While the individual games are great, putting JK2, JK & the original DF together in a single bundle doesn't maximize your gaming experience. But first, a summary:

The games are part of a series of "First Person" games that came to a conclusion with "Jedi Knight 3: Jedi Academy" which isn't part of this bundle. All three games represent the same basic idea with different forms of execution and different degrees of sophistication which hint at the years that separate each one.

In DF, you are Kyle Katarn - a mercenary who occasionally works for the rebellion, but never with it. You track down various clues of a new Imperial weapon, "The Dark Trooper". Your search will take you from industrial planets to remote ice-bound fortresses; from the floating city of "Nar Shadaa" to the Imperial Capitol of Coruscant; from the private yacht of Jabba the Hutt to an Imperial star destroyer. Graphics and gameplay are crude - reflecting the state of 1994: graphics don't hint at distances as well as later games, and simple movement becomes unnecessarily clunky, such that simple things like jumping from one platform to another will send you into cheat mode. The sound is definitely circa 1994 - though the effects are okay, the music is annoying MIDI. Head movements are similarly clunky - you can turn your head or incline it, but not with the same controls. You'll soon feel less like you're playing a person than driving a car (many players complained of feeling car-sick, but sticking with the game nonetheless). The story is actually interesting, but it's painfully dated - especially when paired with the newer games.

Jedi Knight stands the test of time better, being a massive leap over DF. You've got a game engine that accurately represents distances and perspectives, more intuitive movement controls and much better sound. Weapons sound nastier, and John Williams's score beautifully punctuates every scene. The story flows like a movie - adding up to an immersive experience that easily stands the test of time. Inventively, the game incorporates cheats as "Jedi Powers", and even throws in usable lightsabres. As Kyle Katarn, you hunt down an evil Jedi warlord named Jerec - the man who killed Kyle's father (and no, Jerec isn't Kyle's father). Learning that Jerec (who leads a cult of other evil Jedi, and hordes of stormtroopers) is himself searching for a mysterious Jedi burial ground oozing with the force-power of thousands of Jedi, Kyle's mission changes from one of vengeance to the salvation of the galaxy. Though you have a lightsaber, there are few actual battles here, and I found them the weakest part of the game. The graphics engine isn't up to modeling the many graceful and lethal moves of the duels of the movies, and I'd be lying if I said that the engine wasn't dated. Other forms of battle, problem solving and level navigation more than make up for that. One problem though - LA released an expansion of JK called "Mysteries of the Sith" - not quite as good as JK, it's still an unmissable experience, and you should hunt it down either separately or find a version of JK that has it included.

"Outcast" is probably the game that will occupy most of your time - it's easily the hardest one in terms of enemy AI, counterintuitive problem solving, number of enemy Jedis and overall length. Compared to the older JK, there were many instances where I just had to re-play the same moment over and over again. In Outcast, you are again Kyle Katarn. The empire having been defeated, has been reduced to pockets of resistance called "The Remnants". Working for the Republic, you regularly infiltrate Remnant strongholds - but in one you learn of a plot involving Remnant forces and an army of evil Jedis called "Reborn". Your mission will take you from a volcanic world used as a prison colony/slave-labor camp to the stratospheric avenues of Bespin's Cloud City; from Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 (last seen as the hidden rebel base in "Star Wars") to a remnant battlecruiser. The game uses the same graphics engine as the newer "Jedi Academy", but is much more challenging than that game - with longer levels and probably more of them. At the same rate, it took me about 4 times as long to polish off Outcast as it did Academy.

PICK UP YOUR VISUAL SCANNING: Outcast is easily the most hardware-intense of the three games, though I ran it smoothly on my old P4 2ghz, 512mb PC. The game IS choosy when it comes to graphics cards - it wouldn't run until I swapped my old Savage card for a GeForce3 (I had no such problems running "Voyager: Elite Force" even though the two games have the same graphics engine) so check the LA website before you buy. I had no XP compatibility issues for JK - again a worthy game even as it nears its 10th birthday.