Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Production information
Developer(s)	LucasArts
Publisher(s)	LucasArts
Game engine	Sith Engine
Genre	First-Person Shooter
Modes	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen (T)
Platform(s)	Personal computer
Chronological information
Timeline	5 ABY
Previous	Star Wars: Dark Forces
Next	Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: composer, programmer, producer, upc, director, designer, writer, expansions, artist, closed, basegame, release date, series and unrecognized parameters: released Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is a first-person shooter computer game released on September 30, 1997, by LucasArts. This was the first game in the series to include multiplayer capabilities over the Internet or over an LAN. It was also the first computer game to allow players to take control of a Jedi character using both the Force and lightsabers in a multiplayer setting.

The similarly titled novella Dark Forces: Jedi Knight is somewhat a companion piece to the game.

Plot Summary

Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II takes place a year after the second Death Star has been destroyed. The Dark Jedi Jerec and his six Dark Jedi seek the map to the Valley of the Jedi and captures the Jedi Qu Rahn for it. Meanwhile, the mercenary Kyle Katarn chases the informant droid 8t88 for a data disc that belonged to his father, Morgan Katarn. After retrieving the disc, Kyle returns home to the planet Sulon where he is able to read the disc with his droid WeeGee. He is granted a lightsaber and a quest to protect the Valley of the Jedi by a hologram of his father contained in the disc. Katarn receives help from his trusted partner and pilot, Jan Ors. During the game Katarn encounters the Dark Jedi and finds the map to the Valley of the Jedi on the planet Ruusan. At the valley, Jerec plans to absorb the ancient power that lies in the valley. His plans are, however, stopped by Kyle Katarn, who arrives and kills him in a lightsaber duel.

Opening crawl

Dark Forces II JEDI KNIGHT
Since the destruction of the second DEATH STAR, the Rebel Alliance has begun the difficult process of building the New Republic. Seizing the opportunity for control of the galaxy, new rival armies arise. The most dangerous of these are the DARK JEDI. Their leader, JEREC, seeks the legendary VALLEY OF THE JEDI. Within this lost battleground he will find untold power to destroy peace and justice in the galaxy....

Major characters

Kyle Katarn

Kyle Katarn returns from Star Wars: Dark Forces as the protagonist. Having helped with the retrieval of the first Death Star plans, Katarn is now several years later contemplating his dead father. Katarn is contacted by the droid informant 8t88 who reveals that he has a disc that comes from Katarn's home. 8t88 runs off with the disc when Katarn refuses to decipher it, resulting in a chase. Kyle retrieves the disc but is then caught up in his father's, and the old Jedi Qu Rahn's, wishes of him becoming a Jedi and to prevent any harm to befall the Valley of the Jedi. During his quest he faces off against the Seven Dark Jedi whose leader, Jerec, is the man who killed Katarn's father. He is accompanied by his partner Jan Ors, who pilots his ship, the Moldy Crow. Ors is eventually captured by the Dark Jedi. Katarn travels to The Valley of the Jedi where Jerec is using the valley's power to become even more powerful. Katarn defeats all seven Dark Jedi and saves the captured Jan Ors. He also frees the spirits that had been trapped in the valley since the Seventh Battle of Ruusan fought in the New Sith Wars. In honor of Qu Rahn and Katarn's father, he erects statues of them in the valley.

Jerec

Jerec is the main antagonist in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. He is the leader of the seven Dark Jedi who seek the power of the Valley of the Jedi. Prior to the game's start Jerec leads an assault on Morgan Katarn's home in search of the map to the Valley of the Jedi, and kills Morgan Katarn when he doesn't reveal anything. Years later his flagship chases down the old Jedi Qu Rahn from who he gains the information that the map is at the Katarn's home. Jerec retrieves the map and heads for the Valley of the Jedi. At the landing site he gives an offer to Kyle Katarn to embrace the Dark side of the Force and join him, the latter refuses and Jerec keeps Jan Ors as a hostage. The Dark Jedi then descends to the Valley and bathes in its power. Kyle Katarn reaches him and in a climactic lightsaber duel, Jerec is defeated and the power of the valley slips from his fingers.

