Single Player Mode

Kyle will go up against huge odds in the game, as usual. All sorts of enemies show up behind the reticule. The ubiquitous Storm troopers and other familiar humanoids such as Rodians and Grans show up, who do a good job making life harder for Kyle, especially in large numbers. The most significant addition to the list of enemies are the lightsaber-wielding Reborn. I don't want to spoil anyone, so just look at them as a can of Diet Coke: they're almost, but not quite like the Classic Coke when compared to the Jedi.

The presence of friendly units is something new in the JK series, such as the Bespin police, New Republic troops, Jedi Padawans and trainers, even Jan, Lando and Luke themselves join in the fun at certain points in the game. In most cases these friendly NPC's are competent enough that they do not become burdens to Kyle. Jeez, Luke was light-years better than me as I watched him easily take on three Reborn simultaneously by himself.

Now, who could that guy on the right be?

Jedi Knight 2 is ridden with puzzles and obstacles. While they are not overly difficult to solve, some of them do make some sense, I can't help but feel that the game sometimes has strange ways of making things draggingly difficult. My case in point is the communications array in the Doomgiver.

I really, REALLY, hated the Comm Array puzzle.

Although a player really can not interfere with it, Kyle does have several interactions with many characters in the game, giving more emphasis to the importance of the story. Its difference from JK1 is that these sequences are not limited between chapters, and often have content that are integral to the game. That's a huge plus in my book.

Implementation of Force powers in single player mode is a mixed bag. The powers themselves are more potent and easier to use than before. However, unlike in JK1, the player is no longer given the option of choosing which side to join and how much improvement is allocated for each power. The game gives Kyle a pre-determined set of Force powers from both sides to be learned as the game progressed. Perhaps the reason for this is that the story dictated that Kyle treaded dangerously between the Light and Dark Side throughout the game, or maybe not. Whatever the reason is, this may disappoint some JK1 veterans.

Multiplayer

Although I am not a huge multiplayer fan, I did enjoy its novelty. A player can choose several game types in multiplayer mode, such as Free-for-all, Team play, Capture the Flag and all that typical stuff. But there are some particularly unusual scenarios in multiplayer mode. One of them is the Jedi Master scenario, where the guy with the only lightsaber in the game is ganged up by everyone else. I find it amusing and exhilarating.

Several maps of different sizes are available. Some of them are quite familiar to any Star Wars fan. Players can choose maps as big as the Death Star or as small as the Jedi Battleground.

Revisiting the Death Star…

Unlike in single player mode, there is more control over how a player's avatar is set up, such as which side of the Force is to be used, how many points can be distributed to Force powers, the skin of the avatar, down to the color of the lightsaber.

The Force Power Configuration menu

Some of the Bots are very tough opponents, even at low levels. I often found myself frustrated on several occasions when pitted against them.

Obviously, the greatest drawing factor of the game in multiplayer mode is the lightsaber duels. It's what makes the game unique, I suppose.

Me as Luke in saberlock with a bot Kyle.

Conclusion