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It has been a long and interesting ride with the Star Wars gaming license, with about as many games as there is sand on Tatooine. The latest offerings come in the form of a role playing gameKnights of the Old Republic. Knights is a somewhat confined and well-executed romp through perhaps the greatest franchise ever created. Games magazines are giving Knights high marks, and its well deserved, because she immersiveness of the game rivals just about every other Star Wars title from LucasArts or its stable of developers.
Knights succeeds in just about every categoryit is both stunning to behold and fun to play. Characters are well designed, if a little `same-ish' given that all men and women are the same height, with only superficial variances in model types. The game utilizes a bare-bones version of 3rd Edition D&D at its core, but unlike Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR only uses the system as background support and the mechanics rarely if ever intrude into actual game play. What the game doesn't allow is dual or multi-classing. You can start as either a Soldier, a Scout or a Scoundrel and by 8th to 10th level, you become a Jedi. And your character can only be human. Each class has their pluses and minuses, usually in areas like Skills, Feats and allotment of Jedi powers. Unlike Neverwinter Nights, however, you control the progress of your NPCschoosing their skills, feats, and choice of equipment and weapons that they use. The Jedi classes are almost overwhelmingly superior to their mundane counterparts, but given this is a game about Jedi during their golden age, it is to expected.
KOTOR's story revolves around two former Jedi who, victorious over the Mandalorians, returned to conquer the Republic after falling to the Dark Side of the Force. They arrive at the head of a massive star fleet that no one seems to know where they got it from. It is your job to figure out how they managed to assemble such a large fleet and hopefully do something about it without succumbing to the Dark Side. (You can play through the game, making choices that will eventually determine whether you become light or dark.) Sadly, however, KOTOR's story is essentially the same as Neverwinter Nightsinstead of finding four `words of power', you must collect four star map fragments that lead you to an unknown world inhabited by the remnants of an ancient race that essentially gave the galaxy hyperspace travel. And the answer to where the Sith star fleet is coming from is more akin to a Star Trek story line than that of Star Wars. None of this changes the fact that most of the events that lead up to this revelation are interesting and a whole lot of fun. The various plot twists and the `staggering' revelation about your character always keep it interesting.
In Knights you travel to several worldsyou start on the city-world of Taris, Dantooine, where you begin your Jedi training, Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Mannon, and the Sith world of Korriban. There are innumerable quests that you must undertake, many with light or dark consequences, though most of which are entertaining. In these adventures you are aided by several NPCsa Republic soldier named Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan, a prissy Jedi Sentinel, the perky Twi'lek girl, Mission Vao and her Wookie sidekick, Zaalbar, an astromech droid, Canderous Ordoan ex-Mandalorian mercenary, a cantankerous fallen Jedi named Jolee Bindo, and HK-47, a smart-mouthed assassin droid turned translator. HK-47 steals every scene he is in with his dry, dark humor, wry condescension and quips on the limitations of so-called `meatbags' and bragging about his success as an assassin. There is also a never ending supply of equipment and gear to upgrade characters witharmor, shields, weapons and lovely flamethrowers.
The combat system involves queuing up actions for each character then watching them executed on screen. You can queue up four actions, be they attacks, Force powers, healing items or stimulant injectors (potions, essentially), and each action is executed in sequence. You can pause at any time, assigning actions to your characters, targets to attack, etc. then unpause and watch everything unfold. Though a limited way to do things, it is never dull to watch and the combat sequences are well animated and very flashy. One downside is that you can't switch weapons on the fly, rather you must pause, enter a sub-menu and swap weapons out as you desire. Combat should have been a little more interactive, but since battles rarely last very long anyway, it hardly makes a difference.
KOTOR's graphics are lavish and everything has that all-important Star Wars look to it. Sound effects are bang on. In this BioWare really did such a wonderful job in capturing all of the nuances of what Star Wars is all aboutsomething Lucas can't seem to do in latest batch of prequels. This is perhaps the deepest and most Star Wars-like game since Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, successfully capturing the best of what Star Wars is. I would have preferred a more 3rd-person-esque style of control and more freedom of movement, because though you can drive your character around the places you visit, you cannot climb, jump, swing, etc., which really would not have been that hard to accomplish within the confines of the game.
Ultimately, it is a very satisfying gamehuge game worlds, which while linear in nature are fun to explore, epic story and fun characters more than make up for its failings. It has some bugs that lead to system lock-ups that forced several restarts. No mention of midi-chlorians, prophecies, or `chosen one's'. It is a very romantic high adventure peppered with humor and a sense of fun kinda what the movies are supposed to be like. What's more is that it provides 40-60 hours of fresh gameplay, making it the best Star Wars game in a long time.
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This is an awesome game. Period.
In many ways, this game redefines the role playing genre. What is very unique about this game is that it has a very rich story. Probably one of the best Star Wars stories ever. This is the first game I have ever played where I simply kept going because I wanted to see what happens next. And I can guarantee you that there will be plot twists you will never be expecting!
Also, the game features some of the most memorable game characters ever. Way to go, HK-47!
The game also makes great use of character-shaping techniques. Are you going to evolve along the light side of the force, or is the dark side too tempting? Are you going to change your mind half way through? Many special abilities can be aquired, turning characters into very unique beings. And then of course, there is the choice of your party members: Do you want the strong wookie to help you out, or would you rather have a violent droid with you? Or perhaps a Jedi knight whom you just saved from the dark side? Or is it all just a trap?
