STAR WARS: Jedi Outcast

Reviewed By: Andrew Alderman
VOLUNTEER GUEST REVIEWER

GAME TECH INFO

Computer Platform: Game Cube, Xbox, PC
Produced by: Lucasarts
Price Range: $41-50
Learning curve time: 31-60 min.
Age level: Teen to Adult
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Overall Rating: N/A
Genre: Sci-Fi Shooter
Christian Rating: 4 of 5
   (slightly offensivegood)
Gameplay: 4 of 5
   (good)
Violence: 3 of 5
   (mild)
Adult Content: 5 of 5
   (none)

Star Wars: Jedi Outcast for the Nintendo Gamecube is a port of the highly successful PC game. But it does include extras not found on the PC game, and in some ways could be less offensive.

As in the original Jedi Knight, you assume the role of Kyle Katarn, mercanary-turned-Jedi-turned-mercanary again. After the events of JK 1, Kyle turned in his lightsaber for fear of turning to the Dark Side. Because of this, you must spend the first six missions of the game with no Force powers and only a few blasters as weapons.

At the end of the last of those six missions, your partner, Jan Ors, is seemingly killed right in front of you by a Dark Jedi named Dessan. After this, you decide to regain your Jedi powers. You journey to Yavin IV, home of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. You go through a very nice tutorial that introduces you to your Force powers. After the completion of this level, you begin your main quest.

The first few missions after you get you lightsaber and Force abilities are very disappointing. You barely ever get to use the Force, and the lightsaber can be troublesome at times. After about 4 levels, you come to the only point in the game that I found offensive. You must fight a “Reborn,” a clone who have been infused with Force abilities. I'll come back to them later. You continue on through lots more levels in many environments, ranging from the streets of Bespin to an Imperial ship to a swamp on Yavin IV. All in all, I found most of the missions after the training level enjoyable.

Now, to the offensive material. There is a little violence, such as the having the ability to chop off poor Stormtroopers' arms to using the Force to throw them off ledges. Also, there are those Reborn I mentioned earlier. A lot of people could find them offensive. Their name, for instance, “Reborn,” is a term we use to describe new life in Christ. They use it as a term describing Jedi clones who are purely evil. Other than these things, there is little offensive content.

And believe it or not, there are differences between the Gamecube and PC versions. The GC version includes the original PC demo, which would normally have to be downloaded separately from the game. Also, the violence is tuned down in the console version. Not to mention that the non-online multiplayer will eliminate the language you would hear by playing it online on the computer.

I found this game overall extremely enjoyable, and not very offensive. But because of the limited violence, some parents might not want younger children playing it. But I think Teens and Adults will find it to be one of the best first person shooters on the Gamecube. Year of Release—2002

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Christian Spotlight review are those of the reviewer (both ratings and recommendations), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Films for Christ or the Christian Answers Network.