Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

[Vostok 7]

Picked it up last night, played nearly until 2am...

Great game. I like it much much more than Jedi Outcast... The saber moves seem to flow much better, and the change to one swipe kills is much more realistic... I can take out mulitple enemys with one or two moves... much much more realistic.

Can't wait to use the double sabers and sabers staff... They were lots of fun in the demo!

If your playing multiplayer, look for "Kiran Horn" the double saber weilding TIE Pilot.

Vostok 7

[Malich]

I played the demo and loved it. I love the fact that you can weild dual sabers but it is kinda restrictive since there is only one fighting style.... I guess in the grand scheme of things there has to be a little give an take though.

Saber staff looked cool but I wasn't very effective with it. Just from playing the demo you get the feeling that the dark jedi are really bad arse....

I will definitely have to pick up a copy to go with the rest of the series.

[Vostok 7]

Get it. it is awesome, period.

You get to go to hoth and prowl around in Echo Base and ride tauntauns and kill wampas... One picks you up ESB style and you lop his arm off and run...

THIS GAME ROCKS!!!!

And I don't think it's as hard as Jedi Outcast quite yet... And yet you don't feel like you're being babied. The mission difficulties are very well done.

Vostok 7

[Malich]

Sweet!!

Jedi Outcast was cool. I had to reload a few times! In the end though I just couldn't beat the guy. (name slips my mind) I could drop a pillar on him w/ no problem though. But that was the only way I could beat it.

[Vostok 7]

Yeah the dude in the power armor was tough... I can't remember what you had to do, but I had to consult a walkthrough to do it...

I like Jedi Academy so far much better than Outcast. The lightsaber is still a little clunky, they could have really done more to improve it, but it seems much better than it did in Outcast.

Plus, you can control where your powers go... nice touch! Except Luke yells at you if you emphasize the dark side too much.

Vostok 7

[JB0]

Plus, you can control where your powers go... nice touch! Except Luke yells at you if you emphasize the dark side too much.

And then you lopped his head off, didn't you?

[Vostok 7]

And then you lopped his head off, didn't you?

I would have, but it was over the like com system.

Vostok 7

[JB0]

And then you lopped his head off, didn't you?

I would have, but it was over the like com system.

Vostok 7

FORCE CHOKE!

...

*needs to get this game*

[Hurin]

Bought it, but didn't even remove it from the bag before my girlfriend arrived at the door.

Boo!

H

[Vostok 7]

Bought it, but didn't even remove it from the bag before my girlfriend arrived at the door.

Boo!

H

Arg!

Vostok 7

[Radd]

Now all we needs is some good Macross skins/models. Why? Why not?!

[Abombz!!]

Now all we needs is some good Macross skins/models. Why? Why not?!

Jedy Outcast had its fair share of Gundam skins.

But then again.... I find non-transformable valkyries to be lame. <_<

[Radd]

Who said anything about Valkyries? I'm talking about Jedi Skull Squadron, leaping into the fray, lightsabers at the ready. Does no one else find the idea of Jedi Knight Kakizake to be hilarious?

[Abombz!!]

Who said anything about Valkyries? I'm talking about Jedi Skull Squadron, leaping into the fray, lightsabers at the ready. Does no one else find the idea of Jedi Knight Kakizake to be hilarious?

Nah... just pathetic.

[Vostok 7]

Who said anything about Valkyries? I'm talking about Jedi  Skull Squadron, leaping into the fray, lightsabers at the ready. Does no one else find the idea of Jedi Knight Kakizake to be hilarious?

Nah... just pathetic.

Bwaaaahaha OWNED!

Vostok 7

[JB0]

Who said anything about Valkyries? I'm talking about Jedi  Skull Squadron, leaping into the fray, lightsabers at the ready. Does no one else find the idea of Jedi Knight Kakizake to be hilarious?

Nah... just pathetic.

You'll be singing a diffrent tune when Kakizaki turns to the dark side, comes at you throwing lightning bolts... and accidentally shorts them to his lightsaber hilt, electrocuting himself.

