Jade Empire (Xbox)

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Varying your fighting style according to your opponent is crucial to your success

This myriad of offensive fighting styles provides almost too much tactical choice, though this in itself is an added incentive to replay the game specialising in different styles. The difficulty level scales nicely throughout the game at the standard 'Master' difficulty level, and it's only the more taxing encounters right at the end of the game or in the Imperial Arena sub-quests that will really test an experienced player's mettle. The Grand Master difficulty level, on the other hand, provides a significantly greater challenge, with a far greater need to rely on the Spirit Thief style to replenish your Chi in order to heal in mid-combat. Unlike most RPGs, the combat in Jade Empire is not only very aesthetically pleasing to watch, but also highly interactive and is a huge improvement over the pseudo-real time combat in KotOR and far more involving than Fable (which employs a similar, but far more simplified system).

This isn't the only way in which Jade Empire stands above its peers. In terms of story, script and characterisation, this is as fine an example as you'll see in the genre. The script is tight, well-written, and brilliantly voice-acted. The finest example of this is a hilarious cameo by John Cleese as Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom *the* Magnificent Bastard (no, really), a travelling English knight, determined to bring knowledge and culture to the "barbarian" lands of the Jade Empire. The single disappointment in the voice-acting is a singular lack of Chinese accents, especially for the main characters, though that's a very minor flaw that doesn't ruin the atmosphere too badly. This is because the art direction, which from the character design to the building architecture, is spot on. From the grandeur of the Imperial City, to the gritty moodiness of the Lotus Assassin Fortress, each location has been lavished with meticulous attention to detail. The graphics engine is a step up from KotOR's Odyssey engine, with extra character animations, more intricate textures and better graphical effects. It's also a lot more efficient, too. Whilst KotOR was beset by frequent slowdown, the Jade Empire engine is silky smooth, with barely a hint of a drop in frame rate, even in the heart of Imperial City, where you can expect a score or more of NPCs to be crammed into a single screen in the bustling merchant square.

The main story characters are all interesting... each one has their own story to tell

The main story characters are all interesting, and whilst you can only take along one party member at a time, each one has their own story to tell, and a unique strength which can be used to aid you in combat (in either support or attack mode). Some characters are played for laughs, such as Henpecked Hou, the self-styled Bun Master, and The Black Whirlwind, whose solution to most problems involves death on the edge of his twin axes. After you complete the game it's worth watching all of the credits to hear Hou argue with his domineering wife (who sadly does not make an in-game appearance) and to listen to Dawn Star and Sky talk about auditioning for their roles in the game (with the voice actors still in character). The script is full of these wonderful little touches, including a veiled tip of the hat to Penny Arcade (which I will let you find yourself).

The storyline itself will be vaguely familiar to anyone that has played one of Bioware's previous titles, though the execution of the plot is far slicker than in any of their recent works. The game hits the ground running, and doesn't allow the momentum to flag, maintaining its pace right up until the finale in the Imperial Palace. Without going into spoilers, the game employs a similar misdirection technique to KotOR, and the major plot twist is at least on a par with the "revelation" from that game.

It's okay. He's friendly

Granted, the game does have a few small flaws. The ending is slightly underwhelming, compared to the events preceding it, though at least it is in tune with the rest of the game, unlike the car crash ending to The Sith Lords. It's also slightly irksome that you cannot customise the appearance of characters within individual character classes, given that you can tweak everything else. RPG purists will also baulk at the minimalist inventory system, which extends only to the collection of quest items and essence gem upgrades for your character's Dragon Amulet (which allows the upgrade of character abilities). Some people may also find the game short for an RPG (around 20-25 hours, depending upon how many sub-quests you do), but these complaints are unwarranted because the extra 15 hours you'd normally get in another RPG would usually be spend fiddling around anally with the inventory system and running around on tedious filler quests. The quality of the overall game is of such a high standard that these flaws scarcely enter your mind, and the length is perfectly pitched to suit the more casual player, moving the story on quickly enough to maintain their interest.

Jade Empire is never anything short of entrancing. The level design is impeccable, and all the sub-quests feel like they have a genuine purpose to them, rather than just being there to provide you with a mechanism to level up more quickly. The musical and artistic presentation of the game is perfectly polished, and the combat system is accessible without being overly simplistic. And I haven't even mentioned the Dragonfly mini-game yet; an unlockable vertical-scrolling shoot 'em-up that is almost worth the entry fee in itself, and can be played directly from the main game menu.

I could eulogise for pages, but that would just stop you from going out and buying the game RIGHT NOW. Suffice to say that whilst perfection is unachievable in a videogame, Jade Empire is the closest we have to date in the RPG genre, hence the 10/10; if this isn't an 'Astounding' game then nothing is. Naturally, the game won't please everyone, especially sections of the RPG "hardcore" who live by the d20 and die by the d20 (very droll - Ed), but Bioware have created a benchmark-standard title that won't intimidate newcomers to the genre, which provides some of the most atmospheric and rewarding role playing in a videogame to date.

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