This is a fair game, but I hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Star Wars: Dark Forces and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II are two of the best Star Wars-licensed games I have ever played, period. However, this expansion to the second game manages to take the base game formula, and garble it until there is only a very, very mediocre game left.

In terms of graphics and sound, the game is almost identical to its predecessor, which is not a bad thing. Mysteries of the Sith was released five months after the base game, and uses the same engine, so it looks and sounds pretty much the same. Polygonal 3D models, a bit dated today but not horrible, constitute the bulk of the graphics you'll see, and an orchestral combination of familiar, straight-from-the-films scores and newer musical compositions serves as the backdrop in your speakers or headphones. There are two points that have improved in my opinion. Firstly, the lightsabers look better than in the base game: more like lightsabers and less like long, thin, coloured sticks. Secondly, and most importantly, the horribly acted cutscenes are gone, in favour of in-engine 3D cutscenes, which fit much better into the game and don't suffer from the horrible D-rate acting that was present in Jedi Knight.

The gameplay is basically the same as in the last game, or at least the game makes you think so from the start. Some weapons and their hotkeys are different, but the controls are still the same (and, luckily, adaptable to your own preference). After a few levels with Kyle, however, it becomes clear that this game has changed a lot of the gameplay of its predecessor. Many of these changes are in level design. Levels are much less linear, which can be either a good or a bad thing depending on where you stand, but it is very easy to get lost in the later levels (which is not remedied by the fact that levels often contain symmetrical or identical areas), and I personally dislike large, open, winding levels in shooter/action games where the point is to get to the end of a level. The puzzles are also very different from the previous games: they are weirdly located and sometimes impossible to solve without a guide. As far as difficulty goes, this game is actually very well-balanced and posed more of a challenge to me than Dark Forces or Jedi Knight. In the later levels, however, there are some enemies that are very powerful and extremely random in their mechanics (here's looking at you, Vornskr). Sometimes I would circle around an enemy and kill them with three lightsaber strokes, whereas the next identical enemy might kill me within half a second by leaping at me twice for 50% damage per hit. In all, the level design is just no fun, the enemies vary from fine to annoying, the puzzles are obfuscated and too random, and the overall gameplay experience is not very good.

There is something weird about the story of Mysteries of the Sith. On the one hand, it is a very one-sided story that lends itself well for an expansion: As Mara Jade, you run several errands for the New Republic before realising that your master Kyle Katarn has been missing for a while, after he went to investigate ruins on the planet of Dromund Kaas. While this sounds like a very good and basic storyline for an expansion, Mysteries of the Sith actually contains more levels than the base game. Thus, the game is longer but feels like less of a whole story. Three or four levels playing Kyle are followed by a lot of levels going on boring missions for the New Republic as Mara Jade. The last three levels are actually the only ones that have anything to do with the main story of this expansion, and it is not really fleshed out, but feels a bit rushed. That said, I do really like the way in which the creators have incorporated bits and pieces from the Expanded Universe (now Legends) into the game. Mara Jade, vornskr, noghri, ysalamiri, a new Hutt relative, etc. In all, Mysteries of the Sith has a great Star Wars vibe, but the story is really incoherent and not enough to keep anyone but the most die-hard Star Wars fans playing.

This is, I think, what can be said about the game in its entirety, as well. The gameplay and the story add up to a game that is very mediocre in terms of gameplay. I would press anyone who is not a huge Star Wars fan to stay away from this game, and even Star Wars fans who have a lot of fun rummaging through the extended universe (or Legends) and learning about new places, characters, and creatures (like myself) will find it hard to finish this game due to its terrible pacing, obfuscated level design, and some strange and frustrating gameplay quirks. Mysteries of the Sith is a fair game, but not noteworthy for anyone, and that says something.

