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JEDI KNIGHT II: JEDI OUTCAST
Posted by VE Reporter
Title: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Platform: PC Windows
Publisher: Raven/Activision
Genre: First Person Action/Shooter
Tentative Release Date: Q2 2002
In the tradition of the multi-award-winning Jedi Knight, rebel agent Kyle Katarn returns in exhilarating first-person action. Several years have passed since Kyle avenged the death of his father and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future. Jedi Outcast is being developed in partnership with
Activision's critically acclaimed developer Raven Software. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers and
your lightsaber in both single and multiplayer modes.
What I saw of Jedi Knight 2 was very early in development. Rick Johnson of Raven Software told me this: "I want to tell you now, when you see Jedi Knight, remember, it is only a month's worth of work. I am not saying that as an excuse, but because I am boasting." And he has every right to boast. I would easily put the pre-alpha, one level build of JK2 in my top five coolest things I saw at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this year.
The level was pretty simple: an Imperial base of some kind, lots of stormtroopers, a few droids, some crates, and one Dark Jedi. I did not really have time to notice who was doing what, though, as the person playing the game proceeded to tear it up Jedi style on about two dozen stormtroopers without breaking a sweat. JK2 uses the Quake 3 engine, and so far it is one of the best implementations I have seen of it, though Soldier of Fortune 2 (also by Raven Software) and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault may give it a run for its money.
I was especially impressed with all the little details they have crammed in such a short amount of time. Mouse droids flit about, the lightsaber leaves cuts in whatever it touches (even when you are not swinging it; walk up to a wall and the saber will poke into it like it wasn't there. The demo guy said that you can accidentally kill NPC's if you are not careful with it), stormtroopers that follow a commander and use squad tactics (though a bit weak at this point, the AI has much work left on it) until you apply your Jedi Mind trick on them (then they look around in a confused manner), reflective floors, and the list goes on and on.
I took some time to grill the LucasArts Entertainment Company representative about what kind of features we can expect, and the list gets me pretty excited. There will be a full single player campaign with plot and stuff. Of course at this point they did not want to go into details, but I can say you play Kyle Katarn, and he is a full-blown Jedi at this point. I saw Kyle use both 'light side' and 'dark side' abilities, including a lightsaber throw, force lightning, force push, and force jump. Multiplayer looks pretty promising too, with all the old features from JK1, as well as a few extras, like co-operative play. I personally cannot wait for that one.
We have still got to wait a bit before we see more of JK2, but I personally will be first in line to get my copy.
Exclusive Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) gameplay video footage of Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast may be downloaded here.
[the above article was written by Kevin Weiser and is an excerpt from JediKnight.Net]
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