====== Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast ======

The sense-memory of this game for me is the very first moment you take control of Katarn, and even in first-person with no lightsaber how much it felt like Star Wars. The stormtroopers rounding the corner, the look and sound of the blaster fire, all seemed just right to me at the time (and this was the first time anything had broken through to that "just like the movie" quality for me.  That probably seems silly watching videos of this game now, but at the time it was just leaps and bounds beyond what I was used to, and this was probably my first FPS.

I also remember our computer struggling in the later levels, especially when in third-person with the lightsaber: The designers wisely made the first level of this game extra-friendly to lower system requirements for a smooth ramp into the game.  I wish all games would do that.

I eventually got really into the level editor for this, and although I didn't really make anything good, I learned a ton about 3D modeling and how these games work.

{{tag>videogame played "played on PC" "released in 2022" "played in 2002"}}