Let's just pick apart this Jedi Knight series for a minute. It starts with Star Wars: Dark Forces, which was one of the first DOS games I emulated on my MacBook when I still had one of those ten years ago. It continues with Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, which I played for this 1001 blog up until the point where I got lost and/or sick.
Now here we are with the next big mouthful of a title, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, which follows on from the previous games, starring Kyle Katarn as the Jedi with some unorthodox approaches to the whole Jedi thing.
In fact, you've abandoned the Force completely, and have gone back into the murky world of mercenary work.
Fun Times
Sadly, we're not treated to a fan film for a cutscene this time around, as Kyle and his colleague, Jan Ors are en route towards an old Imperial outpost. The game is set in the old expanded universe and takes place nearly a decade after the Ewoks taught everyone a lesson about military might.
It's a funny place, the old Star Wars EU. Its replacement is probably just as bad - I've not looked. Everyone is friends with someone from the films. Everyone knows a lead character, not only in passing, but from childhood, or through training with them, or having gone on a dangerous mission or something. And no matter who you are, where you come from, or how oddly shaped your head is, or how many arms you have, everyone knows what blue milk is, and everyone knows that a Nerf herder is something you don't want to be.
It's just a little too on the nose, I suppose. Let the Universe breathe. Go and explore something new and different. Make a n-oh, hang on, Mon blummin Mothma is calling us directly. Hang on.
And just like that, we're in the first level. Yes, sorry, it is that dark. It is brighter when playing, though.
Jedi Outcast is another mostly first-person shooter, with third-person thrown in for when things get far more exciting, and you're given Force powers and Lightsabers. Spoilers. Kyle has dropped the Force, only to pick it up again as the game progresses. He's a bit indecisive, this chap. I bet that leads to the Dark Side.
Anyway, we're not a Jedi (again) yet. We are Kyle Katarn, a blaster-wielding mercenary on a mission to find out what we can and clear out whoever stands in our way.
Stormtroopers, great. Start with what you know, eh? Haven't they seen the news about the Death Stars?
First-person shooters can be known for a lot of things, but early on it seems Jedi Outcast is going to be known for its overly elaborate death animations for seemingly every character. The number of blaster bolts I must have wasted on enemies that would no longer pose a threat, let me tell you... They'll spin, they'll jump, they'll drop to their knees, they'll fall on their arse. If this was motion captured, the actors must have been having quite a fun time to have done so many.
The game feels like an old-school sort of maze-like affair where exploration is going to be a thing, but not necessarily the important thing. The grey corridors and colour-coded doors lead me down a clear enough path, but there were opportunities to branch off and do your own thing. Not that there's much to do.
Frustrations
While frantic and full of pew-pewing, the action of Jedi Outcast was often too fast for me to keep track of. Enemies would run around the place, sometimes right past you, to get into a better position to shoot, and that position was often crouched in the middle of a corridor.
Engagements would take place at all kinds of ranges, but I mostly took as many out from afar as I could, because if I had seen them, they would only not have seen me if they weren't looking my way. Usually, they were, and if not, a single blaster bolt tends to make enough noise to warrant everybody turning around to see what the fuss is about.
At some point, I had discovered new information for my mission, which prompted me to find out what my mission actually was. I had glossed over it in the intro video on account of expecting it to go to a briefing screen or something, as opposed to dropping me straight into gameplay.
Input a code. Gotcha. I saw some computer screens over there somewhere.
Nope, nothing clicking here. Do I need an item or something?
Wrong item. There are binoculars in the game, and I picked up some night vision as well. Didn't try the night vision. Didn't really try the weapons, either. It switched me over to the Stormtrooper's blaster as soon as I walked over one, so I assumed it was better than what I had and it hadn't been swapped since, so I stuck with it.
Weapons have two firing modes. Some can charge up a more powerful shot, some can fire more rapidly. They all run off power packs, rather than magazines, so reloading isn't a thing, but recharging your energy supply is, and can be done from glowing trashcans dotted around the place.
I'm meant to be inputting a code or something...
Nothing was working. Where was I going wrong?
Of course. I had missed some interactable buttons (next to a level map, too) which had something to do with furthering my progress. Ok. Let's get back into the game.
Brilliant. Let's get back into it without being an idiot.
My second stab at the level took me to new heights, had me run from explosions, revealed some extra information about the bad guy through a radio transmission of some kind, saw me meet and blow up some probe droids, run from more explosions and shoot loads more stormtroopers and their various officer ranks.
It was a little bit more varied, but I was still firmly in an Imperial outpost, with all its grey walls and rounded lights lifted from, or at least heavily inspired by, the films. I don't think this is a corridor shooter, but you could convince me otherwise on this evidence.
And then, out of nowhere, it hit me.
Motion sickness. Get me out of the game and away from the computer right now motion sickness.
I hadn't come across it this bad for a while, and it came only a week - if that - after I was playing No Man's Sky in VR for an hour or so. I can only guess that it was something to do with the speed of Kyles movement through the world or the way it displayed on an ultrawide monitor. I don't know for sure, but something caused me to nope right out of the game.
Final Word
So I'm left with a game that I want to play, because I know it gets more interesting when the Force powers and the Lightsabers come out, but that I perhaps can't play on account of motion sickness.
It doesn't happen for every first-person shooter, thankfully, but when it happens for one that you're interested in, it can be a bit of a letdown. I had a quick read of my write up for Dark Forces II, and it was another title that caused me to feel a bit queasy after a short while.
There are ways to mitigate the sensations, settings I can tweak and the like, and maybe I'll get around to trying some of them out in an attempt to play these games a little more. I was capturing video to allow me to just play the game and worry about screenshots later, and even getting to the end of that caused me to go and do something away from the screen for a while - though that may have been thanks to the memory of getting sick at that point earlier.
But I don't blame Jedi Outcast for that. It is a slick shooter from a team who love the source material that they're working with. It's just too slick for me to keep on top of.
I understand that it takes five or so samey-looking levels before the Jedi stuff kicks in, which may be a tad too much for players itching to use a lightsaber, I don't know. I've no idea what the pacing is like, or where the plot goes. At this rate, I might have to watch the Jedi Knight series, rather than play it, which doesn't sound too problematic at all.
The graphics aren't too bad, the sound is full of musical numbers from the films (because that's the only music that exists in this universe), and the plot is a complete unknown. If Kyle dropped the Force but then picks it up again in this game, I'm going to guess he finally becomes a Jedi. Given that he's Kyle Katarn, though, I suspect he'll abandon it again in time for the next game. Just make up your mind, mate.
If you can stomach it, give it a shot. It's probably more of an exciting title for fans of Star Wars than anyone else - I didn't see any mechanics that turned first-person shooters on their heads or anything, but I suppose this isn't a strict first-person shooter at the end of the day.
Gah, I do wish at least swing a 'saber for a little bit. Maybe I'll cheat my way there for the sake of curiosity.
Fun Facts
Mon Mothma and Luke Skywalker not enough to get you hyped to play? How about the fact that you get to meet Lando Calrissian, huh? He's even voiced by Billy Dee Williams.
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, developed by Raven Software, first released in 2002.
Version played: PC, 2002.