than the rule. It simply would have been nice to see Outcast become one of the exceptions.

 

One of my main concerns was the vertical aspect of the levels…and that was certainly laid to rest – even if they did use the same tactic in places as the original JK, by darkening some of the drops…that didn’t go down as far as you thought.

 

The homage to the original Dark Forces in the very first level (Kejim), in terms of level design and the code breaker, was much appreciated. It placed you solidly back in familiar territory, while improving on it in every way.

 

I was a little disappointed with Nar Shadaa. The graphical design and use of colour was great, and the cantina scene was awesome…and I didn’t even mind the snipers or Gran set strategically around the map. No, I have a different reason for not enjoying it as much as I’d hoped…because you were seeing much of the same architecture throughout that level. Regardless of it’s size, it felt too compact, and set in one area, and not enough like a sprawling city - an element that strangely JK’s version seemed to capture. The only other issue I had with it was the lack of neutral civilians (which I discuss a little later), and a missed opportunity in the Cantina, i.e., no Jizz Band. I had really hoped for this, and I feel it would have been such a great addition to the cantina scene – especially considering a Gran tells you that you’re not allowed ‘back stage’ at one point. There was no band or other type of performer in evidence. No neutral patrons ducking for cover. And it disappointed me a bit until the fight broke out.

 

I have to admit, I just kept reloading to play out that battle again and again. This first real fight using the lightsaber and Force powers was a great blast.

 

The Swamp level disappointed not in it’s design (which I really liked – including the crashed pods, vegetation, rock structures, the ruins and the temporary pathways), but in it’s lack of natural wildlife. A swamp is by it’s very nature a place that is teeming with life. Think Dagobah. Yet, all I saw in the swamp were plants (apart from Swamp, Storm and Shadow Troopers). No other indigenous life. No insects. No dangerous animals. I didn’t see a thing, and I found that unrealistic. I heard a ruckus, which I assume was a Swamp Trooper getting chomped by the local wildlife…but I didn’t see it.

 

I also found that level a bit too bright – and I mean the rock textures, not just the lighting. I guess I just like my swamps dark and dreary, with plenty of moisture vapour… The rain was a very nice touch, especially the way it hit the lightsaber. And I had no problems navigating my way through the level – but then I usually have a good sense of direction.

 

The only other problem was that my system started chugging quite a bit throughout that level – and this perhaps is partly the reason why a lot of the wildlife was not in evidence. The impact on system performance would have been even greater.

 

The only other thing I thought strange on a level were the abysses aboard the Doomgiver. It didn’t feel quite right, considering it was a spaceship, to have such enormous empty spaces apparently serving no purpose within it. I enjoyed most of the other levels throughout the game, but this one lost a bit of credibility with me, I must admit.

 

Underwater levels and swimming, were noticeable largely by their absence. The only place you find water you can actually jump in was in the Swamp level…and it was pointless, because I found no reason to even go under water. There also seemed to be one standard animation – wading through water. For me, this was a huge disappointment. I had enjoyed the underwater levels in both JK and MotS, where in some instances it allowed you to go undetected until the last moment, or you had to explore to find a way through to another part of a level. This entire element was missing from Outcast.

 

The puzzle designs were, for the most part, in keeping with the environments. I know a lot of people hated the puzzles, but I enjoyed most of them, and they were very reminiscent of both Dark Forces and Jedi Knight. Admittedly some of the puzzles took a while to work out…but when you did work them out, you kicked yourself for overlooking the obvious. I was glad to see the return of the code breakers, too, which were much better implemented here than those in DF.

 

Having said that, at certain points the puzzles became a little frustrating. Not due to their difficulty…I found most of them logical, and worked out all of them with a little persistence…but they started to interrupt the gameflow. The puzzle I disliked the most was the ‘Rubik Cube’ type puzzle on the Doomgiver. That puzzle simply made no sense to me. There were no elevators, ladders, or any other methods for those personnel to get to their locations (short of flying or using Force Jump)…and it slowed the game to a dead stop after an intense battle, so it’s presence jarred slightly, and took my focus away from the game, where other puzzles had largely blended in with the rest of the environments.