[Vostok 7]

You'll be singing a diffrent tune when Kakizaki turns to the dark side, comes at you throwing lightning bolts... and accidentally shorts them to his lightsaber hilt, electrocuting himself.

Okay, that would be funny

Vostok 7

[Chowser]

this game ROCKS!

I got it yesterday and have been playing it for hours.

anyone get dismemberment to work?? I've only seen a hand or two chopped off, nothing like from Jedi Outcast, do I need to level up my force powers some more?

[Vostok 7]

this game ROCKS!

I got it yesterday and have been playing it for hours.

anyone get dismemberment to work?? I've only seen a hand or two chopped off, nothing like from Jedi Outcast, do I need to level up my force powers some more?

Dismemberment is the same as Jedi Outcast to me, only maybe a touch more frequent. Showing damage on the characters is a nice new touch though (lightsaber tracks, black smudges on stormtrooper armor where they've been hit by blasters, etc).

Unless you're thinking of Jedi Outcast with the "realsabers" turned on...

Vostok 7

[Chowser]

ok, maybe i don't have an option turned on, or maybe i need to change a setting,

i think in JO, it was g_saberrealisticcombat 20 that let me lop of arms, legs, torsos, etc.

also, does the saber do damage when I just stand there with something in front of me? i've tried running into people, and they shoot back, so I just slice'em. Guess, I will try it right now and just stand there and hope i don't die.

well, i guess i can turn on god mode to test that

i try to not cheat until after i finish it the first time through

[Abombz!!]

this game ROCKS!

I got it yesterday and have been playing it for hours.

anyone get dismemberment to work??  I've only seen a hand or two chopped off, nothing like from Jedi Outcast, do I need to level up my force powers some more?

Dismemberment is the same as Jedi Outcast to me, only maybe a touch more frequent. Showing damage on the characters is a nice new touch though (lightsaber tracks, black smudges on stormtrooper armor where they've been hit by blasters, etc).

Unless you're thinking of Jedi Outcast with the "realsabers" turned on...

Vostok 7

Those are incredibly lame!! So I get hit on the head with a lightsaber and all that happens is.... I get schorch marks?!?! WTF? <_<

[Chowser]

Those are incredibly lame!! So I get hit on the head with a lightsaber and all that happens is.... I get schorch marks?!?! WTF?

yeah, i know, i'm just standing there, you can hear the saber making noise, but the bad guy is still shooting at me, haven't had time to try it, had an fop meeting/drinking party

now that i'm home and have all night with nothing else to do, i'll play it for awhile and get back to ya on the dismemberment.

[Yohsho]

what the? wasn't it like 2 weeks ago that it was on preorder? well at least it was here in Victoria, I think... Man I've been out of the loop too long. Say are they using the same style models as in Jedi Outcast?

[Chowser]

ack, ok, just spent about 2.5 hours on this, I have gotten a few people to lose their arms, but that's about it and I guess only when I come at them fast and hard and slice down. It's also nice that stormtroopers will show cauterization marks where you slice'm. Hey Vostok, I didn't know they had scorch marks from blasters, thanks for letting me know, I'll have to dig out the blaster and try it sometime,

with my force level low, I can stand in front of an enemy with my lightsaber on all day and do NO damage. with the force level set high, it will kill them when I run into them. I still haven't beheaded/betorsoed/belegged (are those even words?) anyone yet.

Ok, time to watch some anime and get away from the computer.

[Prime]

This game is a blast! A definite improvement of JO, IMO. If there were only enough hours in the day to play it

As for dismemberment, there should be cheats to crank it up if you want. Has anyone tried the JO cheats? I'm not thinking of g_saberrealisticcombat, because that just cranked up the saber damage and made the game to easy. There where also cheats that delt only with dismemberment.

[Brewtal]

Picked the game up yesterday, and it friggin rocks! Even mulitplayer is pretty decent from the short time i played it. Right now i'm focusing on the sp part of the game.

