Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

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
Everything was great about this game accept a few things. They had great story lines, amazing characters, and gameplay was fun.

The Bad
Well, the graphics arent that great. Uhhhh, Thats about it. With it being a RPG its replay value isnt that great, you only want to play it once or twice.

The Bottom Line
AMAZING. It is a turn based RPG. You pick your attack, and he does it. It isnt like some turn based games though, in most if you dont pick your attack your opponent dosent pick their either, your at a mini attack screen, but in this if you wait to pick your attack the game automatically picks your weakest attack against your opponent. It has a great storyling with an unpredictable twist, and amazing characters. You and 9 other people (well, 5 people, 1 wookie, 1 Twileek, and 2 droids) go on a quest for the Star Forge to either save, or destroy the galaxy. You can only travel with 2 at a time but 3 of them are jedi so you are able to have your whole party as jedi. It is an amazing game, now a platinum title for the Xbox ($19.99) so go buy it and have a blast.

The Good
Graphically quite splendid and early on, as you start to gain proficiency with the force, you feel as though there are unlimited possibilities for character development. The Star Wars universe is beautifully "pre-created" and you don't doubt for a second that this is the prehistory of the whole saga. I loved the Tatooine segment especially, dripping with atmosphere. Sadly though this is where the gloss starts to lose some of its lustre.

The Bad
The dreadful crushing linearity which was very well disguised until you played a little way in. The light/dark options were pretty much cosmetic until the very end. I was beastly to absolutely everyone and my crew still stood by me..even as I went on the rampage, killing, lying and stealing. The combat was arbitrary and the feeling of control was totally missing. Constant pausing to reissue orders became a chore. Fights just became one big scramble. I could have let everyone go auto and still have won every fight. Also I really didn't feel that any of my levelling up choices made much of a difference to the game at all. There was always someone to bail me out..whatever happened. As I got further into the game the limited vista became more apparent...sure there were plenty of sub-missions but they were basically the same four or five ideas rehashed again and again. Dull and repetitive are the words that spring to mind. I nearly forgot the awful, awful awful, "everyone levels up automatically" thing. What happened to the idea of working for advancement? What's the point in offering rewards for character advancement when the rest of the characters just get it automatically anyway? The final nail in the coffin was how easy the game became..BEFORE I was even half way through.

The Bottom Line
A very clever job of camouflage. A sub-standard game dressed in "the kings new clothes". I feel like the little boy in the crowd, my finger points and everyone around glares at me. Initially fun but not very taxing and ultimately disappointing. Everything that makes RPGs great has been abandoned here for window dressing..