Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Yes I'm back with another review finally.

After around 30 hours of gameplay, I finished KotOR. And here is my review, with a twist.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC)

This is an RPG that focuses on a combination of turn-based and real time combat. Everyone attacks at the same speed (with the exception of a speed boost or slow force power) but you can play cat-and-mouse in real time. It's an interesting combination. Like most RPG's, you have a team of allies who fight with you. Some are Jedi, some are mercenaries looking for a home, some are droids, and each has its own unique capabilities. There is a lot of social interaction, for lack of a better word. Much hinges on your ability to solve problems, find the right people, and say the right things to them.

One of the most intriguing parts of the game is the balance between Light and Dark. Anytime you act in a benevolent way, you will get Light Points and be closer to being a Jedi. Anytime you do something evil, you will get Dark Points and be closer to being a Sith. Becoming either good or evil allows you to have access to certain Jedi abilities. Jedi have the ability to move faster, heal party members, and defend against attacks more effectively. Sith have the ability to slow opponents, drain their life, and use lightning attacks. And that is only the beginning.

First Impressions:

This was the second time that I played this game. The first time that I tried it was maybe 2-3 years ago. I remember liking the storyline a lot, but feeling very overwhelmed. It seemed like there were too many things going on and I had a hard time keeping track of them.

Eventually, I stopped playing it. I think I got stuck on a particular part and got frustrated. I remember there being Dark Jedi involved.

Second Impressions:

I played the game again, and the second time around things were much less intimidating. I understood the premise of the game better, and could concentrate on choosing my stats more carefully. There were only a few parts of the game that I considered to be difficult, including the final battle. There was more strategy involved than outright confrontation. If you brought a teammate who had leet hacker skills, you could hack the computer and cause the enemy droids to attack their masters. You could also reprogram droids to fight for you temporarily, or simple persuade your foes into walking away from combat.

What I Liked:

Dark vs. Light
I really liked the choices made in the game. There was a woman who needed 200 credits to pay her debt. If you gave her the credits, you'd get Light Points. If you killed her to get the bounty on her head, you'd get Dark Points. In some situations, it was more beneficial to get Dark Points to gain more experience. However, too many Dark Points and you could lose your ability to heal your party.

Storyline:
The storyline was very engaging. For the most part, it allowed you to go at your own pace. There were plenty of side quests to do that helped you get XP to aid you in your main quest. And you had the choice to complete them in the "light" way or the "dark" way. At one point in the game, you have to pretend to join a Sith training facility. Accomplishing the tasks there was incredibly difficult to remain in the Light. However, a Dark Jedi would have had difficulty when you were training for the Jedi Order earlier in the game. Many difficult decisions were placed well in the game. And there were a lot of plot twists that made for a great story.

Music:
You gotta love the Star Wars music.

What I Didn't Like:

Interface:
The interface was pretty tough to deal with. In combat, you got a chance to pause and look at your options, and it's a good thing. Choosing abilities real-time was difficult. In addition, inventory and quest management was really cumbersome. I gathered a lot of different grenades and mines and other assorted items throughout, and rarely used them at all. Every once in a while I would go on a selling spree and sell almost everything that I had, just so I could find the items that I needed.

Graphics:
I don't know if it was the engine or my video card, but it was very "blipy." I would take 3-4 steps, and it would blip for a moment. It wasn't very smooth no matter how low I turned the settings. As such, I wasn't too impressed by the graphics. The load times could get annoying, but I was more disappointed with the load times of the cut scenes. Usually those would take forever on my machine, and would sometimes freeze my computer even.

Replayability:
I don't think that's a word, but whatever. I don't think that I could replay this one. Even though there are several angles to take, the storyline and the puzzles were the best part of the game. Certain points were just tedious, especially in large enemy areas. As a soldier, I was always just hitting Power Attack over and over again until the enemies died (this strategy worked for the entire game until the last area.) Two lightsabers + Power Attack = dead opponents.

Character Balance:
What I mean by this is your friendly characters. Sure it's nice to have a droid that can disable land mines. But if you have three Jedi, have one run into it, take some damage, and use Force Heal to bring them back up to full. After a while, I only used the other two Jedi that I had. Fortunately, everyone levels up evenly, so I didn't have to worry about breaking out a lower level guy for a particular situation. But it made the storyline a bit less interesting to be walking around with the same people.

Overall:

I really enjoyed this game. The story is excellent, and the puzzles are entertaining and challenging. So what if the combat got tedious and the interface sucked? It was more about trying to avoid confrontations and progress the plot of the story. I really liked how you could affect the outcome of the game by doing the different side quests and choosing Light or Dark Jedi. Overall, I found the game enjoyable. If you like RPGs and puzzle games, this was a good one. Not the best that I ever played, but most certainly not the worst. I enjoyed the Jedi Outcast / Jedi Academy series better, personally. Can't wait for the new one to come out.


My next game I was hoping would be Thief, but I cannot find my CD. :-(

So I dunno what will be next. As for posting, I'm probably going to post with other assorted things instead of just game reviews. I've been struggling for topics as of late, but I want to keep in touch with everyone still.

Keep those comments coming...I like to hear from you all.