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Review by MechMuertos
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Xbox - Bioware - RPG - T - 1 Player
Since Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace came out, the video game industry has been glutted with numerous bad titles that have the Lucas Arts logo stamped into them. There have been the not-so-good titles, to the very worst of titles, that much like the current incarnation of movies, have seemed to have been approved by George Lucas while he sat on his solid gold toilet reading Red Book magazine. But thankfully after so much trial and error, we are blessed with KOTR for the Xbox and like a shining beam of light from the heavens, it has ignited that small part of our brain that evolved from a dinosaur and the words seem to trip from the lips “Wow, this is a #$%@ing great Star Wars game.”
Taking place thousands of years before Luke Skywalker would whine and moan about wanting to go to Tashi’s for some power converters, KOTR delves deep into the Star Wars universe. Bioware, the same people who gave us the Baldur’s Gate sagas for the PC, give us a lush and vibrant backdrop of this space opera and they have done such a great job it may very well be the definitive RPG on any platform system currently out. Why so much praise? Choices and decisions. Will you embrace the light side or the dark side? The yin and yang of the Star Wars universe is a vital part of your character’s development. Bioware also has used the familiar Skills/Attributes/Feats system that many will remember from their previous AD&D PC games. As you make decisions during the game to be good or evil, a bar keeps track of just exactly how devilish or angelic you may be, and eventually those characters that join your party will begin to treat you differently on that very fact.
Bioware remembers that the first rule to a truly epic game, let it be Star Wars or Dungeons and Dragons, is the story. The story can fuse together a wonderful gameplay element and gives the players something tangible to attach their involvement with. The galaxy is in strife as Syth Lord Darth Malak and his nefarious army have unleashed a new terror on the galaxy called the Star Forge. Sound like familiar territory? It is, but Bioware doesn’t treat this story with kid gloves and gives the players anywhere between 25 to 30 hours of enjoyment, but you’ll want to go back for more simply to play the other side of the coin and experience an almost independent storyline. I believe this is the only game in recent memory that after I had completed it once, I had immediately restarted the game from the beginning simply because it was so good.
The control system is innovative and intuitive, and lies somewhere between turn based combat and straight out action. When combat occurs the game automatically pauses, and since this is a 3D game, this is a nice effect because you get to see laser blasts leaving the nose of their guns and explosions caught right in the middle of their detonation. Then you can go and give you and your party members progressive commands and they will obey up to five commands in the queue. If things get out of hand you can always pause the action and change the directions that you have given your characters.
+ Graphically, the backgrounds, the cut scenes and theatrics are very cool.
- The only draw back is the characters themselves just don’t seem as polished as their surroundings and just appear a little muted.
8.0
++ The sound, the music, the voice over acting, all are done extremely well.
++ The howls of your Wookie companion and the hum and crash of your lightsaber will all bring a smile to your face.
+ John Williams’ score, that is all so familiar to us now, is brought to us in Dolby Digital.
10
+ Easy and fun to use, they really found a very shrewd and clever interaction between the game and player.
- There are a few minor burps in the game, bad AI cropped up more than a couple of times and once in a great while a character of yours wont listen to your commands.
8.0
++ The Star Wars universe is a curious thing because many people have incredibly fond memories of the first three movies. But with Parts 1 and 2, it seemed as if Lucas himself could care less about the projects he attaches the Star Wars name to. Thankfully with this title, we have come full circle and are given a rich and enjoyable experience.
10
++ I’ve played it through twice back to back and just writing this review makes me want to go back for more. This is truly a game you should spend fifty bucks on.
9.0
9.5
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