Jan Ors

Jan Ors is the trusted partner of Kyle Katarn and the pilot of his ship, the Moldy Crow. Ors piloted Katarn to wherever his missions led him and bailed him out of trouble when he needed an escape. During the quest for the Valley of the Jedi she was taken hostage on Ruusan by the Dark Jedi. Jerec, the leader of the Dark Jedi, tried to use her to turn Katarn to the dark side, but failed. Ors was then taken to the Valley of the Jedi and was soon rescued by Katarn.

Sariss

Jerec's right hand and one of the antagonists in the game, Sariss accompanied her master and the other Dark Jedi to capture Qu Rahn. The Jedi, however, attempted an escape in which Sariss dueled against him for a short while before he was struck down by Jerec. Later, Sariss, along with Yun and Boc Aseca, retrieved the map to the Valley of the Jedi. She followed her master to Ruusan, where she stood by her master in the confrontation with Kyle Katarn. Katarn made his escape but crashed with his ship. Sariss along with Boc and Yun ventured after Katarn, whom they found semiconscious. As Sariss attempted to strike Katarn down, she was hindered by Yun, whom she accidentally killed in reflex. This bought Katarn the time to regain himself, take Yun's lightsaber, and defeat Sariss in a duel.

Yun

The youngest of the Dark Jedi, Yun looked forward to his first battle with the Light side of the Force. As the game starts, Yun is following his master and the other Dark Jedi to hunt down Qu Rahn. In the interrogation, the old Jedi managed to steal Yun's lightsaber and attack the Dark Jedi. Rahn was, however, struck down quickly by Jerec. After these events, Yun followed Boc and Sariss to retrieve the map to the Valley of the Jedi from the Katarn homestead. Yun stayed with the map at Barons Hed where 8t88 was deciphering it. There he faced off with Kyle Katarn, but was defeated. Yun was surprised, however, that Katarn spared his life, and made his escape shortly after. He ventured with his master to Ruusan and watched the confrontation between Jerec and Katarn. And when the latter made his escape, he ventured with Boc and Sariss to kill him. But as Sariss was about to strike the semiconscious Katarn down, Yun interfered and was killed by Sariss, explaining that Katarn deserved a battle.

Synopsis

Chase on Nar Shaddaa

8t88 holding the disc

In the Smuggler's Bar on the moon Nar Shaddaa, Kyle Katarn meets with the droid informant 8t88 in the hopes of finding information about his deceased father. 8t88 informs Katarn that his father had been killed by a Dark Jedi called Jerec. The droid then threatens Katarn so he would decipher the information on a disc he found in Morgan Katarn's home. Katarn retaliates but 8t88 had already escaped forcing Katarn to hunt down the disc and 8t88. Katarn chases 8t88 over the Nar Shaddaa cargo docks and catches up to the droid when he is about to leave in his shuttle. Before 8t88 can escape into his shuttle, Katarn fires his blaster at the droid's right shoulder which severs the arm that holds the disc. A TIE bomber appears after 8t88's shuttle leaves and fires at Katarn but is shot down by Jan Ors in the Moldy Crow. Katarn informs his partner that he'd meet her at the top after he retrives the disc. He finds the disc under the landing pad and proceeds through cargo storages, conveyor belts and other areas all the way to the top of the building. As Ors picks him up, he is severely injured and has to spend the night in a medical frigate.

Returning Home to Sulon

Kyle on Sulon

Upon returning to his home on the planet Sulon, Katarn notices an Imperial shuttle parked outside his old family house. He hides out of sight as Yun, Aseca and Sariss are loading the pieces of map leading to the Valley of the Jedi into the shuttle. He continues to watch the Dark Jedi as they set off into the sky with the shuttle, and proceeds to his house when they are out of sight. To Katarn's disbelief, his house is crawling with Grave Tuskens. Despite the uninvited guests, Katarn makes his way through his old home but the path to his father's workshop has caved in. He does not despair for there is another way into the workshop beyond their water supply. As he enters the workshop he sees that it is in disarray but he immediately spots the family droid WeeGee. After he turns the droid on, Katarn inserts the disc he got from 8t88 and is shown a recording of his dead father, Morgan Katarn. Morgan tells his son that he had left two very important items for him. The first is a lightsaber which had belonged to the Jedi Qu Rahn and the second is the map to the Valley of the Jedi which was embedded in the stone ceiling. The ceiling was, however, what the Dark Jedi had loaded onto their ship so Katarn makes it his next mission to locate the map. He is, however, unable to go the same way back since he had entered the room from the ceiling and the exit is blocked. Katarn simply makes his way through the irrigation channels and is eventually picked up by Ors on the Moldy Crow.

