Star Wars:Obi-Wan Much Maligned But Actually Great
The critics didn’t have much nice to say about this game, but frankly I love it. The control scheme is fantastic, the voice acting better than average, and the gameplay is just plain fun. I love how when one Jedi defeats another (at least during the single-player training mini-games) he gets back up and compliments his vanquisher—truly Jedi-esque.
I especially enjoy the massive Jedi-on-Jedi brawl that ensues at the end (though how they explain it plotwise I have no —I mean, who needs Darth Vader to hunt down the Jedi if they’l going to just kill eachother at that point in the history of the Galaxy?
I’d really like to see LucasArts take the feel and playability of Obi-Wan to another level. It would be amazing to have a really rich, 3-D lighsaber combat system that incorporates a full range of thrusts, cuts, parries, and other flourishes of swordplay, with Force powers, too, of course. I’d like to replay the great battles of the movies, like Vader vs. Kenobi, Dooku vs. Yoda, Luke vs. Vader, and so on. Or maybe try something else just for fun, like Qui-Gon Jinn taking on Obi-Wan in a non-lethal bout, perhaps with lightsabers on stun. Or maybe we could find out how long a Jedi could last against Darth Sidious! The possibilities are endless.
Obi-Wan vs. Jedi Knight II
JJax,
I can see why you would like Jedi Knight II’s combat and controls better, since there's a wider range of Force skills and many more weapons to employ. But what it lacks, IMHO, is the responsiveness and intuitiveness that makes Obi-Wan so fun (at least from my point of view).
I also found that the swordplay in Obi-Wan has a very nice, albeit limited, serious of animations that work nicely with the controller-vibration feature.
My biggest point of comparison between the two has a lot to do with Kyle Katarn and Obi-Wan Kenobi as characters. I really have a hard time imagining myself as Kyle, with his cynical, almost anti-Jedi persona. Then again, it’s not like Obi-Wan doesn’t have his Dark Side moments: “Don’t make me destroy you!” is intended to recall, rather eerily, Darth Vader’s plea to Luke in Episode V.
I guess what I really hunger for is greater immersion into Jedi characters. Perhaps Knights of the Old Republic, due out mid-July, will satisfy that hunger.
BTW, I’m sad that they apparently cancelled Galaxies for Xbox (*Artoo-Detoo sigh*). Note: It later turned out that this was not necessarily the case; see below.
Cancellation Not Confirmed
I should amend my remarks to say that Galaxies has experienced an indefinite delay. LucasArts no longer lists it as an upcoming game on their website, a bad-but-not-fatal sign.
