Jedi Academy

As if I don’t have enough on my plate already, on Monday I popped Jedi Academy into my PC. Initially, it was just a lark. Jedi Knight II was probably one of the most excellent gaming experiences I had back in the day. I purchased Jedi Academy soon after it orignally came out, but (as things tend to happen) I never got around to doing more than installing it. I’ve futzed around in the multiplayer mode once in a while, but I never really cracked the campaign.

Monday I fired the game up and tooled my way through the first few levels. Maybe It’s just because it’s been so long since I played Jedi Knight II, but I’ve been tearing through that game. Earlier this evening I got into the third tier of missions, which according to gamefaqs means I’m relatively close to the end of the game.

On the one hand, I’m engladdened by this. I’ve got a lot of stuff to write and Jade Empire will be coming out at the end of next week, on top of mainpage shifts and stuff. I also have to say, even though it’s going quickly I’m pretty satisfied with the experience. It’s sort of like reading one of the pulpier Star Wars novels, only with more saving and loading.

On the other hand, the comparison between the two games makes me sad. It took a little while for me to work through Jedi Knight II, and I’ve come to realize that was likely because I wasn’t so much with the skillz at that point. Just the same, there was something epic about defeating Dasann back in the day.

I’m not going to get that thrill with the completion of Jedi Academy for two reasons. First, when I said “I’m tearing through it”, I meant that literally. I have yet to come up against a challenge that took me more than two tries to complete. I have the difficulty set on Jedi (normal), but a lightsaber just chews through every opponent too quickly for me to be intimidated. I probably should have started on a higher difficulty. The second reason is something I’m starting to mentally call “Analysis Burnout”. Raph Koster touched on it in Theory of Fun, but since some time late in my MMORPGDot writing gig I’ve found myself mostly unable to enjoy games on a simple funness level. Novelty is still, of course, a good thing. The first couple of hours of a good game still fills me with amusement. Beyond that I lose interest and go into reviewer mode, and then I play the game through to the end as quickly as I can. Rawg.

Anyway. Lightsabers. Very good. I went dual sabers, both green. Very nice.