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The only thing missing from this masterpiece is the fact that once you finish playing the game, you can’t watch it as a movie!

I don’t like Role Playing Games (RPG), I do however love science fiction. So when Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) came out, I practically begged my editor to let me have it. I’d heard many good things about it. That’s the one thing about RPGs and computer games in general that I like.

If the game has an established history, a good story, good presentation, it definitely increases the level of immersion. KOTOR has these things in abundance. This game uses the Star Wars license very well.

The game and storyline surpasses BOTH Episodes 1 and 2 movies. The plot is so good and integral, I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t played the game yet. Suffice it to say, it has left my mouth hanging open on more than a few occasions.

KOTOR takes place approximately 4000 years ago, way before our famous characters have become legends in the Star Wars universe. We get to see some familiar planets and locales as well as a couple of new never before seen locations in the Star Wars universe. We even get to see the Wookie homeworld (Damn, they have some big ass trees).

The timeline is good, because the game gives you the opportunity to play the game from both the light side and the dark side of the force. So if you have a sith personality, you get the chance to act it out, without mucking up the image of your favorite characters.

The choice or path you play is entirely up to you. The game plays out over seven planets that after a brief linear start up (an ingeniously disguised tutorial), you can visit the planets in any order you wish. You create your main character, choosing between three classes, soldier, scout, or scoundrel.

Each has its own attributes and of course you’ll earn experience points to build up your protagonist until he or she is a lean, mean, force-wielding machine. Party members will be added along the way, and you can select up to two of them to join you on any quest, bringing your party to a size of three.

Who you choose is up to you, and there are consequences as to how the game plays out, depending on whom you bring along. You can easily choose any of your party members during a mission thanks to the easy to use interface.

The game is played from a 3D perspective and looks very much like an action game more so than a RPG. Combat is in real time, but you can pause at anytime to cue up combat commands. Some people may not like the easy form of combat, but it works very well in this game.

Voice acting and cut scenes are on par with any big budget movie titles, that is to say that they are very well done. Adding weapons and equipment to your party members is a snap as well. The only nit pick that I have about equipment, is that your party members can carry an extraordinary amount of stuff.

Surely they must be using the Force! It got to the point that I was afraid to pick up things for fear of having to drop something that I really need. This was soon washed away as I realized that I could keep everything I found.

The game encourages you to search for things because the objects you find are essential for completing some of the quests. So you must search every fallen body and every footlocker you can find.

Some of the scenery has to be seen to be believed, the planets and aliens are just wonderful to look at. It makes you wish that you could do more exploring than playing. The immersion is top notch. You can talk to almost everyone in the game, whether or not he or she has something useful to say is another story.

It is almost pointless to continue without revealing the plot, so I’m just going to end this review by saying that this is the best Star Wars game since X-Wing. Those of you that have never played an RPG, will feel right at home playing this game. It doesn’t bog you down with tons of silly rules and regulations. Everything is streamlined and easy to get into without you having to learn a ton of Dungeons and Dragons rules.

The only thing missing from this masterpiece is the fact that once you finish playing the game, you can’t watch it as a movie! It looks just that good. As a reviewer, I’m in the habit of playing the game, then writing notes. KOTOR is the first game that I’ve played through to the end (using the light side) without writing anything down. The game is just that damn good!


Review by Gus Lane.