The Mercenary

Posted: 2007-07-20 6:29 a.m.   Report Abuse Now, when you see this level, you may be thinking to yourself, "oh boy, another Jedi Knight level after all these years!". Unfortunately, you're probably better off if you just keep waiting. "Average" is the word that best describes this campaign, and not in a positive way. Health and powerups are rare, while enemies are plentiful. The mission objectives are mis-configured and poorly written, so it all comes down to "Get to the end of the level and don't die. Oh, and, here's some Dark Jedi. Kill those guys too." As for level design and architecture... Well, the editor used to make these levels was JkEdit. The author claims he's mastered it in the readme file, but if this is any indication of mastery, then it's a strong case that after ten years of Jedi Knight, JkEdit is still completely worthless as an editing tool.

Put simply, this level campaign was a boring experience that feels like it's been done a thousand times before. You won't miss anything by skipping it.

Posted: 2007-07-20 6:44 a.m.   Report Abuse I enjoyed playing this level series, it was a good hour of fun!

The series started off with below average architexture, with blocky rooms - but then as the levels progressed it got really, really good.

You really get a sense that the author is improving as the levels progress, even attempting cutscenes in the later levels.

I just wish the author tested the levels more thoroughly (eg: sometimes you'd end up in an area you can't get out of and have to reload) and that the enemy placement was better - and more importantly, that he'd gone back to the start and made it to the standard of the later levels.

These levels have their floors (as mentioned, along with the objectives always being mucked up, HOM, lack of items) but they're alot of fun. Really reminds me of the old school days of Jedi Knight, but alot of stuff drags it down. Looking forward to the authors next projects however! 6/10 - Goit

Posted: 2007-07-24 4:42 p.m.   Report Abuse I got a serious Deja-vu playing this level. Not that I saw parts of it from somewhere else or that I had played it before but I swear I dreamt about it...
A definite solid gold 10!

Posted: 2009-10-01 4:02 p.m.   Report Abuse Well, I certainly had a nostalgic blast playing this, because it takes lots of cues from the old-school JK SP levels, which has its pros and cons. The levels are fairly big, and the whole level pack will take you a good few hours to complete. You can tell the author put thought into each level, although those "thoughts" can sometimes turn into "diabolical traps." I felt the creator was toying with me with the various traps scattered across this level pack (some of them impossible to avoid if you don't know beforehand.)

JkEdit is certainly an able editor, but it takes some extra care to create unboxy rooms. A little extra overall care and polish would have made this level pack incredible... I'm looking forward to the author's next work.