The first and last BioWare game that I played was the great Knights of the Old Republic I-a flawless, leading-edge, and life-changing game-so needless to say, I was eagerly awaiting the release of BioWare's next crowning glory: Jade Empire, an original, creative epic that has now raised the standard for the role-playing genre.

Yes, my friends, it is the truth: Jade Empire puts the two Knights of the Old Republic games to shame in most facets of game play. However, because Star Wars is so widely known and has such a large fan base-since most of us grew up watching the movies-nothing can beat the extended universe storylines of the Knights of the Old Republic games. Now I'm not saying that the Jade Empire storyline is flawed or substandard in any way; in fact, it's very solid and plays out extremely well. That is where I will start my review.

Set in the ancient, mysterious world of the Jade Empire, the story begins at the idyllic Two Rivers School. You, the main character, are regarded as the school's best pupil as you train under Master Li's watchful eye, learning powerful martial arts styles and mystical powers. Like all great epic stories, danger threatens from near and far, and you must embark on a journey that takes you to many strange and different places. You face numerous human foes and menacing supernatural phenomena, including ghosts, demons, mummies, and golems. All along the way, you acquire a multitude of weapons and accessories, you learn new martial arts techniques, and discover the darkest secrets of the world-and, of course, the truth of your past. In the end, only when you defeat the most powerful enemies will you become a martial arts master in the Jade Empire.

To start the game, you must choose one of seven character aspects: Lu the Prodigy, Tiger Shen, Wu the Lotus Blossom, Radiant Jen Zi, Furious Ming, Scholar Ling, or Monk Zeng. I chose Furious Ming, the bare-chested, tattooed warrior, whose quickness and Thousand Cuts technique-a style that inflicts a rapid succession of several strikes to your opponent-were too good to pass up.

Your power in this game, dubbed the "Wheel of the Soul," consists of three parts: Health power (Body), Chi power (Spirit), and Focus power (Mind). The Heath meter, as depicted by the top red bar at the upper left corner of the screen, shows how physically unscathed you are. The Chi meter, the middle blue bar, is responsible for your magical incantations and inner self-healing power that can be applied to your Health. The Focus meter, the bottom yellow bar, allows you to wield weapons and also slow the pace of battle so that you can rapidly punish your opponents. Throughout the game, you will find power-ups to replenish each bar, as well as various gems to increase the effectiveness of your Health, Chi, and Focus meters.

The basics of combat are fairly simple as you become accustomed to the controls, which shouldn't take too long for Xbox veterans. You can perform fast attacks, fast-attack combos, power attacks, and even area attacks, which send your enemies flying backward from the impact of your attack circle. You can also block and evade your opponents' attacks-the evasions prove to be extremely useful as you flip backward and roll away from your enemies' onslaughts.

Probably one of the best features of this game is the Chi Heal technique, where you can regain Health power at the expense of your Chi power. Chi Heal can be used in and out of combat, but it's especially useful if you're fighting a difficult opponent who has chipped away a lot of your Health power. However, when you use Chi Heal during battle, you cannot attack or block your opponent while the Chi Healing process is underway (a white glow surrounds you as you Chi Heal). So be sure that you are safe and out of harm's way before you start using Chi Heal.

During the game, you will encounter and recruit several party members to join your cause. Just like in the Knights of the Old Republic games, each party member is bound to you through fear, affection, or a variety of other reasons-also, each party member has his or her own particular fighting styles and can support you (and even train you) in many different ways. It's important to utilize your party members accordingly and understand their capabilities, as some members can help restore your Health, Chi, and Focus meters during battle, while others can provide you with new martial arts techniques that can prove to be deadly. You can change out your party members at any time during the game to follow you; however, unlike in the Knights of the Old Republic games, you cannot switch between your main character and another party member. You must always play as the main character until a couple of scenes near the end of the game allow you to take control of other party members.

I haven't played many role-playing games beyond Jade Empire and the Knights of the Old Republic series, but I've been playing video games since the 1980s and I've seen most of the Final Fantasy series since my main man Milkdud lives and dies by it, so I can say this: Jade Empire has the best graphics that I've ever seen-better than any other role-playing game, better than any other video game, period. The fighting is so fluid and realistic-looking; the Far East scenery looks so lifelike and natural; and the music, voiceovers, and effects are all stellar as well. BioWare really thought out the details of this product, and it shows immensely. I even loved the mini-games, or the flying missions, where you board a flying machine named the Marvelous Dragonfly and battle it out with other flying ships.

The storyline, as I mentioned above, is very good and engaging. I played the "light-side" path, or what the game calls the "Way of the Open Palm," and it was more than satisfying. However, my character, Furious Ming, was such an awesome fighter that by Chapter Two (the game has seven levels, or chapters) he was just annihilating every enemy. Even the supposed "difficult" opponents fell easily to my Dragon Sword. I found this to be a little strange since I don't think anyone expects to come forth from their mother's womb at birth being able to walk immediately-that's sort of how I felt at the beginning of this game. But anyway, I didn't care if the opponents got easier with each new chapter-it was fun, and I enjoyed seeing my Furious Ming flip around and inflict pain with his Thousand Cuts and Dragon Sword styles.

All in all, this game is a must-buy. I pre-ordered it before its release, and I'm very glad that I did. It took me a little over 20 hours to go through the entire game, reminding me of the game Fable, which you can beat in almost 30 minutes, but whatever. That didn't matter to me at all. This game was well worth the wait for me, and I'm sure all of you RPG fans will love it too, especially if you really dig the Asian culture. Jade Empire is totally immaculate. I think now I'm going to go back and replay it-only this time, I'm going to play the "dark side," or the "Way of the Closed Fist."

May 2, 2005 | 0 comments
Andy Karam