The developers of this game are pure evil, possibly as evil as the Sith themselves. Why? Because this game came out mid-December and guess what? That's when college students are supposed to be studying for finals!!!

I write this review pretty tired and I look like a mess, because it's really hard to study, sleep, eat, and play KOTOR 2 all in one day. I haven't eaten since yesterday. I played this game in about 4 or 5 days of playing 6 or 7 hours a day. Last night, I played from 3 AM to noon and finally beat it! It took 30 hours of gameplay.

So yeah, this game will get you hooked. If you haven't played the original KoToR, I highly recommend you play it first. There are so many plot references to the original that you're really better off playing it first.

Okay, so let's break it down.

GRAPHIXXX: B- (and a D for effort)

This game is an RPG, so gameplay and story are more important than graphics. This game looks pretty much like the first...not bad graphics at all, just nothing really jaw-dropping. Many NPC's faces are recycled from the first one, and there aren't just enough faces to go around. There's 3 or 4 faces that you'll get tired of seeing EVERYWHERE. Textures are not as vibrant, faces are not as well modeled, though in no way are the graphics bad. It's just nowhere near how good graphics are getting in X-Box games today...see Halo 2. for example. It doesn't detract from the game experience, it just could've been better.

You can say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and KoToR's graphics weren't anywhere near broke. But graphics are almost IDENTICAL to the first. In fact, I would dare say that KoToR 1 on PC looks better than the Sith Lords. That's just bad. The original's graphics were okay, but now with the sequel looking almost the same, it is getting more outdated looking. Though it still is cool to see all these colored lightsabers in battle. The force lightning does look nice and vibrant and I have yet to see anyone walking through anyone else like in other games. At least they took care of that.

I'm sure the PC version of this will look much better.

A D for effort. They obviously didn't spend much time changing the graphics in this one.

Most Annoying Thing About This Game Ever

There are quite a few frame-rate issues. Anytime you get into a fight and there are more than 6 or so people in a fight, frame rate slowwwwwssssss down. This is really disappointing because

1) There are quite a few fights like that.
2) It's not like they even improved the graphics much or anything.

I played the original KoToR on PC, and never once did I experience frame rate problems.

STORY: A-

I would've given the original KoToR an A+ for story. This game also has a really good story, but it IS a sequel. Much like the first one, you are someone stripped of your force powers. Then you gain it back and become more powerful.

Basically, without spoiling anything, KoToR 2's story goes like this: once one of the most powerful and charismatic Jedi Knights, you are now a Jedi Exile. You have been cast out of the Jedi Order and you have lost your connection to the force. Meanwhile, the Sith Lords are on the prowl and think you are the last Jedi. The universe has a low opinions of Jedi and everyhwere you go, you encounter Sith Assassins and bounty hunters.

Let's just say the main plot line is pretty interesting (can't really go into detail here without spoilers), but the ending is pretty disappointing. The ending I got, my player just basically flies off into space, and you have no idea where you are going.

I was worried that the story was going to be a rip-off of the original, it's not. It's just not as good as the first's. And you do experience a sense of deja vu as once again you are a former Jedi Master trying to regain power you once had.


GAMEPLAY: A-
b a t t l e

The battle system is much the same.

Basically, you run into an enemy and the game pauses. You can then select how you want to fight. In the beginning all you can do is use physical attacks with swords or blasters or unarmed combat. After playing some more, you will learn new combat features like....

Flurry-You hit your enemy three times per round instead of once, but each attack hurts less, and you are more likely to miss.

Critical Strike-You deal your enemy a harder hit and also have the chance to stun your opponent.

Power Attack-You deal one hit that hurts more than usual, but your defenses are lowered for that round.

You don't have to just attack physically. After a while, you regain control of the force and can use force powers to dispatch enemies quickly. I recommend Force Storm. If you master the features and force powers, they deal more damage and are less likely to miss. You can also throw grenades, though one is less and less likely to use them as your character gets stronger. You can also set mines and run away hoping your opponent runs into them. You can use temporary energy shields and the like and take stimulants that temporarily make you stronger or faster. Steroids, basically.

What's new? There are now new battle features (such as close combat which gives you a bonus when you really get in your opponent's grill...which is useful if your character uses blasters). A word on the gameplay: this is a turn based fighting system, although it looks real-time. Your character will dodge blaster fire and the like, but you can't control any of that. However, it's not completely turn-based as your opponents will not wait for you if you don't feel like attacking. There is also no separate battle screen, which I really like.

By the end of the game, you'll probably tire of micro-managing your players and just let them attack automatically. Also, the battle system does feel more natural on the PC, though that version does not come out until next year.

w h a t e l s e' s n e w?

