Taos Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 This is one of the first articles from E3 written about Jedi Acadamy by IGN..... May 13, 2003 - Just a few weeks ago LucasArts surprised everyone with the sudden announcement of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, the third in the Jedi Knight series. Scheduled for release this year, it seemed there was no way Jedi Academy could be anything more than a small upgrade from Jedi Knight II. Boy, was I wrong. Jedi Academy is not light years ahead of its predecessor, but the game has some distinct changes and improvements that should make it the best iteration yet. Playing as a Twi'lek Jedi (remember the green chick in Jabba's Palace?), my mission for this available E3 level was to rescue some trapped academy students. Easy enough for someone with this much power. Unlike Jedi Knight II, where you spend the first four levels of the game without a lightsaber, my Jedi was fully versed in the ways of the force. My sexy little Twi'lek came stocked with over a half dozen force powers including drain, which is definitely a Dark Force power. She walks up to a cat, puts away her lightsaber and literally sucks the life force out of him. Oh, how many dates have I had then ended like that. The control, which was admittedly a little bit wonky at times, seems to be fixed. The camera was a problem a few times, but the overall control was solid. Twi'lek could jump, flip, and do a myriad of other cool moves. But it's her lightsabre that was really impressive. The lightsabre, double-bladed just like Darth Maul's, can be separated into two different sabers for double-fisted style with just a press of a button. More over, you can change the colors and properties of your sabre at the touch of a button. It may sound strange, but it's fantastic in practice. Battles are faster than in the original as well. Getting swarmed by baddies, just a few taps of the attack buttons leads to some beautifully choreographed swings of the sabre. Infiltrating the facility where the students were trapped, I had to slice open a vent and crawl through an airshaft. Dropping in, I was greeted by several unpleasant guards who were easily dispatched with a few shots from my Wookie crossbow. But the best (or worst?) was yet to come. Just when it seemed like I'd done my job, the students warned me to get them out as fast as possible, because there was a rancor on the loose. Cue a cut-scene showing one big, nasty, controller-rumbling rancor. Facing the rancor, easily four times my size, taught me some valuable lessons. First, having a wide variety of armaments is a definite necessity when facing a giant, hungry, slobbering eating machine. Second, foregoing those weapons and trying to use force powers against a beast that is nearly impervious to such things is a bad idea. And thirdly, never get too close to a rancor, because they can pick you up and eat you. Thus ended my first, but certainly not last, experience with Jedi Academy. There's still plenty of info to be discovered and dished (there's a create-a-character function yet to be shown and a mysterious set of meters on the left side of the screen), so keep your eyes peeled for IGN for more details soon. -- Hilary Goldstein I like the sound of how things are shaping up. This also ends the debate about the staff saber splitting in two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacky_Baccy Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 HOLY SWEET MOTHER OF LUCAS THIS SOUNDS GOOD :eek: W:eek:W *faints* ...This, is going, to ROCK O.O *dies* Oh yeah, thanx for the heads-up, Leemu! =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy1984 Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Wow.. you can break the staff off into 2 sabers. I wonder if you can then alternate to turning one of the sabers off and just going to single sabre. Allowing you to possess all three modes at once. That would be cool Theres also an xbox hands on though that is ign insider.. I wonder if it is any different to the pc hands on?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iodius Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Sounds good, but cummon, lightsabers aren't pieces of lego! Break it here and break it there, pheh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.K Luke Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 yea I read that too and certainly feel the hype! Can't wait for the game to be released... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanaJedi Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 WOW that sounds SWEEEEET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Thanks, Leemu. If the forums hadn't been down, I'd have posted that myself. If they're right about splitting the lightsaber, then I think it's a great idea, and will definitely balance out some of the problems people were talking about regarding the different styles of saber combat. All we need now is some in-game footage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanaJedi Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 CRAP! :( :( Publisher: LucasArts Developer: Raven Software Genre: Action Release Date: 11/14/2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by PrimoSidone CRAP! :( :( Publisher: LucasArts Developer: Raven Software Genre: Action Release Date: 11/14/2003 This is what was expected, so they are right on time. Personally, I think the splitting double saber is a bit much. The game does sound cool though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanaJedi Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 it would be nice if i could play it in summer vacation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by PrimoSidone it would be nice if i could play it in summer vacation I wish I had summer vacation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJedi Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Hmmmmm, splitting the staff, I don't know man I was hoping they would all be seperate but then again this could lead to some interesting gameplay situations. I will be trying it out and probly sticking with the single just because I think the lightstaff is overated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emon Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Keep in mind that this is an article by a foolish IGN staff member, not everything he says is going to be accurate. He can easily under or overstate things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Blackrose Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by Emon Keep in mind that this is an article by a foolish IGN staff member, not everything he says is going to be accurate. He can easily under or overstate things. