Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

This game may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. [Issue #46 – May/June 2020, p. 27]

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast has the right to a Nintendo Switch version many years after its original release, but age does not affect this Star Wars classic in any negative way. While the initial part of the game is rather cumbersome, after thirty-something minutes the player will get a significant push into the spirit of the saga and the game's plot, light saber duels and soundtrack will make a splendorous job at fully inserting the fans into this work.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is a bit of a grind at the beginning, but if you can endure the first part then the game will open up into Jedi Force battles and light saber combat which will make all the Star Wars fans happy. For the cost of the game (currently only $9.99), it’s worth putting in your rotation.

Jedi Outcast still is a great game, although some of its aspects haven’t aged too well. However, Star Wars fans will definitely enjoy this title if they’re feeling nostalgic.

At its core, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast remains a good title. Get past the shooting, and you're rewarded with a ton of Force powers and lightsaber combat that remains at the top of its field to this day. However, the port job isn't up to snuff, as it lacks some slight auto-aim and lock-on to make the experience more user-friendly for console players, so the opening levels are a real chore to get through even if you can handle the outdated textures and adherence to the old way of doing puzzles. Not only is it recommended to go with the PC release for this title, but it also gives one pause about how the eventual port job of Jedi Academy will turn out.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast has the makings of a great Star Wars game inside it, but an incredibly frustrating front-end makes getting to the enjoyable meat a chore and will likely turn off most modern players.

For those who are looking to recapture their memories of playing the original game just as it was, the Switch version is a fine means of relishing in that. As a video game releasing in 2019, however, new players should be cautious and, at the very least, aware of what they are getting into. Players who are familiar with the mechanics could complete the campaign in about 12 hours, while several to many more hours will be added for those who are new. If players want to discover what Star Wars games used to be like before the arrival of November’s Jedi: Fallen Order, this is a reasonable point of comparison. After all, 2002 seems like a long time ago when it comes to cinematic action-adventure game design. Sunshine, Metroid Prime, and Wind Waker all hold up as game experiences from this era. Jedi Outcast is far, far away from doing so.

Jedi Outcast is a fun trip down memory lane. However, newcomers are likely to be too put off by the frustrations and poorly-aged game design of an ultimately incomplete port of a once-incredible title.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast has an opening five chapters that will test your patience to its absolute limit. In some ways, this is down to its age and in others it's just bad design coupled with the odd decision to hold back the game’s best aspects for such a long stretch. This poor pacing is the one thing standing in the way of us giving this a hearty recommendation. However, If you think you’ve got the fortitude to push on through to the good stuff – a trial worthy of Yoda himself – you’ll be handsomely rewarded with some top-notch Star Wars action. It’s a shame the multiplayer fun has been excised here and we did run into that save file bug but, all in all, if you can persist with the dark you’ll be rewarded with the light and – for at least half of its duration – this old classic is still just about as good as Star Wars games ever got.