text: star wars : jedi knight ( series ) star wars : jedi knight is a first - person shooter and third - person shooter video game series set in the fictional star wars expanded universe . the series focuses primarily on kyle katarn , a former imperial officer who ultimately becomes a member of the new republic and an instructor at the jedi academy . the jedi knight series began in 1995 with the release of star wars : dark forces for dos , macintosh , and playstation . this was followed in 1997 by star wars jedi knight : dark forces ii for microsoft windows , in which katarn learns the ways of a jedi . in 1998 , star wars jedi knight : mysteries of the sith was released as an expansion pack for dark forces ii , this time giving the player control of mara jade as well as katarn . in 2002 , star wars jedi knight ii : jedi outcast was added to the series . jedi outcast was developed by raven software and powered by the id tech 3 game engine . it was released for windows , mac , xbox and gamecube . star wars jedi knight : jedi academy followed in 2003 on windows , mac and xbox . it was powered by the same game engine as its predecessor . jedi academy was the first game in the series where the player does not control katarn at any point , although he is featured prominently in the storyline . the games in the jedi knight series have received generally favorable reviews . multiple publications have commented on the quality of the series as a whole , with gamenow describing it as " consistently great . " the use of the lightsaber in the series , a prominent gameplay element in all but the first game , has received specific praise for its implementation . games star wars : dark forces was developed and published by lucasarts , and released in north america on february 28 , 1995 for ms - dos and macintosh , and on november 30 , 1996 for playstation . it was the first officially produced first - person shooter set in the star wars universe . star wars jedi knight : dark forces ii was again developed and published by lucasarts , and released in north america on september 30 , 1997 for microsoft windows . star wars jedi knight : mysteries of the sith is an expansion pack for dark forces ii . developed and published by lucasarts , it was released on february 24 , 1998 for microsoft windows . the expansion includes a single - player mode and fifteen multiplayer maps . star wars jedi knight ii : jedi outcast was developed by raven software for the pc and mac , and vicarious visions for the xbox and gamecube . lucasarts published the pc version worldwide and the xbox and gamecube versions in north america , activision published the xbox and gamecube versions in europe , and aspyr published the mac version worldwide . the pc version was released in north america on march 26 , 2002 , the mac version on november 5 , and the xbox and gamecube versions on november 19 . star wars jedi knight : jedi academy was developed by raven software for the pc and mac , and vicarious visions for the xbox . lucasarts published the pc and xbox versions in north america , activision published them in europe , and aspyr published the mac version worldwide . jedi academy was released on september 16 , 2003 for mac , on september 17 for windows , and on november 18 for xbox . overview gameplay the jedi knight series is composed primarily of first / third - person shooter gameplay elements , with a number of variation on the norms of the genre within each game . all of the games use a level based system which contains a series of objectives that must be completed before the player can continue . from dark forces ii onwards , the games have included lightsaber combat and the use of force powers , which have been tweaked and modified as the series has progressed . in the first game , dark forces , the focus is on combat against various creatures and characters from the star wars universe , and includes environmental puzzles and hazards , whilst following a central storyline outlined in mission briefings and cutscenes . for combat , the player may use fists , explosive land mines and thermal detonators , as well as blasters and other ranged weapons , with the gameplay leaning more towards ranged combat . in dark forces ii , the player has the option of a third - person view , plus an option to switch automatically to third - person when the lightsaber is the selected weapon . three types of force powers are introduced in this game : light powers provide non violent advantages , dark powers provide violent ones , while neutral powers enhance athletic abilities . the game has two endings , depending on whether the player chooses to focus on the light side or the dark side . unlike its predecessor , mysteries of the sith has a single , morally positive course , as the player progresses through the game in a linear fashion . the game includes most of the enemies featured in dark forces ii , plus some new monsters . the player has access to force powers and projectile weapons such as a blaster or railgun , as well as a lightsaber . jedi outcast 's gameplay is similar to that of its predecessors , with some small additions , such as access to gun turrets , or the use of combos unique to each of the three lightsaber styles in the game ; fast , medium and strong . as with dark forces ii and mysteries of the sith , the use of force powers is restricted by a " force meter " , which depletes when the powers are used . jedi academy features very similar gameplay to jedi outcast , although one new feature is that the player may customize their lightsaber at the outset of the game . later , the player has the option of choosing dual sabers , or a " saber staff " , similar to darth maul 's double ended lightsaber in the phantom menace . instead of moving linearly from one level to the next , the player chooses from a selection of different missions which can be played in any order . the game also introduces player - controllable vehicles and vehicle - based levels . starting with jedi knight , a multiplayer mode has been included in every game , in which up to eight people can compete with one another via a lan or up to four people online . in jedi knight , the player creates an avatar , and then selects a ranking , with higher rankings having access to more force powers . there are two types of multiplayer game available ; " capture the flag " and " jedi training " . mysteries of the sith includes fifteen multiplayer maps , four of which only allow players to battle with lightsabers , and a ranking system that tracks the player 's experience . the multiplayer mode allows the use of pre - set characters featured in both jedi knight and mysteries of the sith , as well as characters from the star wars films , such as luke skywalker , darth vader and boba fett . in mysteries , the " capture the flag " mode is altered , with the gradual reduction of the force powers of the player who is carrying the flag . jedi outcast features several multiplayer modes , which , in the pc and mac versions , can be played over a lan or the internet . multiplayer mode is limited to two players on the xbox and gamecube versions of the game . game modes include " free - for - all " , " team deathmatch " , " capture the flag " , " power duel " and " siege " , all of which can be played with other players , bots , or both . jedi academy introduces several multiplayer modifications , such as movie battles ii which allows players to take part in lightsaber duels that featured in the star wars films . movie battles also lets players choose different classes of character , ranging from jedi knight to wookiee . another popular modification , evolution of combat , allows players to use more movie - realistic saber combat along with other additions such as a movie accurate class system featuring tens of new characters . story the jedi knight video games are set in the star wars universe . for the majority of the series , the player controls kyle katarn , who begins as a mercenary , eventually learning the ways of the force , becoming a jedi master and teaching at the jedi academy . prior to the events of dark forces , katarn was a student studying to follow in his father 's career of agricultural mechanics . however , while at an academy , he was told by officials that the rebel alliance had killed his parents . his anger led him to enlist in the imperial army , where he soon met jan ors , an undercover double agent working for the alliance . ors uncovered the real information about katarn 's parents ; they had actually been killed by the empire . shortly thereafter , ors ' cover was blown , and she was taken prisoner . katarn helped her escape , thus ending his career with the empire . he then became a mercenary , and due to his hatred for the empire , regularly took on jobs for the alliance . in the first level of dark forces , which is set prior to a new hope , katarn recovers the plans to the death star , a heavily armed space station capable of destroying entire planets . the rebel alliance uses the plans to find a weakness in and then destroy the death star . katarn then aids the rebels in stopping the threat of the imperial " dark trooper " project . despite the successful missions on behalf of the alliance , however , katarn does not join their cause . dark forces ii begins several years after the destruction of the second death star in return of the jedi , when katarn is informed of the exact details of his father 's death . his father , morgan katarn , had discovered the location of " the valley of the jedi " , a source of great force power , but a dark jedi named jerec murdered morgan in an attempt to find the location . katarn travels to the valley of the jedi while learning the ways of the jedi himself . eventually , he confronts and defeats jerec , avenging his father 's death . however , katarn still does not join the jedi order , instead using his powers for the new republic , and taking on an apprentice with a similar history to himself ; mara jade . during this time , katarn learns of a sith temple on the planet dromund kaas . there , katarn is corrupted by the dark side of the force . however , jade is able to convince him to return to the light and they leave together . this incident causes katarn to distance himself from the force and return to mercenary missions with jan ors . in jedi outcast , ors is captured by desann , a former pupil of luke skywalker who has turned to the dark side . katarn believes desann to have killed ors , and so he returns to the valley of the jedi in an attempt to reconnect to the force so as to stop desann . eventually , it is revealed that ors ' death is a ruse by desann for the express purpose of having katarn return to the valley , so desann may learn of its location . desann , in league with the imperial remnant , uses the power of the valley to endow his troops with force power , before using them to launch an attack on the jedi academy . however , katarn defeats desann and discovers his true path , becoming a tutor at the academy . in jedi academy , katarn takes on two students : jaden korr and rosh . the protagonist of the game is jaden , who is dispatched on various peace - keeping missions across the galaxy , sometimes with katarn , sometimes alone . jaden eventually encounters a sith cult led by tavion ( desann 's former apprentice ) who plans to restore the sith to power by using stolen force energy to resurrect an ancient sith lord , marka ragnos . after learning that rosh has betrayed the jedi and joined tavion , jaden may either kill him and turn to the dark side or let him live and remain on the light side . if jaden chooses to free rosh , he ultimately faces and defeats both tavion and the spirit of ragnos . if he chooses the dark side , he kills tavion , fights and defeats ( but does not kill ) katarn , and then flees with tavion 's staff , which is capable of absorbing the force . the game ends with katarn setting out in pursuit of jaden . development production of star wars : dark forces