Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (also known as JK2, JKO, or JO) is a Star Wars-themed computer game that made its debut in 2002. Raven Software took on the development duties, while LucasArts handled the publishing, distribution, and marketing in North America. Activision was responsible for these tasks in other regions. The game was available on several platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Xbox. Later, on September 24th, 2019, it was also launched for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. The game runs on the Quake III Arena engine. A sequel, Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, which shares many similarities, followed this game. The game garnered positive reviews and is particularly celebrated for its sophisticated lightsaber combat.
On September 4, 2019, an announcement revealed that Jedi Academy would also be released in "early 2020" for the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4.
The story unfolds in 12 ABY, set two years after the events of Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith. As with the previous installments, the central character is Kyle Katarn. After almost succumbing to the dark side, Katarn relinquished his lightsaber and the Force. He now operates as a mercenary for the New Republic, working alongside his partner and romantic interest, Jan Ors.
Mon Mothma got in touch with Katarn and Ors to look into a Imperial Remnant base located on Kejim. This investigation was prompted by the New Republic intercepting a peculiar transmission from the base, which included keywords like "Reborn" and "Valley of the Jedi." After successfully entering the base and engaging with Remnant forces, Katarn and Ors found out that the Remnant was experimenting with crystals that could store the power of the Force.
Katarn and Ors traced the origin of the crystals to Artus Prime, situated in the Outer Rim. There, they discovered that the Imperial Remnant had transformed the isolated planet into a mining facility and had imprisoned the local population for experimentation. Katarn infiltrated the facility and liberated the prisoners. After repelling Remnant forces and evacuating the prisoners, Katarn proceeded to the rendezvous point to meet Ors. He witnessed Ors being captured by Desann, a Dark Jedi, and his apprentice, Tavion. Having abandoned the ways of the Force, Katarn was defenseless against Desann, who physically assaulted him and used the Force to choke him. Desann mocked him before instructing Tavion to kill Ors. Subsequently, the two Dark Jedi escaped.
Consumed by rage over his lover's apparent death, Katarn went back to the Valley of the Jedi to quickly regain his Force abilities. He then made his way to the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to reclaim his lightsaber. However, Katarn was unaware that Desann and Tavion had secretly followed him to the Valley, hypothesizing that he would seek the power of the Force there in his quest for revenge. Desann harnessed the Valley's power to create an army of Reborn.
Upon his arrival at the Jedi Academy, Katarn encountered Luke Skywalker and requested his lightsaber and information about Desann. The Jedi Master shared details about Desann's past and stipulated that Katarn had to complete a series of trials to regain his lightsaber. Katarn effortlessly passed the trials. Skywalker realized that Katarn had visited the Valley and cautioned him about the recklessness of his actions. He then directed Katarn to Nar Shaddaa, where he could find Reelo Baruk, a Rodian crime lord who might have information on Desann's whereabouts.
On Nar Shaddaa, Katarn went to Baruk's bar and attempted to inquire with the Chiss bartender about Baruk's location. A fight erupted when Katarn revealed his identity as a Jedi. While defending himself against attacks from Baruk's thugs, Katarn made his way to Baruk's hideout. He came across Lando Calrissian, who was imprisoned in the dungeon. Calrissian had sought out Baruk after discovering his connection to a smuggling operation on Bespin, but he was captured before he could gather more information. Katarn freed Calrissian, and they attempted to escape Nar Shaddaa on Calrissian's ship, the Lady Luck, but they encountered trouble with Baruk and his thugs. Katarn used the ship's guns to shoot down Baruk, and they proceeded to Bespin.
On Bespin, Calrissian dropped Katarn off at the lower levels of Cloud City while he went to the upper levels to gather security forces to deal with Baruk's thugs and Remnant forces. Their objective was to trap Desann in the middle levels before he could escape. As he ascended through the Bespin undercity, Katarn encountered Reborn for the first time and defeated them. He located and confronted Tavion, who revealed that Ors's death was a ruse to trick him into revealing the location of the Valley of the Jedi. Enraged, Katarn defeated Tavion and began Force choking her. As she begged for mercy, she revealed that Ors was still alive on board the Doomgiver. Katarn spared her, and she fled in disgrace. He then boarded an automated hauler, which transported him to a Remnant base in the Lenico Belt.
While searching for the Doomgiver in the Cairn Installation, Katarn unexpectedly encountered Skywalker. After joining forces to defeat a group of Reborn, they exchanged information and concluded that Desann intended not only to create a Reborn army but also to equip them with armor made from cortosis, a rare mineral resistant to lightsabers. Despite the challenges, Skywalker believed that the Jedi's training and discipline would ultimately give them an advantage over the Reborn. They then went their separate ways. Stealthily navigating the Cairn Installation, Katarn observed the Remnant assembling AT-RDPs, AT-STs, and other assault vehicles in preparation for a full-scale planetary invasion. He also encountered and defeated some Shadowtroopers (Reborn in cortosis armor). After sneaking aboard the Doomgiver, Katarn witnessed Desann and Skywalker engaged in a lightsaber duel; Desann used the Force to push back Skywalker and boarded the Doomgiver.
Aboard the ship, Katarn discovered that Desann and Galak Fyyar were planning to send their army to invade the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV, destroy the Jedi, and restore the Galactic Empire. Katarn managed to send a warning to Rogue Squadron about the impending invasion. By the time the ship exited hyperspace, Katarn had located and rescued Ors. He defeated Fyyar and sabotaged the Doomgiver's shields, making the ship and its cargo of assault craft vulnerable to attack by Rogue Squadron. Katarn and Ors narrowly escaped the destruction of the Doomgiver in an escape pod. Despite the timely arrival of Rogue Squadron, enough Remnant forces survived to launch a large-scale invasion of the moon.
Upon landing on Yavin IV, Ors departed to join Republic forces to counter the Remnant, while Katarn headed to the Jedi Academy. After traversing swamps and canyons, and battling Remnant forces and AT-STs along the way, Katarn finally reached the Jedi Academy, where he joined his fellow Jedi in fighting the Reborn and Shadowtroopers. He tracked Desann down to the catacombs beneath the Jedi Academy and confronted the Dark Jedi in a face-to-face showdown.
Despite learning of the Doomgiver's destruction, Desann refused to concede defeat and engaged Katarn in a lightsaber duel. Katarn ultimately defeated and killed Desann. Upon hearing of Desann's defeat, the remaining Remnant forces, Reborn, and Shadowtroopers surrendered to the Jedi and New Republic, bringing the conflict to an end.
After everything was over, Skywalker inquired about Katarn's future plans. Katarn responded that he would keep his lightsaber and that he and Ors had earned a long vacation on the beaches of Spira.
Following the decision by The Walt Disney Company to shut down LucasArts on April 3rd, 2013, the developers at Raven Software made the source code for the game available on SourceForge under the GNU GPLv2 license. However, the source code for both games mysteriously disappeared from SourceForge. SourceForge later clarified that Raven had requested the removal of the code, presumably due to the presence of proprietary code that was not intended for public release. Subsequently, using the source code released by Raven, a group of coders known as JACoders created OpenJK. This project aims to maintain and enhance the game engine, without altering the gameplay, for both Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (singleplayer) and Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (single and multiplayer), ensuring complete backwards compatibility with the existing games.