star wars jedi knight ii jedi outcast gameplay

#Star wars jedi knight ii jedi outcast gameplay trial#

Titles like Blade Symphony – one of many games inspired by the revolutionary combat in Jedi Outcast – have even gone so far as to base the entire game around the mechanics of its melee fights. Star Wars games or no, developers everywhere are still chasing the perfect melee combat system. It would be lovely to say that Jedi Outcast’s combat forever changed the way that developers approached melee battles in action games, but that sadly isn’t the truth. They are beams of pure energy that can destroy a foe in a single blow if the person wielding the weapon is able to use his agility and Force powers to land the perfect strike. Lightsabers in this game are not treated like bright swords that deal “X” points of damage with each successful hit. Actually, the truly fascinating thing about Jedi Outcast’s lightsaber combat is that it doesn’t require you to look at it through the lens of any historical context in order to fully appreciate it.ĭespite the promise of motion control lightsaber battles and VR experiences, no game has ever really come close to replicating the sublime brilliance of Jedi Outcast’s brand of acrobatic melee mayhem. It’s not until the next level that Jedi Outcast finally allows you to participate in a lightsaber duel and experience the element of the game that has defined its legacy. Instead, the game forces you to wade through a level that lets you briefly use your lightsaber and accompanying Force powers against a squad of woefully unprepared goons, before making you revert back to your arsenal of blasters to effectively dispatch the litter of snipers peppered throughout the area. At that point, the game doesn’t even automatically redeem itself by allowing you to partake in the splendor of its saber combat. What I got instead was a first-person shooter.Īll told, you are going to have to endure about three hours and change of this gameplay before you’re ever allowed to even touch a lightsaber. When I brought Jedi Outcast home from the local CompUSA – an ancient place of yore – and installed it on the wheezing family computer, I expected to immediately participate in the fabled lightsaber combat I had heard so much about. Not only had video game technology evolved, but the Star Wars prequels introduced a much more stylish form of lightsaber duels that made the video game versions of these battles feel that much more trivial

That approach proved to be serviceable for awhile, but as time went on, fans expected more. Until that point, lightsaber combat in Star Wars video games didn’t amount to much more than mashing the attack button while digital Jedi cycled through their attack animations to defeat enemies that should have been bested by a single blow. The power of such a promise cannot be overstated. The consensus regarding the game was that it was arguably the definitive Star Wars title and certainly the game that finally allowed players the chance to experience proper lightsaber combat. I had done my homework before purchasing Jedi Outcast. It was, however, the first game that I ever purchased which I felt was misrepresented by those who had already played it. I believe that honor would go to the infamous LJN X-Men game for the NES. To be clear, Jedi Outcast was not the first game I felt duped by.

#Star wars jedi knight ii jedi outcast gameplay trial#

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime – Start Free Trial Now I first experienced these feelings with Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.