Jedi Knight 2 − Jedi Outcast

The latest in a long line of great Q3-engine games arrived in stores almost 2 months ago. If you’re looking for a good game to get you ready for Attack of the Clones, which debuts on May 16th, this is it. Reviews have been very favorable, with only some of the more bizarre and pointless puzzles drawing criticism. The GameSpot U.K.‘s review:

“However, Jedi Outcast soon transforms from a typical first-person shooter to an exceptional Star Wars action game that contains some of the best combat sequences since Half-Life, the most distinctive control mechanics since Max Payne, and the most involving plot in a Star Wars game since Jedi Knight. … There’s nothing quite like walking into a room of storm troopers and sending them all crashing to the floor with a force-filled flick of your wrist, or fending off a cantina full of pistol-wielding drunks with nothing other than your lightsabre.”

The Adrenaline Vault also has an excellent review, which is very well-written and nicely laid out. Considering how much time it spends discussing the lightsaber, it seems that you can pretty much play the whole game with just your lightsaber and force powers, which is very cool.

If you do get the game, make sure to patch it to version 1.03 to because it has “four new Duel levels, fixes several multiplayer and singleplayer issues, and adds EAX 3.0 and OpenAL support” (ShackNews | LucasArts).

If you’d like to try before you buy, ShackNews reports that Jedi Knight 2 Demo [Coming] Soon:

“LucasArts sends word that they’ll be releasing a demo of Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast this Friday. It will contain a level not found in the retail version of the game, though this level was shown at E3 2001. Five weapons will be available in the map, as will various Force powers.”

Since the game is based on the Quake III Team Arena Engine and was developed by Raven, a veteran of the id engines, the graphics are amazing, the multiplayer is top-notch and you can create your own maps and levels. JediKnightII.Net has instructions for creating levels in QERadiant, the official editor for the Quake III Team Arena Engine.