What's new? Well now there are a few lightsaber "forms." Each has its own advantages, for example some are better when fighting other Jedi, some are better when you're fighting a group of people, etc. I ended up not really using this much as I don't really think it makes much of a difference.

Items are different now...they are somewhat random. For example, in a certain box, you will always get armor if you search it...but which one specifically is random. While this is pretty neat, sometimes I wondered why I was finding credits in animals. You can also use the workbench to create and breakdown items. Have a sword you don't use? Break it down at the workbench into "components" and use the compoments to build a new lens for your lightsaber! You can build many powerful upgrades for items this way. I didn't realize this until almost the very end of the game. Oh well, I DID make some really powerful lightsaber upgrades for the final fight.

Swoop racing is back from the first game...and while there seems to be less emphasis on it (it's completely optional), it's a lot harder. Now you can jump obstacles and courses just have more obstacles. What I also found disappointing is that you don't get as much attention from NPC's when you swoop race.

c h a r a c t e r s

The people you travel with are more complex than before. Basically, in the first KoToR, you got new dialogue options with your party every time you leveled up, and as long as you were nice to them, you learned more about them and got their subquests. In this one, the game measures your "influence" with your different teammates. Talk to them or do something in front of them that they like (tip: for Kreia, she likes it when you play both sides of a conflict and dislikes it when you help random people out), and then you gain influence points. If you do not have enough influence, you cannot learn more about them. While I found this to be more realistic, I also found it to be incredibly frustrating. I didn't end up finding much about quite a few of my characters.

What's really neat is that if you have enough influence with one of your characters, if you become more light-sided, they become more light-sided as well and vice versa. You can even make other people Jedi!

e x p e r i e n c e

Another cool feature is that even when you don't use certain characters, they receive experience points too. That way, when you need them, they will be only just one level behind you. Also, it's not necessary to kill your way through the game. Using computer skills or the like to go around a conflict also gets you experience points...it's not just fighting that gives you experience.

m i s s i o n s
Missions come in a few varieties. You start out by having to break out of a mining station. On another planet you will have to decide whether to help restore its surface or give into corporate greed and sabotage it. You will either help mercenaries attack Dantooine or help defend it, or kill both sides if you wish. There are many optional missions such as to find a pilot for a bunch of refugees on Nar Shaada, get passports for people trying to leave Onderon, to save the Queen of Onderon or to kill her.

There are usually more than one way to do things, usually one will give you light-side points and one will give you dark-side points. There are always sides to pick, and you can either ally with the "good" side, the "bad" side, or often just play the two against each other and kill them both. For example, with the passport thing, you can either give them to a desparate family for no reward or you can sell them to a criminal in exchange for a powerful light saber crystal. I got one for both of them, however, the crystal was useless since it only worked for Dark Sided Jedis. How ironic.

Depending on how good or evil your character is, their appearance changes as well. While that's pretty cool, I don't like the more evil your character is, the more ugly they get, and some people in the game comment on your skin condition. No social commentary please! Why can't there be a game where it's just encouraged to be evil?

SOUND: A-

The sound is fine. You get more frantic music when you are in battle and more relaxed music elsewhere. Sound effects are pretty cool, especially the hum of light sabers. The sound of dying could've used a bit more work however. It's funny pausing the game in the middle of a battle however, that frantic music keeps playing FOREVER.

The player's catch phrases get a little annoying though. Whenever Atton opens a security door, he says "Pure Pazaak." In battle, the Disciple often says "You have left me an opening!" It gets pretty annoying, though I learned to block it out.

A DIALOGUE GEM/COMPLAINTS

This is one of the example of the awesome dialogue in this game.

Alien: Leave me alone to die now. You are a terrible human.
Me: Do you sell droid parts?
Alien: Yes I do....

And then he proceeded to sell me stuff as usual! Things like this need a little work. Dialogue often has the same options in it over and over again...gets frustrating after a while.

I never got my Jedi Prestige class which you're supposed to get by level 18 or so! What's going on! I beat the game without it!

The final fight is more frustrating than rewarding.

The first escape is really long and annoying.

Two of the 4 main quest planets are long and rewarding while one is kind of long, and the last was way too short.

Loading times have not improved. :/

CONCLUSION

While this game does not match the greatness of the first, it is still a very good game on its own right. It's on the border of greatness. If you like Star Wars and RPGs, you will love this game. But play the original first! And if that takes you a while, wait for The Sith Lords to come out for PC. I'm sure graphics and frame rate will be improved along with some bonus material.

This game said I'm light-sided. But Fable told me I was evil. I just try to make the choices that I would actually make in real life. Hmmm.....

Okay, back to studying for finals.

Recommended: Yes