Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	8
Sound:	9
FunFactor:	6
PlasmaFactor:	8
Overall:	8

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Review
July 28, 2003 by Jody

by Jody - July 28, 2003

Fans of the Star Wars saga have been breathlessly waiting for a Star Wars title that would truly immerse them into their beloved Star Wars universe. Over last two decades over 80 Star Wars titles have been released for a variety of platforms. However, even though some of these titles were fantastic games, none of them truly captured the essence of the Star Wars universe in its entirety. Knights of the Old Republic is the first RPG set in the rich Star Wars Universe, which is why it was a no-brainer to have the RPG Jedi masters BioWare involved in its creation. The developer, BioWare, is known for their deep and rewarding RPGs such as the Baldur Gates series and Neverwinter Nights, and KotOR is no different.

BioWare has outdone themselves again!

One of the most amazing aspects of this game is how the world responds to your actions. It is very open ended, and the decisions that you make during the course of your adventures directly affect the outcome of the entire game. The thing about this is that your actions both affect the development of the main character and everyone else with you/NPCs (non playing characters). Take for an example, you kill someone, certain NPCs will hate you. Another example would be going to the Dark Side � everyone will treat you differently. Various actions reward or punish your character with DP or LP, which are short for Dark Side Points and Light Side points. If you�re a light Jedi and you do some evil tasks, you will be rewarded DP, if you�re dark and do good deeds, LP will come, so on so forth. Having these points represents what side of the force your character is on. If you have a lot of dark side points, you�re a dark Jedi (wow) and the same for the light side. With this point system, changing from light side to dark side may seem easy � and it is, but it just takes a lot of time.

Gameplay wise, Knights of the Old Republic is a lot more different than any other of Bioware�s games even. However, gamers that are familiar with Neverwinter Nights and Baldur�s Gate will find themselves right at home. KotOR is a third-person title; you control your party with the left analog stick and you can manipulate the camera with the right analog. All actions are initiated with the �A� button, this includes such actions as, climb, talk, open, and attack. While adventuring you can cycle through the items and people you can interact with by using the shoulder triggers. Skills, force powers, and items can be selected on your action menu with the D-pad. The controls are pretty lenient to use, but we�ll discuss this later on.

KOTOR takes place 4000 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode One. Shortly after the threat of the Mandalorian wars, the Republic is faced with a new menace, the Sith. The Sith used to be a separate species of its own, but after the renegade Jedi moved to their homeworld they became just a group of people that were following an idea, the idea of conquest and power. Now the Sith are led by the very heroes of the Republic that helped them win the Mandalorian wars. In particular an ex-Jedi, turned Sith lord by the name of Malak. Malak now leads the Sith armies against the Republic and against his once fellow Jedi companions. Not only did former Jedi rebel against their former ideas, but former commanders of the Republic forces also rebelled as well. Malak now hunts a young Jedi by the name of Bastila, an individual that is believed to hold the key to victory for the Republic; you (the hero) are assigned on her starship. I could go on and on about this, but that is the basis of it. It may sound good or bad to you, but I recommend trying it out just for this.

Even though the storyline is great, why would it matter if the game had some horrible controls? Once again, Bioware has come through for us � giving us the same engine with the same lovely controls that will draw us in for hours and hours. Controls are straightforward; left analog to move, right to control the camera. Menus are easy to navigate and combat uses the standard Bioware technique: Real time combat with the ability to pause. This is all rooted on a turn based game under the hood, so while the moves execute in sequence giving them a cool look, there are rules that are being followed in the background. The pausing merely allows you to give orders to all the members in the party. It works very well on the PC and works as well on the Xbox. There are some issues I do have with one aspect of the game, however. At certain points you will be called to man turrets to blast away incoming fighters, a la Luke in the Falcon, and you will learn to despise these diversions. At this point, the controls can get rather sluggish � it feels like trying to run through a pool of Jell-O. On the other hand, Swoop racing is quick and painless (and slightly addictive). You might try to find yourself playing it over and over just to beat your record. (I did at least) The other mini-game you can take part in is a card game of sorts, similar to blackjack, that is a good way to earn some quick cash. Very good for those Light Jedi's who are perpetually broke. Dark Jedi obviously have far less monetary issues as they simply steal or kill anyone who they suspect of having a fat cash wad.

