Jade Empire
| Jade Empire | |||
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| Studio |
 BioWare (Xbox) LTI Gray Matter (PC)
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| Publisher |
Microsoft (Xbox) 2K Games (PC)
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
April 22, 2005 (Xbox) March 2, 2007 (PC) |
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| platform | Xbox , Windows , macOS , Xbox 360 , Android , iOS | ||
| genre | Action RPG | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Gamepad , keyboard & mouse | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | DVD-ROM , download | ||
| language | German | ||
| Current version | 1.00 (PC) | ||
| copy protection | SecuROM (PC) | ||
| Age rating |
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| information | The PC version was released as Jade Empire: Special Edition in a steel book with an additional "Art Book" (concept graphics) and poster. | ||
Jade Empire (translated: Jadereich ) is an action role-playing game of the Canadian game developer BioWare . The game was initially developed exclusively for Microsoft and Xbox and was released in 2005. In 2007, a PC version of the game was subsequently released with some adjustments and extensions. The PC port was taken over by US developer LTI Gray Matter and published via Take 2 Interactive . Other versions appeared for Xbox 360 and macOS . In 2016 versions of the game for iOS and Android appeared .
action
The game world is modeled on medieval China , to which many fantasy and some steampunk elements such as magic and flying devices have been added. While the main story is always the same, the different solutions and options result in minor differences in detail.
The story of the player character is gradually revealed. At the beginning he is in the idyllic martial arts school Zwei Strom (also: Zwei Rivers ), led by the strict paternal master Li. The village is attacked and airships bomb the huts until everything is in ruins. Master Li is kidnapped. As the last living spirit monk , the player sets out to look for him.
About three quarters of the game time is now about the search for the master and bring the player character to Tien's pier at the beginning . Very early on he hears about the founding myth of the great drought, which the reigning emperor Sun Hai overcame with his own hands, and a water dragon with a human face appears to the player in visions. The story quickly draws attention to the hand of death , a war minister of the emperor of terrible appearance and legendary fighting strength. Doubts arise as to whether the emperor is not weak, old or sickly, especially since he is increasingly withdrawing from the public eye. It also turns out that Master Li is the dead brother of the emperor, who was nicknamed the Glorious Strategist .
The journey finally leads to the imperial capital. After a few volts it becomes clear that the hand of death is just a facade, more of a combat robot, and that the emperor still has all the strings in hand, is building a huge army of golems of the lotus assassins and is heading for war. The player succeeds in bringing the emperor with Master Li in the wake and overpowering him. But suddenly Master Li kills the player and turns out to be a traitor, a mastermind in the background who, true to his nickname, patiently and unnoticed pushed his plans in exile for 20 years. The main character was used by him, got rid of Li's brother and thus nearly completed his plans. The player ends up in a limbo .
After cleaning a ghost monastery, the water dragon helps the player back to life. Ultimately, the player character encounters this in its material form: placed in chains, blood has been tapped from the dragon for decades in order to guarantee the water supply of the Jade Empire . After the protagonist has sworn in the members of his now nine-member group one last time, he is alone in the final battle against the all-powerful master Li.
Gameplay
At the beginning of the campaign, the player selects his character from six suggestions or creates his own, which he controls through the game world in a third-person view. In the course of the plot you meet a number of characters who join the game character on their journey and are all equipped with their own backstory. Some of them also bring a personal side quest . During the game the player can only take a companion with him to help him in the battles. The rest of the companions wait at a campsite where you can talk to all of your followers. In certain sections of the game you also have the opportunity to control some of them directly.
Unlike previous role-playing games from BioWare, the game uses a pure real-time combat system. A new feature for BioWare is the high degree of interaction between the characters in combat - the player wields the sword or fist with the mouse himself. The player character is driven by the derived attributes of health, chi (magical energy) and focus (concentration). There is essentially a normal and strong attack and a method of blocking. Compared to the current competition, this is quite easy overall.
Character development and equipment is kept simple compared to the D&D games. But the game offers over thirty martial arts. The manual goes into things like magic styles, weapon, transformation, support magic, and fast and normal fighting styles. With dragon amulets and essence jewels you can fine-tune the player's character dynamically at runtime. The progress of the avatar takes place via experience points . Saving is possible at any time.
The playing time is between 20 and 30 hours, depending on how you play, and is therefore shorter than that of KotOR . The story is told in a comparatively linear way, so the locations are usually visited in the order described here. In the game, the character can interact with around 300 NPCs , the text volume in English is around 340,000 words. The mini-games woven into the plot are unusual . These are shoot 'em ups in a pseudo 2D style.
development
The game was first announced by Microsoft on September 26, 2003 at the Tokyo Game Show. On April 1, 2005, the completion of the game was announced and the game was released in the US on April 12th, in Europe on April 22nd. The PC version was released on March 2, 2007 via 2K Games . Microsoft released the game on July 21, 2008 as part of its Xbox Classics program as a downloadable title for the console successor Xbox 360. On August 18, 2008, TransGaming released a download version of the game for Mac OS X.
