“I Just Never Have Any Idea Where I'm Supposed to Go Next…”

All who wander are not lost in Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

- By Ted Litchfield

Kyle Katarn, his beige henley, and that single brown shoulder pad have been part of my life for a long time. I first played his final video game appearance: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (technically Star Wars: Dark Forces IV: Jedi Knight III: Jedi Outcast II: Jedi Academy) in the third grade, and I’ve drifted to and from his adventures ever since.

The Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series has been foundational to PC gaming. Indeed, Dark Forces was the first FPS where you could look up and down. It feels like a bit of an afterthought in peoples’ minds these days though, perhaps due to being relegated to the non-canon dustbin of Star Wars history with the rest of the Expanded Universe. It’s a shame, because the entire series is worth a revisit.