Jade Empire review

Look me in the EYES...

Let’s get one thing straight. Jade Empire is not a game about carving beautiful sculptures and figurines from expensive green stones. Nor is it about an empire, in which people just can't stop doing so.

On the contrary, dear readers, this is BioWare’s latest RPG for the Xbox, and it’s been delayed so many times that we’ve lost count. It’s been two years since the last time I laid my eyes upon it, and even back then, it looked fit to revolutionise the console RPG world.

But this was before Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) saw the light of day. The two games share the same engine, but it was the latter game that carried out the revolution, because it was released long ago. So what of Jade Empire, then? Is it just a lot of old textures in shiny new wrappings? We know you’ve probably already scrolled down and checked out our final ratings, so you’ll know that the answer is a resounding no.

China Light

As the giant toad approached, Woo knew this could get messy.

In this game, you start in a small martial arts school located outside a small village in the magical land of Jade Empire, which is quite reminiscent of mythological China. You are nearing the end of your training when the village is assaulted by bandits, and before you can order a chop suey with extra rice, you’re caught in the middle of an epic adventure, in which you are a deciding factor in the fate of the Jade Empire. It’s a classic tale of good versus evil, and in true Star Wars fashion, you decide which side you’re on. The ways of the Closed Fist and the Open Palm branch out before you.

It’s not a coincidence that we mention KOTOR so much, because any attentive gamer will quickly realise that the controls and menu systems of the two games are very similar. Anyone who’s been playing the former game will therefore know how easily accessible the system is. The levels also tend to be quite straightforward in nature, but also pack tons of sub-quests, if you take the time to search them thoroughly. Yes, Jade Empire won’t be finished overnight.

Another one for evil gamers

The scriptwriters obviously had a good time.

As already mentioned, the controls are very reminiscent of KOTOR, but that also remains true for the gameplay itself. You can choose to be good or evil, and the story and NPCs of the game will react accordingly.

This worked like a charm in KOTOR, and still does in this game. It makes you want to complete the game more than once, but also lends depth to the storyline, forcing you to get actively involved in the plot. Therefore, the developer has had the major goal of creating a good story and it has truly succeeded.

Even though the story of KOTOR is very good, the cool thing about Jade Empire is your lack of prior knowledge about the setting. In this game, you get to discover whom to trust for yourself, and you can explore the world of Jade Empire with all the surprises it gives.

No dress-up dolls

Excuse me, anyone have a proper shirt for my pet human?

Even though the gameplay and controls have been largely lifted from KOTOR, there are still substantial differences. Luckily, all of these make the game simpler and more accessible.

You won’t have to feel like you’re dressing up your heroes like dolls every time you buy them new clothes and weapons. Your characters will instantly equip whatever you get them, replacing obsolete items. Acquisition of special abilities takes place little by little, so you won’t be faced with fifty different options at the start of the game. Just select a few core abilities, and you’re on your way.

Other characters will join your party, but none of them are directly controllable by you. You can have one character in battle with you, and you can define the basic behaviour patterns for him or her. The AI will take care of the rest.

A role-playing/fighting/magic game

The fights equal the game's use of colour in intensity.

The above gives you the opportunity to concentrate on the story and the cool battles in Jade Empire. The fights are simple to handle, but there are still many techniques to master.

You have several fighting styles to choose from, divided into five groups: Weapons, Martial Arts, Support, Transformation and Magic. Weapons, Martial Arts and Magic are fairly self-explanatory. Support gives you the power to slow down your foes or paralyse them, for instance, while Transformation makes you able to shapeshift into a variety and animals and demons.

Most styles use up your resources, which, in addition to health are Chi, a sort of mana, and Focus, which has several uses, such as trap evasion and slowing down time in battle.

A beautiful land

With these graphics, do we really need a next-gen Xbox?

This may sound a bit complex, but you’ll quickly find that you never think much about which fighting style to use, when fighting enemies, because they’re very easy to combine.

I classic RPG fashion, you can choose which character type you want to be as a starting point, but you won’t be bound by your choice, and will learn new tricks underway.

Graphically, Jade Empire is the most beautiful game that has been in my Xbox drive (why does that sound dirty to me? I have no life… –ed.) The look is quite reminiscent of Fable, but seems more polished. It makes you think if Microsoft really needs to come up with a successor to their big black box yet, but that’s another story.

Jade Invaders

Girls in games never seem to dress warmly enough. I guess we'll never know why...

Jade Empire has many minigames, and this time, they’re integrated into the action. I will only spoil the first one for you. In good old Space Invaders fashion, you have to fly through vertically scrolling levels, shooting down enemies (Er… Space Invaders didn’t scroll per se… ow, why are you hitting me? Nerds are people too! –ed.). This worked so well that it had me stuffing 10pence pieces into my Xbox drive. Every minigame becomes accessible from the main menu once played, so you can always try to beat your hi-score.

Bioware has once again delivered a great title, which manages to mix several game genres without falling short of any of them. Few game developers can manage this feat, and even fewer can make it as accessible as console gamers crave their games to be.

Only one thing stops us from awarding top honours to this game: the lack of a co-op mode, which would have been an obvious inclusion. Jade Empire remains a lengthy single-player game, but co-op would have made it last even longer. Still, we must conclude that BioWare still hasn’t made a game that we didn’t like, and Jade Empire is indeed another must-have for all Xbox owners.

Source: Boomtown DK
English version by: Jonatan A. Allin (neonwolf)