Within the Star Wars pantheon, the Jedi Knight video games are something truly special. They eschew the pathos and spirituality of the Lucas' films and allow players to let loose, indulging in a power fantasy with reckless abandon. The Jedi Knight series is all about using the Force to augment ones lightsaber skills and decimate enemies; story is an afterthought. It’s strange, then, that the most popular game in the franchise, Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, withholds the lightsaber for dozens of hours because of the story. It’s a perplexing decision considering the game is all about lightsaber action, but it’s even weirder when considering the story reasons behind the decision. Jedi Outcast withholds the lightsaber out of respect for key plot points in the series' prior games, but the bombastic nature of the gameplay undercuts the deference.
Prior to Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, there were three games in the series: Dark Forces, Dark Forces II Jedi Knight, and Mysterious of the Sith, an expansion to the Dark Forces II. All the games concern Kyle Katarn, an imperial officer turned rebel mercenary. In Dark Forces, Kyle is just a gun-totting grunt, but in Dark Forces II he becomes a Jedi while pursuing the Dark Jedi Jeric. Mysteries of the Sith follows Kyle's apprentice Mara Jade as she searches for Kyle after he goes missing. In the game, Kyle briefly turns to the dark side only to be saved by Mara's compassion. Following his temptation, Kyle abandons the ways of the Jedi, believing himself unworthy.
Players do not have a lightsaber at the start of Jedi Outcast because the game is continuing the story established in the prior games. Kyle eventually embraces the Force again, and the lightsaber shenanigans begin, but its only after his dear friend Jan Ors is seemingly killed by a Sith. The problem with this storyline, and its reasoning for withholding Kyle's lightsaber, is that it makes no sense given the gameplay of Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast.
Jedi Outcast's Lightsaber Witholding Make No Sense
In Jedi Outcast, Kyle is supposed to be wrestling with the dark side and worried about going bad, but this is not reflected in the gameplay. Players, as Kyle, brutalize the enemy, using dark side powers like lightning and Force choke with impunity. Kyle gets to go nuts, and it in no way affects his mental state. Its completely fine considering that the point of the game is to be a power fantasy, but it undermines the game's reasons for not giving player's the lightsaber at the start of the game.
Jedi Outcast's story decisions appear even worse when considering the structure of its predecessor, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. In Jedi Knight players can utterly destroy their enemies with the power of the dark side, but there are consequences. Unlike Jedi Outcast, Jedi Knight contains two different endings. If players recklessly kill civilians and/or prioritize dark side powers, Kyle becomes a Sith, usurps Jeric, and becomes emperor of a new empire. If Jedi Outcast truly wanted to honor Jedi Knight and Mysteries of the Sith, it should have implemented a similar system of consequence because, as it stands, the game's attempt at honoring the prior games is half-baked and only serves to hold back the gameplay.
Jedi Outcast is a classic action game providing killer lightsaber combat intermixed with solid shooting mechanics. Its unfortunate that a game so gameplay focused hamstrings itself with an undercooked plot, but, even so, it's still a must play for any Star Wars fan who has dreamed of wielding a lightsaber.