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Game of the Month: September 2003
It's been a strong month but someone's got to win...
With all the videogames that come out each and every month, it can be quite a difficult task to decide which title to spend your hard-earned money on. Granted you could go by our review scores alone and weed through the long list of games in search of something that scored high or low, but what if you had somewhere else to turn to?
Rather than wait until the end of the year like we normally do, your incredibly masculine friends at
While some of us often chime in with our comments at the end of reviews, for the most part, the reviews on IGN are primarily written by one editor. We get all of the editors on a particular channel to vote in our Game of the Month feature, so you get a well-rounded view of what we all think deserves the highest accolade of the best game in the past 30 days.
But how does it work? Simple. Any game released in the past month is eligible for the award and is taken through a battery of tests by every editor on that particular channel. After we've finished evaluating every game to come down the pipeline, we put our heads together and decide on a single "best of" winner that's worthy of the title "IGN Game of the Month". Pretty simple, don't you think?
Now that we have the guidelines out of the way, let's move on and congratulate this month's winner...
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
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Released: September 16, 2003
Why We Picked It: While the PC catalog is still woefully deficient in the category of fighting games, we can always count on titles like Jedi Knight to push beyond the boundaries of the first-person oriented action game and offer something new and original. This latest version departs from the series by offering up a brand new player character and you'll be responsible for taking him through his Jedi training.
But rather than attending stupid lectures or organizing a rock throwing protest at the financial aid office, students at the Jedi Academy spend their time traveling around the galaxy investigating cults, saving stranded merchants and running away from giant things that can't be killed. Combine that with some thrilling saber-fights, cool Force powers and a faithful and full use of the Star Wars license and it's easy to see why Jedi Academy has such a hold on us.
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Released: September 16, 2003
Why We Liked It: As other developers of space-based RTS games make endless excuses about the lack of a third dimension, Relic's ground-breaking series forges ahead with an emphasis on what space battles ought to be about: full freedom of movement, sleek ships and breath-taking pyrotechnics. Excellent production values and a compelling story only make the experience sweeter.
The title also successfully bridges the divide between massive epic battles and small scale tactical action. Whether you're directing swarms of fighters against an errant harvester or slowly moving your large fleets of capital ships against the enemy's main force, excitement is easy to find and hard to resist.
And so there you have it. Nine months down, three to go. We'd like to extend our thanks once again to Raven, Relic, LucasArts and Sierra and all those involved with this month's excellent titles. Without you guys, we wouldn't be having any fun with these expensive hunks of junk sitting on our desks. See you next month!
©2003, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
12:00 am PDT September 30, 2003