Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Players: 1-16 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

(Note: There are multiple Star Wars bundles on Nintendo Switch. If you want a breakdown of which bundles contain which games, please check this page.)

Jedi Academy is a First-Person Shooter with heavy third-person action elements that, depending on how you count, is either the third game in the Jedi Knight series or the fourth game in the Dark Forces series. Originally released on PC, Mac, and the original Xbox in 2003, the game has been ported to modern platforms in 2020, including the Nintendo Switch, which gets additional gyroscopic motion controls as well.

As with the port of Jedi Outcast, this is just, well, a port. That means you’ll be looking at the same low-poly (by today’s standards) character models and low-poly level geometry that may have looked decent in 2003 but definitely hasn’t aged well. However, the textures fared a bit better in this regard, and the overall resolution and framerate receive a boost, making this game look probably the best it ever has… which still ain’t great, but it’s an improvement at least. The worst of it is probably whenever you have an in-game cutscene with characters talking – their mouth-flapping looks particularly ridiculous, like the sort of stuff you’d see South Park do with celebrity head pictures.

Sadly, things in the sound and story department are also a mixed bag. Some of the writing and voice acting here is pretty cringe-worthy, and while Jedi Outcast‘s story was one of the qualities that aged the best in its modern release, I’d say Jedi Academy’s story has aged badly.

As for the gameplay, this game has some good qualities, but also a wealth of problems. I credit this game for letting players use a lightsaber and force abilities right from the start, as these are certainly some of the more fun elements of this game. Unfortunately, the lightsaber is also one of the most unwieldy elements of the game, and what was seen as “nuanced” controls back in the original release makes for something inexplicable today – it’s really frustrating when you run straight up to an enemy, crosshairs dead center, and take a swing at them and whiff because the game decided the lightsaber swing you were going to use would go over their head or by their side. It’s even more frustrating to toss your lightsaber when your crosshairs light up red and miss.

Beyond this, there are other issues as well. Some of the level design here is straight-up awful, with players in environments with multiple doors but only some of them work… despite all looking identical. And much as with Jedi Outcast, the enemies in this game are bullet sponges that take multiple hits from most weapons without so much as flinching – this is partly why, despite how unreliable the lightsaber is, it’s still more satisfying because when you land a hit, it actually has an effect.

This time around, there’s also online multiplayer play which… works about as well as the rest of the game? Which is to say it feels pretty aimless and nonsensical, with it being unclear just how much damage you’re doing to opponents. And maybe I’m just not familiar with the nuances of multiplayer play, but the force choke ability seems outright broken to me. At the very least though, the online servers did seem to have a decent number of players, so there’s that.

I guess in the end, I think Jedi Academy improves some things over Jedi Outcast, but also does some things worse, but ultimately it’s a game that’s sadly lacking in the modern day. And unlike Jedi Outcast, I don’t even feel like I can recommend this game for its story. Star Wars fans may still get a kick out of the game, both as a relic of the history of the series and also for the fun of tossing around a lightsaber, but most are better off avoiding this game.

tl;dr – Jedi Academy is a First-Person Shooter with some Third-Person Action originally released in 2003, now cleaned up and ported to the Switch. The gameplay here is improved in some areas over the previous game, but worse in others. Terrible level design, bullet sponge enemies, unreliable lightsaber controls, a lacking story, and a shallow and not especially fun online multiplayer mode are some of its major flaws. Overall, this is a game that only the most diehard fans will enjoy.

Grade: C-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Worst Port/Remake

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