‘Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy’ A Retrospective
Image Source: Nintendo Insider
Star Wars has a long, rich history with video games. From major duds like Star Wars Kinect to masterpieces like the Knights of the Old Republic games, there is a lot to choose from when it comes to playing in a galaxy far, far away. However, with so many games in the universe, it’s natural that a few gems would slip through the cracks and not get the attention that they deserve. Jedi Academy is one of those games.
Set in the same timeline as the Jedi Outcast games, Jedi Academy sees you control Jaden Korr, a force prodigy who created her own lightsaber without any formal training, and has thus been accepted into Luke Skywalker’s jedi academy.
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Wait… right, I just got the title now.
As a side note, Jaden can be male or female, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll be referring to Jaden as female, as I feel that Jennifer Hale (who also voices Bastila in the KOTOR games) has a better voice performance.
In any case, your skills are hand waived away with a “she’s just that good” and the one time you attempt to explain how you got the lightsaber, your ship is immediately attacked, and it’s never brought up again. Alright, then. As is wont to happen, the Jedi academy is under threat from a dark side user, in this case an old enemy of Kyle Katarn’s, Tavion, who has a staff from the ancient Sith lord Marko Ragnos that drains the Force. Sure. Your job is to go on individual missions that generally aren’t related to that plot at all and just, you know, kill everyone.
It’s a blast.
Image source: Gamespot
I know that Knights of the Old Republic is a better game overall, but I’m going to have to give the combat edge to Jedi Academy here. Unlike choosing your moves one by one, here you’re slicing and dicing and throwing your lightsaber and dodging enemy attacks or deflecting blaster bolts while using your force powers to get that edge in a fight. Like KOTOR, force lightning is majorly overpowered, but it’s still so much fun walking into a room with half a dozen enemies while you have maxed out force lightning and just annihilating them in seconds. There are also several lightsaber fights in the game, and while it’s fun, there’s no real way to have a fluid fight with dodges and parries and counterattacks. Both sides just swing their sabers at each other like baseball bats until one of them dies. The fights are usually “swing the lightsaber around, retreat and force heal, repeat until opponent is dead.” It’s fun, but I can’t help but wonder if there was some way to make the lightsaber battles more natural and more like actual lightsaber fights.
The game’s plot isn’t complex at all, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in this instance. The main draw of the game is running around and wiping out fifty enemies who have the misfortune of crossing your path. This is definitely a “kill everyone you meet with a lightsaber” game, and it’s awesome.
Image source: Games Radar
The game is a fairly short one, too. You could probably beat every level in 10-12 hours, as opposed to something like KOTOR which would take 30-40 hours. Each level is pretty straightforward. It’s not a rail shooter, but you have a pretty straightforward path set before you, which tends to be “go forward” on a lot of levels. It’s fine for what it is. Again, this game is really about slaughtering hundreds of people with a lightsaber.
The story is pretty bare bones, and unfortunately, the characters are, too. Jaden is a total blank slate, Kyle has a few moments, Luke is a complete robot, and Tavion is a Saturday morning cartoon villain. The best character is probably Rosh, and that’s largely because he has the traditional “falls to the dark side until the last act, then gets redeemed” thing going.
If I had to describe this game in one word, it would be “popcorn.” It’s certainly not bad, but it doesn’t have any of the rich storytelling or emotional depth of some other Star Wars games. You start a level, kill everybody, maybe get a few seconds of plot before the next one, when you finish a block of levels, you get to do a plot relevant one, repeat until the end of the game. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re looking for a good Star Wars game where you can kind of turn your brain off and not get invested in anything, this is the perfect one for you.
I call the game simple, and it is, but don’t think that I’m saying that it’s bad, because it’s not. Not every video game, Star Wars or otherwise, needs to be some complex epic. Sometimes you just want to slice things up with a lightsaber. This is another game on Steam that tends to be pretty cheap, so if you’re interested in a fun Star Wars game that doesn’t really ask anything of you, check this one out. It’s surprisingly fun, and not a game that people talk about enough. If I was going to pick a Star Wars game to get a sequel… well, I’d pick KOTOR, because I’ve seen what they were planning for the third game and it looked awesome, but this one would be in second place. Check it out if you haven’t.
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