by:	April 10, 2004

Jedi Outcast continues where the PC game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II left off. You are Kyle Katarn, who just barely escaped the temptation of the Dark Side and finally realized that he could no longer trust himself to wield the Force. Confused and disappointed, he relinquished his role as a Jedi Knight by turning in his lightsaber to the newly created (by Luke Skywalker) Jedi Council. His connection to the Force may have weakened, but his quick thinking and fast reflexes remain powerful assets to the New Republic as he, accompanied by his partner Jan Ors, accepts the Republic's missions.

Gameplay: Starting Out
When you begin the game, the Star Wars attitude immediately overcomes you. Your partner, Jan Ors, is with you, and you are sent by the New Republic to check out the Valley of the Jedi because there is a disturbance. Katarn discovers that the Valley is overrun by Imperials. Gameplay is in first-person fashion, and if you have played any shooter on Xbox, then you will immediately get the hang of the controls. The controls are as follows:

Right Trigger: Primary fire
Left Trigger: Alternate fire
Left Thumbstick: Control movement
Right Thumbstick: Control view/push down to crouch
Y: Use item
B: Draw lightsaber (more on this below)
A: Jump
X: interact with items

The controls are simple enough, but they are just a bit too sensitive in some areas and a little less sensitive than they should be in others. During multiplayer play, the controls may show lag, depending on the number of players (more on this below). Also, interestingly, the Controller S seems to have much better control than the original controller, which is strange because the original controller is normally better suited for first-person shooter play.

You can easily target the Storm Troopers and other enemies coming at you. You also get to use cannons and such found in the level to blast open doors. The computer players on the Jedi and Padawan difficulty settings aren't particularly challenging, but they come in great numbers, which makes them a bigger threat. You will also fight against probe droids and a few others, which make for an even more interesting challenge. You will come across challenges at certain points, such as a door or a passageway, and the game will require you to take a step back and think about the next action you should take, as opposed to blowing the door down and running in, guns blazing. The game will get fairly hard at some points, and boring at others, because you have to run back and fetch things. One thing is for sure, nearly each level takes a good amount of your time to complete, but you have a sense of satisfaction once you beat it. The gameplay in the Xbox version of the game is also exceptional because of an extra level and graphical touch-ups to make this the best looking version of Jedi Outcast. You go around acquiring a lot of card keys in the game, and some of them can open up crates to get bio canisters that give you power ups, or power cells that can be used for your firearms.