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.