Barons Hed

"The Empire sure knows how to ruin a perfectly good city."

―Kyle Katarn

A once perfectly good city

Katarn and Ors set off to find the map which leads them to the city of Barons Hed. The city had been forcefully taken over by the Empire and had now a giant fortress stationed in the middle of the city. Assuming 8t88 is in the top of that tower, Kyle makes his way through the city. After a difficult time getting into the fortress tower, Katarn uses the elevator to reach 8t88's chambers. The droid has just finished sending the deciphered map to Jerec and is told his payment awaited him on the starship Sulon Star. Katarn demands the map back when he enters the room and 8t88 replies that it is all his for the taking. However, an elevator descends from the roof with one of the Dark Jedi. Yun, the newest of the Dark Jedi, proceeds to make short work of the map by destroying it. He blasts Katarn with his Force powers and exclaims that he had expected more from the Light Side. Kyle defeats the young Dark Jedi who then tells him to finish him off. Katarn spares his life, however, which confuses the young man. Yun escapes through the roof and Katarn sets off after 8t88. But Katarn is too late. As he reaches the top of the tower, 8t88 flys away in his shuttle. Shortly thereafter, Ors arrives to pick him up.

The Sulon Star

The "twins"

The pair follows 8t88's shuttle in the Moldy Crow to a fuel station where the Sulon Star is waiting. To avoid alerting the Imperials of their presence, Katarn sneaks aboard the ship through the giant fuel lines of the station. Once aboard, he has to traverse down to the docking bays which lay on the lower deck. As Katarn comes upon 8t88's shuttle, he opens the door behind it and to his joy 8t88 is standing right there. But when Kyle touches the droid, its head falls off alarming the Jedi. From behind him emerges the so-called twins of the Dark Jedi, the small Pic and the much larger Gorc. Boodle informs Katarn that he will not be lucky to experience the Valley of the Jedi and attacks Katarn. Despite having to face two foes at once, Katarn defeats them and claims 8t88's head. He then travels to the upper deck where Ors picks him up and they set off for the Valley of the Jedi on the planet Ruusan.

Ruusan

The Sulon Star over Ruusan

The Sulon Star comes to a halt above the Valley of the Jedi on Ruusan. The Moldy Crow lands in the mountainous area nearby in order to conceal its presence. Katarn maked his way through the rocky surroundings to an elevator that will take him up to the Sulon Star's landing platform. He is, however, attacked by Maw as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. Katarn battls the levitating half that was Maw to the Sulon Star and defeatsd him there. In his final moments Maw provokes the Jedi by telling him how he gave Morgan Katarn a slow sweet death and thrust his head on a spike. Katarn slashes Maw to death in anger with his lightsaber. Behind him Jerec approaches and commends Katarn for going down the path of the Dark Side which he claims is his true calling. The Dark Jedi has also managed to capture Ors and as a final test he demands Katarn to strike her down. The Jedi refuses and is sent flying by Jerec's Force push to a catwalk connected to the Sulon Star. The force of Jerec's attack causes enough damage for the cargo ship to lose its hover capabilities and starts to descend, pulling some of the landing platform with it. Katarn jumped on board the Sulon Star and in a desperate fight with time he made it to a lower docking bay where the Moldy Crow is being held. With Katarn on the Moldy Crow, he manags to narrowly escape the crashing cargo ship but he is unable to straighten the ship properly and crashs a stabilizer into a rock formation. Without its proper flight capabilities, the ship crash lands. The three Dark Jedi—Boc, Yun, and Sariss—pulls the incapacitated Katarn out of the wreckage and waits until he starts to regain consciousness. Boc smashs Katarn's lightsaber with a rock while making fun of it. Sariss takes out her lightsaber and is just about to strike Katarn down when Yun intervens. By instinct Sariss lashs out at the young Dark Jedi, inflicting a deadly wound. As she asks why, Yun replies that Katarn is a Jedi and deserves a battle. As Yun passes away, Katarn regains complete consciousness and takes the dead man's lightsaber. Sariss is soon defeats by Katarn near the wreckage of the Sulon Star.

