[Akuma]

First off, Jedi Academy is very similar to Jedi Outcast. If you liked Outcast then you'll probaly like Academy. I'll start my review with the new stuff.

You aren't Kyle Katarn. When you start a new game you can choose your characters race and sex along with their clothes and saber. You can choose the color and hilt style of your saber and your ready to go. Unlike in the Outcast you start the game with your lightsaber which is good. Half way through the game you can build a new lightsaber. This time you can choose from 3 different saber types: Single, double, or two handed. Like before you can choose the color and hilt for your saber. Each type has its own advanges and disadvanges. If you choose single saber you learn new moves and fighting stances. If you choose double you can fight two people at the same time but can only use the medium stance. The two handed saber, or saberstaff, if what most people are looking forward to using. You can do some great combos and can accually kick people over when fighting. The down side to the saberstaff is that you must turn off one end before you can throw it. The forcepowers are different too. Instead of slowing gaining forcepowers throughout the game, you are given all the powers in the beginning. As you complete levels you can add points to the powers that you want. Late in the game you can also choose if you want to join the darkside or stay on the lightside. One other plus is that you only have to complete 4 or 5 missions to complete the 'level'.

Now for my actual review.

Gameplay: Almost the same as Jedi Outcast. Run around and kill people with your saber. Your not forced to ever use guns unlike Outcast though. Also there is much more saber vs saber action now. Some of the missions do get repeatitive, but there is a great deal of new missions. There are sabbotage missions, planting bombs on weapon caches, rescuing prisoners, ect. There are some stupid missions though, such as a mission that you crash on a desert planet and have to collect pieces to fix your ship, the only problem is that you can't walk on the sand. The invincible Rancor pisses me off too. Even with these bad levels this game is still better because there are not as many puzzles as Outcast and absolutely no jumping puzzles.(yay!) All-in-all its great. 9/10

Graphics: It looks exactly the same Outcast. Its not the sexiest engine around but it gets the job done. The outdoor enviroments are much bigger and more colorful than before. Some times the FPS can drop down severly but it may be because its only a beta. 8/10

Sound: The sound of sabers buzzing is very clear. The voice acting is superb as always. There are more different voices for characters. Before their might have been 2 voice actors per species. In Academy they're are many different voices and reactions that you can get from NPCs. The music for the most part is great, all Star Wars classics like the Imperial March and Main Theme. There are a few missing songs(so says the console) but I assume its just the beta. 10/10

Value: The game is very fun and worth every cent you pay for it(or the 1.2GB it takes up on your hard drive). There is a great deal of replay ability because you may want to play through with differnent sabers and forcepowers. There are also two endings based on which side you join. 8/10

Overall: This is looking to be a great new game. The beta is pretty good and doesn't have many bugs. My only complaint is that this game will only last you 8-12 hours. So I give the beta a 8.5/10.