Yet another Star Wars game hits the market, this time for the Xbox and PC. As you may have experienced yourself, the Lucasarts Star Wars titles can be very hit and miss. For example, the excellent Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leader on the Gamecube wowed gamers when it was first released whilst its sequel, Rebel Strike, wasn't half as good. Also, on the Xbox we have had the amazing Knights of the Old Republic and the dreadful Obi-Wan. With this in mind I experienced a degree of trepidation when I left GAME with my copy of Jedi Academy.

I based my decision to purchase it on the fact that it is the follow up to Jedi Outcast, which I enjoyed immensely. The story in Jedi Academy follows on from this and includes firm character favourites such as Kyle Katarn and Luke Skywalker. Kyle and Luke have set up an academy to train promising youngsters in the way of the Force. You play a raw recruit who has exceptional promise, having built your own lightsaber from scratch with no instruction from existing Jedi, something unheard of in Jedi circles. Taken under the wing of Kyle Katarn you're sent on various training and diplomatic missions with him. However, as the game progresses news of a Sith movement, thought dead centuries ago, comes to light.

Set across a variety of familiar and unfamiliar terrain, the game is basically a mix of first person shooter, third person hack and slash with a bit of basic RPG character building thrown in for good measure. However, the fact that it is set in the Star Wars universe certainly helps set the game apart even further; the use of the massive amount of story, location and character material is shown right at the beginning of play, when you set up your character. Not only can you choose your species from a variety of Star Wars favourites but you can also choose from a bunch of costumes as seen in the trilogy and design your own lightsaber! Initially your lightsaber is the single blade type as seen in the first three films but the colour and hilt is customisable and you do get the chance to upgrade to new lightsabers throughout the game. This includes the chance to wield that double-bladed one as made famous by Darth Maul.

The game plays well and does provide quite varied challenges. Besides the levels you have to wade through with your trusty blaster, decimating enemies left right and centre, you'll also find yourself honing your skills with the chosen weapon of a Jedi. Although limited in range you'll find the lightsaber acts as a great tool for deflecting enemy fire and if you get it right you can bounce enemy fire straight back into your foes' faces. It's also great fun to recreate the scene in the cantina where Obi Wan casually chops off the arm of a bad guy.

To provide further variety there are some Tomb Raider-esque puzzle levels, that come in the form of jumping over and around obstacles and using your Force powers to best advantage. For example, one level sees the protagonist crash-landed on a very Dune-like planet, complete with a giant sandworm that eats you if you dare stand on bare sand for too long. You have to use your jumping skills to find a safe way across the desert to collect parts strewn about after the crash, needed to repair your ship. Also some debris can be manipulated by your Force powers, something it took me ages to realise. I couldn't understand why a particular jump fell so short of the intended target. Then I realise the bit of scrap metal I was standing on could be moved by the force push command and I ended up using my powers to sand surf to my target destination!

Your force powers do come into use frequently during the game. You have various core force powers, such as the aforementioned force push and Jedi jump, but you can upgrade secondary powers as you complete each level. What's great is that you concentrate on light side or dark side powers as you see fit. The light side of the force includes powers such as healing, Jedi mind trick and shield, whereas the dark side could have you using an energy drain effect on your victims, amongst other things. This saps their life force like a vampire drinking blood and at the same time replenishes yours. However, my personal favourite is the long distance chokehold, which we know as Darth Vader's force power of choice. Your pull and push powers are going to be used to blast down damaged walls and move scenery in your way, or pull down lifts and levels to provide that extra room needed to complete particularly tricky jumps.

Amid all this the enemies come thick, fast and in many forms. You've got your usual bounty hunter types, some wannabe Sith lords with lightsabers, weird Shadow Warriors that appear and disappear in front of your eyes and of course the obligatory Imperial Stormtroopers in various shapes and sizes. There are some great references to the original trilogy also, such as the AT-ST, the giant metal tanks on two legs that look a bit like chickens and the Wampa from the ice planet of Hoth, best known for turning Skywalker's face to mush in The Empire Strikes Back. These familiar faces and locations certainly give the game the Star Wars Seal of Quality and it is always with great glee that I wade into a group of Bantha Raiders on Tatooine or Snowtroopers on Hoth.

This faithfulness to the Star Wars universe is represented in the graphics very well. The stances of your character as he uses the lighsaber are taken straight out of Empire and Return of the Jedi, as is the look of the glowing blade. One particularly nice touch was seeing the garish light of the saber reflected off the polished white uniform of the Stormtroopers I cut down. Your opponents are equally well rendered, particularly if you look at them through telescopic sights. When sniping for Snowtroopers I did sometimes have to pause as I admired the light and shadow of the Hoth landscape reflecting off their uniforms. In fact, you do get the impression that a great deal of time and effort went into character, creature and robot design and animation and it was certainly worthwhile.

Unfortunately this graphical panache is let down a little by the environmental visuals. While familiar Star Wars locations are used and used well, the actual graphics seem a little rushed, bland and inert. While I appreciate it's quite hard to inject flavour into sand dunes, snowy plains and metallic constructions there were a couple of things that jarred. For example, that giant sandworm I mentioned earlier was very impressive as it erupted from the sand and dived back down. However, the ground or sand around remained completely static, it didn't ripple or move or look like it was being flung aside, remaining purely as if nothing had ever passed it's way. It gave the impression of an unfinished design or a level rushed out to hit a deadline. It's a shame really, as with a bit more tidying up touches like that would have helped the look of the game tremendously.

These environmental concerns extend to the audio department as well, with background sound effects being few and far between. However, I do like the howling winds of Hoth and the whoosh on a Corellian monorail train as you whiz past buildings. Many of the bad guys you come across shout challenges at you, or you can hear them chatting to their colleagues as you creep up on them. Besides this there are some lovely crackling lightsaber sounds and the blaster fire seems to have been sampled directly from the original trilogy. The music has been too, although it has been remixed to make a medley of upbeat and exciting themes, appearing at certain points on each level. While tiredly familiar and most certainly overused it is playing at a very low key in the background and isn't that obtrusive.

The great thing about this game is the learning curve. You really do think you're at an Academy, as the lessons are evenly paced between levels and the missions themselves gradually increase in difficulty. This ensures you'll be playing the game for a while. Even if you do complete or get tired of the central game you'll be pleased to hear that there are multiplayer and online options too. There are 23 different arenas in which you can go head to head with friends or online players and really get a chance to display your newfound Jedi powers. Combine these with the wide variety of multiplayer game types and you've got a value for money package, in an already solid single player title.

While it isn't amongst the very best of the Star Wars titles so far released, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is far from being one of the worst. The gameplay sits nicely between basic RPG and fast paced first person shooter action, thus carrying a wide appeal. While the graphics are a bit hit and miss there's nothing drastically wrong with them and they certainly fare better than a lot of non-Star Wars titles. The sound is your usual Star Wars soundtrack though and the audio is not really elevated beyond this. I'd recommend this as a solid title for Star Wars fans but would suggest that the casual gamer give it a try too. Blimey, I completed a review of a Star Wars game without a single quote or epithet from the films! [I'll admit, I'm impressed! Ed].

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).