The Valley of the Jedi

The light side

Having killed Sariss, Katarn follows Boc to the Imperial excavation facility and has to traverse a long way down underground until he reaches the place where the Imperials have stopped digging. Katarn find himself inside ancient ruins and stumbles upon traps and Kell dragons. Eventually, the Jedi reachs the center of the valley where he finds Ors tied to a pole. After rescuing her, Boc surprises them from behind, having hid as a statue. Brandishing two lightsabers, Boc attacks Katarn but the former is defeated by the latter. At that time, Jerec awakes from his meditation inside the center of the valley. Having mastered a great amount of power from the valley, he attacks Katarn. As they fight, Jerec sets in motion ancient machinery that will eventually grant him the full power of the valley. The Dark Jedi is, however, stopped at every turn and soon lay at the mercy of Katarn. Jerec remarks that he is defenseless and implores Katarn to finish him off. To further entice Katarn to the Dark Side, he reminds him that he is the one who killed his father. Katarn uses the Force to grab Jerec's deactivated lightsaber off the ground to which he tells Jerec that he has not forgotten and he throws the saber back at Jerec's feet. The Dark Jedi charges for one final attack but is cut down by Katarn. The spirits that havebeen trapped in the valley for a long time are finally released and fly around in the chamber in a spectacle of light. As a tribute to his father and Qu Rahn, Katarn erects two statues in the valley. Ors and Weegee stands beside him as Katarn finishes his work.

Gameplay

Single player

Jedi Knight is noted for the ethical decisions integrated into the gameplay. Katarn is a neutral character for most of the game, neither fully light nor dark. Actions against unarmed civilians throughout the game, as well as what Force powers a player chooses throughout the game, will sway Katarn towards the light or the dark sides. Eventually, the character Katarn must choose between light and dark; how he chooses depends on the player's actions throughout the game. This feature would later be greatly expanded upon in games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

Katarn starts the game with no knowledge of the Force. As the player progresses through the game, Katarn gains Jedi abilities, known as "Force Powers." These powers fall in three general categories: Neutral, Light, and Dark. The game awards one "Force point" upon the completion of each level, and an additional point if the player finds all of the secret areas. These skill points can be allocated towards any Force power, boosting that power's effects.

Multiplayer

Another part of Jedi Knight's gameplay was explored in online, multiplayer arenas. Plot and Force alignment became irrelevant as players were able to forego the game's Artificial intelligence and instead engage in multiplayer combat. It was also online that the unique aspects of Jedi Knight distanced it from other, otherwise apparently similar first-person shooters. Single player mode did not significantly benefit from Force powers, agility, and large weapons, whereas online play demanded attention to these attributes.

The game lacked a dedicated server and was hosted by the MSN Gaming Zone, although several "IP boards" were hosted on fan sites such as JediKnight.net and Ron Mercer's Qtracker (formerly hosted at stomped.com). Most games were confined to the Nar Shaddaa (Nar) game room which became a refuge for clan wars, recruitment, and challenge. Four game types were used almost exclusively: Full Force (FF) Battle Ground Jedi (BGJ), Canyon Oasis (CO), No Force (NF) Battle Ground Jedi, and JI Oasis (an add-on level created by the Jedi Infantry clan). Games varied from two-player to four-player, allowing free-for-all, teams, and head-to-head combat. Another popular game type was Capture the Flag (CTF).

The lack of dedicated servers created difficulties in lag time for online play. Messages sent were never centrally processed, and so a "hit" in one person's frame nearly never guaranteed an actual event. Players compensated for lag by shooting ahead of the opponent so as to register a hit on their computer.

Canyon Oasis was a commonly played map due to its variety of weapons/pickups and varied terrain (including water tunnels and ramps). It was also brightly lit, meaning stealth was a less viable tactic as it was in many of the darker maps favored by the development team and mod makers (such as Blades of Death). Despite its huge popularity, there was a movement against its overuse as well, to the point where a player group was formed with the slogan "Because we're sick of Canyon Oasis." [1]

At times the game suffered from extensive cheating, until the third-party program known as "Kicker Helper" was released to combat the cheating. Jedi Knight's permissive checksum system allowed most of the "hacks" or "cogs" (as the cheats were commonly called) to work. The physics engine and Force system of the game, however, were so permissive that some normal actions were construed as cheating. "Hypergrip," or "Supergrip," referred to using Force grip on an opponent at a faster-than-normal rate to kill the opponent in seconds. This is performed simply by targeting an opponent with Force grip and then repeatedly pressing the assigned Use Force Power key. Each iteration sends another pulse of grip, eventually killing the opponent. The same procedure can be used with Force pull to repeatedly draw a weapon, often creating multiple copies within the level due to lag.

