A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a great company there was. Mighty was it, and full of talent. Churned out classic after classic, it did. But arrogant in its success did it become – and arrogance leads to complacency, complacency leads to carelessness, carelessness leads to mediocrity. Fell from the Light side did they…

Thus goes the story of Lucasarts. They were a company at the height of their powers right when I began to venture into gaming. I had simply never played games like Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max, or Monkey Island before. I was awestruck. The company produced world-class games, and that was without even using the ace up its sleeve – the licence. X-wing was a revelation, Tie-Fighter a joy, and Dark Forces was immensely enjoyable. When Jedi Knight was released, expectations were understandably high, and were fulfilled to a large extent. Throughout, Lucasarts displayed a deftness of touch that was extraordinary when handling the lucrative but extremely delicate licence.

Somewhere, around the time shortly after the release of Jedi Knight, they seemed to lose the Midas touch. I should say at this point that I do feel that many were extremely harsh on games like (Supremacy in the – or was it the other way round?) and Force Commander. They were not by any means bad games. But what is undoubtedly true is that if you look at the output of Lucasarts across the board – from the Star Wars games to the later instalments of adventure series Monkey Island – you can see a discernible drop in overall quality. To stop the rot, Lucasarts took the decision to relinquish of certain key titles to outside expertise, a sign perhaps of an inward acknowledgment that the company was sacrificing quality for quantity. X-Wing Alliance was the first game bearing the fruit of this decision. Jedi Knight II is the second. Created by Software, using Id’s Quake III team arena engine, it’s a bit of a belter.

So if you’ll excuse my lengthy preliminary preamble (I do so like the sound of my own keyboard), I’ll get on with the serious business of reviewing this game.

First impressions of the game are solid, if not spectacular. The presentation is reminiscent of the original JK, with similar (ish) title screens and set-up menu’s, so aficionados should feel right at home. Upon beginning a new game, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that Raven has done away with JK I’s method of cinematic cutscenes in favour of the in vogue in-game engine variety. Personally, I thought this was a pity, as I liked the original’s cutscenes, which featured some good acting and high production values. I understand the developers wanting to retain continuity in game, but I didn’t like the cutscenes as much this time around. It’s a minor personal gripe, however, and shouldn’t put you off in the slightest. They’re still pretty darn good, and tell the story nicely.