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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       1st March 2005: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords  After months of waiting the next chapter in the Legend of the Sith is now upon us. Posted by Chris Snook - PC,Xbox - UK and Europe There are a few games which are very hard to review, not because they are a chore or anything like that, quite the reverse in fact. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II is one such, it has been very hard to stop playing long enough to put anything down. KOTOR2 is set a few years after the events of the first game. The Mandalorians have been defeated and are in retreat as they have been scattered through the galaxy. The Jedi erupted into what the general populace termed the Jedi Civil War, being ill equipped to determine who was Jedi and who was Sith. Since then, the remaining one hundred Jedi who survived the wars have been picked off one by one until it is known that there exists just one, lone Jedi in the whole galaxy. One who does not even consider themselves such, an exile. The last hope. Deposited on four CD's, installation is easy and simple to follow. A nice menu then emerges with all the usual options for setup, updates registering and running the game, accompanied by a dramatic chunk of music. Then it is on into the game. The opening menu is suitable dark and foreboding with dark colours and ominous music shading the background as a figure in shadows looks around. A slight foretaste of what is in store. Character creation is almost identical to the original with a few tweaks here and there, a few more options in the hair colours and styles and facial features. There are three classes, all Jedi based to begin with and they affect your skill choices and feat selection. Once complete, the game starts and you are treated to the sight of a ship, badly damaged and drifting through an asteroid field, as it spirals into the ship you begin - as a droid. In one of the first immediate departures, you progress through the prologue as a droid, providing a simple and effective marker that this is not a retread as one of the side quests is to stabilise your actual character who is unconscious in the med bay. Other tasks are required to repair the ships hyperdrive enough to get to the Peragus station nearby. From here events unfold, with your past coming to the fore, your actions a decade ago and the growing threat you may be to the instability of the various galactic power-players unfurls. Things are muddied by the seeming desertion of the Peragus Base and that it is in a secure lockdown mode whilst also being under assault by seeming saboteurs. It is also the place where the first three members of your party are picked up, one of which will become pivotal. The world is huge, there are many sections to a place, even one as small as Peragus, with many different tings to explore and do. Since it is far easier to get into then the first game, plus you ply as a Jedi from the get go there is an even greater feel of being in that Galaxy Far, Far, Away. Paths through the various elements are less linear in feel, there is more freedom to be where you want to be, to choose a path that suits you and your style of play. Encouraged by the newly introduced influence system, where you can gain or loose influence with party members by the way you say or do things. If you get it right then your companions will walk through fire or worse for you, get it wrong and they will in fight. An addition that takes things up a further rung, you can also affect their alignment, with your own. All but one, who remains neutral no matter what your own alignment is, be it coruscating white or creosote tinted red - again something missing from the first one. Decisions are what drive the game, how, who and what are all important. Make a wrong turn or a bad call and you can die so easily. Same if you make a wrong choice of who to talk to and when. The order of where you go and how you deal with it is also up to you. This is backed up by the near pure randomness of items and combats. You die, reload and the next time you pass through an area, it will contain different equipment, placing of encounters and what the encounters may drop are all random. Some items may never appear or appear once in a load, this extends things further as you can make the same decisions for two different characters and it would still feel slightly different. Deep down, underneath everything is the original BioWare Engine, tweaked, polished, re-laid with new shiny things and generally pushed as far as they think they could go. Graphics are sweet with little frame rate loss even at high activity levels on screen, there are reflections, shadows, movement and other things that catch your eye. Backdrops work but appear a little too static compared to the fore and mid-ground elements. The Lightsabres are especially well done in the way they move and behave as you cut an arc of death through foes. Sound wise the voice work is excellent. It should be there are a lot of talented actors there, with even the 'Additional Voices' having proven pedigrees. With a mix of accents and styles, background chatter this is one of the best aspects to be seen. Music is also spot on. It is eerie when it needs to be, rousing when in combat and does provide cues. All equipment beeps, boops or makes some kind of sound, blasters and Lightsabres are accurate and things synch in correctly to actions as they occur with no delay but occasionally an echo or two. The system will be familiar to those who have played the first KOTOR, combat is semi-turn based and part real-time decision making with a selection box for actions, including attack, thrown and Force actions. You can select other actions such as healing, non-combat Force powers, select a Lightsabre style or set something else. Combat can be fluid and very, very lethal at times, it pays to save and plan ahead. Incorporated for the first time are 'Prestige' classes. More advanced versions of the main classes that bring even more training and abilities to your character at they explore the galaxy. Yes, you can become a Sith Lord and woe betide anyone who gets in your way as you go on a rampage. There are a few things that jar, at times the interactions can go on for what seems ever as you chew through the options and hope that you find a combination that will win you influence or Dark/Light side points. Set pieces can become a little telegraphed and a few twists are almost anything but. It is also a shame that with the emphasis on choice you cannot select your starting alignment and either follow the path of redemption or damnation as required, to provide an even more difficult road along to the finish. Lastly, and maybe a bit unfortunately, the initial ace and verve seems to have been diminished in the latter stages, as if there was more but it has been reduced to make a deadline. However there is a distinct possibility that KOTOR 3 will emerge, as it looks to set things up whilst neatly closing threads from KOTOR off. As a HK protocol droid may say. "Unexpected Elation: It gladdens me that I consider this to be a wonderful addition. Ponderous Reflection: Flaws once accepted will be overwhelmed by plus points." ***** A few words on the Xbox version from John Grothier. One of the first things noticing upon booting up the Xbox version is how much it looks like the original title. Obsidian have done a splendid job with the graphics engine, including some new features like weather and Force powers. Although the original title always looked good, this time around for some reason It does not seem as stunning as the first game. The engine running the game has been polished to include snow, rain and some great looking new Force powers, but this is at a cost to the frame rate, which stutters frequently, even when there is not too much action on screen. Unfortunately the long loading times on the Xbox version of the game break up the action, and because of the nature of this title, the loading times begin to tire very quickly as you must re-visit locations many times, in order to carry out the many objectives and bonus quests. Overall Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II on the Xbox is a worthy successor to the original title, that has both positive and negative points, but it's another great role-playing title, for a system starved of such games. ***** {Marks are for the PC Version} Chris Snook             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Beautifully crafted sequel to what has been considered one of the best RPG games for many years, now surpassed by its own direct descendant. You get to play a Jedi and from then on you are in. With minor flaws in execution, occasionally long winded and circular conversations aside this is the bees knees. Remember no de-installations.  Related Games:  Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords for PC  21  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords for Xbox  7  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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