Star Wars: KOTOR
The Star Wars universe gets a bright shining star to add to the games field
Tags: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Aug 18th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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The “Star Wars” universe has been plundered severely in the video-game world, with the movies re-created in game form (such as the Super NES games “Super Star Wars,” “Super Empire Strikes Back” and “Super Return of the Jedi”) and games that take liberties with the events in the films while sticking squarely within the framework (”Star Wars Episode One Racer,” “Star Wars Clone Wars”).
What LucasArts is presenting now is a massive leap for the license — a game that takes place thousands of years before the characters in the movies were even born.
Events unfolding in the backdrop of this game provide insight to a lot of the events in the latest “Star Wars” films, but that’s not why you should consider buying this game. There is a level of attention to detail in “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” that would do any license holder proud.
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The developer, BioWare, has made some of the best role-playing games in recent memory for the PC and has taken that care and dedication and translated it to the Star Wars universe. Players start out in the character-creation section, deciding how they would like their character to appear, as well as which attributes (strength, charisma, intelligence, etc.) to emphasize.
There isn’t a huge level of availability as far as the character selection goes, but BioWare and LucasArts can be forgiven because of the amount of gameplay that was packed into the game.
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Starting out on a spaceship in the middle of a battle between the Republic and the Sith, players find their way onto a planet very quickly. Here the true gameplay kicks in, and players are given their first major quest.
Along the way, as with nearly every other role-playing game (RPG), there are optional side quests. It is these side quests, combined with actions performed during the rest of the game that determine the outcome, which is one of the biggest draws for this game: A person can become a Jedi on either side of the Force.
By performing certain actions, one can get Light Side points (helping a person out of being persecuted for being an alien) or Dark Side points (inciting arguments among inhabitants of a world). Each side of the Force comes with certain powers: Light Siders will be able to obtain valor, Dark Side Jedis get the power to inflict plague, for instance.
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Not only does one have the ability to wield a light saber through several of the most famous of Star Wars worlds (for instance Tatooine and Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld), the story is highly engaging and represents some of the best Star Wars storytelling, no matter what the medium.
As feats are performed and quests completed, the player will obtain experience points, which can be spent after a certain amount is gathered to “level-up” or enhance the attributes and skills of the character. There is an option to have this done automatically.
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The graphics vary from good to really great from world to world. Some places have massive amounts of details thrown in while others are a little sparse. There are a large number of characters to interact with on each world with thousands and thousands of lines of script.
To this end, the voice-acting is outstanding. Various languages are represented accurately — you won’t find a Hutt (the large wormlike creature from “Return of the Jedi”) or a Wookiee speaking Galactic Basic (English). Instead, they each speak their own language.
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Star Wars license aside, the game mechanics are well executed. The player’s character will do what normally happens in an RPG (explore, battle monsters, gather treasure) but it all happens either “turn based” like a traditional RPG or in “real time” giving the game a more action-oriented feel. To enable the player a more cinematic style presentation, having the subtitles turned off and the combat presented in real time will give the feeling of watching a movie.
The core gameplay of exploring and monster slaying has enough balance to give players enough of a break to catch up with quests and explore characters within the player’s party. The main character, while having his or her own story, serves as a catalyst for the secondary playable characters that will join throughout the game. These character stories are engaging and further serve to immerse the player into the world portrayed in the game.
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While still a role-playing game at heart, the execution of it gives people that don’t traditionally play this type of game access, while still retaining enough control to give hardcore RPG fans something to savor. The story is rich enough to not need the Star Wars license, though having it executed brilliantly is icing on the cake.
With its blend of role playing, storytelling and action, “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” is one of the few must-own games for the Xbox (let alone any console).
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Excellent use of the Star Wars license + Being able to create your own destiny + Save anytime + Story + Fat paced combat, or turn based - player decides |
9.8 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Small graphical glitches that pop up from time to time |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This is the game that Star Wars faithful have been Waiting for. Too bad this wasn't Episode 1 or 2. | |
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Tags: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Aug 18th, 2003 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
