Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
Encyclopedia
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith is an expansion pack
for the first person shooter Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
. It was developed and published by LucasArts
, and released on January 31, 1998. The expansion includes a single-player mode and fifteen multiplayer maps. The multiplayer mode allows up to eight players to play online or over a network. It was re-released onto Steam along with its predecessors and sequels.
The single-player story is set five years after the events of Dark Forces II. The player controls Kyle Katarn
, protagonist of Dark Forces II, and later in the game, Mara Jade
, one of the most popular Star Wars
Expanded Universe
characters.
There are also technical improvements over Dark Forces II, including colored lighting, new textures and models
, and improved artificial intelligence
. Mysteries of the Sith received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise being given to the game's story and improvements to artificial intelligence.
, but offers the choice of a third person view
. Unlike Dark Forces II, where the player's actions within the game dictate whether the story ends with the light side
or the dark side
ending, Mysteries of the Sith has a single, morally positive course. The player progresses through the game in a linear fashion; there are fourteen levels and each has set objectives that the player must complete before being able to continue to the next level. Within each level the player can encounter both hostile and non-hostile non-player character
s (NPCs). As well as including some enemies that featured in Dark Forces II, Mysteries of the Sith adds twenty new monsters, including a rancor. Some non-hostile NPCs may help the player by attacking enemies.
The player has a choice of weapons to use throughout the game. These include projectile weapons such as a blaster
or railgun
, and the lightsaber
. The player also has access to Force
powers. Some are capable of causing damage to enemies while others can be used for non-violent activities.
and the lightsaber color, and compete with up to seven other players over the internet or a local area network
. The game includes a ranking system that tracks the player's experience. The multiplayer mode allows the use of pre-set characters featured in both Mysteries of the Sith and Dark Forces II. There is the choice of characters from the Star Wars films, such as Luke Skywalker
, Darth Vader
and Boba Fett
. Each type of character has advantages and disadvantages.
Several locations from the Star Wars films have been recreated as maps for multiplayer gaming. These include the Emperor's throne room, the carbon-freezing chamber from The Empire Strikes Back
and Luke's home on Tatooine from A New Hope
. The capture the flag
multiplayer mode has been altered since Dark Forces II. The player must now steal a ysalamir from the other team and return it to their own base. The ysalamir has the added effect of reducing the force powers of the player who is carrying it.
is now a Jedi Master and has taken on Mara Jade
as his apprentice. Like Katarn, Mara Jade is a former member of the Galactic Empire
, but joined the New Republic to become a Jedi Knight.
The game begins in a New Republic
outpost. Katarn is training Jade when Imperial forces attack the base in an attempt to besiege it. The player takes control of Katarn to defend the base from the storm troopers and get to the command center. At the command center it is revealed that an evacuation cannot take place because of bombardment by large weapons from two nearby asteroids. Katarn leaves Jade behind in the New Republic base as he travels to the asteroids to destroy them.
After this section of the game, the player takes control of Mara Jade. Katarn reveals to Jade that he has discovered information to the whereabouts of a Sith
temple on Dromund Kaas. He leaves for the temple and in the meantime Jade must take on new assignments for the New Republic and learn more about the Force
.
Jade completes her missions for the New Republic, but hears that Katarn has broken contact. She heads to Dromund Kaas to try and find out what has happened to him. At the temple she discovers that Katarn has been corrupted by the power of the dark side
located within the temple. Failing to convince him to turn back, Jade battles him in a lightsaber duel which finally turns him away from the dark path, as she disengages her lightsaber and Kyle finds he cannot go through with killing her.
Mysteries of the Sith was developed and published by LucasArts
as an expansion to Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, and requires the Dark Forces II CD ROM the first time you start it. LucasArts has made improvements to the 3D engine used in Dark Forces II by including colored lighting. The full motion video
cut scenes that were used between levels in Dark Forces II have been replaced with cinematics rendered by the 3D engine.
The artificial intelligence
has been developed further to produce more realistic actions from the NPCs. The hostile and non-hostile NPCs can fight amongst each other with little or no input from the player. For example, if a player were to use Force pull
to take weapons away from enemies in Dark Forces II, the enemies would walk around doing nothing; by contrast, in Mysteries of the Sith the enemies would attempt to defeat the player by punching them.
The character Mara Jade is a popular character taken from Timothy Zahn
's Thrawn trilogy of books. Though the expansion includes characters from the previous game, new dialogue was recorded for Mysteries of the Sith's scenario, including recurring background characters who speak similar lines to their counterparts in Dark Forces II. Some dialogue was translated authentically into Huttese, a fictional language used in Return of the Jedi
and elsewhere in the Star Wars universe. The Star Wars original soundtrack by John Williams
is included in Mysteries of the Sith.
The gameplay of the single-player mode received mixed reactions. Paul Mallinson of PC Zone
stated that "Mysteries Of The Sith starts off brilliantly and gets better and better and better the further you get into it. The progressive nature of the constantly evolving storyline sees to that." In contrast, Michael E. Ryan of GameSpot
stated that the game is uneven and the challenging levels are only at the end. This adversely affects the gameplay by creating a steep change in how the game must be played. General aspects of the gameplay were seen as improvements such as the artificial intelligence.
