Awwwwwwww sithspit! You know whats coming! Youve been waiting for it, and now its here. Im not going to preamble about with this one, lets dive right in. Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. Youve all played it. Its your baby. Its the reason you have shown any interest in what Im doing at all, and it is just perfect. A highly sung paragon of a bygone age of gaming. Before the micro-payments. Before the EA-mpire. You once again take on the role of Kyle Katarn, ex-Mercenary, and now ex-Jedi, since edging perilously close to falling to the Dark Side during Mysteries Of The Sith. After saving the Valley Of The Jedi from the predations of Jerec, and taking on none other than Mara Jade as an apprentice (im still playing through JK, but I cant wait to try out MJ. No, not that one. But come on, canonical purple lightsaber, from before Samuel L. Jackson got his monopoly on it. Shame that we arent going to see any in Episode VII because of it... But Im going off on a tangent now. Lets close these parentheses. Watch out for the jarring, mid-sentence rejoining), you delved too deeply into the ruins of Dromund Kaas, gave into your anger, and had to be pulled back from the abyss by your own pupil. We therefore open JK:JO with Kyle having cut himself from the Force, to remove himself from that temptation, and returning to the mercenary life with your long suffering partner in crime/romantic intent, Jan Ors. And who can blame him? Dat ass tho. Yo Kim, I respect you, and imma let you finish, but you know where this reference is headed, so Im gonna leave you chuckling at the thought of Kanye telling his wife a Star Wars character has a better ass than her. We rejoin Kyle aboard the Ravens Claw, the successor to the good old Moldy Crow of DF and JK fame, the latter having plowed into the surface of Ruusan at the crescendo of Jedi Knight, on a routine recon mission to investigate rumours linking the Imperial Remnant to the Valley of the Jedi, which soon escalates into Jan being seemingly murdered by a pair of Remnant aligned Dark Jedi, the Chistori, Desann, and his human apprentice, Tavion, and Kyle reclaiming his powers and lightsaber (somehow now blue, having been green in JK, and Orange in MOTS), hellbent on seeking revenge for the death of his oldest friend. But you know this. Back to front, if youre anything like me. Released in 2002, the game had experienced many changes since JK/MOTS. A new design studio, a new game engine (Quake III), and a considerable visual upgrade, though after a 5 year development cycle, that much is to be expected. What hadnt changed, was the intense focus on Story, plot, and intriguing characters. There were twists and turns, overlaying a tried and true vendettademption motif, and plenty of cameos from your favourite faces (Luke, Lando, Mon Mothma, Yavin, Bespin, and a whole host of different Imperial foot soldiers and crooked alien henchmen to shoot/dismember/force grip over a precipice). The lightsaber mechanic, state of the art though it had been for JK 1997, was rebuilt for JK:JO, providing players, hands down, the best lightsaber dueling simulation to date. Thereby making the Multiplayer side of the game, which had been something of a disappointment in the previous iteration, one of the greatest ever constructed, with a community who still, to this day, fill servers with battle sparks and blaster bolts, whooshing noises and electricial crackling. And the Force Powers! Whilst not as expansive a roster of powers as the following years Knights of the Old Republic, it was still a formidable mix of Light and Dark Side Attacks and Buffs, in a context were there are acceptable reasons for Kyle justifying the use of Force Lightning to fry Stormtroopers in their armour, or drain the Life Energy from a Reborn Jedi. All in all, Jedi Outcast, is the poster boy for Star Wars done right. You have all of the corner stones of what makes a good Star Wars story: action and adventure, super-powers and extraordinary feats, romance, intrigue, humour and deep, relatable characters. You feel the impact of Jans murder, and agree that it is correct, despite Kyles past weaknesses, and current instability, that he reclaim his mantle and hunt her killers down. You feel Kyles conflict, as, during his quest for vengeance, his better nature continually fights to asserts its hold over his grieving psych. You feel the same relief, upon the revelation that she is still alive, and the climax of Kyles internal struggle (in allowing Tavion to live) reveals him to still be the champion of Light that we all know and love. And you nearly shit yourself, deep in the bowels of the Temples of Yavin, as you square off against the colossal scaly bulk of Desann. Though that last one may just be me. It is a timeless piece of Star Wars storytelling, likely now nullified by the hideous Canon-gate debacle that Disney have created (#Canongate, lets see if we can get that hashtag going to show Darth Mickey what we think of his disregard for 15 years of Star Wars lore!). And now, the best bit. I want all of your favourite memories of Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, and I want as many of you as possible to fill the comments below with love and gushing. Lets show everyone who will listen just how much you love Jedi Knight, and how much you want more! I know I do. Share this status far and wide, invite all your friends to the page, lets try and get this thing rolling in earnest again, like at the beginning. If we can get 350 likes, like we did in that first week back in June 2012, Ill be forever in your debt. And Rmember: The Force Will Be With You, Always. Master Ash.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:00:42 +0000
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