began in september 1993 , with daron stinnett as project leader and justin chin as lead writer . the developers wanted to adapt the first - person shooter format to include strategy and puzzles , which at the time , had never been done . dark forces thus features numerous logic puzzles and parts of the game requires a strategic method to progress , often involving manipulation of the environment . this style of gameplay has remained constant in all jedi knight games . another aspect that has remained the same since dark forces is the use of john williams ' soundtrack from the star wars films . in dark forces the music was implemented using , software that alters the music depending on what is happening at any given moment in the game . lucasarts developed the jedi game engine to power dark forces , adding features to the first - person shooter genre that were uncommon at the time , such as multi - level floors and free look , as well as athletic abilities such as running , jumping , ducking and swimming . original plans for the game had luke skywalker as the main character , but due to the limitations this would impose on the story , the developers designed a new character , kyle katarn . even before the release of dark forces , justin chin had planned out katarn 's role in dark forces ii , indicating that katarn would face a " big trial " in a game that would be a " rite of passage . " chin became project leader for dark forces ii . in the game , the digital audio from dark forces was replaced with cd audio . dark forces ii adds two " jedi " aspects to the series ; the use of the force and the lightsaber . the force plays an integral role in how the player plays the game . the method of allocating credits to force powers was designed with an rpg style in mind , allowing the player the choice of which powers to improve . chin said in an early interview that progress through the game is based upon the abilities the player develops . a new game engine , the sith engine , was developed for dark forces ii , which uses both 3d graphics and sound . it was one of the first games to adopt the use of 3d graphics hardware acceleration using microsoft direct3d . another development was that dark forces ii moved on from the static images between levels used in dark forces to full motion video cutscenes . the characters are represented by live actors while the backgrounds are pre - rendered . the cutscenes included the first lightsaber footage filmed since return of the jedi in 1983 . dark forces ii also introduced multiplayer gaming to the series , allowing players to play online or via a lan . nearly four years after the release of dark forces ii , lucasarts announced at e3 2001 that jedi knight ii : jedi outcast would be released in 2002 . unlike previous games in the series , jedi outcast was not developed in - house by lucasarts , but by raven software . the subsequent success of outcast led lucasarts to continue the partnership with raven , leading to the development of jedi knight : jedi academy a year later ; " with the overwhelming success and critical acclaim of star wars : jedi outcast , continuing an alliance with activision and raven software was a clear and very easy decision , " said then - president of lucasarts , simon jeffery . jedi outcast and jedi academy are both powered by the quake iii : team arena game engine , with modifications for the use of a lightsaber and the force . jedi academy is the only game in the jedi knight series that does not give the player control of katarn at any point . instead the focus is on jaden korr , a student of the force under katarn . the decision to change protagonist was made by the developers for gameplay reasons . reception the jedi knight series as a whole has been well received . the series itself has been described as " highly acclaimed , " and has been noted by ign as one of few star wars themed video game franchises that is of consistently high quality on the pc . called the series " rather entertaining , " whilst gamenow rated it as " consistently great . " individually , each game in the series has been generally well received . in 1995 , dark forces became lucasarts ' highest sell - in with more than 300 , 000 copies accounted for at launch . games in the series have achieved consistently favorable review scores from most publications , and hold high aggregate scores on both metacritic and gamerankings . the only exceptions are the playstation version of dark forces , which was perceived to have graphical problems and the gamecube version of jedi outcast , which was seen as considerably inferior to the pc and xbox versions . games in the jedi knight series have also received specific commendation and awards . dark forces ii was judged the best game of the year for 1997 by five publications , and was number one in pc gamer 's " 50 best games ever " list in 1998 . jedi outcast was a finalist in the academy of interactive arts & sciences " interactive achievement awards " in the 2002 game of the year category . the game also received commendations from pc gamer and computer gaming world . gameplay aspects of the series have also been well received . the lightsaber charted at number 7 in ugo networks 's countdown of the 50 best weapons in video games . the publication commented that using such a weapon in a game was " extremely satisfying , " and stated that lightsaber usage had been refined as the series continued . kyle katarn has also received a positive reception . ign placed him as their 22nd top star wars character , praising him as " a gamer 's reliable blank state , " a feature which they felt made him one of the most " human " star wars characters . they also stated that katarn 's with fans was because of his " mishmash of quirks and dispositions . " in gamespot 's vote for the all - time greatest videogame hero , katarn was eliminated in round two when faced against lara croft , garnering 27 . 5 % of the votes . in round one he defeated dig dug , with 67 . 6 % of the votes .