Also is it just me or did outcast look a little better graphically? Either way the quake 3 engine is showing it's age, and it's time for them to move on and possibly use the doom 3 engine for the next game. And how bout another tie fighter/x-wing based flight simulator we're definetly overdue for one of those.

[Vostok 7]

And how bout another tie fighter/x-wing based flight simulator we're definetly overdue for one of those.

Supposedly there is one in the works from the company who did Freespace IIRC.

I hit double sabers last night in JA... FUN!!

Vostok 7

[JsARCLIGHT]

I've been looking at this game on the shelves for a while but I just don't want to buy it... unless someone playing the game can answer me some questions:

- are there guns in the game? I got sick of the lightsaber on JO fast... if there are guns, are they the dorky same ones that have been in every single freaking Star Wars FPS since days one?

- can you just go rouge and start killing the rebels?

- I've heard it has some sort of adaptive mission structure that will coddle you if you are sucking at the game but will totally smack you down if you show any sign of being good at it, is that true?

- every one of the compu-geeks in the office is playing it and from what I saw over their shoulders it looks like JO with a skinpack and new levels... not worth the $50 price tag.

[Abombz!!]

- are there guns in the game? I got sick of the lightsaber on JO fast... if there are guns, are they the dorky same ones that have been in every single freaking Star Wars FPS since days one?

Yes and yes. With emphasis on the dorky part.

- can you just go rouge and start killing the rebels?

Open-ended format on a SW game? What are you smoking!!

- I've heard it has some sort of adaptive mission structure that will coddle you if you are sucking at the game but will totally smack you down if you show any sign of being good at it, is that true?

Have not heard about that.

- every one of the compu-geeks in the office is playing it and from what I saw over their shoulders it looks like JO with a skinpack and new levels... not worth the $50 price tag.

Forgot the part about being JO without the story. <_<

[JsARCLIGHT]

Thanks, my mind is made up.... this game stays on the shelf.

Edit to add: MY type of games (Half Life 2, Doom 3, Battlefield Vietnam and Men of Valor: Vietnam) are due out in the next few months anyway...

Edited September 19, 2003 by JsARCLIGHT

[Vostok 7]

- are there guns in the game? I got sick of the lightsaber on JO fast... if there are guns, are they the dorky same ones that have been in every single freaking Star Wars FPS since days one?

Yes and yes. With emphasis on the dorky part.

- can you just go rouge and start killing the rebels?

Open-ended format on a SW game? What are you smoking!!

- I've heard it has some sort of adaptive mission structure that will coddle you if you are sucking at the game but will totally smack you down if you show any sign of being good at it, is that true?

Have not heard about that.

- every one of the compu-geeks in the office is playing it and from what I saw over their shoulders it looks like JO with a skinpack and new levels... not worth the $50 price tag.

Forgot the part about being JO without the story.

Have you played it yet Ai? Thought not.

<_<

There are guns in JA, similar to JO but a few differences. No Bryar, you get a DL44 (same fire modes though), and there's a new upper level gun that's godlike. There's a few missions which put emphasis on using regular weapons rather than relying soley on your lightsaber. However, nothing beats the lightsaber of course.

As far as killing the rebels... not sure, since your only interaction with "rebels" is in cutscenes.

Mission structure... I haven't heard anything about an adaptive system. Missions are difficult, but not as difficult to being frustrating or boring like JO. They range from long to short, and are usually pretty action packed. They seem to ramp up on difficulty pretty smoothly to me anyway.

And as far as being just like JO... I don't think so. You can get double sabers and the saber staff now, the lightsaber moves have been improved drastically and made much more realistic, and the missions are well laid out. There is a plot despite what SOME people say, and it gets stronger as the game progresses, even taking a few (albiet forseen) plot twists.

All in all, I enjoy it. It was worth the $50 to me.

Vostok 7

[JsARCLIGHT]

To the point on the mission difficulty:

I have heard everywhere that "the game lets you pick missions based on your skills". That leads me to believe that it is either a good thing: making you learn how to play the game, or a bad thing: making you jump through hoops in order to get the prize.