 

It also has to be said that most of the levels were quite linear, apart from a few. You have to go a certain way, and do things in a certain order, so that you can complete most of the levels. This is still a problem with many, many games, so it is not fair to raise this point about Jedi Outcast alone. Personally, I had been hoping for more levels that offered two or more pathways to get from A to B…particularly in terms of engaging a more stealthy approach, but also in terms of variety, and increasing the replay value in the longer term. However, I had really been expecting some linearity, due to the intense development cycle – so it was not a glaring disappointment.

 

The attention to detail on all levels was great…right down to using the Aurebesh font on the control panels – which made it all the more authentic. Incidentally, it translates properly into readable English. I know…I spent a lot of time translating a lot of panels (including the few that were back-to-front). All in all, some really creative design elements were incorporated. The absence of a civilian population did mean the level design in both Bespin and Nar Shadaa did not cater for the presence of citizens, even ex-citizens. There were no living quarters, shops, etc., in evidence at all, and I felt this detracted a little from the realism of walking around a ‘city’.

 

 

The NPC Factor

 

Citizens were noticeable only by their absence. I found no neutral citizens in either Nar Shadaa or Bespin to protect, and I found it rather odd, as these had featured heavily in both JK and MotS. It was fun in JK (during the Nar Shadaa and Baron’s Hed levels) just to roleplay a bit and protect the citizens from attack – ie, the ‘moral’ type gameplay.

 

To be fair, there were a number of NPC allies around, many of which needed protection. From the freed Artus prisoners, to the Bespin Security personnel, from the New Republic troops, to the Jedi students…and who can forget Jan Ors, Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker? All of these were used to great effect in the game.

 

Knowing that one of the levels was going to be Bespin, I was looking forward to seeing lots of Ugnaughts at work too…so I was quite surprised to only encounter a handful all the time I was in the Bespin levels. I even accidentally shot one…and instead of cowering down, or running away, he started blasting at me until I was forced to kill him. Seemed a bit short-tempered for an Ugnaught catching a stray shot, if you ask me, and considering the amount of attention spent on getting the skin accurate this time around, it seemed strange it was not used to it’s best advantage.

 

It would have been nice to see some other races at the Jedi Academy…such as Mon Calamaris, Twi’leks, etc., as some of these featured in the Jedi Academy novels. I can only hope that if another game in this series is ever made, such hopes will be fulfilled.

 

Apart from the annoying little Nippers in the Artus mine, where were all the critters? Admittedly the Water Cyc and Drugon from JK were rubbish (the Dianogas in DF and MotS were better), but at least the Mailocs and the Kell Dragons made up for that. I didn’t catch site of any other beasts at all, and I felt a bit let down by that.

 

Gran (TD, E-11) – a regular of the series (unfortunately).

Rodian (Disruptor) – another regular, this time packing a different weapon.

Weequay (Bowcaster) – well, I suppose Grave Tuskens would not have made much sense in this game.

Trandoshan (Heavy Repeater) – a cameo appearance.

 

I was a little disappointed to see many of the same enemies returning…Rodians, Gran, Trandoshan, and a skin replacement for the Grave Tuskens in the form of the Weequay. With the wealth of alien races in the Star Wars universe, it would have been nice to see a whole new set of characters, using a completely new arsenal of weapons. An Ithorian here, a Twi’lek there, a Devaronian lurking in the shadows… The only good thing about seeing them again was the fantastic level of detail – they actually looked superb.

 

Stormtrooper (E-11, Heavy Repeater, Flechette, Missile Launcher, Turret) – they seem to get tougher as you go along, and they’re certainly a lot smarter. I have to give a thumbs up to these guys…pull a weapon and they pick up another, shoot and they dodge, kill their buddies and they retreat, regroup, try to outflank you, the works. Great job. Hearing the officers’ pep talk was a nice touch, and the Stormie conversations were just brilliant. Whoever wrote those mini-scripts…you deserve an Oscar.

 

Swamp Trooper (Flechette) – it was a shame they only appeared on that one level, because they were very well designed – and I loved the way they hid in the water with just the top of their heads showing – or sniped from a clump of weeds. An excellent addition that could have been better utilised.

 

Imperial Officer (Brown, Grey, Black) – good to see a better variety of skins…and those in black were just plain nasty with a super-repeating E-11… I was surprised there were no Imperial Commandos in those funny helmets, though – it would have made the line-up complete.

 

TIE Fighter pilot – heh…run you suckers. And they did…but they couldn’t get away. These were probably the weakest enemies in the whole game, and a bit pointless.

