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86%
PROS
Great multiplayer, good single player, good sound.
LOWS
Bad menu navigation, no graphic change, character customization is primitive. Some clipping and shadow issues.
OVERALL
Jedi Academy is an enjoyable single player campaign and great multiplayer experience. Just note that there is no graphic change.
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Another cool thing in the single player mode are the slow motion Jedi kills. Whenever you fight a Jedi in the single player game and kill him, the game will shift to slow motion as your opponent is dying. At this point, you can still control Jaden, so you can watch him/her do a backwards flip in slow motion as the enemy falls to the ground. Just like in Jedi Outcast, the game is filled with cool looking Jedi moves. Rolls that turn into lightsaber stabs, jumping back from walls, back flips, all that good stuff.
Even though lightsabers are the most used weapon in the game, there are also some decent weaponry included. Most of the weapons you can use are the same as in Jedi Outcast. There are some new weapons, however. To list a few, Dl-44 Blaster Pistol, Stouker Concussion Rifle, and Merr-Sonn PLX-2M Portable Missile System. These three babies are fun to use, but for the most part, your lightsaber and a few tricks will be the only thing you will need.
There are some things I found about the single player version that really stink. If you are starting a mission and then realize it is too hard and want to choose a different one, there is no way to go back into the mission menu. When you launch the game up, your only option is to load a previously saved game. You cannot choose to go back to to mission menu. So, if you just beat a mission and quit out of the game, you will have to reload your latest saved game and essentially beat the mission over again. It would have been so much easier if you could have simply have had a "mission menu" button on the loading screen. The only way to switch from mission to mission is to die in whichever mission you are in and then click 'back to mission menu' on the escape menu. Argh, terrible navigation interface ticks me off.
This said, there are missions that will surprise you, and overall, this mode is still fun despite the terrible navigation options. With the amount of detail put into each mission, the single player version of Jedi Academy is great.
Enemy and friendly AI is sharp. Well, most of the time. NPC's will follow you around (Chewbacca, hostages, etc.) and will usually provide good cover fire. Enemies are usually smart. Sometimes, you will get into a situation where you can just be hitting guys off from a distance, and they will just stand there like nothing has happened. For the most part, bad guys will rush towards you when they see you, and run away when they are being attacked. Good strategy.
Graphics are the same as in Jedi Outcast. I was personally looking forward to an amazing new look, but the same Jedi Outcast graphics were to be found in Jedi Academy. Please don't take this wrong... the graphics of Jedi Academy are excellent, some of the best we have seen. It's just there is nothing new to the engine, making the game seem like its just an expansion pack to Jedi Outcast.
Probably the best part of Jedi Academy is the multiplayer. In multiplayer mode, you can play team free for all, free for all, duel, and OBJECTIVE BASED MISSIONS. This multiplayer mode will blow you away. If you can picture playing with teammates in order to reach a common goal using lighsabers, you might be able to understand the intense action in multiplayer. Just the thought of it makes me drool.
Jedi Academy is a great game. Single player is enjoyable, and multiplayer is great. Still, the lack of change in graphics makes Jedi Academy not feel like the brand spankin' new game it should.
