Jade Empire
released last week for the Xbox game console, is sure to delight and amaze any fan of kung fu movies and satisfy gamers in search of an action-packed adventure.
The game is set in a kind of fake ancient China where demons roam the earth, ghosts rise from their graves, people can transform into monsters and the Imperial Palace floats in mid-air.
The backgrounds and character models used to convey the setting come off as authentic Chinese. The level of detail also is great. Grass sways in the wind, characters' expressions change when they talk and each locale is saturated with objects and designs that most people associate with ancient China.
The game starts by letting players choose a character from six provided, rename the character, customize their chosen fighter's statistics and choose a beginning fighting style.
Following this setup stage, players enter the world of Jade Empire as a martial arts trainee at the dojo (training center) of Master Li. A bandit attack, a rivalry and a kidnapping force the player to fight enemies and eventually leave the village.
After the first area, the players are given more freedom to roam in some larger areas, battling humans and monsters to gain experience necessary to improve their characters' statistics and fighting styles.
This game provides a fluid-fighting system with a role-playing game style method for increasing the characters' abilities. The system is easy to learn, and players can switch between fighting styles in the middle of combat to liven things up.
There are 30 fighting styles for players to find and master, including styles that use magic, weapons or punches and kicks.
As the plot progresses, players are called to choose between becoming a kind, self-sacrificing follower of The Way of the Open Palm or a malicious, selfish adherent of The Way of the Closed Fist. Of course, players also can choose to ignore both philosophies and become a pragmatic money seeker.
The game offers numerous side quests and followers that can assist the main character in battle, much like other role-playing games.
Bioware, the company responsible for this game, also created Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic. Much like the Star Wars game, Jade Empire has a powerful and lengthy plot.
The plot, however, diminishes the game in a huge manner by limiting the freedom of players to mess around with different styles. Because there are no unbounded areas where the player can fight indefinitely, the game feels very linear.
Lasting between 20 and 30 hours for most players, Jade Empire gives players a chance to visit a fun ancient China that never existed. 17
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Matt Canady
