[360] Jade Empire

[Ryon]

Combat Gameplay:

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7yey6iX7lU

Some Story Gameplay:

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHyr9WKQWmM

Bioware...one of the companies known for its award winning game Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect 1-2, of course these werent the only projects they did lets have a look at some of their works of art. jade empire is an action RPG in which takes place in a mythilogical kingdom in which was inspired by china.

The Story:

The game begins with the player cast as a martial arts student under the tutelage of Master Li, head of the Two Rivers martial arts school, based in the in-game geographical locale of the Golden Delta.

The player's training is interrupted as the town of Two Rivers comes under attack from an aggressor in a strange ship who summons ghosts to attack the student. The attacker is defeated by Master Li, who comes to the student's rescue and reveals that the attacker was a member of the Lotus Assassins, a mysterious force serving the Emperor of the Jade Empire. Gao the Lesser, a rival of the student, issues a challenge for a duel and loses. He is expelled from the school after he attempts to use explicitly forbidden magic on the student. Master Li explains that the student is the last of the order of Spirit Monks. He, a brother of the Emperor and leader of the Empire's army, had ordered an attack on Dirge, where the Spirit Monks' temple existed, in order to end the Long Drought. He claimed to have opposed the act and to have saved the student and the Dragon's Amulet.

He sends the student to a cave beneath the school where he or she finds part of a Spirit Monk amulet and has a vision of the Water Dragon, the entity whose death at the hands of the Emperor ended the decade-long Long Drought but left spirits roaming the land. Dawn Star, one of the students at the school and a friend of the player, is kidnapped by Gao The Lesser. The student rescues her but returns to find the village in flames and Master Li kidnapped. The student, Dawn Star, and Sagacious Zu, a man whom they had met in the swamps around the village, head off in a borrowed flying machine towards the Imperial City, where Master Li has been taken.

Gameplay:

Now as you start the game you can make your own character in which it can be male or female depending on which you choose can affect some of the story as you progress into the game although there isn't much choice in the matter since there aren't many character parts for you to customized so it can be hard for you to make your own unique character. Well as most RPG's you have 2 sections which is the combat and the travels.

Combat:

The combat in the game can be easy to understand you have your strong attacks and your weak attacks in which you can link together to make combos. although the animations feel slow, you can use different martial art styles and some styles require weapons in which you will acquire later in the game(depending on which path you take light or dark). although the A.I on the regular enemies can be quite easy to handle since they barely fight back the only thing that can provide a challenge are the bosses.

Travels:

Well like most RPG's you have a lot of places and towns to explore in which you can find NPC's to talk to in which can provide some information you can also talk to some of your party members so you can get to know them better or get on their good side/bad side. Now like most bioware games you have your two paths which is light and dark side in jade empire its the way of the open palm(good) or the closed Fist (Evil) now your character follows these paths depending on what decisions you make in the game this also affects on what people will join you in your party. also things you do can affect on how much a party member likes you or despises you so in other words everything has a consequence depending on what choices you make can affect the whole storyline so you are never sure on what ending are you gonna get.

Graphics:

For an xbox game the graphics are on an OK level sure some of the places are a sight to see but it isn't something that's out of this world.

Sound:

as for the sounds of the game well expect to hear a lot of traditional Chinese instrumental music and some martial arts music so its a hit or miss to some players depending on their taste

Extras:

-The Limited Edition of jade empire would bring an extra disc in which contains data for the character model Monk Zeng (a magic type character), a "Making of" video by G4, and three game demos: Forza Motorsport, Conker Live & Reloaded, and MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf.

-The Special Edition of Jade empire on the other hand brings the ''Jade Master'' Difficulty, the ability to import save games, a new world map interface, and keyboard and hotkey support. It also contains a bonus art book and poster.

-The Character Monk Zeng(hes is another character in which you can make on character cration) is available on both limited and special edition of the game.

Games Ups and Downs:

Up:

-Lots of places to explore

-In depth dialogue and Storyline

-Any decision you make in the game can change the storyline all together

-Plenty of Martial arts styles for you to use

-The controls on combat are easy to pick up and play.

-Camera Angles are ok

-Multiple Endings so you will be playing the game multiple times to try to get them all

Down:

-The A.I on the regular enemies can make the game a bit too easy

-The animation on combat can be quite slow

-Game has a lot of Point of no Return Spots so you have to make sure to take care of your business before moving forward

-The Romance part of the game isn't quite interesting to begin with

-There isn't much Depth in character customization

Overall if you like Star wars Kotor or mass effect you might want to give this xbox gem a shot this goes to show you that westerns can make good RPG's if they put some effort and mind to it