Jade Empire Special Edition

The History of the Jade Empire :

The Jade Empire. Fashioned from the Void by the will
of the Great Dragon and blessed from its creation,
the empire stands at the heart of the civilized world —
a cultural wellspring in a sea of barbarity.
The majesty of the Sun Dynasty has guided our people for
generations, sustaining our prosperity throughout the ages.
The peace of the realm was broken only when nature itself
rebelled, withering the land in a decade of thirst. Yet even this
the Emperor Sun Hai would not allow. For when he declared
the Long Drought at an end, it was so.
Though you were raised far from the benevolent gaze of the
Emperor, you have learned much here in Two Rivers, including
mastery over your body and mind. Now, the end of your time
at this borderland school draws near. Experience will replace
lessons as you travel beyond the shelter of Two Rivers.
Remember: though the reach of the Empire stretches far,
powerful spirits lurk just beneath the surface, and
the threat of chaos is ever-present.
It is natural that an orphan like you would have many
questions. Until now, your inquiries have been met with
silence. Perhaps on this day, answers will find you at last.

Jade Empire first saw the light of day on the XBOX about 2 years ago. At the time it blew people away with it's strong mix of martial arts action, strong characters and engrossing mythological story line. Now BioWare, possibly best known for the superb Knights of the Old Republic games, has produced a tweaked Special Edition for the PC.

Starting off in good old fashioned RPG style, you must choose from a set of characters. Once you are set up, you are thrown into the story. As the top student in a martial arts school, you are both looked up to and envied in equal measure. Before long you find yourself in a sparring contest, to prove your worth! Straight away the real time fighting system feels natural.


Click the left mouse button to perform basic combos and the right to charge up a more powerful attack. You can also switch fighting styles during the fight. You will learn more as the game progresses, everything from open hand methods, to magical demon toad transformations and everything in between! Along the way you will also be able to collect stones that can be used in various combinations to enhance your characters abilities.

Once you have finished off your opponent you are taken into the story proper. Jade Empire is driven by a well written narrative. When talking to NPCs you will be given several reply options. These normally have a positive answer and a negative answer. So once you win the fight, you can either congratulate your opponent on the fight, or belittle their abilities. Obviously this affects how people will deal with you through out the game. You can choose to be nice to people, or just go about abusing them! At times you will also be able to try and intimidate people or charm them to get your own way. This can help you get out of some fights and is very handy!

As is the way with this style of game, you have a destiny to fulfil. This of course involves wandering around talking to people and killing stuff! All great fun. Although the structure is fairly linear, the journey you take looks stunning. The graphics really do impress. With lush and varied environments and well realised characters this is a treat for the eyes throughout.

And it is not just your eyes that get a treat, the game sounds great too. For once there is some decent voice acting here. On your travels you will meet various characters who will join you on your travels. Each of them has a deep and well thought out back story that you unravel as you talk to them.

Jade Empire is a good game from start to finish. With a huge story line that will keep you hooked all the way and characters that you will really care about! The real-time combat, though a little shallow, is a nice change from turn based fighting that helps you get drawn into the overall action. If you never played the XBOX version then this is a must for your PC collection! Also keep an eye out for the cheeky Galaga homage!!

Minimum System Requirements

Windows XP

* Pentium 4 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 1800XP
* 512 MB RAM
* 8 GB free HD space
* 1x or better DVD-ROM drive
* NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or ATI 9500 or better (Shader Model 2.0 required)
* 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card and drivers.
* DirectX 9.0 February 2006 (Included)


*Recommended System Requirements

Windows XP

* 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
* 1 GB RAM
* 8 GB free HD space
* 1x or better DVD-ROM drive
* ATI X600 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher recommended
* 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card and drivers.
* DirectX 9.0 February 2006 (Included)

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