Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Jedi Survivor got nothing on Jedi Academy.

Probably the best online gaming experience I ever had. I remember even training with a friend to get better at it. In our server we would call them our masters and you would have to show respect.
The mechanics are incredible, there are infinite combinations and techniques to outmatch your opponent. Single player doesn't really matter. It's all about the multiplayer and committing yourself to get better and better at being a Jedi. It's like a rpg but you don't get upgrades or increase level, you evolve and learn by yourself, an "academy" in it's truest sense. I even participated in the ESL jka league.
Simply amazing even to this day, it's old I know, but the fact that many servers still manage to survive justifies my review. I will not delve into details but I have to say that the main menu song and the Tatooine map one will forever be engraved in my heart.
If a new jedi academy game emerged, I would make it my job and go to pro leagues or wtv.

Jedi Academy is the 5th game in the franchise. This time, you play as Jaden who you can customise – choose their outfit and lightsaber, and choose between several combinations of races and gender. Jaden is a promising Jedi and is a new recruit to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. You and another student, Rosh are assigned to be mentored by the previous protagonist Kyle Katarn.

Rosh comes across as a total brat, and not long into the game he begins to complain that the Jedi Masters are holding him back... so you can guess what is going to happen to him.

Information is stolen from Luke, and so you are sent on missions to uncover information on the evil cult that committed the theft. The levels are much shorter than what was seen in previous games, and it is a good thing, since it is much harder to get lost. There's barely any switches to press too! The poor/annoying level designs has always held the series back, but now the problem has finally been addressed. The missions are set in a wide variety of locales, and have slightly different gameplay tweaks. Sometimes, you are ploughing through enemies, while others you are locating items or disarming bombs.

You are presented with five missions to choose from, but only need to complete four to proceed to the mandatory mission that follows which advances the story. This process repeats an additional two times.

You can use your lightsaber from the very start, so even though you are given the choice of a few guns and explosives, you will barely feel the need/desire to use them. Additionally, you are given some Force powers, and can unlock a choice of powers as you complete the missions. The light side abilities are absorb, protection, heal, and Mind Trick. The dark side powers are Life steal, Lightning, Grab, and Rage. At certain points in the story, your core Force powers (including Push, Pull, Jump, Speed) are upgraded. You feel pretty powerful from the start, and it is great running around, dismembering Stormtroopers or pushing them off ledges. When you enter the final third of the game, you get a choice whether to switch to Dual Sabres or the Darth Maul-like Sabre Staff, which is pretty cool

Towards the end of the game, you will be constantly fighting the Dark Jedi (there's an insane amount of them) which makes the end quite dull. Even though I've played the previous games in the series; I've never really understood the lightsaber combat. Most of the time it seems to come down to luck, so you just randomly click the mouse and hope for the best. Other times you can easily win by activating Force Speed, then easily chopping them down.

Overall, Jedi Academy is the best in the series, but it's not exactly a series I've enjoyed.

With Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy a layer of polish was applied that Jedi Outcast lacked, making the best 3D entry in the series and even better than the first Dark Forces depending on the day of the week. Subtle changes were made to the engine, fixing all the above listed complaints alongside visual upgrades. Shooting feels fantastic now, for the most part. Guns remain under-powered, but this is balanced by further improving lightsaber combat. Along with a new layer of polish comes some of the most innovative levels and mission design in the series.

The game is broken up between sequences that allow the player to choose five levels in any order (the fifth is optional), while required story-driven missions divide these sections. The main plot is forgettable and fans of the Kyle Katarn saga will be disappointed by him being demoted to side character, but all of this is made up for by the freedom it brings the game to explore different scenarios.

Each mission is like its own exciting slice of Star Wars fan fiction. One mission finds you escorting prisoners away from a raging rancor while another finds you escaping a prison yourself without your lightsaber. Even the vehicle and experimental levels—one has the player jumping from platform to platform, avoiding sand worms below the surface—are good this time around. The variety and creativity of these missions continues to deliver until the game’s finale, eight or so hours later. If you play only one game in the series, Jedi Academy should be it.

Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy both scale gracefully to modern hardware on PC, allowing for high resolution widescreen and even 120+ hz support. Stilted, puppet-like animation aside, these games hold up fairly well. Even better, they run on a modified Quake 3 Engine so you can bunnyhop your way through these maps like a true jedi!