The Brad Hole

Over the past week, I finally got around to playing Mysteries of the Sith, the expansion pack for Jedi Knight 1.

I had heard mixed things about it, and also that you played as Mara Jade instead of Kyle Katarn, so I was never really all that jazzed about it. Plus, it's near impossible to get a copy nowadays. But I finally managed to order it from the LucasArts store and dug into it. It wasn't quite what I was expecting.

A few levels lacked a certain polish - notably the first level. I'm not sure how much of that is due to the polygon and texture limits of the engine though. To my surprise, you played 4 of the 14 levels as Kyle, and the story was related to Jedi Knight, so it wasn't a totally disorienting experience. They also added colored lighting to the engine, something we take for granted nowadays.

All that aside, the last 3 levels have you traipsing about a swamp looking for Kyle and a Sith temple. This is where I felt the game rose above the tedium of the first 11 levels and really started to shine. You had to complete the last 3 levels with only your lightsaber and the force powers you'd accumulated up to that point. In my eyes, this separated it quite a bit from your average first-person shooter, as strategy became a large part of the gameplay, as opposed to run-and-shoot. There were also several "jump out of my seat" moments which I wasn't expecting. On the whole, I would have loved many more levels like the last 3.

It also turns out that there's a secret "bonus" level on the CD that you can activate. When you do, you can play as Luke on Bespin, from Empire Strikes Back. It's a neat freebie.