Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Description official descriptions
Four thousand years before the events depicted in the Star Wars movies, the political and ideological situation is not much different from what we have seen in the prequel trilogy: the Republic and the Jedi Order are fighting against two powerful Sith lords, Darth Revan and his apprentice, Darth Malak. It is said that the former was successfully defeated by the Jedi, and that Darth Malak betrayed his mentor and is planning to take on the Republic by himself. His aggression is so successful that some Jedi have decided to join his ranks. A seemingly ordinary soldier of the Republic is traveling aboard a space ship that is attacked by Darth Malak's minions. Narrowly escaping, the soldier meets a female Jedi named Bastila, one of those who have fought Darth Revan in the decisive battle. With her help, the soldier must learn to become a Jedi, stop Darth Malak, and discover the truth about his or her own past.
Knights of the Old Republic is a role-playing game that uses the Star Wars D20 rule system, which is similar to the 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Character development and combat are handled similarly to BioWare's previous RPGs such as Baldur's Gate series. Combat engine follows similar "real-time with pause" rules. There are only three active combatants on the player's side (as opposed to six in Baldur's Gate). Several characters join the party and can be switched at the player's will.
Eventually, the protagonist will have to train at the Jedi academy to earn a lightsaber and force moves. Force powers include stun, force pull (which pulls opponents or objects toward the player-controlled character), the Jedi Mind Trick, which persuades people to see things the player's way, and many others. The player has various weapons at his or her disposal, from the lightsaber to blasters, grenades, ion rifles, etc.
Throughout the game, the player will visit many Star Wars locations that appeared in the movies, such as Kashyyyk, the homeworld of the Wookiees, the desert planet of Tatooine, and others. Interacting with characters in various ways and performing side quests influences the protagonist's stand with the forces of Light and Darkness. The player can turn the main character into a flawless Jedi, a ruthless Sith, or anything in between. Some of the player's choices influence major events that occur within the storyline.
Spellings
- ζι 倧ζοΌζ§ε ±εζ¦ε£« - Simplified Chinese spelling
- ζι倧ζ°οΌθε ±εζ¦ε£« - Traditional Chinese spelling
Groups +
- 3D Engine: Odyssey
- Boss Fight Books games
- Console Generation Exclusives: Xbox
- EA Classics releases
- Force Powers-themed games
- Gameplay feature: Arena fighting
- Gameplay feature: Character development - Skill distribution
- Gameplay feature: Dating / Romance
- Gameplay feature: Gambling
- Gameplay feature: Karma meter
- Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
- Gameplay feature: Tower of Hanoi puzzle
- Games made into comics
- Middleware: Bink Video
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Sound engine: AIL/Miles Sound System
- Star Wars licensees
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series
- Star Wars: The Old Republic games
- Theme: Amnesia
- Theme: LGBT
- Xbox Classics releases
- Xbox Platinum Hits releases
Screenshots
Promos
Videos
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Credits (Xbox version)
293 People (246 developers, 47 thanks) · View all
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Lead Sound Designer | |
Additional Sound Design | |
Cutscene Mixing | |
Original Star Wars Sound Effects | |
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 92% (based on 124 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 349 ratings with 18 reviews)
Absolutely Wonderful Game, even if you're not a SW fan!!!!!
The Good
The gameplay and graphics, the music and sound come together to form a near-perfect roleplaying experience. The story was great, exceeding my expectations even. Classic tale of Good vs Evil... or Evil vs Evil, depending on how one plays the game!
The voiceacting was surprisingly good, given some of the cheese acting we've been subjected to over the years (ie. FFX).
Very little in this game did not appeal to me. Christ! I bought an X-Box just to be able to play this game. More than a year since its release, I'm still playing this title and can't wait to play KOTOR II !!!!!
The Bad
It could easily have been about twenty hours longer with a planet or two extra in the game. Also, considering the fact that they probably had access to the sound archives at Skywalker Ranch, Bioware could have tried harder to come up with better sounding alien speak. After a while, "Nee slimo poodoo bodo" starts to get really annoying!!! Why does every non-Basic speaking alien have the same exact speech patterns?!
The Bottom Line
A great, well-rounded RPG with a great story, cool characters, weapon and item customization, fairly decent arcade mini-games, a villain worthy of Darth Vader (almost) with a really neat sounding voice. The music is the best I've heard outside of John Williams' original score. Play it if you haven't. You are missing out!!!
BTW- Will there be a KOTOR IIII? Time will tell...
Xbox · by Chris Parent (5) · 2004
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.
Xbox · by Ray Caukwell (1) · 2007
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..
Xbox · by kemmysunshine (9) · 2003
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
KotOR for teh cheaps! Should I? | Slug Camargo (583) | Oct 4, 2009 |
Trivia
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 β Best Console Game of the Year
- 2003 β Best Console Role-Playing Game of the Year
- 2003 β Best PC Role-Playing Game of the Year
- 2003 β Best Console Story of the Year
- 2003 β Best Console Voice Acting of the Year
- 2003 β 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) β Game of the Year
- March 2004 (Issue #236) β Role-Playing Game of the Year
- March 2004 (Issue #236) β NPC of the Year (for HK-47)
- March 2004 (Issue #236) β Best Story of the Year* GamePro (Germany)
- February 13, 2004 - Best Xbox Game in 2003 (Reader's Voting)
- GameSpy
- 2003 β Game of the Year
- 2003 β Xbox Game of the Year
- 2003 β #3 PC Game of the Year
- 2003 β PC RPG of the Year
- 2003 β Xbox RPG of the Year
- 2003 β Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- 2003 β PC RPG of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- 2003 - Best Music of the Year (PC)
- 2011 β #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 02/2004β 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.
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Related Sites +
-
A Very Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Knights of the Old Republic, with commentary being provided by Producer Mike Gallo (September, 2004). -
Lucas Arts: Knights of the Old Republic
Official site. -
Old-Republic.com
Fansite containing various information about the series. -
Something Awful review
A humorous review on Something Awful (Windows version) -
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
developer's website -
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
publisher's website -
Star Wars: KotOR @ GameBanshee
A site containing various information about the first game in the series (walkthroughs, strategy guide, downloads, etc.). -
StarWarsKnights.com
English fansite containing news, strategy guides, downloads and more (complete series covered). -
Sternenschmiede
German fansite containing news, walkthroughs, downloads and more (complete series covered).
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by JPaterson.
Macintosh added by Corn Popper. iPad added by GTramp. Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. Windows added by Trunks. Xbox One added by Kennyannydenny. Android added by Kabushi. iPhone added by LepricahnsGold.
Additional contributors: Rebound Boy, Unicorn Lynx, Indra was here, Zack Green, Apogee IV, Zeppin, Paulus18950, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack, Evolyzer.
Game added July 16, 2003. Last modified October 25, 2024.