Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

The Good
The 3rd Edition D&D works flawlessly in this game. The developers clearly took their time considering all the amazing breadth available in 3e but selected that which would most augment how they wanted the game to work. It IS boiled down, probably to increase accessibility to multiple audiences, so D&D purists might have issues with only 3 character classes and 3 jedi "occupations", as well as only having a couple dozen feats and spells. That said, it is my opinion that the distillation of complex (and even confusing to me) D&D rules down only helps the game and never hinders it. Graphically it is excellent, though recent releases such as DX:IW or Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell look better.

Environments are unique, expansive, and immersive. Visual effects are extremely well done (a great example is the Jedi Guardian's "force jump" ability). Player models are reasonably well varied, though by the end of the game, you've seen them all...twice.

The sound is excellent throughout. I recommend playing it (as I do all games) on a good set of expensive stereo headphones and discarding speakers all together. The original score (thank you!) is compelling and suitable in all the environments, and the sound effects are great. Voice acting is superb, probably the best voice acting I've heard in any genre.

Plot is compelling, though I recommend playing the game for at least 1.5 hours at a time, or it can feel disjointed, simply because there are a multitude of tasks to complete, and each takes time. There are numerous, non-fetch sidequests to do. KOTOR really stands out in the quality of its sidequests, which are not numerous, but are well designed. Be prepared for puzzles in the main plot line and on the side. I had trouble with them, but they're likely only of average difficulty. What I'd say makes this game so much better than just about any game i've played in the past 5 years is the small things. Like how in cutscenes your facial features reflect your force alignment. Or the way fight-scenes look almost like action games, but are based on your basic die-roll. Or the relationships the NPC's in your party develop. Or the way you can customize your lightsabers. Or The moral flexibility that occurs throughout the entirety of the game (excluding certain key decisions). I could go on.

The game is fundamentally excellently designed and executed, yet it's the minor additions that really make it stand out. I can't stress this game enough.

The Bad
Blasters are underpowered, especially against jedi. Repetitive facial models for NPC's. Not enough lightsaber colors! Inability to engage in unprompted violence against NPC's.

The Bottom Line
A must play. I refer any people considering this game to read PC gamer's review or the one on gamespot.com.

The Good
A Star Wars RPG seems only natural. However it would be years before we ever would get one. It must have been the late 90’s when it was rumored that LucasArts was shopping around the idea. Star Wars fans every where were horrified when it was being whispered that Squaresoft would make the game. Nothing came of this until years later Bioware announced that it was working of such as game for Microsoft’s new Xbox. Would it be the game Star Wars fans have been anticipating?

In Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, you make your PC, to suit your styling. From the get go you can be a Soldier, Scoundrel, or a Scout. Set about 10,000 years before the films it is quite a different galaxy than that of the films. As the game opens the ship you are on is under siege from the Sith. After an initial game tutorial you are thrown into action. From here the ship crashes on the planet Taris. You along with new companion, Carth Onasi, most find the Jedi Knight Bastila. The plot thickens as you rescue the Jedi, and must stop the Sith invasion of Taris. And the Sith Lord Malak.

Later in the game you train to become a Jedi Knight. More specially you can be a Jedi Guardian, Sentinel, and Consular. Each has pros and cons, as well as there own light saber color. Don’t like the assigned color? Than you can change it later.

During your travels to follow in Revan and Malak’s footsteps and gain the “Star Maps”. You will gain the aid of 9 others. And travel to 7 worlds and other places. You can also complete side quest for your self and companions. Including a love quest with the lovely Bastila. If you are a female it is with Carth.

You can choose to follow virtue and the light side, or succumb to the evil of the dark side. Two ends reflect your choice as well as the fates of your party.

The game plays as we have come to expect from an RPG. You explore areas, talk to NPCS and fight. Gain experience, level up, all that good stuff.

