Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

The Good
Obsidian Entertainment has stuck with the original formula in terms of how the game runs but tweaked it, so that it's just right. There are more information screens, healing can be performed on other party members with medpacks, and you're now able to use workbenches and lab stations to breakdown or create new items of your own (provided you have the requisite stats).

The sound and music as always is well done, with the voice acting of most of the major characters being of good quality and the music being what you typically expect from a Star Wars game or movie.

The storyline of this game is very interesting and much more darker than the first game. However it fails to resolve properly (as you'll see mentioned in the next section).

The Bad
The graphics in the game is becoming rather dated as it uses the same engine as the original KOTOR. Occasionally, the activation of some Force Powers (e.g. Force Enlightenment) would result in the screen going blurry while you run, but would remain blurry when you return back to your normal running pace.

The most major gripe with the game however is how obvious it is that this game was rushed. The number of bugs that this game has in showing cut-scenes, dialogue trees, quests, AI pathfinding behaviour, application crashes etc. is quite horrendous and shows a lack of any quality assurance whatsoever. True many of the minor technical issues can be fixed with a patch, but another thing that was rushed that is causing much anger to fans of the original KOTOR, is the ending. It has been recently leaked out what Obsidian Entertainment had initially planned for the ending and it would've explained a lot of plot holes that multiply as the game comes to a close. When I was playing the ending chapter, everything was rushing by so fast that I didn't have time to appreciate the fruits of my labour - one of them being the increasing of influence of your NPCs. What's the point of spending the time to improve your characters and get along with them, if you don't learn anything about them or even have a use for them at the end? Very disappointing.

The Bottom Line
If you're new to the KOTOR universe, this game is pretty good, if you can get past all the major bugs and all. To fans of the original KOTOR, it's a double-edged sword. On one hand, you'll better appreciate what's going on in the universe since you have past knowledge. On the other, you'll be disappointed by the ending since it just doesn't have the same amount of choice and grandeur that the original managed to achieve. In the end, it sometimes feels that what I've really bought is an expensive, long and buggy expansion pack, rather than the sequel to a previous GOTY winner. Overall, I give this game: 6/10.

The Good
The first Knights of the Old Republic was an excellent game that did a lot to bring serious RPGs closer to the mainstream without making too many compromises. The development of the sequel was entrusted to Obsidian, a new team consisting of veteran RPG designers that contributed to some of the turn-of-the-millennium most beloved classics.

Sith Lords is very similar to the first game, having a nearly identical gameplay system with only a few light modifications. Item-crafting is one of those: you can spend hours at the workbench manufacturing your own upgrades and assembling weapons and armor. Generally, these seem to be more items and more different types of accessories, stimulants, Jedi techniques, and feats. The difference is not striking; but at least nothing was taken out or further simplified. A few battles are actually more challenging than in the first game, though overall the difficulty level remains more or less the same.

Sith Lords improves upon the original game's characterization, dedicating more gameplay time and more refined interaction possibilities with your companions. Using what is probably the game's coolest new gameplay mechanic, you can affect their alignment through dialogue choices and actions of the protagonist. Everyone will respond to what you say and do in one way or another, and the results are sometimes quite far-reaching and unpredictable. In general, the sequel treats ethical issues in a more complex fashion, with more parameters and variables than before.

The characters in Sith Lords are deeper and more enigmatic than the companions you have encountered in the first game. A seemingly lighthearted womanizer will eventually reveal a tormented soul covered by scars of war, and his moral instability will prompt you to make choices. A woman who had to serve a Sith Lord who destroyed her entire home world can still be brought to the light - or crushed forever by the dark side if you decide to pursue that road. One of the typical examples of how the game takes familiar humorous Star Wars icons and fills them with new content is an evil wookie who hates those who have shown him mercy; gratitude is unbearable to him, and he constantly seeks death. The main antagonist of the story, not revealed until later, is also significantly more interesting than the rather standard villain of the predecessor.

The sequel has a noticeably darker, more brooding mood than the first game. The main character has even deeper moral problems to deal with, and overall the story feels more mature, less schematically executed. The quality of the writing is perhaps even higher than in the previous installment, and its style is more thought-provoking, bringing back memories of Planescape: Torment. Like before, much attention is paid to the content of side quests; particularly interesting are those related to your companions, since they allow you to find out more about them and open new conversation choices.

The Bad
Sith Lords was clearly either released too early, or something happened during development that caused designers to cut out large chunks of content. Particularly towards the end, the game feels garbled, with underdeveloped plot branches and a rushed ending that ignores many decisions the player has taken throughout the course of the story. There is a fan-made patch that supposedly restores much of the original content floating on the net, but I haven't tried it yet.

My main beef with Sith Lords, however, is its excessive similarity to the previous game. The problem is not the recycling of the engine or lack of any significant additions to the gameplay mechanics, but the refusal to go beyond the boundaries in structure and world design. To illustrate this, consider Fallout 2, which hardly invented anything of its own, but stuffed a familiar formula with as much content and experiments as it could. Sith Lords, on the other hand, copies so much that it often feels more like an expansion pack with a new story than a full-fledged sequel.

