It hits you right at the start, after a beautifully-orchestrated live action cinematic flies you through a complex maze of vertical skyscraper edges embellished with the occasional passing whale of a commerce ship, and after meeting the man who you'll be playing, Kyle Katarn, having harsh words with criminal thugs in a grimey downtown bar, you're thrust into gameplay in the dark streets of Nar Shadaa, a location of Star Wars un-addressed by the films, but already known to hardcore fans of the Expanded Universe of books based beyond the events of Return Of The Jedi.
Jedi Knight brings its own fragrance to the darker edges of Star Wars. Playing through will give us glimpses of the cold world of machines and industrialism forged by the now-dying Empire, with steel corridors of always vertigo-inducing surroundings, onto more outdoorsy landscapes such as Kyle's family home of Sulon.
My own fondness and memories of this game go deeper than the apparently now-dated graphics engine, which evokes more atmosphere in my mind than any new and spangley 3D console title you dare to mention. The pixelly hard polygon shards that go to form the scenery are beefed up by some hauntingly-retro (and often funny) sound effects, which provide the game with a tough edge that is sorely lacking from its sequels.
When I play this game, I am struck by how the game manages to truly immerse you in scenarios, despite its age (released in 1997, I believe?) - for instance, take how it can concoct a magic in feeling like a superhero as you slowly accumulate 'Force Powers' such as 'Jump' (which allows you to hold and press a key to launch you into a fantastically extra high jump) to 'Speed' (does what it says on the tin!) and 'Pull' (the amusingness of snatching a Stormtrooper's gun through the air via mindpower, leaving him confused and terrified still makes me chuckle). Then there's the small but enjoyably-balanced array of weapons you find hidden at rare checkpoints, 10 in total, which give a feeling of glee in how they let you to adapt to the situation. All of course tools in a child's toybox, for us, as we suddenly realise we can empower ourselves to our hapless evil foes in the ever-changing geometry of later levels. Your low-yield Thermal Detonator is a simple grenade, which can be dropped down a sewer vent before you follow (to flush out those pesky Grave Tuskens), equally fun to bounce around corners is the Bowcaster (an energy crossbow, similar to Chewbacca's) which you steal from them. Picking up the Rail Detonator will let you fire a sticky-rocket on a 3-second fuse at a passing enemy's head, and watch them flail around in surprise at being glued to an inescapable fate, whilst the joy of exploiting 'Sequencer' Magnetic Mines in a plethora of different ways has to be seen to be believed. (Don't get me started on the antics of Lightsaber-duelling!)
Then there's those enemies. The A.I. - compared to today's standards, leaves a lot to be desired, but it does the job of creating a story-driven world full of sinister soldiers. Indeed, the sound design takes over here in creating character, as does the brightly coloured palette of the foes, which are instantly recognisable - and have their own distinctive connotations upon coming face-to-face with one. The Three-Eyed 'Gran' alien is a common replacement for the Stormtrooper in earlier levels, and will attack you with guns, grenades, or lethal cranium punches. The piglike Gammorrean Guards will try to slice you in two with an axe, whilst Imperial Probe Droids hover out from shadows menacingly and do more damage to you than you do to them. The menagerie persists, as you soon bump into the toughened Trandoshans which hang around the fuel depot, lizards carrying enormous cannons and hissing sinisterly as they see you, to the monsters of the wide outdoor maps, such as Mailocs, frightening mustard-coloured mega-insects that fly from miles up in the sky down to meet you just so they can slap you with their thorny tails.
Jedi Knight puts on a marvellous display of excitement using so little, enlisting its crude early 3D technology to create a real sense of a world that induces story, fun, and thought in the Player that it's hard to see how any clever artist could have squeezed so much juice out of what they had. Not only does it do that, but it has the backup of the rich mythology of Star Wars itself to draw on, as a result you always want to think big about where you are and what you're doing in-game, almost automatically, moment to moment, a feature that complements Jedi Knight's success as a classic PC game.
-Des
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