Jedi Academy is the latest in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. Where KOTOR was a rich, deep look at the Jedi order's past, Jedi Academy is an actioner that introduces a new hero and looks to the order's future. The thing is, Academy could have used some more time off the shelves to fix a few problems and to give some distance so as to avoid comparisons like mine.

The titular Academy is only nominally the setting for this chapter - take it out, and you wouldn't be missing anything, which I found odd. Anyway, you as the player are Jaden Kor, a young Jedi recruit headed to the Academy. There's an ambush, and Jaden stumbles across a plot by an old foe to siphon Force power from various prominent locations in the Star Wars galaxy. I guess there aren't many Jedi available yet in this post-Return of the Jedi timeline, because Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn decide to send Jaden and his classmates on missions to uncover the Force-siphoning plot and its relationship to a Sith cult. (Kyle Katarn does return, but as an NPC; some familiar faces from the movies also pop up.)

In other words, don't expect to spend much time at the Academy outside the cutscenes and one Force training level.

Too much of the initial setup seemed cosmetic to me. For example, you can choose Jaden's sex and race and starting lightsaber color/hilt, but none of that makes a difference. It's all cosmetic until later, when you can choose between single, dual-wield or staff lightsabers. Heck, I expected at least a mission where Jaden builds a lightsaber (as in KOTOR) but nope, he begins with it. The lack of actual Academy training in this game would have given Yoda fits. I guess Luke decided that his too-short training in The Empire Strikes Back was more than enough.

Anyway, enough geekery. (Yeah, right.) Here's where the game gets really good: You get to choose which missions Jaden takes on. Missions are presented in a series of tiers; complete a certain number of them successfully, and you'll get a plot-based mission (though you can put that off and finish the other missions in the tier). Early missions are bland, but the later missions redeemed the game. You'll find some very cool challenges - one involves running from a rampaging mutant rancor; in another, you have to set bombs at a series of arms caches while fighting off Boba Fett.

Boba Fett? Yeah, the storyline here must be based on the world created by novels outside the movies. Folks like me who didn't follow the so-called Expanded Universe will miss some of the references, but that doesn't detract from the gameplay.

Jedi Academy is at its heart a fighting game. On most of the missions, if it moves, kill it. In the beginning, that's best done with a variety of weapons (most familiar to fans of the previous games). Later, your lightsaber and Force powers will make most weapons just an added distraction. Force powers level up after some missions, and the player is actually forced to choose from both light and dark sides, which makes for some interesting combos.

Following in the footsteps of KOTOR, during the game you can also choose between lightsaber setup and fighting style. There's the single saber, which players start with (but which becomes fairly obsolete); dual sabers, which I like; and the saber-staff used by the likes of Darth Maul. Each has its strengths, weaknesses and special moves. Fighting styles are the fast, strong and medium options from previous games.

Gameplay, graphics and sound are all good, mostly holdovers from Jedi Outcast. There are some really nice touches - slo-mo after lightsaber battles is probably the best addition, especially after really nice finishing moves - but at times Jedi Academy feels more like an expansion pack than a stand-alone game.

That's not to say it isn't head and shoulders over most of the other games on the market. It is very good, and a solid addition to the Lucasarts library. KOTOR was a leap ahead of Outcast; Jedi Academy is one or two steps ahead of Outcast. Maybe that's just my preference. A good RPG like KOTOR will get my blood pumping over an actioner like Academy.