The multiplayer side of Mysteries of the Sith was received positively but did not escape criticism. Emil Pagliarulo of The Adrenaline Vault questioned why certain features seemed to be missing from the multiplayer mode that were present in the single-player mode. One such feature is the rancor which appears prominently in a single-player level but is not in any multiplayer maps.
The development of the graphics
in Mysteries of the Sith was seen as an improvement with particular praise for the new colored lighting effects. Not all new graphical developments were received well and reviews highlighted that smoke effects from the carbonite weapon are particularly poor. Ryan criticized the whole graphical implementation of the weapon: "The Carbonite gun was a long awaited weapon, but the effects and the resulting graphic for frozen foes are really quite bad."
Mysteries of the Sith received praise for its use of sound. Heidi Shannon was described as an "excellent choice" for the voice of Mara Jade. The musical soundtrack by John Williams received specific commendation for its quality. Pagliarulo stated that its use is executed within the game very well: "Mysteries of the Sith manages to use the right piece [of music] at just the right moment."
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
for the first person shooter Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is a first person shooter computer game. It was developed and published by LucasArts and released on October 9, 1997. It was made available on Steam on September 16, 2009. It is based on the Star Wars franchise and is a sequel to Star Wars: Dark Forces...
. It was developed and published by LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
, and released on January 31, 1998. The expansion includes a single-player mode and fifteen multiplayer maps. The multiplayer mode allows up to eight players to play online or over a network. It was re-released onto Steam along with its predecessors and sequels.
The single-player story is set five years after the events of Dark Forces II. The player controls Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, the protagonist of the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces and its sequels....
, protagonist of Dark Forces II, and later in the game, Mara Jade
Mara Jade
Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. She is also wife to Luke Skywalker, and mother to Ben Skywalker. In the different video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:Mara Jade was...
, one of the most popular Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
Expanded Universe
Star Wars Expanded Universe
The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
characters.
There are also technical improvements over Dark Forces II, including colored lighting, new textures and models
3D modeling
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...
, and improved artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
. Mysteries of the Sith received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise being given to the game's story and improvements to artificial intelligence.
Gameplay
Single-player
Mysteries of the Sith is primarily a first-person shooterFirst-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
, but offers the choice of a third person view
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
. Unlike Dark Forces II, where the player's actions within the game dictate whether the story ends with the light side
Force (Star Wars)
The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and...
or the dark side
Dark side (Star Wars)
The dark side of the Force is a prominent moral, philosophical, and psychic concept in the Star Wars universe. It is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and appears in all subsequent Star Wars fiction...
ending, Mysteries of the Sith has a single, morally positive course. The player progresses through the game in a linear fashion; there are fourteen levels and each has set objectives that the player must complete before being able to continue to the next level. Within each level the player can encounter both hostile and non-hostile non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s (NPCs). As well as including some enemies that featured in Dark Forces II, Mysteries of the Sith adds twenty new monsters, including a rancor. Some non-hostile NPCs may help the player by attacking enemies.
The player has a choice of weapons to use throughout the game. These include projectile weapons such as a blaster
Blaster (Star Wars)
Blasters are ranged weapons in the Star Wars fictional universe. This category of plasma bolt-firing rayguns includes various pistols, rifles, and other powerful weapons.-Production:...
or railgun
Railgun
A railgun is an entirely electrical gun that accelerates a conductive projectile along a pair of metal rails using the same principles as the homopolar motor. Railguns use two sliding or rolling contacts that permit a large electric current to pass through the projectile. This current interacts...
, and the lightsaber
Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, a "laser sword." It consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of light about 1.33 metres long. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for close...
. The player also has access to Force
Force (Star Wars)
The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and...
powers. Some are capable of causing damage to enemies while others can be used for non-violent activities.
Multiplayer
Mysteries of the Sith includes fifteen multiplayer maps, four of which only allow players to battle with lightsabers. The player can choose an avatarAvatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
and the lightsaber color, and compete with up to seven other players over the internet or a local area network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
. The game includes a ranking system that tracks the player's experience. The multiplayer mode allows the use of pre-set characters featured in both Mysteries of the Sith and Dark Forces II. There is the choice of characters from the Star Wars films, such as Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
, Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
and Boba Fett
Boba Fett
Boba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
. Each type of character has advantages and disadvantages.
Several locations from the Star Wars films have been recreated as maps for multiplayer gaming. These include the Emperor's throne room, the carbon-freezing chamber from The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
and Luke's home on Tatooine from A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
. The capture the flag
Capture the flag
Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
multiplayer mode has been altered since Dark Forces II. The player must now steal a ysalamir from the other team and return it to their own base. The ysalamir has the added effect of reducing the force powers of the player who is carrying it.