The German version was shortened by some violent effects.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Jack Wall, who recorded about 95 minutes of music. About 76 minutes of this was also released on CD. To mark the launch of the Special Edition , the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra played the music at a Video Games Live game music concert in front of 350 BioWare employees.
speaker
In the English original, some characters were spoken by Armin Shimerman ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ). Sir Roderick Ponce of Fontlebottom was voiced by John Cleese . Other actors had cameo appearances.
| role | English speaker | German speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Master Li | Barry Dennen | Thomas Rau |
| Hand of death | Sherman Howard | Thomas Rauscher |
| Morning star | Kim Mai Guest | Christine Stichler |
| Hou the henpecked hero | Josh Dean | Tobias Lelle |
| Black Whirlwind Gujin the Armorer Zin Bu |
Brian Stepanek |
Victor Brandt Hubertus Gertzen |
| Wildflower Kia Min Gufu the sweetness |
Nicky Pugh Danielle Judovits |
Shandra Schadt |
| Wide sky | Cam Clarke | Dirk Meyer |
| Kang the mad | Paul Eiding | Ulrich Frank |
| Silk Fuchs woman Jong Scuttling lynx Moderate breeze |
Masasa Moyo Danielle Judovits Shannon Blanchet |
Marion Sawatzki |
| Gao the great | Philipp Moog | |
| Gao the Lesser Jing Woo Han the Hapless Sung Bo |
Nathan Fillion R.D. Robb |
Nikolaj Alexander Brucker |
| Smiling mountain | Bart Flynn | Berth Wesslmann |
| Hui the intrepid cave spirit |
BJ Ward | Maria Boehme |
| Minister Sheng | George Szilagyi | Hans-Rainer Müller |
| Guardian Yung | Hubertus von Lerchenfeld | |
| Lin Yanwan |
Kari Wahlgren Shannon Blanchet |
Beate Pfeiffer |
| Disciple Wen Disciple Si Pat Lishun the talkative Dong Ping Yuxi the engraver |
Cam Clarke Brian Stepanek |
Michael Reufsteck |
| Ni Joh | Claus-Peter Damitz | |
| Merchant Hing Jizu the strangler Qui the recruiter |
Jeff Page Brian Doyle-Murray |
Stefan Müller-Ruppert |
| Long Tooth Minister Fang |
Claus Brockmeyer | |
| Rat demons Lange-Fahne-Dutong |
Chris Postle Wes Borg |
Kai Taschner |
| Sing Wa Mistress Vo |
Shannon Blanchet | Cornelia Bitsch |
| Seamstress Lan | Susanne von Medvey | |
Dishwasher Wong Yanru the Brewer Daoshan the Player Scholar Six Heavens Sung Bu Sung Sui |
Andy Hirsch Gustavo Rex David Ley Julien Arnold |
Ron Spiess |
reception
Reviews
The metascore of the Xbox version is 89 out of 100, the special edition for PC has a value of 81.
Special edition for PC
- GameStar : "Brilliantly told Asian RPG" - 87%
- IGN : “Jade Empire is an instantly immersive experience for any action RPG fan who hasn't played it on Xbox. The characters, setting and story are full of amazing details and the whole game is oozing with atmosphere. In the course of the game there are always significant and interesting decisions to be made and there is a whole arsenal of fighting styles to discover. On the other hand, the linear missions almost weaken the good / bad moral system, and concentration on a few combat techniques is enough to stay alive. "- 8.6 / 10 (The Xbox edition was there in April 2005 with 9.9 out of 10 Points.)
- PC Games : "Artistically, Jade Empire is a triumph [...]" - 84%
- Bernd Fetsch at stern.de on March 24, 2007: “'Jade Empire' also has its downsides. The pleasure (20 hours) is too short, too linear […]. In addition, there is a flood of Far Eastern fortune cookie wisdom [...] For that, Biowares Asia Trip was and is - and this should also be emphasized - the most beginner-friendly role-playing game in Bioware's company history. "
The camera work occasionally causes difficulties. IGN thinks some of the cut scenes are artistically unsuitable. Many a critic was bothered by the lack of depth.
Awards
Some awards:
- Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences : 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards 2006 - RPG of the Year, Award for Outstanding Character Representation (Female)
- Canadian New Media Awards - Excellence in Gaming
- 4th Annual Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards - Best Original Soundtrack Album
- Game Critics Awards : Best of E3 2004 - Best Role Playing Game
- IGN, Best of Show, 4th - E3 2004
- IGN: Game of the Year 2005 - RPG of the Year, Xbox Game of the Year, Best Story, Best Artistic Design
- MetaCritic.com Best of 2005 - RPG of the Year
Web links
- Official site , multilingual
- Jade Empire at MobyGames (English)
- Collected reviews of Jade Empire (Special Edition) on Metacritic.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c PC Games , accessed June 8, 2007.
- ↑ a b c d e IGN , accessed June 8, 2007. Translated by Wikipedia.
- ↑ a b c d online resource , GameStar, accessed June 8, 2007.
- ^ Online resource , accessed June 8, 2007.
- ↑ http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/sep03/09-26jadeempirepr.mspx
- ↑ http://www.gamershell.com/companies/bioware/221284.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/jade-empire-added-to-xbox-originals
- ↑ TransGaming Enables BioWare's Jade Empire Special Edition for The Mac . August 18, 2008. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
- ^ Online resource , MobyGames, accessed June 8, 2007.
- ↑ Music 4 Games: Interview with Jade Empire composer Jack Wall ( memento February 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), accessed June 8, 2007.
- ^ Online resource , accessed June 8, 2007.
- ↑ Manual for the PC version, p. 33.
- ^ Online resource , IMDb, accessed June 8, 2007.
- ↑ Metacritic : Average Xbox rating based on 84 articles, accessed April 6, 2012
- ↑ Metacritic : Average PC rating based on 29 articles, accessed April 6, 2012
- ^ Online resource , IGN, accessed June 21, 2007.
- ^ Online resource , stern.de, accessed on June 9, 2007.
- ↑ See online resource ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BioWare, for a full list of prices and reviews.