Combat in KOTOR is done in real-time, meaning that once you give your character and NPCs their commands they will carry them out until you change them. Sometimes this can be a very good thing � other times it cannot. (�No, please don�t kill her, she�s innocent!�) Combat can be paused on the fly with the simple click of the �white� button, allowing you to change commands in the midst of battle. (As with any other of Bioware�s games) Also, you can set �AI scripts� for the NPCs in your party. Meaning that while you�re saber fighting with some other Jedi, your two other partners can use their blasters to shoot off the interfering troopers. Also, I�d like to add that KOTOR has one of the best built in tutorials that I have seen this game is very player friendly, which makes it tremendously easy to get started and to get into to. Another great thing about it, is the fact that even if your party members do nothing in the fight, they still get the XP (experience points) and the points.

Not state of the art, but clean.

We all know Bioware was never known for being on the cutting edge of graphics. Baldur's Gate II was by no means ugly but "state of the art" it was not. Their focus is on Gameplay and story as it should be for this genre -- KotOR is no different. On the Xbox the graphics are average at best, and downright ugly at the worst. Cut scenes are well done but while you play you will notice some jaggies and some very not attractive models. The non-combat animation also leaves a bit to be desired, many times the models appear way too stiff. Textures are decent however and the worlds you visit are all very different from each other. However, you might encounter some slow down during heavy battle sequences. I am not sure if playing on an HDTV has anything to do with it, so I tested it on a basic 29� television. Everything that I said above is true � the same exact thing. Don�t get me wrong, KotOR�s graphics are not horrible, but they are pretty linear. I do love the fact that they have expressions though. Unlike most other of Bioware�s games, KotOR delivers facial expressions well enough where I can manage to see what someone is thinking about me. Another lovely visual would be the lightsaber battles. Even though sometimes it slows the game down a little, they are still very fun to watch.

A LucasArts game with good voice acting.

Bioware definitely did the game justice with the sound. The Dolby 5.1 effects are outstanding, taking sound effects directly from the Lucasfilm library. (They were even better on my HDTV.) Voice acting is probably the best I have heard in a game, since Dark Cloud 2.. Every line of the games dialog is spoken as well so you can turn off those captions for a more movie-like feel if you wish. The in-game score is all John Williams and is as riveting as ever. If there are any complaints about the game, sound is not one of them.

The saber fights are where it's at.

KotOR�s structure is very simple: walk around, find quests, carry �em out, rinse, and repeat for 50 hours. The battle system, however, requires special mention: It may look real-time in the screens, but it�s actually turn-based and intensely fast � just like in Baldur�s Gate, you can pause the action at any time to target enemies and assign commands to party members. I know I�ve mentioned this earlier, but I just felt that it affects the fun portion of this game a lot. For hardcore RPG gamers, it may get annoying, but I�m sure, like me, you�ll get used to it in no time at all. There�s a learning curve in store here for most, but it�s quickly surmounted, and executing grandiose three-way combos on bosses soon becomes second nature. All in all, I had fun playing KotOR, but I would not vote for it as the RPG of the year. No, I�m sorry; KotOR is not THAT good.

Padawan Masters -- Oxymoron?

As I mentioned earlier, I had some fun playing KotOR, but it is not by any means perfect. Just like most other Bioware games, the graphics may be good, but they are a little too �average�. The facial expressions are pretty damn cool though. I remember when some dude in this town gave me one of the �go to hell� looks � it was pretty cool. Now that I am a dark Jedi though, a lot of people seem to give me that. To answer the problem, I usually end their little mortal lives.

I�ve said it before, and I am going to say it again. --The entire concept of just anyone being able to use a double bladed light saber is absolutely ridiculous. How is it that the entire Jedi Council cannot weld the saber, but just any Padawan can? Oh sure, maybe a Jedi Knight who excels at saber fighting probably could, but a Padawan? There is no way that could be possible. Also, the entire �two lightsabers at once� thing is very overused. Even though I�m sure the game penalizes this, there should be a way where it would not be so easy to actually weld two. I�m glad this game isn�t online, because if it was, I�d have to deal with every little newbie using two at once or a double bladed lightsaber. Stuff like that tends to ruin the game.

 

Another must-have from Bioware.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is an epic tale about the eternal struggle between good and evil, set on top of extremely solid and surprisingly polished gameplay mechanics. The game is pretty balanced; there is extraordinary stuff and there is some weird/non needed stuff. If you�re an RPG or Star Wars fan, I recommend getting this. I�m sure you�ll be able to point out the flaws in the concept of it, but it�s a good game overall and I�m sure you will think so too.