To this day, GameSpy Arcade and QTracker support Jedi Knight and Mysteries of the Sith online play. However, a more populated place to play is at IG Zone, which is a spiritual successor to MSN Gaming Zone's CD game section. A few groups also meet up for games on IRC. One dedicated server is at NarShaddaa.net for its remaining devoted fans, and many mod projects keep interest alive.

Credits

Cast Daniel Bloom—Bounty hunter 1 Jason Court—Kyle Katarn Denny Delk—8t88 (voice), Picaroon C. Boodle (voice) Bennet Guillory—Qu Rahn Dylan Haggerty—Bounty hunter 2 Angela Harry—Jan Ors Morgan Hunter—Maw Roger Jackson—Computer voice, Rodian (voice) Christopher Neame—Jerec Rafer Weigel—Yun Valerie Wildman—Sariss Time Winters—Boc Aseca Jacob Witkin—Morgan Katarn Crew Project Leader, Writer, Game Design—Justin Chin Lead Conceptual Designer and storyboards—Peter Chan Production Manager—Brett Tosti Production Coordinator—Lori Beck Game Programming Additional Story Editing—Garry M. Gaber Lead Programmer—Ray Gresko Simulation Engine Programmer—Robert Huebner Level Editor, Gameplay Programming—Che-Yuan Wang Level Editor, User Interface, Tools—Winston Wolff COG Programming—Yves Borckmans Additional Ul Programming—Aaron Giles Installer—Darren Johnson Additional Tools Programming—Bret Mogilefsky,Matt Russel,Hwei-Li Tsao 3D Level Design Lead Level Designer—Ingar Shu Level Design—Duncan Brown,Matthew Tateishi, Reed Knight Derleth, Steven Chen, Jacob Stephens, Doug Shannon, Yves Borckmans, Serge Debroeyer Game Tuning/Enemy Placement—Christopher Ross, Brett Tosti, Jim Current Level Texture Artwork—Chris Hockabout, Martin Yee, Kevin Evans, Bill Stoneham 3D SImulation Lead Character Animator—Leonard Robel Character Animation—Jim Rice, Jone Knoles, Lea Mai Nguyen 3D Models—Clint Young, Lea Mai Nguyen, Leonard Robel, Andrew Holdun 3D Art Technician—Anthony Chiang Industrial Light and Magic Animation Supervisor—Miguel Fuertes Industrial Light and Magic Animation Team—Trish Schutz, Julija Learie, Jenn Emberly, William R. Wright, Neil Michka, David Parsons, Victoria Livingstone Industrial Light and Magic Production Manager—Suzie Tooley Mgr. Digital Animation & Creature Development Industrial Light and Magic—Ken Maruyama Additional 3D Work—Steven Baker SoftImage Technical Assistance—Craig Rundels Cutscenes Lead 3D Artist—Ralph M. Girth IV 3D Art—Garry M. Gaber, Lea Mai Nguyen, Bill Stoneham, Andrew Holdun, Clint Young Creature Sculpting—Bill Stoneham Lead Effects Compositing Artist/Video Editor—Michael Levine Video Effects & Compositing—C. Andrew Nelson Scene Compression & Color Reduction—Cristopher Ross Sound and Audio Original Music—John Williams Music Editing and Sound Quality Control—Peter McConnell Cutscene Sound Design—Larry the O, Clint Bajakian Interactive Sound Effects—David Levison Voice Directors—Tamlynn Niglio, Darragh O'Farrell, Khris Brown Senior Voice Editor—Khris Brown Assistant Voice Editor—Coya Elliot Specialized Dialog Editing—Larry the O Video Production Coordinator—Peggy Bartlett Special Thanks—Russian Hill Recording. San Fransisco. CA, ScreenMusic. Studio City. CA Testing & Quality Assurance Lead Tester—John Hannon Assistant Lead Testers—Tim Miller, Geoff Jones Testers—Jo Ashburn, Matthew Azeveda, John Buzolich, Joe