Top 10 VG Countdown - #10: JEDI OUTCAST

That's right, it's time for another top 10 countdown! For a look at my previous countdown where I discussed my favourite genre TV shows, check out the recap here or click "Top 10" under Labels. This month, our countdown is about my all-time favourite video games. I will be discussing some fabulous video games, new and old, and even have a couple guest posters planned to join in the fun. Now without further ado, let's get down to business. I can't have a video game countdown without at least one Star Wars game on the list, so #10 is Jedi Outcast.

Jedi Outcast is a first- and third-person action game, released in 2002. The story takes place two years after the game's predecessor, Mysteries of the Sith. You play as Kyle Katarn, a former Jedi who stopped using the force after he almost turned to the Dark Side.

At the start of the game, Kyle Katarn and his partner (also love interest) Jan Ors explore an Imperial base on the planet Kejim, which turns out isn't abandoned like they originally thought. They force their way through the outpost to discover the Imperials are researching lightsaber crystals. Following a lead, they travel to an Imperial mining base on another planet, where the miners are innocent people forced to work and be the subjects of cruel testing. Here, they meet the dark Jedi Desann and his apprentice, who easily thwart Kyle as he no longer has Jedi abilities, and Desann orders his apprentice to kill Jan while Kyle is helpless.

They leave Kyle still alive, and on a quest for revenge, he travels to the Valley of the Jedi to get his Force abilities back, and then to the Jedi Academy to retrieve his lightsaber from Luke Skywalker. Thus begins Kyle's quest to track down and destroy Desann and his apprentice.

I love good action, but I also love puzzles, and Jedi Outcast gives you both these things. In addition to shooter and later lightsaber combat, you have to think your way through a variety of puzzles to get through the campaign. The combat is real time, and I enjoyed jumping around and slashing my lightsaber to attack with its realistic sparks and flashes; you can choose between three lightsaber styles and use combos restricted to that style. You also get to use force powers like Pull, Heal, Jump, or Lightning. When you first get your lightsaber, you only have access to a few powers, and as the game progresses you gain more abilities and levels.

Game Over Online called Jedi Outcast "an intriguing juxtaposition of pieces of incredibly intense FPS action that had me on the edge of my seat combined with puzzle-like sections of such opacity that they made me want to kill myself." Lots of reviewers complained about the puzzle-solving in this game, but I love that feeling of achievement after spending some mind-grinding time trying to figure them out.

The game is consistent with the Star Wars universe, and you get to see some familiar faces like Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and Mon Mothma, as well as visit some well known places like the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 and Bespin on Cloud City, and as Game Over also comments, "that distinctive Star Wars architecture that seems to consist primarily of narrow catwalks without railings over 10,000 foot drops" that are just so fun to push a storm trooper over.

Overall, I loved the storyline, the combat, the puzzle-solving--I really can't complain at all about this game. Well, I suppose I could complain about the graphics now, but they were pretty good for 2002. Jedi Outcast is great fun, and if you haven't yet played it, I suggest that you do.

What's your favourite Star Wars game?