If you were to ask any gamer, “which Star Wars game has the best lightsaber combat,” then the unequivocal reply would be Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (or, for brevity’s sake, just Jedi Academy). No Star Wars game, before or since, has featured lightsabers in quite the same way.
Firstly, there’s the sheer range of choices available. While the standard single lightsaber has three different forms you can switch between at will (a short, light and fast form great for blaster defence; medium and balanced; and a long, slow and heavy blade designed for breaking through enemies’ guards), you can also choose Darth Maul style saber-staff (capable of launching furious spinning attacks), or even using twin lightsabers. Each of these has a drastic effect on combat, encouraging players to experiment to find which they find the best fit.
Secondly, in most games, your weapon doesn’t have any effect unless swung. In Jedi Academy, your lightsaber’s blade has physical presence. Switch it on, and turn so the tip touches a wall, and it will carve a glowing furrow. In fact, enemies can be defeated by simply angling your character so the lightsaber runs into them (though, admittedly this is hard to do in the middle of combat). Put simply, these are the lethal weapons portrayed in the films, and a single hit is enough to finish almost anything it comes into contact with – including you.
That’s right, while you’ll get your fair share of blaster-wielding goons and stormtroopers to tear through, you’ll also encounter an increasing number of lightsaber-wielding Dark-side cultists who would be more than happy to remove your head from your shoulders. One’s more than capable of bringing your game to an abrupt end, and encountering two or three at the same time is a panic-inducing recipe.
Fights are fast and furious, a whirling maelstrom of flashing blades as opponents close, hoping their attack manages to find that one opening in their opponent’s defences. A clash of more than a few seconds (if that) will likely leave at least one of you dead, so fights turn on careful space management (retreating for defence), and timing when you should launch your own attacks. With special combo moves and no lock-on mechanic, it becomes a true game of skill. Nothing is more satisfying than having timed everything right so your flip and slash intersects your opponents head – equally, nothing is worse than launching an attack only to realise you’ve mistimed it and left yourself wide open.
Further depth is added by the large array of force powers. Split into light and dark, these include: pull, push, heal, shield, mind-control (the old Jedi Mind Trick), Force Lightning, drain (allowing you to leach the life of opponents to heal yourself), rage (more damage), speed (speeds you up whilst slowing everyone down around you), and Force Grip. This last is by far my favourite, and possibly the most powerful force ability in the game. While aiming it at opponents will result in them being held in place and choked for a short duration, if you flick the mouse at the beginning of the grip, you can actually grab and fling them 30 metres into the air, or hurl them off a walkway. Of course, this all makes combat even more frenetic and lethal – when attacking cultists you want to make sure that you can’t be pushed or pulled off a bridge to an untimely demise.
So how does the rest of the game stack up? Well, to be honest, it’s not the greatest. Graphically it certainly shows its age, as do the animations. The story is so-so, and the AI has some truly amusing shortcomings (such as diving away from grenades – even when that dive will take them straight over the ledge of a platform). But to be honest, none of this really matters. Jedi Academy is an example of a game which does one thing really well, so well that it more than makes up for its shortcomings.
Built on the venerable Quake III engine, Jedi Academy is also highly moddable. Thanks to this, whilst Jedi Academy is a single-player game, there are mods which allow players to go head to head with lightsabers. Even after all this time, it also has an active multiplayer base.
If you want the best, most engaging lightsaber combat around, this is the game you’re looking for. At less than $15 AUD, it’s easy to recommend. ■