Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Review

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is set in the Golden Age, over 4,000 years before the first Star Wars film. At this tumultuous time when both Jedi and evil Sith number in the thousands, the Galaxy is still reeling from a recent conflict with the Dark Lords.

Now it faces a new threat led by two fallen Jedi: the newly deceased Darth Revan and his apprentice, Darth Malak. At the centre of this epic clash, you play a Republic soldier faced with a number of choices - the choice of good or of evil, the Light side or the Dark, the way of the Jedi or the path of the Sith. Your actions alone will determine the outcome of this colossal galactic war.

This is the first RPG set in the Star Wars universe. For those unused to this genre, RPG’s are games in which you normally start out as a member of a group so weak that they can barely kill an angry rabbit. By the end of the game, your team will have evolved into lean, mean, killing machines that can save or destroy worlds! Before you begin SW: KOTOR you have to either create your own character or use a ready-made character created by the developers. You have the choice of being a warrior, a scout or a scoundrel. The warrior is most suited to combat; the scoundrel is most suited to solving problems while the scout is a mixture of the two. You must also allot points to categories like Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.

If you prefer close combat, then ensure that your Strength and Constitution are high. If you prefer to fight from a distance, then improve your Dexterity. A character with a high Charisma level will easily be able to charm and persuade NPC’s (Non-Player Characters) and even enemies to see things his way. All of your choices are thoroughly explained, thanks to the brilliant in-game help. Once you create your character, you then go on to earn experience, fame and money thru combat and by completing certain quests. You can use these points to advance in certain skills. Naturally, as in life, you cannot be great at everything; rather you must choose your path wisely. Every action you perform, every conversation you have will either have good or bad consequences. Ultimately, your character must choose between the Dark and Light side, and how you decide to interact with other party members and characters will take you down one of those paths. Along the way, you will use your Star-ship, the Ebon Hawk, to visit locations & planets from the Star Wars universe including Tatooine, the Sith world of Korriban, the Jedi Academy on Dantooine and the Wookiee home-world of Kashyyyk (Hmm, and I thought Vithalwadi was a strange name!!) Each of these areas has a main quest and several side quests for you to complete. All in all, it will take most gamers at least 40 hours to finish the game.

Graphically, this game can stand up there with the best of them. The lighting effects are superb, with dynamic lights and shadows. Textures are crisp, the special effects are well done and the sound and music are as good as any of the five movies. Gamers who have not played an RPG before should not be intimidated by the title as the developers have gone out of their way to accommodate both hard-core RPG fans and casual gamers. Its combination of an engaging story, outstanding art and animation styles, and in-depth character development brings the Star Wars universe alive as never before. This title is sure to please any gamer, but Star Wars fans are going to LOVE it!

HIGHS: Everything!
LOWS: Slightly buggy
NUTSHELL: Best Star Wars Game Ever!
Rating: 96%