Chiang, Albert Chen, Tim Chen, Leyton Chew, Michael Dillon, John Drake, Derek Flippo, Morgan Gray, Buddy Hannon, Brent Jalipa, Ari Kanter, John Kathrein, Greg Land, Tim Longo, Stuart Malkin, Jesse Moore, Colin Munson, June Park, Dan Pettit, Jeff Sanders, Charlie W. Smith, Christopher John Snyder, Todd Stritter, Leon Susen, Randy Tudor, Trey Turner, Aaron Young, Jason Yunker Senior Compatibility Technician—Chip Hinnenberg Lead Network Compatibility—Doyle Gilstrap Compatibility Tecnicians—Jim Davison, Lynn Selk, Kevin Von Aspern, Dan Mihoerck, Jason Lauborough Burning Goddess—Wendy 'Cupcake' Cuplan Burning Assistant—Kellie 'Twinky' Walker Video Production Crew Director/DP—Scott Ewers Producer/AD—George Young Production Manager—Beth George Production Coord/2ND AD—Jeff Fisher Fight Director—Rick Sordelet Gaffer—Bob Krebsbach Best Boy—Jack Guberman Key Grip—John Brunold 2nd Grip—Joel Prescott Swing—Don Chong Video Tech/Ultimatte—Jim Rolin Script Supervisor—Lisa Gainsburg Sound—Greg Von Buchau Boom Op—Steve Klinghoffer Make-Up—Michael Burnett SF Stylist—Anna Bies LA Stylist—Marie Burk Seamstress—Carol Williams Prop Construction—Don Bies Production Assistant—Joel Friedman P.A/Video Assist—Lee Cuellar P.A/Props—Carin Bougie Craft Service—Laura Bagano Intern—Nick Friend Caterer—What's Cookin Good Lookin Marketing Marketing Manager—Barbara Gleason Manual—Mollie Boero, Jason Yunker, Doyle Gilstrap, Brett Tosti, Barbara Gleason, Jo 'Captain Tripps' Ashburn Technical Writing—Lynn Selk, Chip Hinnenberg, Doyle Gilstrap Manual Design—Mark Shepard Package Design—Terri Soo Hoo Package Art—Lea Mai Nguyen International Group International Production Manager—Cindy Leung Lead Programmer International—Judith Lucero Lead International Tester—Adam Pasztory Assistant International Developer—Mark Cooke Lucasarts Entertainment Company President—Jack Sorenson Director of production—Steve Dauterman Director of Marketing—Mary Bihr Director of the Art Department—Judy Rosenfeld Manager of International Business—Lisa Star Manager of Quality Assurance—Mark Cartwright Supervisor of Quality Assurance—Dan Connors Manager of Sound Development—Michael Land Tools Manager—Aric Willmunder National Sales Manager—Meredith Cahill Finance Manager—Tom McCarthy Business Affairs—Jeremy Salesin Senior Manager, Sales operations—Jason Horstman Public Relations Manager—Tom Sarris Public Relations Associate—Heather Twist WEB Specialist—Jason Deadrich Brooding Morale Coordinator—Tim Schafer Additional Thanks Additional Thanks—Joy, Colin Maloy and Bruce, The Kittleson Family, Thuyen Tang, Cathy Wauters, Melissa Gaber and Peepers, Kevy and Ren-Ren, Joseph R. Hummel and D.P. and P.P, Chuck (Cat) 1976-1995, Mrs. Veronica Loud-Nelson, Sarah Fiene, Karin Volz, Susan Lyn McKinley, The Ross Family, Collette Michaud, The Posse...Alyxandra, Drache, Teddy and Travis Lee, Colette Chew, Scott Taylor, Baby Blair Hinnenberg, Erin Wise, Caroline 'LloraC' Liu, Oden, Sun Tzu, Da Weasel, Miyamoto Musashi, Caffeine, Chris Miles, Hundred Aker Wood, John Loose, Dolby Laboratories. Inc. Special Thanks—George Lucas

Appearances

By type

Characters	Organisms	Droid models	Events	Locations
Organizations and titles	Sentient species	Vehicles and vessels	Weapons and technology	Miscellanea

