Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Noxicity · 09-29-2004, 06:12 AM

The market for Star Wars games has always been questionable. Star Wars: Obi Wan on Xbox, for instance, just goes to show how badly a developer can stuff up a game. However, for all of the Xbox gamers who also happen to be Star Wars fanatics, an excellent game has FINALLY arrived...

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic is the latest game of the Star Wars franchise to hit the Xbox. And boy, did it hit hard...

Where do you start on such a fantastic game...

The graphics, first of all, are simply magnificent. They are a testament to the power of the Xbox console. It is remarkable to watch the scene when the player's ship lands on the planet Manaan for the first time... The ocean, the floating city, the atmosphere... It's truly a spectacle to behold.

Of course, looks are not much if a game sounds abysmal. Developer Bioware must have known this however, as both the in-game sound effects, the cinematic sound, and the Star Wars famous musical scores are a delight. They really add to the atmosphere, all the while making you feel as if YOU are a part of the Star Wars universe.

Moving on to the gameplay itself, a new player will soon notice (after a few minutes of play) that this game very much conforms to the RPG genre. To start, you must fully customize your character, first by choosing a class (and gender), then a face/complexion, before selecting and assigning your character stats and attributes and feats to suit their class (there are loads of ways to customise the character from the start - believe me...).

What comes next is approximately 20 hours of gameplay (unless you really rush it) until you finish the game. And that 20 hours will BLOW YOUR MIND. In addition to the main story quest, there are dozens of various optional side-quests that you may choose to undertake. There are hundreds of people to meet too, and among these people you will find allies (and enemies) of varying personalities.

Sorry to disappoint the die hard Lightsaber-weilding, Force-manipulating enthuisiasts among you, but you do not start the game as a Jedi. For the first 5 to 7 hours you will experience gameplay as the class of which you initially chose. Not to worry though! You character eventually finds out that they are what is known as 'Force-Sensitive'. Soon after you are wisked off to be trained as a Jedi. You will remain a Jedi until the end of the game.

I will give little away at this point in terms of storyline. But I will say that the storyline is brilliant. You will never expect what you find out about your character towards the middle of the game...

Intertwined in this adventure, from the very start, is something very new and unique to the RPG genre on Xbox. Throughout the journey, your character will have countless opportunities to perform good or bad deeds. The type of deeds you do will effect your character's scale of alliance concerning good and evil. Rip people off, be a merciless killer, take all you can and give nothing back. That's fine. But do this often and you will find that your character's scale will lean very much towards the 'evil' side of things. When you become a Jedi, your deeds also have an effect on your appearance. If you are a bad person, you will know it - your normal facial expression will resemble a glare/snarl, and the colour of your face will become whiter. If you are a goody-goody, you will hold your head high in pride, and will look far more easy on the eyes. Whatever type of person your character is, you will know it.

What is also brilliant about this 'good/evil' system, is that it determines the outcome of the game. That's right. There are TWO endings. One good, one evil... I will say no more about this, other than the fact that it means the game warrants huge replay value...

Something else that is new, is that the game is set 4000 years before the movie The Phantom Menace. This meant complete freedom for developer Bioware, in terms of not having to adhere to the traditional Star Wars storyline (and all the technicalities that come with it).

There is so much more to say, but I will stop here. In conclusion, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic is a brilliant game, as reason in itself for owning an Xbox. Get it! It is well worth it, especially if you are either an RPG or a Star Wars fan...

I rate it a 9.5/10...

Darth Sidious · 10-09-2004, 07:20 AM

I like the enthusiastic approach, young Padawan.

Noxicity · 10-09-2004, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-Fens

I like the enthusiastic approach, young Padawan.

Thanks... I wrote that review about 4 months ago. I was waiting for the chance to publish it somewhere...

an7imony · 10-09-2004, 08:47 AM

Nicely done if I do say so myself.

Noxicity · 10-09-2004, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by splintercellmanic

Nicely done if I do say so myself.

Thanks for the compliment!

FatBox · 10-09-2004, 10:36 AM

little bit of a low rating don't you think so?

i woulda gave it a 10/10

Noxicity · 10-10-2004, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatBox

little bit of a low rating don't you think so?

i woulda gave it a 10/10

It comes close, but it's not a perfect game...

It still had a couple of things to improve on...

That said though, I think that KOTOR is better than Halo and Splinter Cell (even though OAXM gave KOTOR a 9.5 and Halo & Splinter Cell both 9.7)...

Boondock_Saint · 10-10-2004, 12:27 AM

I think your rating was fine because there are a few things that could have been better

TRC_14 · 10-10-2004, 01:57 AM

i dont think there will ever be a game that is rated a perfect 10. well there may be one rated that but it will not truly be a 10. there will always be some bug or aspect of the game that could be aproved upon......but i get the feeling one may come very close in a month....

BTW, good review, ive only heard good things about this game.

Noxicity · 10-10-2004, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRC_14

i dont think there will ever be a game that is rated a perfect 10. well there may be one rated that but it will not truly be a 10. there will always be some bug or aspect of the game that could be aproved upon......but i get the feeling one may come very close in a month....

Well said... And I agree with you, I think that Halo 2 will honestly come very close to the 10/10 mark...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRC_14

BTW, good review

Thanks!