 

Probe Droid – old faithful – but only really a challenge on Jedi Knight difficulty and above. Even so – they were more effective in outside areas where they could dodge and snipe at you – and I don’t think there were quite enough of them on patrol.

 

Interrogation Droid – It’s a shame there weren’t more of them in the levels before you got the saber…because after that, a quick throw and they were history. When stabbed by the needle of one of them, the view swam realistically before me in the best movie tradition. I thought this kind of ‘drugged’ view distortion was excellent, and really added to the immersion of the game. Excellent job.

 

Sentry Droid – An addition, and rather cool, I must say. But considering their resilience to blaster fire…I expected more than one saber-throw to take them down. Nevertheless, a more than worthy opponent in the earlier levels.

 

Mech Droid – Heh. I just loved these. They were so reminiscent of ED209, I was hoping just one of them would turn around and say ‘Lay down your weapon. You have 15 seconds to comply’. That would have been the ultimate funny, IMO. Nice design.

 

AT-ST – and how cool they looked. I have to disagree with anyone who didn’t like their appearance this time around, because they rocked, big time. The attention to detail, right down to the clanking gait, was simply superb. And driving one was awesome.

 

Sentry Gun (Wall, Floor) – pretty standard, and easy to take down once you know where they are.

 

Reborn – in all their different varieties, were just great to fight. From the physical taunts, to the sneering contempt, and they weren’t too shoddy with the lightsaber either – especially that uppercut slice… I enjoyed gripping them, and saber-throwing through their mid-section.

 

Shadow Troopers – yeah, these guys taught me a lesson or three in that arena, until I used Force speed to get around their defences. I loved the bits where they were hiding in the shadows…and you suddenly see the red sabers ignite…very effective.

 

Tavion – she was tough. Yep, she kept beating me until I worked out a decent strategy. Much better than Sariss or any of those other Dark Jedi wannabes in JK.

 

Fyyar – A typical ego-maniacal Imperial, but he was tough too. Nice suit – and the only problem I had was I’d already figured out he’d be a boss character from the concept art, so I wasn’t surprised. So a slap on the wrist to whomever released that pic…it spoiled the guy’s entrance.

 

Desann – Old lizard-face himself. I have to say I didn’t find his appearance that surprising. If anything, I would have been disappointed to fight another human boss. I can’t complain about the end battle, either…it took me a while to kill him (I died on the first few attempts).

 

Luke Skywalker – I thought both the model and voice did the character credit. It would have been nice to hear Hamill’s voice…but the voice actor managed to capture some of the essence, so all-in-all I thought Skywalker was great.

 

Lando Calrissian – being voiced by Billy Dee Williams really added authenticity to this character. The design was also very good.

 

Jan Ors – looked great, and more true to her original appearance in DF. It was good to see the love aspect of the story developing, and the voice actor did a great job.

 

The Clothes Make The Man

 

And then there’s Kyle, of course. Nicely detailed, and sounding a bit more gravelly like he did in DF. It would have been nice to see Kyle in a different outfit…or several outfits…depending on the environment. I’m beginning to think he grabbed a whole shipment of the same outfits at a bargain price. Keeping up with the latest fashion is obviously not one of his priorities, and I’m getting worried he’s a compulsive obsessive when it comes to his wardrobe. Other than that, great detail.

 

Lock and Load

 

What would an FPS be without it’s weapons? Personally, I think most of the weapons are great. Those returning from JK are better implemented, and the new additions bring something new to the mix.

 

Stun Baton…obviously an improvement over fists as a melee weapon in some respects…and the stun effect is just plain cool. However, it does prevent the ability to go Jedi Boxing. Also, it’s only useful up close…and it’s hard to sneak up on opponents in Outcast.

 

Bryar Pistol – I always used to use the Bryar in JK for those long sniping shots (until I got hold of the Bowcaster of course), and now with a decent secondary fire mode, this gun’s even more useful for one-shot-kills at a distance (if you hit the head).

 

E-11 Blaster Carbine – I found the rapid-fire secondary mode slightly more accurate, and certainly more deadly. The primary fire seemed as inaccurate as always.

 

Disruptor Rifle – I didn’t use the primary fire much, but the secondary fire was excellent – right down to the design of the sniper zoom, and powering up a shot to disintegrate an enemy.

