Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic

The storyline could have been a standard coming-of-age yarn but is instead a genuinely interesting adventure told with humor, compassion, and respect for the source material. Your character has a mystical bond with Bastila, and the two of you share some kind of connection to the Sith villains Darth Malak and Darth Revan. The game's planet-hopping adventures are driven by your exploration of these connections and how they relate to your larger goal of discovering the source of the Sith's sudden fleet. During your adventure you can explore side quests minor (such as racing swoops or gambling) and major (such as uncovering the fascinating back stories of your companions). Star Wars fans will get a kick out of the rich lore introduced in the game, particularly the Tatooine storyline that reveals the origin and history of the Sand People.

Gameplay is an abbreviated form of Wizards of the Coast's d20 Star Wars RPG game system--anyone who has played Dungeons & Dragons will be familiar with the abilities, stats, feats, and bonuses in this game. The player creates a character as a member of one of three starting classes (soldier, smuggler, scout) and then later chooses a Jedi class (guardian, consular, sentinel). Joining the player's character are other Jedi, warriors, thieves, droids, a wookiee, and even a Mandolorian. Unlike the faceless non-player characters of other games, each member of the supporting cast has an intriguing history and even agenda. Up to two of these other characters can join your character at any time. Depending on who you chose to take with you, new dialogue and even intra-party arguments come into the game (put the Mandalorian veteran with the Republic patriot and you'll see sparks fly). Combat is real-time turn-based, meaning the turns are seamless but the player has the option of pausing the action at any time to issue orders or direct any character to use a certain Force power, ability, feat, or item.

Graphics range from adequate to exceptional. Building and character models are not impressive--about what you get in GTA 3. Lightsaber graphics and environmental effects (like waving grass, clouds, and weather) bring the world to life. Battles are just brilliant, with characters pumping out blaster fire at Jedi who dash, dodge, and even deflect the bolts back toward their assailants. Complete with sounds straight out of the movies, the thrilling combat is pure Star Wars.

All in all, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a masterpiece of Star Wars gaming. The pacing, balance of action and dialogue, clever puzzles and quests, and loving attention to detail have set the bar very high for role-playing games in general and Star Wars games in particular. Consider this a must-have game.--Mike Fehlauer

Pros:

• Captivating storyline
• Clever dialogue
• Star Wars feel
• True story and dialogue support for either Light Side or Dark Side play
• Brilliant combat graphics
• Fascinating characters (the loyal--and homicidal--droid HK-47 is truly unique)

• Occasional bugs in dialogue, movie playback
• Cannot transfer equipped gear between characters while on your ship

This game is takes place before the time period in all of the other Star Wars game. As usual you are a Jedi and must complete tasks, and become more experienced as you fight enemies and finish other activates.

Strengths:
First, Lucas Arts Star Wars games have a reputation for greatness. The company has experience in creating interactive and fun games. I have become "addicted" to playing these RPGs. They are fun and challenging. Knights of the Old Republic should be another great game. The graphics are stunning and use the Xbox's full potential. Additionally, the game play seems to be fun.

Weaknesses:
The game may become "too challenging" at times and become frustrating. Additionally, these games have been known to have some minor bugs.

Overall, this should be a great product. I plan to purchase it as soon as the game hits store shelves. You should too!


This does look promising...   April 7, 2003
 64 out of 110 found this review helpful

Even though the game is not out yet...it looks very impressive. Yes, some games that LucasArts released in the past were pretty bad. Like Obi-Wan, The Clone Wars, and Starfighter SE. You have to remember that they did release some really good games after those. Like Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast, which was the best selling PC game of 2002 in three countries. Bounty Hunter was also pretty cool. Jedi Starfighter was worth the play too.

The release date was also getting pushed back. First it was November 19, 2002 for Xbox and March 5, 2003 for the PC. Second it was February 20, 2003 for Xbox and May 26, 2003 for the PC. Third it was March 25, 2003 for Xbox and June 18, 2003 for the PC. Fourth it was May 1, 2003 for Xbox and August 16, 2003 for the PC. Now it is June 16, 2003 for Xbox and November 14, 2003 for the PC. It seems that LucasArts and Bioware want to put as much effort into this game as possible.

So what I am getting at is that they seem to get better through time. I have seen many screenshots and videos of Knights of the Old Republic and it does look very impressive. You can watch an interview of the game with previews in the backround at ...

The game was told to be 40-60 hours long. At the start you can become a Jedi or Sith, create your own character, build your own lightsaber hilt, choose the type of lightsaber you want (single lightsaber, two lightsabers in each hand, or a double bladed lightsaber like Darth Maul's), choose the blade color of your lightsaber, choose your force powers, and in the game if you are a Jedi you can gradually fall to the Dark Side or if you are a Sith you can gradually become good.

In the middle of the game you can perform many upgrades like upgrading your lightsaber. If you want to change the blade color, you have to seek out the crystals that will give you the color you desire and take out the old crystals and pop in the new crystals.

There is also laser turret games like in A New Hope with the Millenium Falcon being attacked by Tie Fighters and Luke and Han get into their laser turrets.

The game also features where you can play in what is called a "Real-Time Mode" which is basically without pausing the game and choosing your attacks. An example of a "Real-Time Mode" game would be Jedi Outcast. Your other choice is to play it in "Traditional RPG" where you do pause the game and choose an attack. An example is Final Fantasy.

This game is to be very dramatic and to let the player live and embrace themselves as a Jedi Knight or Sith Lord in the Star Wars universe.

Who knows what this game will bring? Lets hope it will make every Star Wars fan happy and satisfied.


AWESOME game to play on the XBOX game system   April 5, 2003
 1 out of 24 found this review helpful

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is going to be a REALLY TOTAL AWESOME game to play

I will definately get this game for the XBOX game system

I give it 5 Stars "Highly Recommended" TOTAL WORTH IT TO BUY & PLAY this game on XBOX game system


This is a horrible game   April 2, 2003
 1 out of 37 found this review helpful

The controls are slow and unreasonable! The graphics are foggy and unseeable. The gameplay is boring with nothing new about it. This is the the first rpg with Star Wars, and it's the worst!


Even as a preview it's worth 5 stars.   February 27, 2003
 4 out of 10 found this review helpful

There's always going to be banter about how good a game is, or should be, prior to its release. That depends on what you've read, what you believe, and whether any one has gotten their hands on the demo yet. While Star Wars games have a spotty history, there are also some great moments in there, and this is the next one.

For the first time ever we have a Star Wars RPG, based on Wizards of the Coast d20 system, which comprises 6 primary attributes (what are commonly referred to as "stats"), a collection of secondary attributes (a set of stats which are rules derived) and lastly skills and feats. A skill is anything a character can learn to do and can be improved with time. They include swimming, sneaking, bluffing and ; a feat is best described as a heroic trait which separates your character from the average Jane or Joe Alien.

Combat is run in "bullet-time" for lack of a better explanation. Things continue to happen in slowmotion as you select an action/attack/Force power to use and then goes back to real time once you've selected it. You can be accompanied by two other members of your overall team and can switch them out aboard the Ebon Hawk, your personal ship and cruiser.

The game is developed by Bio-Ware, who are the front-line geniuses of PC RPGs right now. Their first foray into the realm of the console RPG looks to be nothing short of stunning. Believe the hype. Use the Force. And get ready to pick a side, because KOTOR is going to put the fate of the galaxy directly into your hands.