JO was fun for me up until you got the force and lightsaber... I got really sick and tired of fighting dark jedi after dark jedi that "cheats" with force powers.

Give me an M16A1 and a few grenades in the game and I'll show you what makes a jedi!

[Vostok 7]

To the point on the mission difficulty:

I have heard everywhere that "the game lets you pick missions based on your skills". That leads me to believe that it is either a good thing: making you learn how to play the game, or a bad thing: making you jump through hoops in order to get the prize.

JO was fun for me up until you got the force and lightsaber... I got really sick and tired of fighting dark jedi after dark jedi that "cheats" with force powers.

Give me an M16A1 and a few grenades in the game and I'll show you what makes a jedi!

Yes, you can pick your own missions and they are based on how well you've progressed through the game, but I see it more as a good thing... You learn the game pretty fast. I've done pretty well for myself in the game and yet the missions aren't too difficult, and they've never been too easy. They've been just right to me.

You could play the whole game with regular weapons... in fact, it MAKES you take regular weapons before starting a mission. The only time you really need a lightsaber is for taking down Jedi and other powerful things (like wampas and Rancors... yes, Rancors...) but there are times when your lightsaber is not the answer... there's a new class of stormtrooper in the game, like a huge power armor type thing (very cool) with a very powerful gun and if you rush him with the lightsaber, he'll just knock you aside and blow you away with his gun... the only way to easily defeat him is to shoot him with something. There's also these sheilded assasin bots which you can't get close enough to hit with the lightsaber since they have a sheild that'll kill you... either time your swipes inbetween the sheild or just hit them with the grenade function of the flechette rifle.

It's difficult to take down the dark jedi with regular weaponry, but they've been made a heck of alot easier to hack away at with your lightsaber... 'specially with double sabers.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

Have you played it yet Ai? Thought not.

Err.... says who? <_<

There are guns in JA, similar to JO but a few differences. No Bryar, you get a DL44 (same fire modes though), and there's a new upper level gun that's godlike. There's a few missions which put emphasis on using regular weapons rather than relying soley on your lightsaber. However, nothing beats the lightsaber of course.

Same weapons as JO, JK and Mysteries of the Sith.

And as far as being just like JO... I don't think so. You can get double sabers and the saber staff now, the lightsaber moves have been improved drastically and made much more realistic, and the missions are well laid out. There is a plot despite what SOME people say, and it gets stronger as the game progresses, even taking a few (albiet forseen) plot twists.

Still same clunky light saber mechanics. I never said there was no plot... I only said it didn't compare well to other SW FPS games.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I'm still hesitant... mainly because I got so bored with JO's weapons and enemies. You can only shoot so many stormtroopers, greedos and things before you get bored with the game. I can remember when I first played JO... I loved it. The first 4 levels or so were so cool and fun...

... then you got the stupid lightsaber...

From that point on the game got really, really dumb. Everything became a force puzzle or a lightsaber fight. You'd bump into a pack of enemies rapid shooting at you and your only line of defense was the lightsaber... you'd run into a dark jedi or reborn and your only way to kill them was force powers and the lightsaber... meh. I recall quite a good number of jedi being whacked on Geonosis by droid soldiers so it is possible to kill them with a gun... you just are not allowed to do it in the game... which pisses me off to no avail.

Not all of us want to be a Jedi... some of us want to be a storm trooper so we can kill a bunch of people with our blaster rifle. That is what I liked so much about Dark Forces, the first game in the series... you where a normal human commando up against the empire, not some faux-jedi come hero slashing and force gripping your way through the game. If Galaxies where not so freaking boring and pointless I would have liked that game... but alas...

I'm just going to save my money for a first person shooter and not a jedi simulator.

(If anyone has not picked up on it yet I am very demanding of video games. I've been playing them since the eighties in the arcades in high school and I've come to realize one thing: life is too short to waste on a game that is bland or just more of the same... I'm not trying to "dis" star wars or this game, I just want to make sure it is what I think it is and that I don't rush out and waste my $50 on something I will get very, very angry at and end up trying to resell for a quarter of it's value.)