The levels and story will be familiar if you've played the PC version as they continue the adventures of Kyle Katarn from the first installment of Jedi Knight. He's an experienced, cynical mercenary with a checkered past of force ability. His pilot and companion, Jan Ors, is also along for the ride. Kyle's still working for the rebellion, and these events take place after the battle of Yavin so they're keeping him plenty busy. His last run-in with his force powers almost landed him on the dark side, so as our story opens he's decided to leave those days behind him and stick with blasters and thermal detonators.

The first few levels are played from a first person perspective and involve a lot of jumping around, puzzle solving and stormtrooper shooting. The sheer scale of the Star Wars universe is apparent as you explore huge bases looking for a needle in a haystack. It's not the best way to begin a game, as the tasks become more like chores and less like fun the further you go. But all that changes when Kyle decides it's time to embrace his roots and pick up a lightsaber again.

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast comes to the Xbox from the PC game of the same name. But unlike most ports it's clear this one was given some tender loving care before heading to the console world. Nowhere will you feel more like a Jedi than when you're playing this game, and a large amount of credit has to go to the controls. You switch force powers the same way you'd switch weapons: with a click on the D-pad. Before you know it, you're force-pushing groups of stormtroopers out of your way, choking them, throwing your lightsaber like it was a boomerang, jumping, spinning, climbing walls, the list goes on. It won't be long before you look at a blaster and think of it as a crude, uncivilized weapon best left for use by less-evolved species.

Early on, you'll be able to block some blaster fire automatically. But as you grow into your powers, most blaster-dependent chumps won't stand a chance. You'll gain other force powers in a very linear fashion, which may disappoint some because you don't have the opportunity to choose which powers you develop when, but you'll have your hands full mastering each of them. And you'll need to know them all sooner or later anyway, as the latter, more challenging foes won't fall for the same tricks over and over.

While early on the visual and aural spectacle of the game made the game play more entertaining, once you have force powers everything works well in concert to create an adventure as immersive as any you'll find. Ships, bases, even the hallways and dummy computer terminals all faithfully add to one of the most expansive science fiction worlds ever created. The sounds of blaster fire, radio communications between beleaguered stormtroopers and your lightsaber duels bring the game to life. Of course, you'll find the familiar Star Wars score peppered throughout the game. It's the frosting on the cake that brings the whole experience full circle.

A nice graphical touch is watching your lightsaber slice through everything it touches, including walls, boxes, computer terminals and even the occasional limb. No heads, though. For some reason the console version of the game has been toned down a bit when it comes to decapitations.

The only flaw in the presentation lies in the cut scenes. They're not terrible, but they're a bit more blocky and stiff than what we've all come to expect. They could have used a facelift from the PC version, but they aren't so bad they're offensive, either. But because the in-game graphics are so well detailed the level of quality in the cut scenes is noticeably lacking. Call it nitpicking – they aren't perfect in a game where almost everything else is.

There are times when imposing your will on the bad guys will feel almost too easy. But frankly, a Jedi ought to outclass a group of stormtroopers. Never fear, this one gets very difficult often enough to be challenging without being a "do-over" nightmare. Plenty of enemies who are all you can handle await you on the latter levels. The "save anywhere" system also helps. Jedi Outcast doesn't depend upon finding save points as some crutch of difficulty. Even though you can save every five seconds, it offers plenty of challenges in the form of tougher, smarter and more skilled opponents (yes, that means force-powered baddies).

Now the bad news: The multiplayer options suffer from two severe limitations: No online capability and only two human players at a time. You can have lots of bots, though, resulting in battles between dozens of lightsaber-wielding Jedi of all kinds of races. And each can have different skills and attributes, like different levels of accuracy and the inclusion of force powers. Before each game you can assign points to certain powers, with the most dangerous (like lightning) costing more than the low level ones. The other options are myriad, with variations on deathmatches and capture the flag being the most obvious. More than a dozen maps are available, most of which are not simply multiplayer versions of the single player levels.

The other way to look at the multiplayer limitations is that the single player game offers more, in both quality and quantity, than most games that have no multiplayer component at all. Jedi Outcast could stand alone as an adventure game and be considered an absolute treasure. The multiplayer portion could be viewed as just an attractive freebie. The problem lies in the fact that it's done so well, it simply needs to be online.

Obviously, if you're a Star Wars fan on any level and you enjoy shooter/adventure games, you'll be very happy with Jedi Outcast. Even if you're not a Star Wars fan this should provide limitless hours of gaming pleasure. The only thing that would keep you from enjoying this one is if you have some misguided disdain for the source material. If that's the case, you're missing out. The mix of ranged and hand-to-hand combat is smooth, deep and satisfyingly challenging. If Jedi Outcast was on Xbox Live it would be among the best games of the year.