Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

1001 Video Games

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

• Bastila Shan's character was originally meant to be Vima Sunrider, a Jedi from Dark Horse Comics' Tales of the Jedi series. The name Bastila was originally meant for Juhani's character. Eventually, it was decided to create a different character rather than use Vima Sunrider. The new character was named Bastila, while the other character who bore this name was named Juhani.
• Master Vrook Lamar is voiced by Ed Asner, of Lou Grant fame.

Endings

There are two different endings, based on the choices your main character makes. A third, funny ending can be accessed by pressing a button combination just before the final confrontation with Darth Malak.

Inconsistencies

Despite the nature of Hutts seen in the Star Wars films and various literature, none of the Hutts met in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a kingpin of organized crime, and most have almost nothing to do with criminal activity at all.

Juhani

When the player first meets the female Jedi Juhani, they can choose whether to turn her back to the light side or kill her. When doing the latter, the player will have a showdown with another female Jedi who claims to be her lover (she also makes an appearance later in Korriban in which she makes a final attempt to avenge her lover). Furthermore, when playing as a female character and taking her with, she will occasionally flirt with the player in classic Baldur's Gate II fashion and, by the end of the game, confess to have romantic feelings (which the player can return). These two females are thus the first homosexual characters in the Star Wars universe.

Juhani is actually a boy's name in Finland and Estonia.

References

Naturally the game features numerous references to the Star Wars movies: * The line "My name's [your character's name], I'm here to save you", which is what was said by Luke Skywalker when saving Leia Organa. * Mission Vao says "I have a bad feeling about this" at least twice. This is an homage to a repeated line in each of the Star Wars films. * Probable ancestors of characters seen in the films can be seen in this game or are at least mentioned in literature. Examples include: Galduran Calrissian - Probable ancestor of Lando Calrissian, Cassus Fett - Probable ancestor of Jango and Boba Fett, Komad Fortuna - Probable ancestor of Bib Fortuna, Admiral Forn Dodonna - Probable ancestor of General Jan Dodonna. The wealthy Organa family is also mentioned early on in the game. * T3-M4 and Ebon Hawk are modeled in part after R2-D2 and the Millennium Falcon respectively. * Darth Malak was modeled in part after Darth Vader. The game programmers wanted to create a Dark Lord of the Sith who would instill images of Vader's character without being a near-complete carbon copy. Malak was given a cybernetic vocal implant, and the rest of his body was left alone. * On Taris, the player has a goal to capture Bendak Starkiller. Starkiller was the name that Lucas originally wanted to use for Luke before changing it to Skywalker.

Secrets

Some droids are doing the robot dance. They pivot at the waist and jerk their arms in a style that emulates the popular 80s dance.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2003 – Best Console Game of the Year
  • 2003 – Best Console Role-Playing Game of the Year
  • 2003 – Best PC Role-Playing Game of the Year
  • 2003 – Best Console Story of the Year
  • 2003 – Best Console Voice Acting of the Year
  • 2003 – Best PC Voice Acting of the Year
• Computer Games Magazine
  • March 2004 - #1 Game of the Year 2003
• Computer Gaming World
  • March 2004 (Issue #236) – Game of the Year
  • March 2004 (Issue #236) – Role-Playing Game of the Year
  • March 2004 (Issue #236) – NPC of the Year (for HK-47)
  • March 2004 (Issue #236) – Best Story of the Year* GamePro (Germany)
  • February 13, 2004 - Best Xbox Game in 2003 (Reader's Voting)
• GameSpy
  • 2003 – Game of the Year
  • 2003 – Xbox Game of the Year
  • 2003 – #3 PC Game of the Year
  • 2003 – PC RPG of the Year
  • 2003 – Xbox RPG of the Year
  • 2003 – Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • 2003 – PC RPG of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • 2003 - Best Music of the Year (PC)
  • 2011 – #16 Top PC Game of the 2000s
• GameStar (Germany)
  • February 13, 2004 - Best PC Game in 2003 (Reader's Voting)
  • February 13, 2004 - Best PC RPG in 2003 (Reader's Voting)
• Golden Joystick Awards
  • 2003 - Xbox Game of the Year
• PC Gamer
  • March 2004 - Game of the Year 2003
  • April 2005 - #19 in the 50 Best Games of All Time list
• PC Games (Germany)
  • Issue 02/2004– Best Adventure Game in 2003 (Readers' Vote)
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 06/2005 - #10 Likeable Secondary Character (for HK-47)

Information also contributed by MegaMegaMan, PCGamer77, piltdown man, Rabbi Guru, Scott Monster and Zovni.