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I'm surprised no one said "take IGN's news with a grain of salt" sooner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jolts Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 make up your own minds and watch the trailer on the official site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacky_Baccy Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Trailer?! *runs to the official site* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler_Durden Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 I just wanted to mention that the saber maul used in TPM was in fact 2 sabers locked together. I remember reading that somewhere but i can't remember where. Don't hate for that last statement. But when you think about it he could have used 2 sabers seperately at any time but i guess the situation was more advantageous for him. When you think about it, if the sabers were in fact one, wouldn't both of them have broken had obi wan cut them in half as he did? This is all speculation of course but it's pretty logical to me. I can't wait for this game, it will be the best game ever for me...... again!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Here are some more impressions from HomeLAN about JA. There's not a great deal of new information, but there's this little gem (shameless rip): The game’s engine, like Jedi Outcast, is still based on id Software’s Quake III engine but it’s pretty clear in our E3 demo of Jedi Academy that Raven has done a lot to improve upon it, including better character models and lighting. Indeed, when our Jedi sliced into the Rancor it actually left scars on the creature (not that it helped much; the Rancor eventually killed us). More drivable vehicles like the Scout Walker from Jedi Outcast will be featured in Jedi Academy and multiplayer modes will be present in both the PC and Xbox versions of the game. One of the new gameplay modes, Siege can best be described as Jedi Academy’s version of Assault, which should appear to the multiplayer team community. As with Jedi Outcast, the plan is for the PC version to have unsupported mod tools released after Jedi Academy ships to stores. So saber damage on models is definitely in there. But most importantly...we now know there is an MP mode called Siege, and if it is like the Assault mode in UT, then it's going to ROCK! Thank you, Raven. I can't wait to play it, because I always liked UT's Assault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertogJan Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 YEAH!! Siege Hehe nice to know, I liked assault but I felt it didn't belong in a game like UT... Well I think it DOES belong in JA, great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonepadawan Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Siege sounds awsome... you can just see a load of jedi charging a wall, the players on top firing guns, then as the opposing team force jumps onto the wall, they draw their sabers and hack them to pieces... mmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Originally posted by lonepadawan Siege sounds awsome... you can just see a load of jedi charging a wall, the players on top firing guns, then as the opposing team force jumps onto the wall, they draw their sabers and hack them to pieces... mmm Yeah...I think they're going to have to put in a lot of high walls to keep out the invaders. I think this kind of mode could become very interesting...particularly if they were to try and introduce elements like turrets that you can place for auto-defence, like the 'base defence' missions in Unreal 2's SP. That would absolutely rock, IMHO. Raven, please take note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurgan Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 I just wanted to mention that the saber maul used in TPM was in fact 2 sabers locked together. I remember reading that somewhere but i can't remember where. Don't hate for that last statement. But when you think about it he could have used 2 sabers seperately at any time but i guess the situation was more advantageous for him. When you think about it, if the sabers were in fact one, wouldn't both of them have broken had obi wan cut them in half as he did? This is all speculation of course but it's pretty logical to me. I can't wait for this game, it will be the best game ever for me...... again!!! Actually I don't think Maul's saber was ever meant to split in two. You'll notice in the film (TPM) when it is cut, the one end sparks and shuts off. It obviously was not usable again... Its feasible that in the 50+ years between TPM and JA sabers have been developed that were able to connect handle-to-handle for double saber action... just as "water-proof" sabers were likely developed between TPM and AOTC (if not before, among more expensive models). I wonder how it will be handle in multiplayer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swat Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/jediacademy/preview_6028090.html nice read. whatsmore it says that we get to see familiar faces, such as Chewie in the game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertogJan Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Yay!! Chewie!! Well it didn't contain that much of information, beside the fact that you can customize your hilt with different colors And they are suggesting that Siege will be pretty massive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Well, it also mentions this... It's conceivable though, that our Jedi character wasn't particularly well equipped for the job in hand, since the game's structure is such that you'll have the option to choose your own path through the game--only being required to complete 80 percent of the missions to reach the end--and, in most cases, return to missions that you've previously failed once you have a few extra Jedi tricks in your arsenal. Until now we haven't known that you can skip parts of the game in order to complete it. Unless they are simply talking about the Light Side and Dark Side missions, which are supposed to be different - but they seem to be talking about the game as a whole. Anyway, I like the idea of being able to return to a mission that previously failed. It means that for the first time...you can fail and continue to play, instead of being confronted with a Game Over screen. That's excellent news for me, because it was one thing that really annoyed me in JO. Thanks, Raven! I'm even more pumped about seeing the Siege mode in action - and I hope they are including bots (revamped with better intelligence etc. ) for those levels so I can play them offline if I have problems with lag online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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