Updated evaluation of Jedi Knight II - Finished it...

[The Sauce]

Well, for everyone who blasted me for railing on the game before I finished it I thought I'd post this updated review. Yes, I really did enjoy the game as it went on. There were definitely a few Duke Nukem-esque moments of vertigo when looking off the edge of steep buildings. The gameplay and level design improved dramatically in the second half of the game. I do, however, still stand firm in my statement that this game had some of the most idiotic and loathesome search-for-button/search-for-hidden-passageway/jump-trick garbage in any shooter I have played in recent times. Unfortunately this took what really was a very good game and made it arduous at times. I had to exit and look up the walkthough at least 20+ times during the game which is just ridiculous. Examples?
1.) When releasing the couplings from Landau's ship you have to find two floor grates (in an entire large level) hidden under crates which you have to blow up...without any clues.
2.) In the forest level at the end, I ran around for close to an hour before cracking...I was convinced there was something obvious I had missed. Nope, just an obnoxiously hidden tiny little hole behind a shrub you have to crawl through.

This raises the question - who play-tested this game???

Bottom line...very fun game, but print out the walkthrough before you start.

 

[JellyBaby]

I'm glad the game grew on you. I'm not nearly as hard on the level designers as you. The puzzles are solvable and I managed every one without needing web help (though I did check out a walkthrough once to confirm a strategy I was trying).

You just need to be very observant in this game and take your time. I guess I knew that going in so I wasn't hit hard by the puzzles. Plus I've played just about every Raven game and know their tricks. I enjoyed most of them except for the timed/jumping ones.

And the jedi combat completely makes up for the shortcomings. Every damn one sticks out in my mind! Tavion handed me my ego but the others were challenging but doable (Padawan difficulty).

 

[Adrian Tung]

I agree with you that some of the puzzles were just too tedious and/or hard to find.

But for me, the most frustrating and hair-pulling level in JK2 was the one where you had to prevent a certain number of prisoners from dying, while they are being shot at by stormtroopers and you start off at the bottom of a canyon with an AT-ST in your face. I had to quickload almost 30 times while playing under Jedi Knight difficulty because the objective itself was very random. Sometimes the prisoners died quick, which makes things even more frustrating.

Anyway, the lightsaber battles were fun - especially in the Jedi Academy when you fight side-by-side with the trainers and padawans for a short time.


atwl

 

[MrBond]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm still playing through it here, quite impressed at the longevity it's given me. I had RTCW and MOH:AA beat by now.

I found that puzzle with the crates in the hanger annoying as well. Had to use the walkthrough there to figure it out.

If you want some more lightsabre action w/o playing online, check out the faq on gamefaqs.com. There's a section on the npc spawn console command, even talks about how you can get Luke to fight you !

 

[JellyBaby]

<< I found that puzzle with the crates in the hanger annoying as well. >>

If I remember right Lando tells you the solution is in the hangar and you can see the grates under the boxes....?

 

[RudeBoie]

<<

<< I found that puzzle with the crates in the hanger annoying as well. >>

If I remember right Lando tells you the solution is in the hangar and you can see the grates under the boxes....? >>



Well "in the hangar" wasn't that clear to me either. I had to look for a very long time before I saw those.