Jade Empire

Logan Booker gets his Chi on.

   Ancient oriental history has always held me in fascination. From Journey to the West, on which the Monkey TV series is based, to the Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, these texts are some which you must simply find time to read, like Homer’s Illiad or Football: It’s a Funny Old Game.

 What makes them special, apart from their creamy, delectable complexity, is an unfathomable epic quality. Ironically, this overwhelming dose of illustrative fiction can be hard to understand if you’ve been weaned on Goosebumps or Babysitter’s Club. Not that I’ve ever read any of those.

 Bioware’s Jade Empire has somehow managed to take the best elements of these texts and combine them into an extremely accomplished Xbox title. Set in a quasimedieval Chinese world, spiced with dashes of Japanese cultural fl air and complemented by magic and machine, Jade Empire sets itself apart from other role-playing games with its story and richness alone.

 The game begins in Two Rivers, a small village on the outskirts of the empire. Your character is the top student in a martial arts school, led by the wise yet mysterious Master Li. From here, it takes little time for the story to gracefully unfold and your world to be turned upside down.

 Jade Empire mixes a variety of gameplay elements from Bioware’s previous RPG games, like Baldur’s Gate, and gels them together with a much-sort-after addition by players of these games – realtime combat. All the choices you make happen by the seat of your controller. It is this combat that drives the game. Three stats, Body, Spirit and Mind regulate your three resources, Health, Chi and Focus. While Health is self explanatory, Chi is used to power your magical abilities while Focus determines how well you utilise melee weapons. Focus can also be used to slow down time and Chi to regenerate Health.

 This system is fleshed out by Styles that focus on marital combat, magic, weapons or impairing effects.

 The Heavenly Wave style, for example, lets you slow down your opponent, while the Tempest magic style can hold enemies in a whirlwind and dish out damage. As you level, you’re given points to distribute to your primary stats as well as these styles.

 It’s important to have a good selection of styles from all areas, as the game can be almost impossible at times if you focus on just one or two.

 You’ll also accumulate followers as you progress that can aid in combat. Some fi ght directly, while others work better in support mode, improving your combat finesse or recharging Health and Chi.

 Bioware has once again made a game that’s a cut above. If you have an Xbox, and you love role playing, or simply lust after a fresh experience, then Jade Empire comes highly recommended by us.