Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (NGC)

Jedi Knight II (NGC)

When we’re talking Star Wars Nintendo owners have always been spoiled. Ever since the Super Star Wars series was released for SNES ten years ago every generation of Nintendo consoles have been the home of some of the best titles based on George Lucas’ lifework. At present Jedi Knight II has appeared raising the total of Star Wars games for GameCube to four titles within eight months. This time we have a conversion on our hands but is that enough to make Nintendo owners happy once again?

So be it... Jedi

Jedi Knight II (NGC)

In Jedi Knight II for GameCube we join the fallen Jedi Kyle Katarn after the Empire has been brought to its knees in ”Return of the Jedi”. As the game starts Kyle needs to regain he’s strength as a Jedi to help the Republic fight the remaining Imperial troops which are far from defenseless.
The game starts up as a pretty ordinary and a bit boring first person shooter in the known Star Wars universe. But as Kyle gets back his old Jedi weapon one third into the game, it changes and you start to get caught up in the games atmosphere.

With light saber in hand the game changes from first to third person view and Kyle suddenly gets the chance to deflect laser fire and engage in fencing combat against dark Jedi.

Use the force Kyle

Jedi Knight II (NGC)

The light saber is only the beginning, though. As the game progresses and Kyle gets more in control of the force, he gets access to the so-called “force abilities”. When Kyle becomes one with the force it is pure pleasure to throw enemies around on the screen or make them turn against their own.

With these abilities at your fingertips you really get the sense of what being a Jedi is all about. The only question is would a real Jedi fighting on the good side of the force really be able to fry storm troops with force lightning? In any case it is doable here and it doesn’t make the game less interesting to watch half a platoon of the Empire’s best soldiers dance around and then fall dead to the floor.

A little too sloppy conversion but…

Jedi Knight II (NGC)

The atmosphere in Jedi Knight II is perfect due to the classic sound effects from the films and the good old John Williams soundtrack, making the sound of the game tiptop. However, in the graphics department Jedi Knight II is somewhat disappointing. The visual appearance of the game is acceptable but is nowhere near the level demonstrated in the first Star Wars game for GameCube, the exquisite Rogue Leader. The frame rate is unstable at best and the quality of the textures is at some points down to N64 standards. The problem must be in the conversion. There is no other reason why we should cope with such mediocre graphics on a console like GameCube.

And now that we are criticizing anyway it must be said, that next to the pc-version the controls seems a little loose and clumsy when you first pick up the game. As the game progresses though you soon start to feel like the Jedi you see on screen instead of a drowsy puppeteer. In spite of the conversion problems, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is a very entertaining and surprising game and an experience most gamers would enjoy – especially those who are Star Wars fans (and don’t have the pc-version).

Translated by Jonas Rasmussen