Vintage gaming is bigger now than it’s ever been, and StarWars.com take a look at two of the stand-out games from the era; Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and The Force Unleashed. First, they take a look at Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and why it was such a highly anticipated call back in 2003.
“In my mind, one of the things that stands out about Jedi Academy is the lineage of that franchise. It started with Dark Forces and Dark Forces II, and moved on up to Jedi Knight, Jedi Knight II, and then Jedi Academy was tying up a very successful franchise. Although Dark Forces started off as a first-person shooter, and then ultimately it became both a first- and third-person experience throughout the history of those games. So it really gave players an opportunity to immerse themselves in both the fantasy fulfillment of blaster combat, using a lightsaber, using Force power, and the flexibility to play it their way in either mode. What a blast.
“Another very compelling element was the narrative built around a new character, Jaden Korr, training to be a Jedi at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy, who is trained by none other than LucasArts legend Kyle Katarn, a fixture in the franchise. Mix in some dark Jedi bent on resurrecting ancient an Sith Lord and you can see why fans would be lining up to give Jedi Academy a spin.”
