Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Review

How long has it been since you got immersed in a decent Star Wars game? If you haven't, now's the time to do so. Bioware, the reputable developer largely known for their excellent RPG's, spent a long time creating Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. On top of being the first development team to have created a single-player RPG using the Star Wars setting, Bioware also proved once again that they're capable of reviving the rather poor Xbox RPG scene.

Set 4000 years before Star Wars: A New Hope, the story told here is one based on myths created by the Dark Horse Comics Tales of the Jedi series. During this time, the Republic is still in its heyday. But even in the prosperous times of the Republic, tendrils of corruption begin to worm their way in. After that, a large Jedi fleet is dispatched to the Outer Rim to aid against attacks launched by the Mandalorian's (the bloodthirsty race that Jango and Boba Fett got their armor from). While combating in the wilds, something turns the two Jedi sent to lead the fleet, Reven and Malak, to the dark side. It seems that while out leading the fleet, the two Jedi spend some time exploring the lost secrets of the Sith on the tomb world of Korriban. The Jedi set a trap for the two rogue jedi and succeeded in killing the Sith Master, Reven. But Malak assumes command and high tails it out of the quadrant; but not before beating the crap out of the ship you are riding on.

The game begins with you choosing from a male or female character in one of three classes: Solider, scoundrel, or scout. You wake unaware of your own identity and what's going on, as your ship is still under attack by the Sith. A ship mate runs in and after a lengthy Q&A period, the back story is established. It's a bit hackneyed but it does add a sense of mystery to your character and gives a good excuse for the interface and combat tutorials that follow. As you make your way through the ship you learn to engage enemies, loot items from the fallen, and switch between party members to make use of abilities unique to their character and class. After you escape the ship, you find yourself on Taris, a planet that is being blockaded by the Sith as they look for the Jedi survivor that escaped from your doomed ship. This is no normal Jedi though, it is Bastilia Shan and she has a special power called Battle Meditation. Through sheer will and the force, she can change the outcome of a battle by bolstering her own troop's morale, while sapping the enemy's will to fight. She is a huge benefit to the Jedi and it would be disastrous indeed if she fell into the hands of the Sith. Your mission is to find where her escape pod crashed, recover her, and get past the Sith blockade.

Even though the first portion of the game serves as an adequate tutorial for players to get accustomed to the numerous capabilities of their characters, it tends to get a bit too slow for my taste... well, for any taste, actually. Come to think of it, this is not the first time we've witnessed this type of slow pacing. It's becoming a distinguishing characteristic of Bioware's work lately. Take NWN: Shadows of Undrentide as an example; the beginning of the game dragged on quite a bit, and many experienced gamers were a bit disappointed with that.

Anyhow, SW: Knights of the Old Republic is fairly simple to get into. But, since it's only you and your first party member Carth, a fellow soldier who rode the escape pod down to the planet, you don't have much at your disposal to help you out. You each have a blaster pistol and have managed to setup your base of operations in a crappy old apartment in the bad section of town. Not many people ask questions or even care who they have for neighbors, since most of them are illegal aliens who are not supposed to be in this part of the city themselves. So you venture forth into the city, trying to dig up info on the other crashed escape pod and to get an idea of how dire a situation you are in. As you travel about you hear rumors about the pod and of course get roped into side quests. Most people want something done before they give you their info on the downed pod. As you interact with people how you respond determines which side of the force you lean towards. Helping an Alien who is being picked on by children gains you points towards the Light. Turning your back on him and telling the kids to have fun gains you points towards the dark side. A simple yet effective example of how you react to people or situations will result in your ultimate path. Fortunately enough, Bioware continued its long-established tradition of providing games with thorough dialogue and deep character back stories. While it may appear boring to some, it is actually a very important element of any RPG; especially one that tumbles deep into Star Wars legend. The way you reply to NPC's throughout dialogs can have a strong affect on the course of the game - very similar to the dialogue system in Neverwinter Nights. Many tasks can be gained just by taking the right course throughout a chat with an NPC. So, you can get a quest when you least expect it. Even though there are a lot of side missions, Bioware managed to keep them from feeling like the usually side mission shuffle. All of the aid I was asked to offer in return for information fit well with the character that was asking for it, his motivations for asking, and worked nicely with the rest of the story.

The controls are well done. I dread playing an RPG on a console due to lots of inventory management. Usually moving items or equipping characters is a tedious affair on a console but it is well thought out and very easy to use. The combat is real-time, but can also be paused, so you'll have plenty of time to think your actions through before you do anything rash and stupid. As the game pauses, you enter a turn-based combat mode, during which you can switch weapons, plan out your movement and attacks, and give out orders to other party members. The camera moves rather fluently, giving you an opportunity to examine the area from all sides, so you can get a clear picture of the situation. For the most part, every aspect of the game was streamlined, to make things easy for all players.

As you start developing your character, it's not hard to notice that the game borrows a few nuts and bolts from 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. Except this time spells were replaced with force powers, while swords and bows got substituted with lightsabers and blasters. As expected, in accordance with RPG traditions, any action you perform results in additional experience for your character, which in turn allows you to enhance his/her abilities, improve force powers, weapon handling, and overall strength. One particular scene involves your character circumventing a security system in order to gain control of a droid so that it can defeat a bunch of opponents. This will award the character with extra experience. If, on the other hand, you opt for taking care of the situation yourself, your experience will also be increased. Either way, your character will get something out of it...

Graphics are the not the best we've seen in an Xbox game, but it still demonstrates praiseworthy overall quality. There's a variety of locations present in the game and they all look splendid. You'll be visiting the deserts of Tatooine, the grasslands of Dantooine, the thick forests of Kashyyk, and many other well-known Star Wars locations - at a certain point in the game, you even get to venture in a huge Sith battleship. Star Wars fans will no doubt be thrilled to enter the richly presented planets and locals of their favorite universe. You can also catch several decent visual effects, such as light reflections on the Sith Armor, ships that buzz around the city, and ambient touches like venting steam or floating sculptures. All of these details help convey the feeling of a living city. Actually, the game may not look all that impressive when you start playing, but once you advance your character's Jedi skills there will be quite a lot to behold. For example, as the swordplay begins, you'll witness diverse cool-looking animations, as the characters engage in intense lightsaber duels. Now just wait until you get the ability to use two lightsabers at once! Oh yeah, baby! That's the stuff, I tell ya!

The audio is straight from the rich Star Wars library, and is nothing short of superb. So, you have your usual scream of ships flying by and high pitched blaster bolts. Need I say that the ever-popular John Williams soundtrack was there to make things even more true to the saga.

Knights of the Old Republic, The Clone Wars, and SWG have managed to make the debate over the quality of the next Star Wars movie obsolete. These games now give us the ability to visit the rich Star Wars world and (unlike the films) join in the battle of Good vs. Evil anytime we like. As it stands right now, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a jewel among the countless movie-licensed games being released these days, and other crappy summer moneymaking projects lurking around your local store. It's a must have for all.

Here's to the upcoming PC version!