The game's adherence to formula can get irritating. In the original game, the excuse for traveling to other planets was collecting specific items; here, it is meeting specific people - in both cases, the plot wouldn't budge until you completed the whole thing. The world of Sith Lords is by no means larger than that of the predecessor, and the developers employ very similar methods in the design and layout of individual planets. There is little sense of continuity, traveling is restricted, and nothing was done to correct artificial borders that noticeably limit exploration.

The Bottom Line
Sith Lords lacks the polish of the first game and could have been bolder and more expansive in its design and its treatment of gameplay. However, despite being a rather timid sequel, it is an enjoyable RPG with tasty writing, quality quests, and interesting ethical themes open for discussion. May the Force be with you, Obsidian.

The Good
This sequel may at first seem to be little different from the original. In fact, looking at the game graphically or based on gameplay, it is the same game but with a different story.

However, as you progress into the game, you notice many new features not found in the original. Although you could upgrade items with your workbench in the original, now you can also break items down and create your own items to use for upgrading weapons and armor. This can allow you to create much better equipment. There is also a lab station now, which lets you breakdown and create medpacks, stims, grenades, and mines. If you use these regularly, you won't have to worry about running out in the sequel. If you don't, then you'll be like me and never touch the lab station. Even so, it's a good addition.

Another useful thing in the game is that some of your party members will create items for you (security spikes, grenades, etc) and your T3 unit will let you upgrade items anywhere you want if it's in your party.

The number of upgrades available for your weapons and armor have been increased greatly, which lets you have a wider variety of choices. There are also many more weapon and armor types available in the game.

As with the previous game, communicating with your party members lets you gain various things. However, in this sequel, this is taken much farther. Talking to your party can gain them more abilities and powers (even create a dual-class jedi by taking on an apprentice). You can also improve your powers greatly by speaking to your party members... everything from increased force points to new force powers to ability to heal your T3 droid. It is strongly recommended that you talk to all your party members often.

Being a lightsaber user, I also am happy to see more color choices in the game. Unfortunately, some of the colors are not very different visually. Such as viridian being almost the same as green, and orange being almost the same as red. Still, more choice in color is great to see.

By taking the time to improve your light or dark side, you will get stat increases, such as +3 Wisdom. You can also get a nice stat increase by finding and using a lightsaber upgrade gem that's tuned to your own being... depending on if you're light or dark side and what class you are, you will gain some very powerful stat increases that get better as you level up.

I like how the game lets you learn about the original game with history and flashbacks. It's a good reminder of what happened in the original and can help people who have not played the original to better understand what led up to where this game is in history.

Dialogs are also interesting in this game. The programmers definitely had a sense of humor when coming up with the interactions between you and your party members and between themselves. All your droids tend to dislike each other and have various issues you'll end up seeing in cutscenes. Mira has some very interesting comments regarding you and your other female companions. Kreia just strives to get you to hate her and also has a very surprising comment regarding you and the handmaiden... which, in turn, gives you a dialog choice that is very funny to hear. The interactions start to bring you to the point seen in games like Planescape: Torment, where the characters really have a personality of their own and aren't just drones as found in most games.

Swoop racing has been improved to include changes in elevation, traffic, and mines. This can make it more challenging than the original races.

There are many lightsaber forms that affect not only how well you battle, but also change the movements you make while fighting. This makes the battles look much more interesting.

The Bad
The worst part of the game are the bugs. Watching the game crash frequently, having issues where swoop races that are completed seem to think you crashed and don't reward you, having party pathfinding poorly handled, having your character suddenly jump (not force jump, this is a bug) halfway across the screen ... often in the wrong direction... these make the game frustrating at times.

Although I understand not giving you a lightsaber at the start of the game, you don't end up getting one for a long time. Although the game is much longer than the original, the time to get your first lightsaber shouldn't be any longer than in the original. Most people, I think, prefer using a lightsaber in a Star Wars game and having to wait is annoying. There are also fewer drops for lightsabers. In the original, I ended up with over 20 red gems... in this one, I'm closer to 5. Granted, you don't need that many, but there just really aren't many colors to choose from for quite awhile into the game unless you start out at Dantooine.

There are many places where you must do everything when you're there, or you won't ever get the chance. Many places will not allow you to return to them after you leave. Although this can help with the plot, it can be annoying when you can't open something because of low skill and then you can't return with higher skill to open it.

As with the previous game, the plot is very fragmented. Each planet has its own story which supposedly all works together into one larger plot. However, there really isn't very much combining of the plots into one larger plot. About the only real thing combining the planets is the need to get all the Jedi Masters together. In most cases, if you complete everything on one planet, you never have to return. There's no comment about how you helped to restore a government or helped to get the fuel source for Telos...

The Bottom Line
If you liked the first game, you'll love this one. The new features really make the game an improvement over the first, even though the gameplay isn't changed. You definitely need to play the original first, as this game builds off the original a lot. If you're looking for cutting edge graphics, weren't a fan of the original game, or just don't like Star Wars, then this game isn't for you.