 

Bowcaster – relatively the same as it’s predecessor…but it looks much, much better. And I still make a lot of use of it – particularly the secondary fire for shooting around corners. I also used the multi-shot more when dealing with a roomful of enemies this time around, so it was actually more useful.

 

The Heavy Repeater’s secondary fire mode is basically the primary fire mode of the Concussion Rifle, and it looks much improved, while not packing the same punch. I made heavy use of this on roomfuls of Stormies – and taking out those floor-mounted sentry guns. The primary fire mode is very fast, but nowhere near as accurate as the old Imperial Repeater, so I just stopped using it. I have to say I preferred JK’s Imperial Repeater and the Concussion Rifle as a separate weapon with it’s own secondary fire mode.

 

Flechette Launcher – the flak cannon of the Star Wars universe, with a secondary fire equivalent to a grenade launcher. I made fair use of it, but it didn’t pack as much of a punch as I expected.

 

Missile Launcher – the replacement for the Rail Detonator…which was basically a rocket launcher, anyway. A bit too much like a traditional rocket launcher for my tastes, and I only used it a couple of times throughout the whole game. I never used the Rail Detonator much either…except for a laugh, when the detonator sticks to a Stormie and he runs around until it explodes.

 

Demp 2 – I found it really useful for taking down the Mech-droids, flying Sentry droids and AT-STs.

 

Thermal Detonators – yes, you fooled everyone, didn’t you? Switching the primary and secondary fire modes like that. I blew myself up twice before I twigged what was going on…and yes, I know I should RTFM.

 

Trip Mines – hooray! I used them all over the place – especially after dying after a surprise attack from somewhere. They didn’t get me a second time, I can tell you. Plant mine(s), trigger event…sit back and watch the bodies fly. Or being cautious, opening a door, lobbing a trip mine just inside, wait to be detected and step back. Boom. Great stuff.

 

Detonator Packs – I made good use of these as well.

 

The Lightsaber

 

Yes, as far as I’m concerned it’s the crowning glory of this contribution to the series. The combinations of attacks, and the quality of the animation when undertaking these moves, is simply superb…and the lightsaber itself simply looks awesome, as if it came out of a movie. The clash, the saber-lock, the interaction with the environment (even if it is largely a type of decal that disappears over time) is just brilliant. The only thing missing was the ability to cut through doors and walls, and I wasn’t really expecting that using this engine. I am 100% impressed with the lightsaber.

 

The Saber defence, although similar to JK, looks far better, IMO. I thought the gradual increase in blocking accuracy was a lot more realistic than JK as well – and negated the need to engage Force Speed to repel Imperial Repeater attacks.

 

The Saber throw is much, much better implemented, and I used it a great deal more than I ever did in MotS. I liked the way it played a greater role when tackling certain things in the environment.

 

I spent a full 20 minutes just playing with the lightsaber when I first got hold of it, trying out all the moves, like backflips, forward rolls, lunges, and spinning attacks.

 

Now the problem with it was that it did not light up dark areas. A precedent had already been set in the game universe, in both JK and MotS, that the lightsaber would actually light up your surroundings. I found it disappointing, therefore, that when entering a darkened area in Jedi Outcast, your lightsaber elicited no illumination whatsoever – except on the bodies of your enemies. In a similar vein, you could keep your lightsaber ignited while under water in both JK and MotS, yet this ability was also curtailed. It seems strange to me to change these things when they have already been established in the game series.

 

Of course, the other odd thing about it was the blue colour was never explained…when it was obviously different from the one’s Kyle had used previously. I’m not a continuity geek, but this one is even bugging me.

 

(continued...)

[StormHammer]

(continued...)

 

 

Use The Force…

 

There was a great deal more incentive to use all aspects of the Force this time around, and I thought that was great. I used all of the Force powers available this time…when in JK I only ever used them sparingly – a jump here, speed there, a quick weapon pull, and a bit of Persuasion until the end battle with Jerec. In Outcast…you had to use the Force to get past some of the puzzles, and I think that added a great deal more depth to actually being a Jedi. It wasn’t just restricted to Jump (although that may have been slightly over-used), but you had to Push, Pull and Mind Trick your way through levels as well. Like in Nar Shadaa…I was stumped the first time I tackled the garbage cart puzzle…because it just never occurred to me to use Pull and Push. So I’m actually grateful that I was Forced into utilising all of the powers at my disposal a lot more.