Characters

8t88 (First appearance) Admiral (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Boc Aseca (First appearance) Picaroon C. Boodle (First appearance) Cybot (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Duno Dree (First appearance) (Appears as a corpse) Gorc (First appearance) Gran bounty hunter (First appearance) Jerec (First appearance) Kyle Katarn Morgan Katarn (First appearance) (Appears in hologram) Patricia Katarn (First mentioned) Krugon (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Max (First appearance) Max's companion (First appearance) Maw (First appearance) One-Eye (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Jan Ors Qu Rahn (First appearance) Rugar (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Santiago (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Sariss Shmorg (First appearance) Timmy (First appearance) Trainer (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) Unidentified Barons Hed bartender (First appearance) Unidentified Barons Hed storeowner (First appearance) Unidentified bounty hunter (Rimmer's Rest cantina) (First appearance) Unidentified Gran (Rimmer's Rest cantina) (First appearance) Unidentified pilot (Furious) (First appearance) (Ship only) Unidentified Rebel sympathizer (Nar Shaddaa) (First appearance) Unidentified Rodian bounty hunter (Nar Shaddaa) (First appearance) Veamon (First appearance) (Multiplayer only) WeeGee (First appearance) Yun (First appearance)

Organisms

Drugon (First appearance) Kell dragon Mailoc (First appearance) Water cyc (First appearance)

Droid models

Viper probe droid Mark IV sentry droid Medical droid Mouse droid Gonk R5-series astromech droid Remote

Events

Mission to Ruusan (First appearance) Mission to Sulon (First appearance) Mission to Nar Shaddaa (First appearance)

Locations

Danuta (Non-canonical mention) Dorlo (First appearance) Imperial Academy (Mentioned only) Nar Shaddaa Smuggler's Bar (First appearance) Ruusan (First appearance) Valley of the Jedi (First appearance) Sullust Sulon (First appearance) Barons Hed (First appearance) Government House (First appearance) Fuel City (First appearance) Katarn Family Compound (First appearance) Sulon Star (First appearance)

Organizations and titles

Dark Jedi Jedi Galactic Empire Field Trooper Imperial commando Imperial officer Stormtrooper Mercenary Swoop gang

Sentient species

Boltrunian Epicanthix Gamorrean Gran Grave Tusken (First appearance) Human Kowakian monkey-lizard Miraluka Rodian Trandoshan Twi'lek Ugnaught

Vehicles and vessels

BFF-1 bulk freighter CR90 corvette Delta-class DX-9 stormtrooper transport EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate GR-75 medium transport Hoversled Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Star Destroyer Super Star Destroyer Vengeance (First appearance) HWK-290 light freighter Moldy Crow T-4 Starfighter TIE/IN interceptor TIE/LN starfighter TIE/sa bomber Sulon Star (First appearance) Walker AT-AT AT-ST

Weapons and technology

Armor Armor vest Super Shield Stormtrooper armor Backpack Smugglers backpack Stormtrooper backpack Bacta Bio-Bacta Battery Blaster Blaster pistol Bryar pistol DH-17 blaster pistol Heavy blaster pistol DL-44 heavy blaster pistol Blaster rifle E-11 blaster rifle Bowcaster Concussion rifle Datacard Deflector shield Energy cell Goggles IR Goggles Health pack Revive backpack Imperial Repeater Rifle Lightsaber Power boost Power cell Rail charge (First appearance) Rail detonator (First appearance) Sequencer charge (First appearance) Thermal detonator

Miscellanea

Cargo container Map to the Valley of the Jedi Money The Force Deadly Sight (First appearance) Force absorb Force blinding (First appearance) Force Destruction (First appearance) Force grip Force healing Force Jump Force lightning bolt (First appearance) Force persuasion Force protection Force pull Force sight Force speed Force throw Telekinesis Tree Water

Behind the scenes

The cover of the game with a depiction of Darth Vader, who does not appear in either game

Although the game was marketed as Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II on the game box, the jewel case, the instruction manual, the official strategy guide, and the official web page at LucasArts.com, the game's opening crawl displays the title as Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight.

The cover of the version that is packed with Mysteries of the Sith depicts Darth Vader fighting the Jedi protagonist. However, Darth Vader does not appear at all in Jedi Knight nor in Mysteries of the Sith (his role in the Bespin secret level in the latter is taken by Dark Mara and Dark Kyle).