Plot
Mysteries of the Sith is set five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. The story continues from the "light side" ending of Dark Forces II. Kyle KatarnKyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, the protagonist of the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces and its sequels....
is now a Jedi Master and has taken on Mara Jade
Mara Jade
Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. She is also wife to Luke Skywalker, and mother to Ben Skywalker. In the different video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:Mara Jade was...
as his apprentice. Like Katarn, Mara Jade is a former member of the Galactic Empire
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
The Galactic Empire is one of the main factions in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It is a galaxy-spanning regime established by the series' lead villain, Palpatine, to replace the Galactic Republic in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The Galactic Empire is introduced in Star Wars...
, but joined the New Republic to become a Jedi Knight.
The game begins in a New Republic
New Republic (Star Wars)
The New Republic is a government in the fictional Star Wars universe.When the Rebel Alliance re-established the Old Galactic Republic after the downfall of the Galactic Empire, it became known as the New Republic, just as the original Galactic Republic had become known as the Old Republic by that...
outpost. Katarn is training Jade when Imperial forces attack the base in an attempt to besiege it. The player takes control of Katarn to defend the base from the storm troopers and get to the command center. At the command center it is revealed that an evacuation cannot take place because of bombardment by large weapons from two nearby asteroids. Katarn leaves Jade behind in the New Republic base as he travels to the asteroids to destroy them.
After this section of the game, the player takes control of Mara Jade. Katarn reveals to Jade that he has discovered information to the whereabouts of a Sith
Sith
-Sith:The Sith is a name applied to certain characters in the Star Wars universe. In the films they are the central antagonists. They are capable of using the dark side of the Force.-The Invention of the Sith:...
temple on Dromund Kaas. He leaves for the temple and in the meantime Jade must take on new assignments for the New Republic and learn more about the Force
Force (Star Wars)
The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and...
.
Jade completes her missions for the New Republic, but hears that Katarn has broken contact. She heads to Dromund Kaas to try and find out what has happened to him. At the temple she discovers that Katarn has been corrupted by the power of the dark side
Dark side (Star Wars)
The dark side of the Force is a prominent moral, philosophical, and psychic concept in the Star Wars universe. It is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and appears in all subsequent Star Wars fiction...
located within the temple. Failing to convince him to turn back, Jade battles him in a lightsaber duel which finally turns him away from the dark path, as she disengages her lightsaber and Kyle finds he cannot go through with killing her.
Development
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
as an expansion to Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, and requires the Dark Forces II CD ROM the first time you start it. LucasArts has made improvements to the 3D engine used in Dark Forces II by including colored lighting. The full motion video
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
cut scenes that were used between levels in Dark Forces II have been replaced with cinematics rendered by the 3D engine.
The artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
has been developed further to produce more realistic actions from the NPCs. The hostile and non-hostile NPCs can fight amongst each other with little or no input from the player. For example, if a player were to use Force pull
Force (Star Wars)
The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and...
to take weapons away from enemies in Dark Forces II, the enemies would walk around doing nothing; by contrast, in Mysteries of the Sith the enemies would attempt to defeat the player by punching them.
The character Mara Jade is a popular character taken from Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
's Thrawn trilogy of books. Though the expansion includes characters from the previous game, new dialogue was recorded for Mysteries of the Sith's scenario, including recurring background characters who speak similar lines to their counterparts in Dark Forces II. Some dialogue was translated authentically into Huttese, a fictional language used in Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
and elsewhere in the Star Wars universe. The Star Wars original soundtrack by John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
is included in Mysteries of the Sith.
Reception
Mysteries of the Sith was received well by critics. The game has been described as a good quality expansion pack and a "worthy addition" to the world of Jedi Knight, but also has room for improvement in some areas.The gameplay of the single-player mode received mixed reactions. Paul Mallinson of PC Zone
PC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
stated that "Mysteries Of The Sith starts off brilliantly and gets better and better and better the further you get into it. The progressive nature of the constantly evolving storyline sees to that." In contrast, Michael E. Ryan of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stated that the game is uneven and the challenging levels are only at the end. This adversely affects the gameplay by creating a steep change in how the game must be played. General aspects of the gameplay were seen as improvements such as the artificial intelligence.
The multiplayer side of Mysteries of the Sith was received positively but did not escape criticism. Emil Pagliarulo of The Adrenaline Vault questioned why certain features seemed to be missing from the multiplayer mode that were present in the single-player mode. One such feature is the rancor which appears prominently in a single-player level but is not in any multiplayer maps.
The development of the graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
in Mysteries of the Sith was seen as an improvement with particular praise for the new colored lighting effects. Not all new graphical developments were received well and reviews highlighted that smoke effects from the carbonite weapon are particularly poor. Ryan criticized the whole graphical implementation of the weapon: "The Carbonite gun was a long awaited weapon, but the effects and the resulting graphic for frozen foes are really quite bad."
Mysteries of the Sith received praise for its use of sound. Heidi Shannon was described as an "excellent choice" for the voice of Mara Jade. The musical soundtrack by John Williams received specific commendation for its quality. Pagliarulo stated that its use is executed within the game very well: "Mysteries of the Sith manages to use the right piece [of music] at just the right moment."