In 2003, LucasArts released Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Xbox. The game was created by Raven Software and features first- and third-person shooting. A company called Vicarious Visions created the Xbox version. This is the fourth and last Star Wars: Jedi Knight game, and a sequel to 2002’s Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. We are talking about Jedi Academy 3.
Jaden Korr, a fresh student at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy under the guidance of Kyle Katarn, is the protagonist of the single-player campaign, which takes place two years after Jedi Outcast in the fictitious Star Wars extended universe. As Jaden, you’ll be charged with uncovering the secrets of the Disciples of Ragnos, a sect of Dark Jedi, while also slowly learning the ways of the Force and choosing your allegiance to the Light or the Dark.
— Masami Kurokawa (@KurokawaMasami) July 22, 2022
Jedi Academy 3
Despite sharing the same id Tech 3 engine as its predecessor, Jedi Academy improves upon its predecessor in a number of key ways. Similar to Jedi Outcast, players will be able to use blasters, lightsabers, and a wide range of Force powers in combat. The player and adversaries can now use single, double, or dual lightsabers, making for slightly more interesting fighting.
Players can alter Jaden’s look by selecting their preferred species, gender, and clothes, in addition to making adjustments to their lightsaber and Force powers. Aside from the single-player campaign, Jedi Academy also has a multiplayer component where players can compete in a number of various game modes against one another through the internet or a local area network.
The majority of reviewers praised the game after its release. In contrast to its predecessors, it allowed players to choose the sequence in which they completed missions and gave them early access to a lightsaber, earning high marks for player agency. The game’s lightsaber fighting received particular acclaim and is now held in high esteem as the greatest of its kind in any Star Wars video game.
The premise and some technical aspects, however, were criticized. With the rest of the Jedi Knight games, Jedi Academy was re-released on Steam and Direct2Drive in September 2009. Aspyr produced a version for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in March 2020 after the announcement was made in September 2019.
System Requirements For Becoming A Star Wars Jedi Knight In The Jedi Academy
Required Bare-Bones Components:
- You need a processor with at least 450 MHz of speed, such as a Pentium III or an Athlon.
- You’ll Need 128MB of Memory (RAM).
- Hardware Accelerator (GPU): 32 MB OpenGL compatible PCI or AGP
- DirectX: System requirements call for a DirectX 9.0a-capable machine.
- Software Requirement: Operating System Version 98 or Later
- For the best audio experience, make sure your sound card is 16 bits wide and DirectX 9.0a compatible.
System Requirements For Becoming A Star Wars Jedi Knight In The Jedi Academy
- Required Central Processing Unit (CPU): Pentium III or Athlon Class 450 MHz or faster
- RAM:\s256MB
- For the Graphics Processing Unit, you’ll need a 32 MB OpenGL-compatible PCI or AGP hardware accelerator.
- PCs must be fully compatible with DirectX 9.0a to run DX games.
- In terms of the operating systems, Windows 98 and later versions are acceptable.
- Sounds: DirectX 9.0a compatible 16-bit sound card required.
Gameplay
Jedi Academy is a first- and third-person shooter based in the Star Wars expanded world, where players engage in combat using a wide variety of weapons and Force abilities from the Star Wars universe. For all weapons except the lightsaber, the player can select their preferred viewpoint. The game features the normal fare of projectile and energy weapons, as well as explosives, for a shooter. Each player has a life meter and a shield meter, both of which deplete over time and need to be replenished individually.
In both the single-player and multiplayer modes, the player assumes the role of a Force user equipped with a lightsaber and a variety of Force abilities (s). Force abilities like “Push,” “Pull,” “Jump,” “Heal,” “Lightning,” and “Flash,” among others, are available. Each Force power has three ranks, with increasing efficacy as you move from the lower to the higher ranks.
These ranks correspond to the three broad categories of Force powers: core, Light Side, and Dark Side. Players can further personalize their experience by selecting how they would like to gain experience and power levels in both single- and multiplayer modes. The player’s “force meter” drains when they utilize their powers and refills when they don’t.
The use of lightsabers is a major focus at Jedi Academy. The player can design their own lightsaber by choosing from five different blade colors and a hilt. The player can switch between the default “medium” lightsaber fighting style and one of two additional styles (quick and powerful) after completing the first several missions.
Later in the game, the player is given the option to learn a third fighting style, utilize two sabers at once, or use a “saber staff” similar to Darth Maul’s lightsaber from The Phantom Menace, which has two blades and allows the player to kick with it. All the various sabers and combat philosophies have their own advantages, disadvantages, and signature moves. In the “Fast” stance, a player wielding dual sabers disables one saber and uses the other as a single-bladed saber, while in the “Medium” stance, a player utilizing a saber staff disables one of the blades and uses the staff as a single-bladed saber.
Single-player
The player begins the game with only one lightsaber and the option to select the character’s species and gender. The bulk of the game is broken up into three sets of five tasks each. Each set of five missions can be completed in any order the player chooses, with the option to bypass any one of them if desired.
This series of missions come with a prerequisite training course and is linked by further required missions: Connecting missions on Hoth between Acts 1 and 2 and Bast castle on V’jun between Acts 2 and 3 provide a thematic link between the two halves of the game. After completing the objectives on Hoth, the player gains access to a new lightsaber fighting style using a single blade, and after completing the tasks on V’jun/Bast, the player gains access to dual-wielding or a saber staff.
The player has the opportunity to level up one of their Force abilities at the start of each side mission. As the game proceeds, the character’s Force power will get more effective thanks to this. Additionally, this motivates players to skip fewer missions. Vehicles that the player can drive are also introduced, along with a single level dedicated to them. Upon completing the final set of optional missions, the player is presented with a series of necessary tasks that offer a choice between embracing the Light or the Dark Side, with significant repercussions for either path.
Multiplayer
There is also a multiplayer option where you may play against other people and AI bots over the internet or a local area network (LAN). The player’s avatar can be customized via a menu of settings, just like in a single-player game. Alternately, the player can take on the role of nearly any character from Jedi Outcast or Jedi Academy. Prior to the start of a match, the server decides which Force ranking will be utilized, which determines how many points each player will have to allocate to each Force power.
After that, players can adjust their abilities before the game. A lightsaber-only mode can be created by having the server deactivate all other weapons. Modes like “Capture the Flag,” “Power Duel,” and “Siege” are available for multiplayer play. One can play solo or with others, depending on the mode. Many players feel that the learning curve and skill requirements for multiplayer are far higher than those of the single-player mode. There are a total of six multiplayer modes, although “Free For All” is by far the most played and customized.
There has been a gradual drop in the internet community since 2011. There were roughly 250 players as of May 2019, with less than a third of them online at any given moment. Movie Battles II, JA+, and Lugormod are just a few of the most well-known multiplayer add-ons.