The game begins with Katarn and old merc-buddy Jan Ors investigating some far flung base in use by the Imperial Remnant, left behind after the fall of the Empire proper. Katarn has forsaken his force abilities since almost falling to the dark side, but one thing leads to another, and after discovering some gruesome details of the Remnants plans, and some close run-in’s with some new Dark Jedi, Katarn decides to seek out his lightsabre once again. If you’ve read other reviews of this game, then you’ll have almost certainly heard what I’m about to say – the first five levels are the weakest, and are entirely different in game play mechanics to the rest of the game. It begins promisingly, with Katarn and Ors sneaking (or just blasting) their way into an imperial base. Fighting the stormtroopers is great fun, but on occasion JK II throws so many of them at you at once it becomes a little overwhelming. Especially since at the beginning you just don’t have the firepower to handle many troopers’ head on – you’ll find yourself adopting run-and-lure tactics to whittle them down. Those used to other FPS’s may also become frustrated with the slow projectile pace of JK II’s weapons – this is deliberate in order to make dodging easier, but it may throw the aim of experienced Q3 or UT players.

Another problem with the early levels is the puzzle design. I am from the school of design that says that if you cannot find your way around/through a level fairly easily, then the level is badly designed. Raven, I think, are not. Several times I found myself stuck in a level because I missed a switch, or an alcove, or a vent I was supposed to find hidden in some dark corner. This problem does not entirely disappear, but becomes much less frustrating later on as you become accustomed to the designer’s style. Colour coded and fetch-key puzzles are also the order of the day. They are not bad as such, but I had a problem with them simply because they got in the way of the game’s quality action-driven core.

Herein lies the rub: if you are at all impatient, or get frustrated easily, or find most first-person shooters very difficult, then you will have to dig deep and persevere. Because it is so damn worth it when you get that lightsabre and your powers back. The game changes entirely, almost as though two different teams made it. By the end of the game you begin to wish there were twice as many enemies to despatch, instead of praying for less. The way in which you get back your force skills and sabre is inspired too – involving a visit to the new Jedi Academy on Yavin. Here you see Jedi Padawans battling each other in training while on your way to visit Luke Skywalker, and it is at this point you glimpse the genius behind Raven’s melee combat system. Wisely, the developers kept controls simple and largely intuitive. Swing direction is a combination of timing and direction of movement. If you stand on your own and experiment, it seems as though there are relatively few moves. In battle with another Jedi, however, Katarn comes alive. He flips, rolls and performs complex swing combos. When attacked, instead of adopting a “one size fits all” defensive stance (like almost all other combat games), Katarn counters each individual strike in a different way. And amazingly, it all fits together seamlessly, as though it was an sequence straight from the Menace (one of the good bits). I cannot begin tell you how good it looks. The sabre combat is one of the best parts of an excellent game – and while admittedly there are ways to beat the enemy Jedi fairly easily, you’ll find that you don’t really want to use them, because prolonging the battles is so much more satisfying.