by Rob Kentworth

Created on: April 21, 2010

Jade Empire is an RPG by BioWare, a company made famous for their roleplaying games such as Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2. Baldur’s Gate 2 is widely regarded as one of the best roleplaying games ever and it is based on Dungeons and Dragon’s Forgotten Realms setting. Then they revolutionised the online roleplaying game market with Neverwinter Nights, another game based on Dungeons and Dragons. They followed that up with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and then came Jade Empire. Does it live up to the BioWare name-tag?

For starters, it is the first world they created themselves for a roleplaying game and it also uses their own character development system. The world they created is quite fascinating and beautiful. As the name of the game might imply, it’s oriental themed. That in itself is unusual because it’s rare to find oriental themed roleplaying games.

Before the game begins, you’re free to choose a character. Each character comes with their own looks and attributes. The main thing this’ll effect is how you play (i.e. someone that’s quick or someone that’s slow but strong). Also, gender will affect things.

The game’s story sees you as a student in a martial arts school. Your tutor is Master Li. After an attack led by a member of a assassin group, your character’s heritage is revealed and you set out on a journey to put a stop to the plans set into motion by the attack at the school.

Gameplay wise, it’s played in real-time. You go around the different areas and talk to NPCs, plus you can visit different shops. Now then, when it comes to combat, there are a lot of different styles for you to choose from. When you’ve learnt a style, you can choose to invest points into it when you’ve levelled up. The combat is a lot of fun. When it begins, you’ll find yourself switching styles on the fly and the results can be quite dazzling when everything’s taken into account. You’ll be rolling to evade blows and you’ll be throwing kicks and punches very quickly towards the end of the game, not to mention how all the different styles look different from each other.

Graphically, the game’s artwork and colours are beautiful. It’s possibly the most artistic game BioWare’s done yet.  The presentation is also good and the sound? Well, the sound’s also great.

Overall, the game is definitely different from others on the market and sadly, I’m not sure many people have played this gem. I’d recommend giving it a try.

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