L
ucasArts’ Star Wars games have
always played off our secret
geeky desire to be battling for or
against the Dark Side. Deep down,
we’re all like the “Star Wars Kid”
from the Internet, waging light-
saber battles in that galaxy far, far
away. It’s for this very reason that
Jedi Academy —littered with charac-
ters and locations
from the movies—
is a must-have
title for any Star
Wars fan. It’s by
no means a perfect
game, and many
of the characters
only make cameo
appearances, but
the level of immer-
sion in the Star
Wars universe is unprecedented.
The game puts you in the sandals
of a young Padawan attending Luke
Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. Upon
your first day of school, you discover
that a sinister plot is unfolding
across the universe, and you set out
to become a full-fledged Jedi and
confront the dark minions. Unlike
previous Jedi games, you’re armed
with a light saber from jump street,
which is a nice benefit considering
that other trappings
of Jedidom aren’t so
well implemented.
Jedi Academy is
broken up into four
chunks, with each
chunk containing
five separate mis-
sions. After a very
brief training ses-
sion, you begin
your stint as a Rent-
a-Jedi, flying around the universe,
tackling the missions in any order
you choose. Before you begin each
mission, you can increase your
prowess in one of eight different
force powers. Four force powers
fall on the light side, four fall on
the dark side, and eventually you
reach a pivotal plot point at which
you must permanently choose a
side of the force to join. This fork
in the road significantly affects theoutcome of the
game, and adds
to the game’s
replayability.
The devel-
oper (Raven)
enhanced the
Quake III engine
with a few shader
effects (such
as a cool light-
saber glow that
reflects onto its
surroundings),
but otherwise
the graphics are
standard fare.
Although Jedi
Academy lacks
the eye-candy of upcoming next-gen
titles, textures are nice and sharp,
AI is well-implemented, and there’s
even some ragdoll physics.
Gameplay is heavily focused on
saber combat, and that’s just fine
with us. The duels can degenerate
into blind button-mashing if you
don’t fully understand your force
powers, but they’re still loads of fun.
The projectile weapons and gre-
nades, however, are too weak to
be of any real value. The missions
also have you piloting a variety
of vehicles, including tauntauns,
AT-STs, and racing pods. Sadly,
the vehicle control is so wonky,
some of us ended up hoofing it to
avoid frustration.
Toward the end of the game,
light-saber and force skills become
absolutely crucial, as you go up
against hordes of cultists who
simply cannot be killed with con-
ventional weaponry. The cultists
have Jedi powers, but they know
how to use them. Herein lies a big
problem with the game: It might be
called Jedi Academy, but you receive
no training on how to get the most
out of—or defend against—the
more arcane Jedi arts. When should
you use “Force Absorb”? And how
is it different from “Force Protect”?
And what’s the best defense against
“Force Drain”? Who knows! You
just have to try ‘em all out, and
hope for the best. Same goes foryour lightsaber moves. As you
matriculate through the Academy,
you’re endowed with new moves,
but receive no instruction on how
to pull them off. Hmmm. Let’s see
here. You’re enrolled in a training
academy, and you have an instructor
Jedi by your side for large parts of the
game, but no one ever schools you in
the fine art of warfare!
Even though the single-player
campaign has a few warts, multi-
player is well-rounded and a lot of
fun. You can play UT -style Siege
(one team on offense, the other on
defense), go two-on-one with light
sabers, or try Free For All death-
match. You can even practice offline
against bots, a feature all online
games should include.
Jedi Academy isn’t without its
faults, but those are largely overshad-
owed by the game’s considerable
strengths. It’s a mandatory buy for
Star Wars geeks, and a fine, respect-
able romp for all others.
—JOSH NOREMReviews
6 MAXIMUMPC DECEMBER 2003
Star 7ars eDi +Night: eDi !CaDemy
The sword is mightier than the pen at this boarding school
The game lets you select a single light saber, a
dualie, or two small sabers like these gentlemen are
wielding. You can even choose the color of the beam.The Rancor
is just one
of many
memorable
Star Wars
characters
that make an
appearance in
Jedi Academy.Killer saber duels, good mission variety, great
single- and multiplayer action.LIGHT SABERLIGHT BEER
Not enough training, and the vehicles are hard
to control.
$50, http://www.lucasarts.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 8
Echo, echo,
echo. More
than once
we found
ourselves
staring in awe
at the game’s
breathtaking
vistas.