Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy

Jedi Academy, for PC and Xbox LIVE, lets you partially fulfill your dream of actually wielding a lightsaber. Best of all, you can even use two lightsabers at once or one double-bladed "saber staff," a la Darth Maul. The single player game is on its own compelling. First, you customize your Jedi's appearance. You can be a Human male, a Human female, a Twi'lek female, a Rodian male, a Zabrak female (Darth Maul is a Zabrak) or a Kel Dor male. You can also customize your lightsaber -- you get to choose the hilt, style and color. Plenty of weapons beside your lightsaber are available, too, ranging from rocket launchers to snipers to grenades.

Your character is a student at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy, hence the title of the game. Single player is not a straightforward process. You get to (to some extent) choose which missions you undertake, though some are mandatory. If you're having a lot of trouble with one, you can skip over that one -- though of course you can't skip them all. The plot involves something having to do with Dark Jedi... due to the fact that the plot isn't very linear (due to the mission-choosing and such) and the fact that you're creating your own character, the plot isn't that strong. That's probably the biggest issue with the game.

Multiplayer is much more fun, and is really the reason to have the game. It's the first time you can use a lightsaber online (on a console), and it's lots of fun. Different lightsaber styles have different capabilities and attacks, and with 10 or so playing an all-out free-for-all, it can get pretty hectic. Other modes include Duel (1 vs. 1), Power Duel (1 stronger guy vs. 2 weaker guys, a la Darth Maul duel), Capture the Flag, Team Free-for-All (kind of an oxymoron, but fun), and the very best part of the game: Siege. [Requires Xbox LIVE]

The first step to playing Siege is choosing the level. There are three: Korriban (volcanic), Desert Rescue, and Hoth. Once you select that, you choose what function your character will perform. Will you be a demolitions expert? A heavy-weapons guy? A standard assault trooper? A Jedi? (That's called your "class".) Different maps have different classes available. Here's an outline of each map.

Desert Rescue Desert Rescue definitely gets the award for coolest guy: the Scout class is Boba Fett, complete with jetpack. Fun! Fly onto rooftops and snipe your enemies from a distance. Escape from tight situations with ease. Rocket across the map in seconds. Or perhaps escape a deadly rancor. That brings me to my next point: this map features a real, live rancor in a giant arena at one end of the map. This is one of the most fun things in the game. The rancor has the ability to swat you clear across the map, stomp on you, or grab and eat you. Even a jetpack won't save you once he's got you in his grip. Besides that, this map features a swoop bike for getting places in a flash, shooting your enemies with the built-in blaster, or simple ramming them into a wall.

Hoth Rescue Probably the second-coolest map. Modeled after the Battle of Hoth, this one features an AT-ST and a wampa. The AT-ST is a blast to drive! Its powerful lasers can decimate your enemies -- or you can just squish them. The wampa's also fun -- the Imperials get to get him loose on the Rebels -- albeit not quite as fun as the rancor.

Korriban Sadly, this is the least fun of the three. Still, it's pretty good. Korriban pits Jedi vs. Sith as the Jedi try to destroy some ancient spirit and the Sith try to stop them. This one has a rancor, too, but no swoops and no jetpack. Oh well. It's still pretty fun, especially since everyone's a Jedi.

Jedi Academy's graphics are pretty good, though they could certainly be better. The fact that you choose the appearance of your character means that they couldn't take the time to perfect just one character model. On top of that, the production schedule seemed a bit rushed. It shows, though not too much.

All in all, Jedi Academy is a great game for anyone looking for a little lightsaber action. However, for someone who's just interested in Siege, you may want to consider Battlefront instead.