Combat is unique. Not unlike other Bioware games like Baldur’s Gate, the combat is turn based in real time. And also based on a dice roll. You have more options here. You can attack, try for a critical attack, a flurry, or power attack. You can use items, and defend. And Jedi can use force powers. Such as heal, force push, and many others. The combat can also be paused at any time. You can also set up a queue of attacks, and what not. You can also switch to the other two in your party at any time.

The fights look more real compared to that of Baldur’s Gate. With characters always in motion. Unlike in most Console RPGS, except maybe Skies Of Arcadia. The combat is also quite fun. More so when battling Sith.

There are also great mini-game including an outer space dog fight!

Thanks to the raw power of the Xbox, this is one good looking game. The inhabitants of the galaxy look realistic. As well as otherworldly when necessary. The areas are all well designed. If a little small. The facial features are astounding. As are the light effects of clashing light sabers.

The Music is pure Star Wars. With tunes directly taken from the films. As well as new music from Jeremy Soule. The composer behind Icewind Dale’s epic score, as well as that of Morrowind and Oblivion.

The voice actors do an amazing job. And there are quite a few famous VO actors here. The sound effects are taken directly from the legendary films. And still sound great.

The Bad
The restrictions of using a dice roll are evident. And special attacks are pretty much useless against regular foes.

Many areas seem tiny. They could have been bigger. There is a plot twist midway in the game that is quite lame. And another bad one towards the end. Why Bioware?

The Bottom Line
Overall this is easily the one of the if not the best Star Wars games out there. It is also on the PC. Star Wars and RPG fans could do worse than this epic set along time ago in a galaxy far far away.

The Good
You start out being able to choose between three "classes" of characters and whether you are male or female. These classes affect your stats as you level up as well as certain skills your character has. And choosing male or female affects your relationship to certain characters in the game.

Having the ability to choose between the light side and the dark side in the game is a great way to add replayability to the game. I played through as the light side first and had a lot of fun doing so, and when playing through as the dark side, I still had fun even though I already did everything once before.

Upgrading certain weapons and armor, as well as the light sabers, was a nice way to make the weapons more personal to your game. Rather than everyone ending up with the exact same weapons, you are able to upgrade certain things to add a little more variety. Although the upgrades for armor and standard weapons are the same no matter what, the light saber upgrades require you to make a choice as to what properties you would like for your light saber(s). You are even able to choose the color of your light saber(s).

When you become a jedi, you are able to choose what kind of jedi you want to be from three choices. Your choice determines your stats as you level up as well as what additional skills you have for your character.

The graphics were very well done and the cut-scenes of the planets were spectacular. The game allows you to remove most of the user interface from the screen to make the game a more cinematic experience.

The NPCs that are important are usually very interesting to talk to and many of them react based on your own actions. This allows you for a very immersive environment for your character.

The game also offers a VERY unexpected twist to the plot. Although clues are given throughout the game (they are redisplayed to you when the twist happens), someone would have to be very good at noticing subtle clues in order to figure out the twist before it happened unless they know about it beforehand. The twist really adds a lot to the game.

In order to save some time when moving throughout the game, you are able to instantly return to your ship from any "safe" place and then return from your ship to that place. This helps to save some time walking around.

Your party members have interesting (usually) stories to tell you which they will tell you as time passes if you choose to talk to them about it. These stories open up various side quests and can make your party members more interesting.

The Bad
The game was not very challenging. The only part that posed any real challenge was the very end because you can never completely kill off your enemies... you just have to get through to the next area alive. Unless you have a lot of med pacs, or you have three jedi with healing powers and a lot of jedi power available to them, this can become difficult. After getting through that small part of the game, you get to the end where you fight the last character who is very easy to beat.

Some of the side quests were annoying because you are always going back and forth between planets and then running all over the place to complete them.

The Bottom Line
If you like Star Wars and would like to play a jedi in an RPG, this is an excellent choice. The game offers a lot for the gamer and the problems with the game are really very minor. The only real problem is that you are not offered much of a challenge.