A Little Bit Jaded About Jade Empire

Jade, such a pretty color. Empire, so much power behind that word. Put them both together and what do you have? A very short game.

Jade Empire to be exact made by BioWare. They are the same makers of Baulders Gate, Never Winter Nights, and many more games including Jade Empire. This game has all the bells and whistles that any RPG game should have, but on the other hand so much game play is missing. This game was beat within fourteen hours. See what I mean. I don't want to be totally down on this game though so I will share with you the unjaded part of Jade Empire.

This game got great ratings from places like Gamespy.com, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, Playboy.com, Game Zone, and the Daily Cardinal. Game Spy quoted,
"BioWare combines excellent storytelling, exciting combat, and gorgeous visuals to create the best RPG ever to hit the Xbox."

It also received awards by IGN as game of the month, April 2005. Game Critics nominated it as the best role playing game of 2004. So why are you wondering is this a bad game. It's not that it's a bad game. It has outstanding graphics, great imagination, and is one of those games where you lose track of time in. Hours or even days go by without your knowledge because you're so engrossed in its awesome game play.

The graphics make it look so real. The grass flows in the wind as if you were really there in the field running through it. You can choose a character of your choice. They each have their own special abilities. There are many hidden things in Jade Empire as well. Easter Eggs for example are everywhere. Easter Eggs aren't exactly what they sound like. They are special secrets that are unlocked if you do particular things within the game.

The controls are very easy to master once you've played the game for at least ten minutes or so. Your Chi, the blue bar is what keeps you being able to replenish your health; that's the red bar. The yellow bar is your focus. That is what helps you to slow down the fighting per say and it is also what your melee weapons use such as your long sword or any other special weapon you may pick up along the way.

Another great part of this game is you don't have to spend all your time reading what they are saying. They characters speak every word. There are a few that you may have to read because the characters aren't speaking in English, but its all worth it when you get sucked into the game.

There are even puzzles to complete so it's not just straight fighting the Lotus Assassins all the way through. You will have puzzles and side missions as well. Leveling up is quite easy within this game. As you level up you will get to add points to particular fighting moves and weapons that you have aquired. You also get to choose your own path whether it is a good path or a bad path; sort of like you do in Knights of the Old Repuplic.

This is a great game if only it were longer. But it is a game worth playing over again and again with different characters. It's not the same game twice.