This is a fair game, but I hesitate to recommend it to anyone. [i]Star Wars: Dark Forces[/i] and [i]Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II[/i] are two of the best Star Wars-licensed games I have ever played, period. However, this expansion to the second game manages to take the base game formula, and garble it until there is only a very, [i]very[/i] mediocre game left. In terms of graphics and sound, the game is almost identical to its predecessor, which is not a bad thing. [i]Mysteries of the Sith[/i] was released five months after the base game, and uses the same engine, so it looks and sounds pretty much the same. Polygonal 3D models, a bit dated today but not horrible, constitute the bulk of the graphics you'll see, and an orchestral combination of familiar, straight-from-the-films scores and newer musical compositions serves as the backdrop in your speakers or headphones. There are two points that have improved in my opinion. Firstly, the lightsabers look better than in the base game: more like lightsabers and less like long, thin, coloured sticks. Secondly, and most importantly, the horribly acted cutscenes are gone, in favour of in-engine 3D cutscenes, which fit much better into the game and don't suffer from the horrible D-rate acting that was present in [i]Jedi Knight[/i]. The gameplay is basically the same as in the last game, or at least the game makes you think so from the start. Some weapons and their hotkeys are different, but the controls are still the same (and, luckily, adaptable to your own preference). After a few levels with Kyle, however, it becomes clear that this game has changed a lot of the gameplay of its predecessor. Many of these changes are in level design. Levels are much less linear, which can be either a good or a bad thing depending on where you stand, but it is very easy to get lost in the later levels (which is not remedied by the fact that levels often contain symmetrical or identical areas), and I personally dislike large, open, winding levels in shooter/action games where the point is to get to the end of a level. The puzzles are also very different from the previous games: they are weirdly located and sometimes impossible to solve without a guide. As far as difficulty goes, this game is actually very well-balanced and posed more of a challenge to me than [i]Dark Forces[/i] or [i]Jedi Knight[/i]. In the later levels, however, there are some enemies that are very powerful and extremely random in their mechanics (here's looking at you, Vornskr). Sometimes I would circle around an enemy and kill them with three lightsaber strokes, whereas the next identical enemy might kill me within half a second by leaping at me twice for 50% damage per hit. In all, the level design is just no fun, the enemies vary from fine to annoying, the puzzles are obfuscated and too random, and the overall gameplay experience is not very good. There is something weird about the story of [i]Mysteries of the Sith[/i]. On the one hand, it is a very one-sided story that lends itself well for an expansion: As Mara Jade, you run several errands for the New Republic before realising that your master Kyle Katarn has been missing for a while, after he went to investigate ruins on the planet of Dromund Kaas. While this sounds like a very good and basic storyline for an expansion, [i]Mysteries of the Sith[/i] actually contains more levels than the base game. Thus, the game is longer but feels like less of a whole story. Three or four levels playing Kyle are followed by a lot of levels going on boring missions for the New Republic as Mara Jade. The last three levels are actually the only ones that have anything to do with the main story of this expansion, and it is not really fleshed out, but feels a bit rushed. That said, I do really like the way in which the creators have incorporated bits and pieces from the Expanded Universe (now [i]Legends[/i]) into the game. Mara Jade, vornskr, noghri, ysalamiri, a new Hutt relative, etc. In all, [i]Mysteries of the Sith[/i] has a great Star Wars vibe, but the story is really incoherent and not enough to keep anyone but the most die-hard Star Wars fans playing. This is, I think, what can be said about the game in its entirety, as well. The gameplay and the story add up to a game that is very mediocre in terms of gameplay. I would press anyone who is not a huge Star Wars fan to stay away from this game, and even Star Wars fans who have a lot of fun rummaging through the extended universe (or [i]Legends[/i]) and learning about new places, characters, and creatures (like myself) will find it hard to finish this game due to its terrible pacing, obfuscated level design, and some strange and frustrating gameplay quirks. [i]Mysteries of the Sith[/i] is a fair game, but not noteworthy for [i]anyone[/i], and that says something.