User Rating: 7.8 | Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy PC
Jedi Academy is a fun follow up to Jedi Outcast, but it's a bit too short to be worthy of a full price tag. Academy would have made a great expansion pack. The combat is very enjoyable, and the different lightsaber styles help mix up the game a lot. My only gripe (which I disliked about Outcast as well) is that I miss the many distinct bosses from the original Jedi Knight. What made that game so fun was the anticipation of another great saber duel at the end of the level. I certainly like the addition of more lesser jedi to keep things challenging, but I do wish there were more boss fights to look forward to. Given the price, the length is probably the only thing really *wrong* with the game. I don't think it took me more than 12 hours on the default difficulty. On the bright side, though, there are two different endings to play out, but some of the early levels will feel like a chore to play through again. Another gripe is that the plot overall didn't feel very epic. I liked the concept of giving the player a set of missions with different goals, but I didn't feel they were integrated into the story very well. It felt like you were given “busy” work while Luke and Kyle were busy handling the “important” jobs. This makes sense in the context of the plot (you *are* just a student, after all), but it just didn't seem as interesting for a game. Again, this would be less of an issue had the game simply been an expansion to Jedi Outcast. The graphics are starting to get long in the tooth, but they get the job done and are generally polished. The cutscenes looked like they could use a bit of work, though. The video cutscenes look horribly compressed, and the game rendered ones just weren't very impressive (if a game engine doesn't render faces well, you shouldn't do lots of closeups in your cutscenes). But the graphics do not detract from the gameplay at all, which is really what's important. The audio is standard Star Wars fare and, frankly, getting somewhat boring. One mark against it in particular is the music. The soundtrack is of course taken directly from the classic trilogy, but with different pieces spliced together to give it a more original sound. Unfortunately, it doesn't always come off well. In my opinion, Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox (and soon PC) set the standard for all future Star Wars games with it's excellent blending of movie soundtracks and original music. Having recently finished that game, the music to Jedi Academy was that much more unimpressive. All in all, though, I enjoyed the game, and none of the complaints I had kept me from having a good time. I only wish it had lasted longer. 
