Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (PC)

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Hidden in the depths of the galaxy, Star Wars legend Luke Skywalker has set up a school for promising young Jedi. When a ship of incoming students crash lands, you'd be right to suspect something wasn't right. Five minutes later, you'd be absolutely certain, as Jedi Academy throws you straight into a PC first-person action extravaganza, with much light-sabre waving to be done.

After some initial training, the academy forms a base from which various missions are launched across the galaxy. There are ample opportunities to visit familiar places from the classic Star Wars galaxy and to meet some familiar faces along the way. There are numerous levels and quests, and each one requires a cocktail of action, guile and a bit of common sense--oh, and the occasional Jedi mind trick. These levels are pleasantly challenging and mighty good fun to play.

You can call on a broad arsenal of weapons--with the light sabre available right from the start--and as you progress, you must build up your Force skills, which will ultimately help you out of many a sticky spot.

If you can overlook the very occasional lapse in enemy AI, and just let the sky-high production values soak in, the game proves to be cracking entertainment. Arguably it doesn't move the whole formula forwards a great deal, but you get a thumpingly good game backed up with strong multi-player options. --Simon Brew

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Customer reviews

review by: Leinschen date: 2008-11-12 rating:
expected better
This game is good but in places it can be somewhat strange, however it's not impossible such as going through the crushing machines before you get turned into a pancake for example.

that aside however it can be great fun engaging in combat it's very similar to KOTOR in that respect however you don't have to contend with switching through the inventory, and then you got your force powers which are simplifed to the F keys. however somethings stopped this game dead in it's tracks like a lack of more levels, character customization, and more of a challenge from the A.I.

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review by: The Irvertron date: 2008-07-09 rating:
Really worth it
I started playing this round a mates when I was at uni. It has just come out and I was in geek ore. However the days of uni kicked in and going out plus coursework became a priority and the game was cast into shadow. 5 years on and I've bought it...I won't comment on the story as the others have covered it...but...you start WITH a lightsaber and powers. The moves take a bit of practise, but once you've got them you are pretty much unstoppable...until you have to fight a reborn that is. I find the levels really well thought out and the array of enemies interesting to fight.

Great game so far

Would recommend to anyone that doesn't have it in their starwars collection.

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review by: thenuttysquirrel date: 2007-11-26 rating:
Good but not brilliant
First off, I bought this game as part of the Standard Games Volume One pack, which is great value for money. Jedi Academy is a very easily playable game, and one that I did definitely enjoy. I like the options of either FPS with a large array of weapons or the 3rd person lightsaber action. At the start the FPS mode will probably be more popular, as you get to pick off a variety of blaster wielding goons. Later on the lightsabers come into their own as you have to fight through waves of Dark Jedi.

The story is fine, and the cutscenes are well done, and not too long. You can choose which Force Powers to focus on, which is another plus. My main problem with the game is that I never felt really involved in the universe. My main point of comparison for this game is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which was released at about the same time. That game is an RPG, so they are not equivalents, but this game just doesn't have the depth of interaction with people and places that KOTOR has, or indeed other FPS games. The landscapes feel a bit claustrophobic, and the interface is wooden - the mission briefing screens look like they are from a game much older than this one. The single player missions are also quite short - it didn't take me very long at all to finish the game, and when the big light/dark side choice came I thought 'oh, that's quite early', but the mission after that is your last one.

This is a game worth playing - very easy to pick up, and good variety of play. It just doesn't quite measure up to various of the other absolute top notch Star Wars games out there.

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review by: Stefmyster date: 2007-05-25 rating:
Jedi knight3 - Jedi academy
I bought this game, hoping it was going to be refreshingly cool due to the customisation of the character. however i soon find the various mods were limited to 3 species for male and 3 for female.

Also it gets a bit boring fighting numerous dark jedi after a while as it becomes a point you just go in there clicking like mad and it's pretty much over.

The plot wasn't all too exciting even, the ending was a bit too quick and much the same as last game in that it is a dark jedi.

It also gets a bit repetited with the same scenario- slashing dark jedi,
but the challenges of the game itself are smashing, it usually takes a couple of days to get through on some levels.

i just think the plot was exhausted aswell as the scenarios.

Hoooowwwwevver... the chance to go speedin' round on a swoop was great fun, once you got the hang of it and the new weapons are too cool, even though some are a bit of overkill.

As with the last one, i could not master all the lightsaber moves, which was a shame as they would have been cool.

All in all, if your into killing a good many dark jedi, this game for you, if you are into something a bit more mentally challenging, go elsewhere.

Why have i rated it as 4 stars? cos the swoop rides and the missions such as running away from a mutated rancor and the choice of lightsabers.


review by: westy147 date: 2007-05-22 rating:
Terrific
Having recently updated a very old PC I thought I would try out this instalment of the Jedi Knight series - having enjoyed Outcast & Jedi Knight II.

This game is great. You have the usual choice of weapons - however as you have a light sabre from the off I kept hold of that. The levels are good, some quite lengthy and there are plenty of foes to hack through. There are also a large number of Dark Jedi to fight - which is great if you like to use your light sabre.

Perhaps the best thing about the game is the depth and variety that comes with this. You have a different light sabres and styles to choose from while you need certain powers to complete levels. There are monsters that you cannot defeat in battle as well - such as the mutant Rancour and the Sandworms.

All in all very entertaining.

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PC & Video Games . Refinements . Platform (feature_browse-bin) . PC & Macintosh . Windows

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