K
yle Katarn, his beige
henley, and that single
brown shoulder pad
have been part of my
life for a long time.
I first played his final video game
appearance: Jedi Knight: Jedi
Academy (technically Star Wars:
Dark Forces IV: Jedi Knight III: Jedi
Outcast II: Jedi Academy) in the
third grade, and I’ve drifted to and
from his adventures ever since.
The Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series
has been foundational to PC gaming.
Indeed, Dark Forces was the first FPS
where you could look up and down.
It feels like a bit of an afterthought in
peoples’ minds these days though,
perhaps due to being relegated to the
non-canon dustbin of Star Wars
history with the rest of the Expanded
Universe. It’s a shame, because the
entire series is worth a revisit.
Unfortunately, I’ve hit a bit of a
snag in the third entry, Jedi Knight II:
Jedi Outcast (Star Wars: Dark Forces
III: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.)
The lightsaber combat is a revelation.
The encounters are designed with a
precision and joy familiar to lovers
of boomer shooters everywhere.
I just never have any idea where I’m
supposed to go next...BLUE MILK RUN
I’ve always been a bit navigationally
challenged in videogames, I’ll admit.
I was kept from Morrowind for years
due to my addiction to quest markers,
but I’m a grown adult now,
I’ve worked on this flaw, and this
game still doesn’t make any sense.
A GameFAQs guide to an early level
showed me how silly I was for not
jumping off a platform into a
drainage pipe, blowing up an
electrical conduit, turning on a“I just never have any idea where I’m
supposed to go next...”
conveyor belt, not riding it all the way
to the end, and instead jumping off
halfway through to find the critical
path to the rest of the level,
concealed by a muddy circa-2002
cave wall texture.
I’ve got one last cryptic path to
navigate before I complete my replay.
It’s level 24, I’m in the bowels of
Yavin IV, and I’ve been running in
circles for minutes. I took a break to
find a good video Let’s Play, as the
GameFAQs guide didn’t explain
things clearly. I was overjoyed to find
“Star Wars Jedi Knight II Jedi
Outcast Chapter 24 Yavin Final Part
1,” uploaded to YouTube in July of- Not because it helped me,
though. From the three minute mark
to the video’s conclusion at 10:33,
its creator just runs in circles in the
same spot I was stuck at.
This guy was unable to find the
right path forward until “Star Wars
Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast Chapter
24 Yavin Final Part 2,” two minutes
in. Everyone in the comments was
making fun of him, but I felt a
communion with this gamer of
yesteryear, uploading his stumbling
for everyone to see. I hope he’s well,
wherever life took him.
All who wander are not lost in JEDI KNIGHT II: JEDI OUTCAST
I FELT A COMMUNION WITH
THIS GAMER OF YESTERYEAR,
UPLOADING HIS STUMBLINGTED LITCHFIELD
THIS MONTH
Drifted through reveries of the
old Expanded Universe.
ALSO PL AYED
Halo Infinite, Disco Elysium:
The Final CutLEFT: (^) Always getting
calls at the most
inappropriate
of times...
BELOW: Exploring the
galaxy, one YouTube
Let’s Play at a time.
THE GAMES WE LOVE RIGHT NOW
NOW PL AYING
Isn’t the Force
supposed to show
me the way?