Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
A game full of cake you can both have and eat, says Russell Garbutt.
There are offensive, defensive and enhancement Force powers, forty-four in all. Choke, Lightning and Whirlwind comprise a few of the more direct powers, while Force shield, Energy resistance and Heal round out the package on defense. Some powers have prerequisite powers that must be learned, and some are limited to Jedi over and above a certain level only. Levels are maxed at 20, just like in the pencil-and-paper game.
Any weapon you can think of in the Star Wars universe is available here. Blasters, bowcasters, rifles, melee weapons, etc. are all present and, in some cases, upgradeable. Most players will be dwelling on the lightsabers, of course, and they will be pleased to hear that all types are available to suit your character. Want to be a single-saber pro swordsman like Dooku? No problem. Perhaps you're more the Lord Maul double-bladed type player... as you wish. Players can even use one singe saber in each hand, and in the off hand have a shorter blade should you desire. The lightsabers themselves are upgradeable to make more powerful, and the color of the blade can be changed at will by finding colored crystals in various caves throughout the universe. Yes, this game is full of cake that you can have and eat.
There are tons of side quests, missions, and mini-games apart from the main thread of the story to keep players entertained for weeks. There are swoop races to divert you for a while, and even a card game you can play with various locals from every area that is reminiscent of the one employed in Final Fantasy 8 (though not nearly as confusing). Also, since your party will be ruffling more than a few feathers throughout the galaxy, even taking a trip in the Ebon Hawk (a Millennium Falcon type starship that serves as both transportation and home base for your party) can prove tense. Players will have to man the gun turrets several times to ward off various attacks. In the Hawk, the party will travel to such diverse planets as Taris, Dantooine, Manaan, Kashyyyk, Tatooine, Korriban, and a few surprise locales. Each planet has it's own role in the main story and each offers a myriad of side-quests. This is a 40-60 hour game presented here.
The graphics are detailed and very pretty to look at, but not groundbreaking. The pre-rendered cutscenes have a slight graphical edge, but most of the cutscenes are rendered in-engine anyway. Some of the character models seem to have been re-used throughout the game, so the Twi'lek you meet on the water planet of Manaan curiously has the exact same face as the one you met on Tatooine. No big deal at all, but after a while you will notice. The scenery can be breathtaking at times, and there's a lot of the trademark Nvidia water textures throughout. Overall, the graphics are adequate and do the job well.
The sound and music is, in a word, awesome. You'll recognize every note of John William's music (some new music has been scored as well, but not by Williams), and the whole game is in stunning Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound effects are exactly what you would hope they would be, from the twang of the blasters to the hum of the lightsabers. Even the deep bass resonance of a hutt's voice comes shining through with aural ecstasy.
Now for the flaws. It seems that the game managed to leave BioWare's hands with a bug or two creeping around inside it. Since the title is LIVE enabled, fixing those problems should not be much of a challenge, as a downloadable fix might be on the cards for the future. There is definitely some downloadable content promised for somewhere around the holiday season, but what that content will actually be has not been announced. Players should make sure to keep a number of save games on their hard disk, just in case. (NOTE: these few glitchy problems may be addressed before the European version is released, so this whole point may be moot for regions other than North America.)
Knights of the Old Republic is definitely an early contender for Game of the Year. It has delivered everything gamers ever wanted in a title from this franchise, but were denied for so long. Anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to wield dual lightsabers against a Sith should waste no time in picking one up as soon as they can.
94%
Comments
This needs to hury up and come out on the PC... can't afford an XBox right now :-(
rent the game and try it out
This game seeems so cool I can't wait to rent it. -)
Star wars kotor is the number one game that I have ever played in my life.
Rubbish. I want to wade into the fights myself not just press the fight button and watch.
I guess some people just aren't keen on standard RPGs. Admittedly combat is a little dull during the early stages of the game. After a few hours play the characters are considerably more proficient and melee combat, in particular, becomes entartaining to watch as characters feint, dodge and parry. Combat becomes an altogether more strategic affair. Although it is possible to sit back and watch, it's also possible to flank the opposition and force push an enemy straight in front of a big wookie who can deal out some punishment.
If this had been a standard RPG without the Star Ward licence it would have still stood up as a very good game. But then again, there comes a point in KoTOR
(not too bad a spoiler)
when you check the remains of defeated opponent, find a double bladed lightsaber and the fun really starts!
All you people out there who dont like kotor because of the automatic combat, you make me sick!This game is so beautiful and simple that the way the battles are fought doesn't matter.Any GOOD gamer would be able to see that.
I have been playing this game for a total of 10h 50m and Im only on the the 4th world.In short THIS GAME RULES!!!
I hired this game out in a few days ago during the school holidays and ended up staying in bed for two whole days playing it, very addictive game. Im going to buy it tommorow morning. By far the best RPG on xbox. I bought Morrowind, played it for about 150 hours and got sick of it because I hadent even gotten through half of it.
If you have a good PC u dont really need a console that much, especially an XBox. If you do get a console get a ps2 cuz alot of the games are exculsive. The only thing i like consoles for is playing multiplayer some peeps if they come over. And insted of this game get Jedi Academy. That game is cool :-)
This game is lush, fair enough there are plenty of good RPGs, but the lightsabers do it for me. No Princess Leia though...... :-(
loved this game beautiful scenery great story character devolopment has GREAT replay value i would strongly sugest buying this if you like games even the smallest bit just as what is being said about fable you could sure zip through it in about 20 hours but if you experience the full world then you will have an amazing time playing this the depth the everything i'm ranting but all i have to say is go out to whatever games store you go to buy it love it play it again and again
wat is the content download for this game
i don't now
if some one gets a demo website show us the website
where are all the codes
This is the coolest game! very addictive. if it's not because of school, i probably stuck in front of my computer playing this game! Star wars rules! and oh, carth is my fave character.
Best game ever!
Should download full games for free plz plz
this is one of the best star wars games i ever played because its story and the carecter settings
this game is the best if you know the right cheets
Is this game on PS2?
your all ugly not
can i download a demo of this game
are there going to make star wars knights of th old republic for playstation2
i will a dowload for Sar Wars Battlefront 1 or 2
u guyz r crazy cuaze it is already out
I wish this game was out for ps2. I mean what is the reasoning behind making a game for an xbox but not a ps2!! This game looks so awesome but I don't have a xbox and my pc is slow so i'm afraid if i get it for pc, it won't be that fun...So if anyone hears about this game out for ps2, please please please tell me!!!
I think the reason for it not being out on PS2 has something to do with the fact that Microsoft helped make the game...
Why would Microsoft give Sony money?