Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (aka JK2 or JO) is a Star Wars computer game released in 2002. It was developed by Raven Software and published, distributed and marketed by LucasArts in North America and by Activision in the rest of the world. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox. It is powered by the Quake III Arena engine. This game was followed by the very similar game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. The game was generally well received and is praised for its advanced lightsaber dueling.

Plot synopsis
The game takes place a few years after the end of Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith. Like its predecessors, it is based around the character Kyle Katarn. Since nearly being taken in by the dark side, Kyle has given up his lightsaber and the Force. He once again works with his partner (and now love interest) Jan Ors doing missions for the New Republic.

Mon Mothma contracts them to investigate an Imperial Remnant base on Kejim. A part of a transmission sent from the base was decrypted and some keywords such as "Reborn" or "Valley of the Jedi" were revealed. In the base, they discover murdered prisoners, and a link to another planet on the outer rim where the Imperials are doing experiments on infusing the Force into living subjects. Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn infiltrate the facility and free the prisoners, but Jan is captured by two Dark Jedi, Tavion Axmis and Desann. Katarn is initially eager to rescue his love interest, but Desann ignites his lightsaber and Katarn has no choice but to fight him. Desann easily defeats the mercenary but spares him, saying he would be a worthier adversary if he had the power of the Force. Kyle embarks to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his Force powers and then to Yavin 4 to retrieve his lightsaber from Luke Skywalker, intent on revenge, to which Luke warns him of the dangerous path he is following. What Kyle doesn't know is that he was set up and that Desann had followed him to the Valley, using its power to infuse the Force into his soldiers, creating the Reborn. He plans to use this army to invade the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV and restore the Galactic Empire. When Kyle spares his apprentice, Tavion, she admits the plan, and tells him Jan is still alive. He radios Rogue Squadron and stows away on Desann's personal ship, where he finds Jan unhurt and alive.

After knocking out the shields of Desann's flagship, Doomgiver, he takes an escape pod to Yavin IV and helps fend off Desann's attack, fighting his way through Reborn and Shadowtroopers, eventually killing the Dark Jedi. At the end of the game, he accepts Luke's offer of a teaching position at the Academy, but not before he spends some time off with Jan Ors.

Levels

 * Mission to Kejim
 * Battle of Artus Prime
 * Third Mission to Nar Shaddaa
 * Battle of Bespin (Empire Reborn)
 * Mission to Cairn Installation
 * Battle of Yavin IV (Empire Reborn)
 * Mission on Alzoc III (unlockable)

Main characters

 * Kyle Katarn; Mercenary/Jedi Knight (male Human)
 * Jan Ors; New Republic Operative (female Human)
 * Desann; Dark Jedi Master (male Chistori)
 * Luke Skywalker; Jedi Master (male Human)
 * Lando Calrissian; Smuggler (male Human)
 * Galak Fyyar; Imperial Remnant Admiral/Scientist (male Human)
 * Tavion Axmis; Dark Jedi apprentice (female Human)
 * Reelo Baruk; Nar Shaddaa Crimelord (male Rodian)
 * Morgan Katarn; Force Spirit (male Human)
 * Mon Mothma; New Republic Chief of State (female Human)
 * Red-Eye Baldarek
 * Jedi trainer
 * Artus Imperial warden

Cameos by major characters in the films

 * Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams supplies the voice)
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Mon Mothma
 * 3PO-series protocol droids
 * R2-series astromech droids

Enemies

 * AT-STs
 * Grans
 * Imperial Officers
 * Imperial probe droids
 * Imperial worker
 * Sentries
 * Interrogation droids
 * Mark I droid walkers
 * Mine crabs
 * Reborn
 * Rodians
 * Shadowtroopers
 * Stormtroopers
 * Swamp troopers
 * Trandoshans
 * Weequays

Visited locations

 * Alzoc III (bonus material)
 * Artus Prime
 * Cairn Installation&mdash;an asteroid in the Lenico Belt
 * Cloud City
 * The Doomgiver
 * Kejim
 * Nar Shaddaa
 * Yavin 4

Cast/Crew

 * Jeff Bennett&mdash;Kyle Katarn/Stormtrooper Officer
 * Billy Dee Williams&mdash;Lando Calrissian
 * Mark Klastorin&mdash;Desann
 * Vanessa Marshall&mdash;Jan Ors
 * Bob Bergen&mdash;Luke Skywalker
 * Carolyn Seymour&mdash;Mon Mothma
 * Jacob Witkin&mdash;Morgan Katarn
 * Nick Jameson&mdash;Treacherous Bartender (a.k.a. Red-Eye Baldarek)/Imperial Worker
 * Kath Soucie&mdash;Tavion Axmis
 * Gregg Berger&mdash;Bespin Cop/Shadowtrooper/Stormtrooper
 * Charles Martinet&mdash;Bespin Cop/Civilian Male/Imperial Officer/Rebel Shock Trooper
 * Steven Jay Blum&mdash;Galak Fyyar/Reborn
 * Jess Harnell&mdash;Gran/Rogue Leader
 * Kevin Michael Richardson&mdash;Gran/Reelo Baruk
 * Guy Siner&mdash;Imperial Officer/Imperial Worker
 * Roger Jackson&mdash;Imperial Worker/Rebel Shock Trooper
 * Dominic Armato&mdash;Jedi /Prisoner/Protocol droid
 * Richard Barnes&mdash;Jedi
 * David Berón&mdash;Prisoner
 * Michael Sorich&mdash;Prisoner /Rebel Shock Trooper
 * Tom Kane&mdash;Reborn Jedi/Rodian/Shadow Trooper/Stormtrooper
 * Aron Kincaid&mdash;Reborn
 * Michael Gough&mdash;Rodian/Stormtrooper Officer
 * Frederick Coffin&mdash;Stormtrooper
 * Directors--Steve Raffel, Kevin Schilder
 * Writer--Michael Stemmle

Behind the scenes



 * Kyle's lightsaber no longer works under water, as it did in Dark Forces II. It could be argued that since this one was the first he crafted himself, that he did not include the function for it to operate underwater. The previous ones belonged to Qu Rahn (green) and Yun (yellow), which operated underwater.
 * By that time, Mon Mothma was no longer Chief of State, but replaced by Leia Organa Solo. It is not clear under which office Mothma assigns the mission.
 * The scene where Kyle Force Grips Tavion over a chasm on Bespin, is a blooper: The scenario doesn't allow Kyle to possess this ability that early in the game. Fans explain it as since Kyle was in the grip of a revengeful rage, he may have been calling on the dark side, granting him temporarily more advanced powers for that instant. This is further supported by the difference between Grip and Telekinesis (which Kyle knew in the form of Push and Pull) being more about game mechanics than actual ability.
 * Another blooper can be seen in the scenes where Desann and Tavion are in the Imperial Shuttle.If you look out the window you should expect to see the shuttle's middle vertical fin but all there is is space. This is because the cockpit was the only 3D model used and not the whole ship. This structural error probably wasn't noticed until later inspection.
 * After Kyle lets Tavion go, the player sees her fleeing in the background and is never mentioned again. Her fate is revealed in Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
 * The code Kyle enters into the Doomgiver communication array to contact Rogue Squadron is Aurebesh for "THX", an allusion to George Lucas's movie THX 1138, as well as to his sound-system company THX.
 * The appearance of the Cloud City reactor core is different than in The Empire Strikes Back.