Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith

Jedi Knight: More of the Same.

4_1Jedi Knight was one of the best 3D shooters ever, and certainly deserves an add-on disk. By and large, Mysteries of the Sith is generally up to the job. It adds 14 new single-player levels, several new weapons, a new character for solo play, and a host of multiplayer options. The story line merges seamlessly into the existing fiction; the first four levels see the player continuing the saga of Rebel agent and Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn, and the last 10 replace Kyle with Mara Jade, former Imperial toady cum fledgling Jedi.

The good parts of Mysteries of the Sith are very good: new weapons (the electroscope is great), monsters (gotta love the Rancor and the undead Jedi), and some levels (a spaceport, a smuggler’s palace, a zero-gravity space duel). Unfortunately, the rest of the game is less good. Too many levels are, quite frankly, ugly, and the last few levels of the game, in the Drommund Kaas swamp and the Sith Temple, are lightsaber and forcepower-only.

This leads to a series of brutally difficult and ultimately boring combats where the best weapon is your quicksave key. Too often, the designers force a console-style “try and die” method on players, removing any feeling of being in the action; no Star Wars character could conceivably make it through these levels without dying. Overall, this is an add-on worth getting, but it’s something of a disappointment too. Gamers addicted to lightsabers and force powers will love it (new powers include Chain Lightning and Force Projection); those more in tune with blasters will be less thrilled.

The saving grace, and the thing that makes this a must-buy for Internet gamers, are the 15 multiplayer levels, including a new game (Kill the Fool with the Ysalamiri) and four different characters (Scout, Bounty Hunter, Soldier, Jedi), each with different weapons and Force abilities (or lack thereof). The solo game isn’t stellar, but it’ll do.


System Requirements: Pentium 90, 16 MB RAM, Win95


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