This is an add-on for Star Wars: Jedi Knight, and I've read that it was released a mere four months after the game. That's... not very long, and it sadly shows. Little of the game doesn't come across as rushed. Where the levels were complex, but nicely done, throughout both single player and multi-player of the original game, the level design here comes off as confused, and confusing, for the most part. On the plus side, there are far more levels for multi-player(though some of them work for more than one mode of playing, making it appear like there are more than there are), and a few of them are recreations of well-known scenes(and ones enjoyed by many, many viewers) from the original three Star Wars films, and, well... they just plain rock. Think the endings of last two movies. There are fewer bosses, and they have much less of an impact. Force Powers are essentially the same, Pull is tweaked some, and there are four or five new ones(Chain Lightning could be called basically the same as Lightning, though it can now "chain" between enemies... apparently... as far as I understand, it isn't particularly efficient). The new ones are Push(which really isn't that helpful, in my experience), Projection(which, while it sounds cool... creating an illusion of you, to draw enemy fire... really doesn't work, game-play wise), Lightsaber Throw(which wasn't quite perfected at this point, but it does work... personally, I'm not a fan, OK, one character did it, in one movie, once(I won't reveal who or when, in case anyone who hasn't watched all of the original trilogy is reading this review), but that's it) and Far Sight(which is a potentially interesting idea, but it just isn't that good... it allows you to fly around, outside of your character's body, and you can, well, look around, without moving). What may be the biggest issue connected to the Force Power is that this removes the distinction between the Dark and Light sides... and as if that, in itself, wasn't bad enough, a major point of the first, the choosing of a side, through how you play(evil or good), goes straight with it(obviously). Apart from the Force Powers, there's also something called Defence, which you can choose instead of Force Powers(well, each star you assign to that will take away from which Force Powers you can choose), and which will (help) protect you against Force Powers. Defence is only available in multi-player. The multi-player adds something new... class-based characters. You can choose between the original's system, regular, and this new class-based one. The classes get certain, determined Force Powers and/or Defense settings, as well as starting weapons. The playing modes are Kill the Fool with the Ysalimiri(which awards points to whoever is holding the Ysalimiri, and Force Powers can't be used against or by the person who is), Sith Multiplayer Duel(allow me to translate: Deathmatch) and Sith Lightsaber Training(made for fighting with Lightsabers, and this one isn't compatible with any other character classes than Jedi). Capture the Flag is gone. The single player portion in no way reaches the same level of quality as the original... there is hardly any overall story, or if there is, it doesn't really start until just before the end of the game. "Companion missions" fits, perhaps too well. The levels are seldom connected any more than it being the same character you play as... except for that you play as Kyle for the first small portion of the game, for reasons I do not know(what fun is there in starting over in building up weapons, and, much more so, Force Powers, just when you've gotten started? This just serves to make the first part after you start as the new character feel even more anti-climactic, after completing the original). You play as Mara Jade for the majority of the game... I gather that she is connected to a well-known character in the Star Wars universe(I won't reveal who, or in what way, partially because it could be considered a spoiler, and partially because I've heard conflicting reports(make up your minds, people!)), and that she appears in the expanded universe(right...?), but she, as a character, has so close to literally *nothing* to do here, so I'm not sure if there was any purpose for choosing her, other than putting in a familiar face("look at who we got!"). The main game, well, honestly, it just isn't anywhere near as fun as the original, in fact, at points, it's barely any fun at all. What main plot there is(about the only thing having to do with Katarn(who is the only thing connecting this to the series, apart from one other character, who wasn't too bad an addition, though he/she's almost nothing more than a reference to where else she appears), is of terribly little interest, and explores nothing new. The acting is thoroughly unimpressive, and while the original may not have featured stellar acting, it certainly surpassed this, by far(and I'm talking about all of the acting... including in-game voices of characters), though I guess the absolutely *awful* acting is rare. By acting, I do, unfortunately, mean voice acting, only, as there is no live-action footage in this, nada. The masterfully done cut-scenes of the original are replaced by in-game ones, which again is a let-down. The sound is, literally, not of as high quality, the high-resolution sounds are gone. The add-on, all in all, is honestly just underdeveloped(which is not to say that there is nothing good to be found). Some minor glitches. There are various minor changes... enemies may now go at you with their fists if you Pull their weapon, for a quick example. Some are good, some not. Really, this would seem much better if it didn't directly follow such a great game. This does have some to offer, and if you can get a good deal on both the original and this... go for it. I recommend this to fans of the first. 7/10
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith
(1998 Video Game)
Not every addition works, or is a good one
5 February 2008