STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II vs STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is an FPS game from LucasArts (2009) while STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy is a fighting FPS game from Raven Software (2009).
What each one is
Steam files STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II under FPS. In contrast, it files STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy under Fighting and FPS.
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II picks up where the award-winning Dark Forces™ game left off...with even more features and firepower in dazzling 3D graphics. As Kyle Katarn, you must acquire a lightsaber and learn the ways of the Force to become a Jedi Knight.
Forge your weapon and follow the path of the Jedi Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is the latest installment of the highly acclaimed Jedi Knight series. Take on the role of a new student eager to learn the ways of the Force from Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
At a glance
| STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II | STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.2/10 | 8.0/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (81%, 2,267) | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 13,821) |
| Critic aggregate | 91/100 | 81/100 |
| Price | $5.99 | $9.99 |
| Install size | — | — |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2009 | 2009 |
| Developer | LucasArts | Raven Software |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II vs STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces IIFPS gameSTAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi AcademyFighting FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces IIAction, FPS, ClassicSTAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi AcademyAction, Sci-fi, Third PersonThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces IIScore 7.2 · 81% on Steam · 91 criticSTAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy ✓Score 8.0 · 96% on Steam · 81 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II2,267 reviewsSTAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy13,821 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II ✓$5.99STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy$9.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II ✓PlayableSTAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi AcademyUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II takes 2 of the marked rounds to 1. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueSTAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy (GamingPickz Score 8.0)
- The cheaper right now: STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II ($5.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (playable)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy (13,821 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionFPSClassicSci-fiThird PersonSingleplayerFirst-PersonShooter
Where they differ
SpaceFMVRetro1990'sBoomer Shooter
SwordplayCharacter CustomizationModdableRPGThird-Person ShooterHack and Slash
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and 1 for STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy in scope?
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II has drawn 2,267 Steam reviews. STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy has drawn 13,821 Steam reviews.
Is STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II or STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy better?
By the GamingPickz Score, STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy rates higher (8.0 to 7.2). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II or STAR WARS Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy?
STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is cheaper right now at $5.99, against $9.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.