Wild Force
| Wild Force | |
 |
|
| Author(s) | Nazar Design Group |
|---|---|
| Release date | 2005-2007 |
| Game(s) | Jedi Academy |
| Mode(s) | Single Player action |
Wild Force was an unofficial Single Player modification for Jedi Academy, created by a Russian team - Nazar Design Group. It was the third and last project in the series of mods for JK made by this team and the first created for JA.
Story[edit]
Wild Force starts with the story of Tessika Cherril, a freelance smuggler, trying to acquire a new ship for one of her missions. The old junk trader suggests using the derelict ARC-170, as well as offers a bonus to the bargain – the deactivated, but still functional super battledroid from the Clone Wars era. The protagonist feels reluctant on buying either of these two things, especially when the droid reactivates only to eliminate everyone in the shop. However Tessika manages to destroy the machine before any harm done.
The next mission shows a different period of life of Tessika, when she crash-lands on the desert world of Blenjeel after the Imperial attack. She still has to hurry and uses the spare parts from other fallen ships nearby to repair her transport. It is revealed, that she is Force-sensitive and uses her powers to escape from desert worm-like monsters. While she is glad to have survived the encounter with the monsters, Tessika is confident, the Hutts won't forgive her for losing the shipment.
Even though the shipment was destroyed because of the Empire, Tessika has to meet with the Hutt representative, Lannik Racto, in a cantina. He blames her for crashing the vessel and destroying the medical shipment and asks for compensation, when the two are interrupted by Han Solo. He manages to "persuade" the thug to leave the girl alone.
Having recognized a fellow smuggler and seeing her potential, Han offers Tessika his help by introducing her to an old hermit at the ruins of the old Jedi training ground (presumably on Yavin IV). The old man is believed to be a former Jedi master, who is ready to train Tessika in the ways of the Force, making her pass through a series of trials in the old temples. As she passes the tests, she receives her own lightsaber.
Tessika travels to Kamino in order to learn the truth about her parents. During this quest she encounters Boba Fett and after a battle with the notorious bounty hunter she learns that the latter is actually her brother, with whom she shares a biological father.
The game shows yet another portion of Tessika's life, when she was captured by the Galactic Empire. She is questioned aboard the Star Destroyer by the Imperials and is later tortured by Darth Vader, who feels her connection to the Force. However seeing her as untrained and too amateurish to pay attention to, the Sith Lord leaves her at the prison cell of the Destroyer only to continue the "talks" with the recently detained princess Leia Organa on their way to the Death Star. The local Imperial reveals to Tessika, that the Empire is fighting the Rebels, but in reality the Emperor is preparing the Galaxy to face a greater threat, that would arrive eventually and cause chaos and death on their civilization. The smuggler ignores most of the information and tries to escape the Imperial vessel by stealing a docked X-Wing. Before leaving, however, Tessika uses the fighter to severely damage the Destroyer and then escape from the Empire.
During one of her missions Tessika arrives on Dathomir, while trying to find the local trade settlement and escape the Imperials. The desert wind and rancors prevent her from finding the place at first, and the local Dathomiri witch also doesn't seem to enjoy her presence in the desert, but after successfully passing through the canyon, the girl leaves the planet with money and information on Imperial plans.
Tessika later receives data, that both the Hutts (which almost had her killed in their Palace) and the Imperials (who tried to test her strength by throwing her into Rancor pit) are looking for someone named Log Estru. The old veteran of the Clone Wars has vital information on the whereabouts of the abandoned droid factory, that could still be used in the war. She manages to find him before others do and deactivate all the droids for good. When leaving the factory she is approached both by the Imperial officer and the Jedi and is offered to join either of the sides in their war over the Galaxy. The final battle takes Tessika to the besieged Rebel base under the attack of AT-ATs.
Addons[edit]
After the release of the mod the team made a patch, which fixed some of the bugs as well as added a few missions, describing early years of Tesssika. One such mission takes place in the brothel, originally seen in Lady Jedi mod, and presents the story of Jango Fett and Tessika's mother.
Development[edit]
Nazar Design Group started working on Wild Force some time after the release of the Lady Jedi modification for JO. It took several years to complete, as the team was also working on a variety of other projects, including the one for SkyRim. A lot of fans had already tried other projects and asked the new mod to be closer to Star Wars canon, as well as to exclude the mostly disputed blood and gore, as well as obscene language. The developers promised to stay true to the original story and avoid any misinterpretations of the previously established Star Wars stories and used some help and advice from the the fans, especially in terms of creating a genuine image of the Galactic Empire in the game.
The development took several years and the early screenshots proved that the game graphics would be greatly enhanced with the release of the mod.
Reception[edit]
The mod was largely anticipated by the community of www.jediknight.ru, as well as other SW fans. With the release of WF many acquired the CDs via mail with little bonuses (the payment was for the disc itself and shipping only). The fans appraised the new graphics and shaders, as well as detailed levels and interesting missions, but voiced criticism over the size of the mod, the plot, as well as the usage the original maps from Jedi Academy and the previous mod - Lady Jedi.
Certain bugs such as piloting X-Wing to destroy the Star Destroyer, as well as dubious biography of Tessika and her final choice in the end of the mod were also disputed and discussed a lot in the forums. Some people saw disconnection and even contradiction to the films with linking Boba Fett and Tessika as the siblings, as well as showing Tessika as a Force-sensitive, mostly ignored by the Empire. Some doubted the fact, that Han Solo could help someone acquire a lightsaber and that he would have a Jedi among the acquaintance.