Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7255 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Mastertronic Ltd
• Released on: 2008-08-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Platform: Windows Vista

Manufacturer's Description

Your struggle is timeless. Your enemy is immortal. Adding to one of the most critically acclaimed action-RPGs ever created, Jade Empire: Special Edition features more characters, weapons, fighting styles and enhancements to the epic fantasy world of Jade Empire.

Customer Reviews

Very good indeed...
If you've played through the Bioware/Obsidian set of RPGs, you may have a sense of deja vu in some places while playing this game. Protaginist with mysterious past? Check. Female partner with equally mysterious past? Check. Powerful teacher/mentor with mysterious past and with a host of shocking stories about yourself (the ones about your destiny, that is)? Check. Evil guy in a huge suit of armour? Check. This is basically Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic (with "chi" instead of "Force") and Baldur's Gate (did I mention the characters with a mysterious past?) rolled into one, upgraded, sprinkled with the Oriental appeal and a sense of humour. Is this a bad thing? Heck, no.

The newest additions to the normal Bioware fare is the real-time combat and the "transformation" discpline, whereby you can turn yourself into a demon with added benefits - kind of like turning into the Reaper in BG2, or a druid turning into a sword spider. It also puts in a few more situations of moral ambiguity that may find you running around the map a lot, but the reward is worth it in the end. And like KOTOR, you feel that as you're going along, you really are getting impressively powerful. This is a game that is not merely a console port - it has been designed for the PC as the controls are keyboard and mouse oriented (as they should be) and it takes full advantage of the resolution and texture changes. It also knocks Oblivion for six with overhearing NPC's conversations - you actually hear about people talking about you and what you have done, rather than the "hello - hello - did you hear about the emperor's murder - I hate you - good day - toodles" way of Oblivion.

So why four stars for "fun"? Well, it's a bit short for an RPG and it feels like it does re-tread old ground in a few places - albeit in new and interesting ways - and you may be able to see some plot elements coming from a mile away. And also there's the camera. Sometimes the fight area runs out of room and you can't see properly who you are fighting - this is annoying when you have half a dozen opponents bearing down on you.

This is a well-packaged RPG that will leave you wanting for a Jade Empire 2. If you're disappointed in general with the current glut of mediocre RPGs, then this is for you - it will truly brighten your day.

Pretty and enthralling
First, I never played Jade Empire on the XBox, so have no idea what it was like to play with a controller, but the PC port has controls that are easy to get to grips with and fluid and fresh graphics. Combat is the real focus of the game and it is more of an action game with RPG elements than a cRPG. There are only 3 stats that you assign points to on levelling (Body, Focus and Mind) and each are important for the different fighting styles available in the game. Fighting styles are learned as the game progresses and you can collect gems to modify your stats, but other than that there is little by way of loot collection (so no hackem up and loot the corpses!) The central plot is engaging and very martial arts cliche, so if you like Kung Fu movies, this really is the game for you. There are 12 possible followers each with their own combat styles and backstories that are fun to interact with... as well as 3 romance options which can be hetero or homosexual if you like!

All in all the game has several levels of difficulty including the Master Mode, wherein you can take a character you have already completed the game with and replay it at an insane difficulty level! If you are looking for something new in an action or RPG and you like oriental themes then this is the game for you. The graphics are pretty good (on par with KOTOR, essentially the same engine) and there are few bugs. The soundtrack and voice acting is very good and it offers an enjoyable distraction with an engaging main story and plenty of side quests.

Fun....but over too quickly
The four out of five represents the fun factor of the game. Previous reviewers have already mentioned Jade's similarities to Baldur's, NWN or KoTOR and for most players this will be a positive thing rather than a negative one.

These are the pros/cons mapped out...

PROS
1) Fighting looks VERY cool. It may not be the most complicated format (- a lot of rapid clicking wins most battles) but on the screen it looks impressive. The large variety of fighting styles also provide some much needed variation in the animation.
2) Ease of play. With only a handful of buttons to worry about you can quickly immerse yourself in the game.

CONS
1) Relatively short (- completed in a day)
2) Far TOO linear. Environment and NPC interaction is only really limited to the main plot line, which is very frustrating when you are in such a short narrative. Maps of huge areas reveal you can only visit a minuscule number of places. If you've ever experienced the enjoyment of wandering around Oblivion then you will know what I mean. Jade allows you to unlock a "master" level (where you can play your favorite uber creation from the beginning) but then forces you on the same narrow story line.

With some open-ended maps, random spawning this could have been a game you came back to again and again. In Oblivion the fun was AVOIDING the main quest but unfortunately Jade (which has so much going for it) will probably only get played once.