Movie Duels II

Remember when I said I'd do a Star Wars game?

Yeah, I'm doing a Star Wars game.

Author: WectorX

Movie Duels II

Alright, so here's some background since this is an old game. Jedi Academy was the last entry in the Dark Forces series of games, the series that first allowed gamers to wield a Lightsaber of their own. It started off as just DOOM in space, but in the second game graduated to Lightsaber combat as well as blasting Stormtroopers with a variety of fun weapons, until the third installment finally realized that people couldn't care much less about guns when they have a glowing amputation stick at their side and created the best Lightsaber combat system ever known in video games, even to this day. Jedi Academy, being the fourth installation of the series, added onto that by letting your character wield two sabers at once, or a double-bladed one like Darth Maul. The game was designed to let every fan live out their Lightsaber dueling fantasies.

And Movie Duels II expands on that. Released in 2009 it does exactly what the title implies: It lets you play all of the battles from the prequel movies in Jedi Academy.

Yes, I said the prequels. Because if there's one thing the prequels did at least okay with it was the Lightsaber duels. And what better way to relive them than in the greatest Lightsaber combat game of all time?

The game let's you play basically every battle from the prequel trilogy, as well as a couple more from the now-defunct Expanded Universe that take place between Episodes III and IV. You can fight Darth Maul, you can slice off Count Dooku's head, and you can storm the Jedi Temple as Anakin Skywalker. But, and here's one of the draws of the game, you can usually play as either side. For instance, the Darth Maul fight? You can play as him and kill both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. You can play as Count Dooku at the beginning of Episode 3 and kick Anakin's ass all the way back to Tatooine if you want. Or, hell, if you don't want to play as anyone from the movies there are one or two dozen other characters from all throughout the Star Wars universe you can play as, like Quinlan Vos or Kyle Katarn.

The only right option, of course, being Kyle Katarn.

You can even play as Starkiller, the Secret Apprentice from The Force Unleashed. And the makers even managed to put in his unique Lightsaber style with the backward grip.

Not that it can save him from Kyle Katarn.

And you can play as these characters anywhere with no trouble. Just select them from the character menu on the pause screen and bam. But, and this is important to note, most characters have differences in how they approach combat, similar to how they were portrayed in the movies. Palpatine has the most Force points, so he can generate enough electricity to power a third world country if he weren't being so evil all the time. Darth Vader can only use the Strong Lightsaber style because he's a quadruple amputee with an asthma problem, and Kyle Katarn, for being the Chuck Norris of Star Wars, can use pretty much any saber style.

Each character has their own dialogue too, ripped straight out of the movies or games they appeared in. And you know what? It's pretty much the best part of the mod. I had the following conversation take place during my first time playing as Darth Maul:

Darth Maul: "THE FEAR ATTRACTS- THE FEAR ATTRACTS- THE FEAR ATTRACTS- THE FEAR ATTRACTS- THE FEAR ATTRACTS- THE FEAR ATTRACTS THE- THE FEAR ATTRACTS-"

Liam Neeson: "I sense an unusual amount of fear."

And it only gets better. Imagine Anakin getting the lightest of scratches from an opponent and screaming "I HATE YOU!" like he's being burned alive. Or even better, as you decapitate the freaking GHOST of Mace Windu, his incorporeal head just yells "We will NOT be hostages to be bartered!" as it sails across the room like a finely tossed brick.

And in challenge mode you can play as any character through 15  increasingly challenging battles if you couldn't care less about the movies and just want to get some action. I think it also important to note that the mod creators even crafted each main character's unique Lightsaber hilt from the movies. So good on them for attention to detail.

All in all, if you're a Star Wars fan who enjoys whacking people with Lightsabers, give this mod a download. If you're interested but don't have Jedi Academy it's available on Steam with the rest of the Dark Forces series (Which are great games themselves, as well). I recommend this mod to pretty much everyone, the only downside being that there isn't a level where you can flash fry Jar Jar Binks and a hundred of his Gungan pals with Palpatine's Force Lightning.