Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1115 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2005-04-13
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Xbox
• Dimensions: .75" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .42 pounds

From the Manufacturer
In the ancient, mysterious world of the Jade Empire, you train under your master's watchful eye and learn powerful martial arts and mystical powers. When danger threatens, you travel across the world, from the harsh mountains of the Land of Howling Spirits to the lush gardens of the Imperial City. In your adventures you face powerful human and supernatural foes, learn exotic and magical martial arts, and discover the darkest secrets of the world. Only by mastering the greatest fighting styles and defeating the most powerful enemies will you earn your place as a master of martial arts in the world of Jade Empire.

Features:

• Epic story set in a world inspired by the myths and legends of ancient China. Jade Empire immerses you in a deep, rich storyline in the tradition of the BioWare-developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Sinister events upset the peaceful harmony of an isolated martial arts school and draw you into a story that unfolds with drama, action, and adventure. Detailed followers and other non-player characters enrich the adventure by providing comic relief, rivalries, flirtations, and hostility. Stare in awe at the sweeping views of the lush environments, sheer vertical drops, and overpowering scale that provide the visual backdrop to the story. Confront wild outlaws, evil magicians, demonic incarnations, and other foul villains that protect the Jade Empire's darkest secrets.
• Become a martial-arts master. Using the knowledge gained in crafting multiple story-based role-playing games, BioWare sends you on a journey to become a martial arts master. Choose a character with a unique appearance and quirks, a custom voice set, and a powerful combination of ability scores and fighting styles. You can choose to act for good or evil, and these decisions build your reputation, which precedes you throughout the land, changing the course of interaction with other characters and followers. Take the role of a master of martial arts and recruit followers to your cause in an interactive, living world.
• Innovative fighting system. Master fighting styles and mystical powers. Jade Empire provides a gameplay experience with the tempo and fury normally found in Hong Kong cinema favorites such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Bruce Lee classics. As you journey through Jade Empire, you can upgrade your starting combat style or learn entirely new styles to tailor a character for your specific gameplay preferences. Select from dozens of fighting styles, including (for example) martial-arts styles (Legendary Strike, Leaping Tiger), magic styles (Tempest, Dire Flame), transformation styles, and weapon styles (Twin Axes, Staff, and improvised weapons like chairs). Each style has its own tactical role and attacks that range from punches and kicks to weapon strikes, mystical powers, and even transformations into supernatural monsters! You can focus on a narrow channel of styles and become dominant in these forms or broaden your area of study to include a wide variety of styles adaptable to many combat situations. Combat is fast-paced martial-arts action, and it is exciting and tactical as you rapidly switch fighting styles to meet diverse challenges.

Customer Reviews

A Japanese Fable
Great game, it was kinda of hard to get into for me, but once I did I thought it was great. It kind of reminded me of Fable.

I hate RPG'S but this game rocks
Like my title says, I am not a fan of RPG'S and have all 3 systems but this game delivers.I love fable and didn't mind KOTOR so I guess I like 3 rpg's.Now KOTOR is an amazing epic RPG but my only complaint was that you dont actualy fight or kill the badies yourself like in 95% of all RPG'S you just point and click on wich enemy to fight AND IT FIGHTS FOR YOU.BUT Jade Empire give you the freedom and to actualy fight and choose wich foe you want to attack as seen in Fable in real time fighting.This is the only way I can stand to play an RPG.I cant stand Final Fantasy and all these other weak games.nOW i KNOW lots of people love there rpg's like FF so if your like me and stay away from the RPG games you need to check this bad boy out, you wont be dissapointed.If you are into great story telling, great action, killer graphics and martial arts mixed with ancient chinese mythology you will dig this game.Its easy enough for basic gamers to just pick up and play and deep enough for hard core players to learn all the special combo's and magic attacks/transformations.Now I also recommend players to play Fable if you enjoyed this game.Now with the NEW Xbox just around the corner its good to be an Xbox owner with all the top notch games you'll be seeing from now till the end of the year like Conker-live and reloaded, Forza motorsport, Halflife 2, Farcry, Pariah,Advent rising,Destry all humans,Moto gp 3,GTA sanadreas,rainbow 6 3 lockdown,suffering 2 and many more.Most of those I mentioned are XBOX ONLY games.So go rent Jade empire for a few nights and see what its all about and decide if this is a game for you.I know I did and cant stop playing it.

Polished and shorter version of KOTOR
First of all, the 9.9 rating that appears on the box cover is overrated. It's one of the best games to come out this year, but it's closer to a 8.5 or 9.0.

For fans who love the immersive storyline of Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), this is a game certainly not to be missed. Creating a brand new set of characters in a new world is not an easy task, but this is exactly what BioWare accomplished in Jade Empire. The graphics are top-rate, making KOTOR look like a PS2 game. Real-time martial arts action replaces a turn-based fight system, creating a seamless environment. Other reviews complained that using all of the controller buttons made the game too confusing. However, this system is much better than having to memorize combos for fight moves.

Compared to KOTOR, the game feels much shorter because there are fewer locations to explore. With fewer side missions, the story felt tighter and more polished, but there wasn't a feeling of freedom as in KOTOR. At times, it feels like you're not solving puzzles as much as simply advancing the plot.

Jade Empire is a fantastic, polished, single player RPG with 20-25 hours of gameplay. The only downside is that the game makes you yearn for more. Hopefully, Bioware will release a sequel to this game with a even larger world to explore.