I’ve suffered through cosplay, and I’ve suffered through Star Wars Episode 1 and 2. And yet, like a good little Lucas fan, I’m content to keep throwing the other Jolly Fat Man in my life my hard-earned pittance. Was it any surprise I leaped upon my pre-ordered copy of this game like a kitten on a sweatsock? Hardly.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is an epic game with a suitably epic title. I clocked out of this game at about 60 hours, and even that felt entirely too short.
KOTOR was originally developed by Edmonton-based developer Bioware entertainment. Bioware’s hands have been full of late with their upcoming Jade Empire, etc, so they handed the KOTOR license off to new studio Obsidian Entertainment.
Obsidian Entertainment is essentially a splinter group of leftover developers from the crash of the venerable Black Isle Entertainment. Feargus Urquhart, founder of Obsidian, worked on such classics as Planescape: Torment and Fallout 2.
Suffice it to say that concerns were hardly well-founded that Obsidian would fail to fill Bioware’s shoes. Fill the shoes they did, and they filled them well.
If, however, you are looking for instant gratification, look elsewhere. KOTOR II is a thoughtful Star Wars RPG, based on solving puzzles, in-depth conversations, and strategic combat.
Several years after Darth Revan returned to the Light side of the Force, defeated his apprentice, Darth Malak, and disabled the dreaded Starforge, another Jedi returns from the Outer Rim. The story makes heavy reference to the events of Knights of the Old Republic, so having played the first game makes a big difference.
At first, not much is known of your past. You were a Jedi at some point, and you followed Revan to war against the Mandalorians. You then left Republic space at the beginning of the Jedi Civil War. Your connection to the Force was ostensibly stripped of you by the Jedi council as punishment for following Revan to war.
The story begins with your character, the Exile, comatose aboard the Ebon Hawk, Revan’s old ship. With the aid of Revan’s old droid, T3-M4 (you may remember the Ebon Hawk and T3-M4 from the first game), the Ebon Hawk docks at a mining satellite around Peragus, a planet that, due to the minerals in its soil, was torn apart by a massive explosion due to careless mining.
With the aid of Atton, a scoundrel you rescue on Peragus; and Kreia, an enigmatic woman who may or may not be a Jedi, you escape Peragus with a shadowy, evil figure hot on your heels.
Everything in this game has to do with choices. Will you follow the Dark or the Light? Will you embrace the Force again or turn your back on it? Will you take up the Lightsaber or the blaster? You’ll find that an entire galaxy depends on your decisions.
The story only gets better from this point on. A dark evil with the power to consume all life in the Galaxy, a shadowy Sith lord bent on the destruction of the Jedi order, betrayal, salvation, and a group of sentient beings bound to you through the force take the Exile through a masterfully-recounted epic. If only the movies could be this good.
The voice acting is, for the most part, excellent. While some of the NPCs sound suspiciously like they are reading from, say, a script, the main characters are well acted and believable. Even HK-47, the lovable, bloodthirsty assassin droid makes another appearance.
Speaking with aliens can be a bit distracting, requiring you to read subtitles while the alien babbles on in its own language. While it all adds to the illusion, it takes an iron will to get through some of it, especially when speaking with the rodent-like Sullustans.
New to the character interaction is the concept of influence. By traveling with characters in your party, performing actions of which they approve, and saying things with which they agree, you will gain influence with them. The job of influence is twofold: First, a high influence with a certain character can actually affect the light/dark alignment of your party members. Yes, it is now possible to turn the intractable HK-47 to the side of good. Secondly, influence will cause party members to tell you further things about their past. Not only is this absolutely fascinating, it helps you care about these characters, and can give benefits such as more force points or extra stats.
Combat is semi-realtime, much like in Baldur’s Gate or Neverwinter Nights. In order to increase the perceived flow of combat, each round will consist of three strikes or shots, though only one “real” shot hits. Melee and lightsaber combat is a thing of glory, as players will block, dodge, and kick. Ineffectual though most of it is, combat is certainly more interesting to watch than the half-hearted blow-trading that goes on in other RPGs. Each character has a hidden action bar much like in Final Fantasy VI. Once the bar fills, the player acts. Combat can be paused with the white button, though I found that team-mates can’t be told to attack someone else and will merely go back to their original target.
The graphics are merely passable. While the environments are certainly more lush than those in KOTOR, they are still relatively flat, though the level design is more interesting. Character models and animations are fairly smooth, but are prone to hiccups. The characters, while also a little flat, are more expressive than those in KOTOR, and are fairly lively, though they don’t show much expression.
The music is classic Star Wars, and helps make the mood, whether it is a bustling spaceport on a locked-down planet, or the dark tomb of a long-dead Sith Lord. Battle sound effects are everything you’d hope they’d be, between cries of pain, the hum of a lightsaber, and the nasal spit of a blaster rifle.
I did notice a lot of stability issues with the game. Any play over half an hour would result in a hair-tearing system lockup. I couldn’t duplicate any of the hiccups, but they generally happened when the camera was turned too fast (i.e. turning to target an enemy right behind you), or when I changed menus too fast. The only remedy was to follow the cardinal rule of adventure gaming: save early, save often.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is a masterful piece of storytelling. I spent all 60 hours absolutely riveted to the tale and couldn’t wait to know more about both my own past and the pasts of those I traveled with. I was gratified the whole time to know that the geniuses formerly of Black Isle Studios are still alive and kicking. Great characters, a vibrant galaxy to explore, and a seemingly-unstoppable menace make for an ambitious and cinematic play experience marred only by lacklustre graphics and infuriating lockups. If you are an RPG gamer looking for a fix, this will undoubtedly be one of your picks for Game of the Year.
