If you haven't bought Jedi Knight yet, then you are a deprived person. This game has redefined the first-person shooter if you ask me. And with that in mind, please allow me to expose every thorn in this damn-near perfect rose.

I guess the first thing that comes to mind would have to be the levels. Huge, detailed, beautiful... railroads. The levels are all very single-tracked. I noticed this most of the way through the game and was pretty disappointed. LucasArts did a great job at making it look like it's a random path, but when it comes down to it, there's one path to the end of the level. Very few side routes, just a single path to the end. That had me a little brought down. After I had realized this, getting through the levels became very simple. If I had found a door out of a room, I pretty much knew that this was the path I needed to take to move on through the level. Rarely in the game do you back-track. It's all forward.

Second, and this is both good and bad, is their punishment to the "save-n-goers" such as myself. Here's what I mean.At the end of each level, you are given one to three stars, and you distribute these among your force abilities. You gain stars by finding secret areas in each level. The most secret areas you find, the more your chances of earning three stars. However, the more times you save your game during the level, the less chance you have of getting three stars. In other word, if you save anymore than say five times, you'll get no stars, even if you find all secret areas. I had thought that was pretty crafty of LucasArts. It forces you to do things the hard way,and not take the easy way out. Impressive. Most impressive. (Sorry, couldn't resist the urge!)

Now, LucasArts states that you'll choose in the game whether your character takes the Light or Dark side of the force.They say that this is determined through your actions through the game. I don't believe them. Not as much as they say at least.Basically, your actions in the game don't affect that much. If, at the end of level 15, you've placed more stars in theLight Side, you'll go towards the Light. Same with the Dark Side.I have no proof (yet), but I believe that as long as you plug stars into the side you plan to be on, or at least a majority of your stars on that side, you'll go there no matter what. You'll join the Light Side even if you've killed every single"innocent" character in the game.

And lastly, when will game companies learn that using real-life actors in computer games will never workout until they get some actors that can do just that: act!!!The FMV sequences of the ships and the cities were splendid, but the people...Namely, the guy playing Kyle Katarn. Now, I remember back in the day when 7th Guest came out, my father received a video cassette in the mail: The Making of 7th Guest. One of the producers of the game said the since the actors are acting in front of a blue-screen, they should (note: should, not 'need to' but 'should') over-emphasize and be overly dramatic. Perhaps this is why every actor I've ever seen in a computer game has made me want to gag. Give it a rest! Game producers should start hiring real actors (Nicholson, Keaton, SamuelJackson, Tom Hanks...) so that we can actually believe their roles.

And speaking of the plot, what the hell is up with that BOCcharacter? He's a Twi'lek, of the same race as Bib Fortuna, the doorkeeper in Jabba's palace. Boc is the last Dark Jedi you fight before Jerek (the main boss). When I watch him in the FMVsequences, the only thought that runs through my mind was that they must have thrown him into the script while George Lucas was on vacation. This character snorts and hisses. But it's not because of his race. The best way to describe him is physically/mentally retarded. And then you think, "Thisis a Jedi!?" I'm pretty disappointed that LucasArts let him slip through.