 

Speed – the slow-mo was okay…but I did not like the visual distortion effect. It made it harder to actually aim properly, especially when turning. Having said that, it was also a little too easy to take down some of the enemies with Speed enabled.

 

Jump – much easier to use, IMO. Just hold down your jump key for longer, and you jump higher, depending on your Force level. The pain of misjudging a jump was simply taken away.

 

Push – mostly a vast improvement, and it was just too much fun throwing enemies off ledges into chasms. The only thing I couldn’t seem to do was push small objects on a level, such as crates…which seemed to be rooted to the spot. Other than that, it was very realistic.

 

Pull – again, a vast improvement, IMO. I just couldn’t resist pulling enemies toward me, especially when it reached level 3, and I was killing enemies outright if they impacted with an object on their incoming flight. Great stuff.

 

Heal – a more logical implementation, IMO – with a nice nod to the Jedi meditation stance at level 1. Nicely done.

 

Mind Trick – a vast improvement over the disappearing act that was Persuasion. From a straightforward ‘I am no danger’…up to ‘Follow me and kill my enemies’, I found it simply superb. Great stuff.

 

Grip – Hahaha…it’s just brilliant, especially level 3. I just kept gripping the Swamp Troopers and throwing them around…

 

Lightning – frying tonight, in glorious techno-dazzle. Love it – and I only went Dark side once in JK, so I never really used it before. This time, I did.

 

You still, technically, get the same number of Force powers to use in the SP game as JK, although you no longer have a choice, which is a bit disappointing. The saving grace is that most of these new implementations are a vast improvement over JK’s. I was impressed by the fact that the 3 levels of each force power enable you to do slightly different things…whereas in JK, they simply allowed you to do the same thing for longer.

 

As your enemies no longer go invisible in SP, you don’t need Seeing, so I didn’t miss it. I discount the Shadows Troopers, because I believe their disappearing act is more to do with their armour, and not the Force.

 

I would have liked to have seen Absorb in there too, as it would have been welcome when combating the lightning throwing Reborn, Tavion, Shadow Troopers and Desann. However, I suppose it may have unbalanced some of those battles.

 

When all’s said and done…I loved the new implementations of the Force powers.

 

Conclusions

 

Strange as it may seem after all the issues I outlined earlier, this game has a lot of great things going for it…and in my mind, they far outweigh the bad points.

 

Technically and graphically Outcast is superior to it’s predecessors (and many other recent games), and it has a great array of gameplay elements. I can’t help feeling that Raven have managed to pull off an exceptional job in such a short development time. It truly is an astounding achievement, and this has instantly become one of my favourite games.

 

However, it does have shortcomings to consider…the lack of civilians, no Dark/Light path, no swimming, no really challenging critters, the same aliens, and the show-stopping bugs. It left me with the impression that it could have gone a lot further, and then, in my mind, it would truly have been the best game I’ve ever played.

 

Is it better than Jedi Knight? Yes, but only just, IMO.

 

Lastly, Raven managed (whether intentionally or not) to build in the Valley Of The Jedi and a Swamp level…which corresponds nicely with the jediknightii.net forums. For that I have to applaud you. *claps*

 

The test of any SP game is whether it has replay value...and I can say in all honestly, I think it does. I will certainly be playing through it again...

[Hiigara]

some people have to much time on their hands IMO

 

 

[bish]

forgive me for being stupid lol but where was the mini shoot the tie-fighter game?

 

Ive completed the game on default level and dont remember engaging tie-fighters at any point.

 

I have to say i was praying onboard the doomgiver that i could climb into one of those moored tie's and use it as my means of escape, until jan arrived again

[StormHammer]

Originally posted by bish

forgive me for being stupid lol but where was the mini shoot the tie-fighter game?

 

It's easy to miss, actually. I nearly went straight past it myself.

 

Aboard the Doomgiver, after you've sent the code to the X-Wings, you should enter a large area, with a huge window (on the left) looking out into space. There is a bridge leading to a pillar in the middle of the room (in front of you as you enter). I just walked right under that bridge at first...and then curiosity got the better of me. The door on the other side of the bridge is locked...so you need to kill an Imperial to get his key. Then you ride down an elevator into a small room at the bottom, and after killing the enemies there, you can hit the (flashing blue) console, and you'll be in control of a laser cannon...which you can use to shoot at passing TIE fighters. It's great fun.