The choices you make throughout this game have a great impact. In fact, this is problably the first game ever that I will play through a second time! Dark side, here I come...
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I had more fun playing Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic than I did watching the first two recent prequels at the theater. The story was more compelling and better yet, I had a chance to decide my Jedi's path. Simply put, this game is one of the best role-playing games for the PC in years. Now the game does use Dungeons and Dragons rules and it's not an action-based game. In other words, you will assign your character and his henchmen duties that they must perform in combat and watch the results (which are determined or prerolled by the computer) played out in front of you. It works similar to the popular D&D gaming series Baldur's Gate only with a more cinematic engine. (It's also made by the same people.) Also, don't expect to meet Luke Skywalker anytime soon as the events in this game take place at least a thousand years before the classic trilogy. Don't let that sway you from buying the game though because it has a fantastic story with its own classic heroes and villains. Blasters, Dark Jedis, classic planets such as Tatooine and plenty of fixtures from the Star Wars universe are in the game. Plus, the story has a nice twist that will knock your socks off! A fun game for any RPG fan. If you don't enjoy the RPG genre or only prefer quick games with little reading, don't pick it up, you probably won't enjoy it, but everyone else should give it a try. If I had to make a list of the top five games for the PC in 2003, this game would be on it.
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You don't have to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate what a great RPG this is, but it can't hurt. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the best RPG that I have played at least since Baldurs Gate 2, and it is the best Star Wars experience since the first trilogy. There is just so much to see, and so much to experience. Then, when you are finished, you can go back and do it all over again as an evil character instead of a good one.
On a high end video card, the game is beautiful to look at. The level of detail in the graphics is astonishing. The on-screen appearance of your character and your companions changes depending upon what you equip them with, and your physical appearance actually changes depending upon how good or evil you behave. The environments are immersive and realistic, and also varied. You fight on grass-covered plains, beautiful beaches, desert, and even a bit underwater. The grass and the trees sway in the breeze and sand kicks up when you run across the beach. Combat is equally impressive to watch. Lightsaber battles are reminiscent of the big one at the end of "The Phantom Menace". You watch characters thrust, parry, feint, kick, and slice with their lightsabers. And then there's the force powers oh the force powers. They are fun to use, and dazzling to look at.
Every NPC line in the game is voice-acted. Every single last one. And it's all high-quality material. I can't state how great this part is. It's like getting to play through a 40-hour epic movie. Some dialog trees are huge and go on for minutes at a time. Your NPC companions are fun to click on just to see if they have anything interesting to say, and they usually do. They are deeply developed, unique, and have interesting stories to tell. One of them, a homicidal droid, provides a lot of comic relief. Another is brutal mercenary who tells interesting war stories. Chances are, you will want to take different party members with you on different quests just to see what they have to say. Lots of NPC's have their own side plots, which are woven into the game.
The storyline itself is not that great, but it's the way that the story is told that is so great. The themes of Good vs. Evil and Light vs. Dark are shown to you over and over again. These concepts are not explained to you. Instead, you experience them for yourself. You get to witness or perform good deeds, as well as atrocities. If you are playing a good character, then by the end of the game you will have developed genuine feelings of distaste for The Sith and their Dark Lord, Malak. If you are playing as an evil character, than you will have an opportunity to commit some truly heinous acts against helpless civilians, or your friends. All of this gives you a true sense of role-playing that is unparalleled since Planescape: Torment.
The role-playing system isn't as robust as D&D, but there is still a lot to it. There are hundreds of goodies like armor, weapons, and accessories that you can equip your character and companions with. Chances are, you'll play a certain way one time, and then want to try some different setups the next time that you play. You can change the color of your lightsaber, and change the crystals in it to upgrade its properties. You can wield just one lightsaber, a double-ended staff sabre, or one in each hand. You can also choose between brute force or finesse, but brute force seems to be an easier path. As you progress through the game, there is a true feeling of power progression. You can feel yourself changing from a lowly soldier to a godlike Jedi who at the end of the game slices through hordes of powerful enemies like a hot knife through butter. That feeling of progression is what makes great RPG's like this so addictive.
It's simple. This is the best RPG since Baldurs Gate 2 (another Bioware title). If you like Star Wars, or if you have liked any of Bioware's other role-playing games, then you must give this game a try.
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I'm a girl gamer and although I am not a big fan of Star Wars, I LOVED Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. The graphics were beautiful, the plotline awesome, and the character models simply amazing. There are dozens of ethnic models to chose from, and you get to play as either a male character or a female character. Both genders have several unique subplots, including a small but sweet romance. (Oooh, gotta love that Carth).
My only peeve? The turret game! I might've been able to ace this one on the console, but it was super hard on my laptop trackpad. Since the game is mandatory and not 'skippable' I washed out several times before I hooked up an external mouse and learned that you need to aim your 'cannons' in FRONT of the ships you're trying to shoot. This allows for a greater margin of error. Still, I did find this a minor annoyance in an otherwise BEAUTIFUL game.
What a fun and entertaining game! Oh, and shall I mention the landscape of the "Forgotten World" was one of the most beautiful digitized landscapes I've ever seen in a video game? Really cool!
5 STARS for hours of enjoyment.