Alternatives in gameplay

If the player chooses the dark side, the alternate ending is triggered: Kyle Katarn kills Jan Ors and then becomes Jerec's rival, this time for dominion over the Valley. Katarn again retreats to the falling ship and escapes in the Moldy Crow, but this time doesn't crash-land. Instead of fighting Sariss by the ship's wreckage, he faces Yun again, now in a match that could only end in death. He then makes his way to the core and defeats Boc. Katarn defeats Jerec, and becomes the new Emperor of the Galactic Empire, with Sariss at his side.

Production

Similar to the previous game Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire, it uses live-action videos, but with over twice the amount of scenes. The actors took six days to film the scenes in front of a blue screen, with several of them being added with computer graphics later.

Michael Burnett did the makeup for the creatures, while Justin Chin wrote the story.

Game manual

The accompanying game manual is notable for providing the first name "Qu" for the Jedi Master Rahn. It also had descriptions of various enemies and Force powers, presented as quotes from Qu Rahn's journal.

Pathways to the Force

The demo disc for Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is notable for having a subtitle, Pathways to the Force. It contains three levels from the full game and was sold as an OEM. The disc's image is the same as Disc 1 for the full game, but there is also a version that has a yellow layer over the image.

Mysteries of the Sith

Just four months after Jedi Knight's initial release, LucasArts released Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, an official expansion pack, created by the LucasArts team that worked on Outlaws (a spaghetti-western-themed first-person shooter) which features the opportunity to play as Mara Jade for a significant portion of the game. This expansion significantly improved the original Jedi Knight engine by adding aesthetic features such as colored lighting, new enemies and Force powers (and more controversially, doing away with the Dark/Light side duality). There were several under-the-hood changes as well, the most significant being that COG, the programming language that Jedi Knight uses to create scripted in-game events and interactivity (doors, elevators, weapons, in-game cutscenes, enemy behavior, and many other things in Jedi Knight are controlled by COG scripts) was expanded with new functions and capabilities, which the Sith Engine took full advantage of. In addition, while enemies in Jedi Knight would run away if stripped of their weapons, in Mysteries of the Sith they would attempt to fight with their fists. Mysteries of the Sith also featured new types of multiplayer action such as the gamemode KFY ("Kill the Fool with the Ysalamiri") based on KFC, and included several new weapons. A few Force powers such as Throw and Lightning were replaced as well.

Legacy

Since the release of Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, all sequent games, comics and books have used the appearance of the characters first seen in this game.

The appearance of the Holodisc was used in the episodes "Empire Day" and "Gathering Forces" of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, which also canonized the appearance of the disc.

Jan Ors' ship, the Moldy Crow, was the basis for the HWK-290 light freighter ship type, which appeared in the canon Kanan 12 comic. This version was painted black and lacked an underside blaster turret.

Reception

• In March 2004, GMR Magazine rated Jedi Knight the fourth-best Star Wars game of all time.
• PC Gamer Magazine rated Jedi Knight the "Best Game Ever" of 1997 on its list of their 50 greatest games for the PC. In 1998, Jedi Knight was still on the list, but it was dethroned by Half-Life.
• The gaming website gamespot.com gives Dark Forces II a rating of 8.9 out of 10 and a user rating of 8.7, while the IGN community has given it a rating of 8.6.

Bibliography

• "Building a Better Jedi: Justin Chin on Dark Forces II" — Star Wars Insider 31
• "Be the Jedi in Three New LucasArts Games" — Star Wars Insider 36
• "Playing with the Dark Side" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 8
• "Lord Vader's Plenty Game" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 11
• "Game Room: Game Knights" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 13
• "Around the Galaxy" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 7
• The Best Star Wars Games of the 64-Bit Era on StarWars.com (backup link)

External links

• Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II official site on LucasArts.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II on Wikipedia
• Star Wars: Dark Forces RPG The role-playing game
• Gamespot review - 8.9 out of 10
• Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II at the Internet Movie Database
• The Massassi Temple
• The Jedi Knight Editing Hub
• JediKnight.Net
• Jedi Knight Multiplayer Addon Group (JKMAG) - includes link to Kicker Helper
• Qtracker online server browser/launcher (supports Jedi Knight/Mysteries of the Sith)
• MagicForce.com home of JKEdit, a level editor (now free)
• Saber-Scorpion's Lair the Jedi Knight story illustrated in LEGO

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