f6ftg's Full Review: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic for Windows
Ever since the first Star Wars movie came out a long long time ago, an entire universe has been created. Knights of the Old Republic is your chance to visit that Universe. In this highly acclaimed RPG, you have the chance to live out the role of a Jedi, and unlike many other RPGs, you have the chance to decide what your position in the universe is. You can choose to join the light side, or become part of the dark side.
Knights of the Old Republic is a game that comes down to choices. It isn't the sort of game where everything you do is going to change the outcome of the game (if anybody tells you anything different, they are lying. The game might be open ended in what decisions it lets your character make, but it is not that open ended), but you'll want to watch the decisions that you make. They can affect how your character is perceived by those he or she interacts with.
Game Overview :
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Knights of the Old Republic is a futuristic RPG that is set in the universe of Star Wars. The events that take place in this game are before any of the movies. Even if you aren't familiar with all the terms from the movies or the universe that they take place in, you can still follow the storyline and the concepts of this game quite easily.
In KOTR (the game will be referred to as it's abbreviation from this point in the review), you get the chance to take control of a character (your choice on the gender, class, and type of person that you follow), and follow that character through the events that take place in the story. Essentially the game itself plays like a more futuristic Never Winter Nights. For those who are looking for a hardcore overhead RPG with large inventories, lots of monsters and cities to visit, then you won't find them in this game. However, if you are looking for a more straightforward and plot-driven RPG that is a bit more linear in nature, then you should keep on reading.
The game has all the usual RPG elements, but with the expected Star Wars twist. You have many different playable characters that you can use to compliment your battling styles. There are different skills that your character can develop to aid them in the destruction of your enemies. There are items that you can use to attack your enemy and aid you in battle (mostly grenades and status effecting items such as battle stimulants). Basically, all the usual RPG elements that you would expect from any RPG are in this game. Of course, there are some futuristic changes, and some differences that the idea of Star Wars adds to it (like the inclusion of light sabers, and the idea that your magic points are rather force points that all you to use the force in your battling).
Gameplay
So what is the game play of KOTR like? Well, like most live action RPGs, if you want to attack an enemy, you click on it. It's pretty simple. There is a dice system that decides what damage you do, (or if you even hit the enemy) that is similar to the whole Dungeon and Dragon's thing. Don't worry though, the game does it for you automatically, but if you want, you can check through the logs and see what the algorithms are to determine what damage you do with your character.
Battling is really a big part of any RPG, and in KOTR you can expect to see quite a lot of it. There are the usual experience points and gaining levels systems that you would expect. There are many different types of enemies, each which respond better to different types of weapons and force attacks. You can gain skills and abilities and raise attributes when you level up (although what you can change deepens on the level that you obtain).
Some of the more unique elements of the game, are that everyone in your party gets experience points. So that when you get to parts where you are forced to use a certain character, they are never lagging behind on their abilities and attributes (although you may need to find better weapons for them). I think that although this can lead to a player not balancing their party often, it is overall a good idea. Nothing is more annoying in RPGs than having to train up a character that you don't like, and doesn't fit with your battling style just because the storyline forces you to put them into your party.
Another unique aspect of this game is the idea of leaning towards the light side or the dark side. Each character you gain in your party throughout the game has an affiliation with either the light or the dark side. Although this ultimately doesn't really affect their battling, the other characters do interact with each other. Those from the dark side tend to critize those from the light side, and vice versa. The main playable character starts out in the middle, and based on decisions (such as how you interact with NPCs, or whether or not you decide to spare somebody’s live or take it based on whatever the event that is currently happening with the game might be) that you make, changes. Once you begin to notice yourself drifting towards a certain side, it will become easier and easier to take yourself to the extremes of the sides. For the most part, this doesn't really affect much of the game (although I can't say that it doesn't affect the game at all), but it is something that you should consider when you play through the game.
Another unique aspect of the game is that you can travel in between planets. Once you get the ability of a spacecraft, you can go in between planets and perform the necessary quests or side quests that are currently located on that planet. The game allows you to take its storyline at your own pace, and doesn't force you to do something before you would have to. Although this system isn't quite as open-ended as they could have made it (and you are only confined to planets that have some background with the main quest of the story), there is still a lot of open ended options that the game allows you to do with this system in place.
Graphics
Graphically, for the time of its release, KOTR is quite impressive. Since it was released in 2003, (about 4 years ago), it might not look all that great now, but if you pump up the settings to the max (which you can most likely do if you have a recently updated computer) the graphics on it look pretty good. The models are well developed, and the landscapes of the background of the game are textured and utilized quite well.
The cinematic in between game play sections of the game seem a little grainy and fuzzy at points, but since they don't really play a major role in the game (other than as transitions between flying in between planets, and as visions for the main plot line), they really aren't that important. They aren't bad looking either, just a little questionable in the modeling department.
If you don't have a fast computer, don't worry about meeting the system requirements. My current computer is about 3 years old, and it ran the game perfectly on the highest settings possible. (Including large amounts of Anti-Aliasing.)
Story
As with any RPG, the story of the game is very important. Don't worry fans! In this game, the story is always present. Unlike some RPGs, where it feels like the story is more of a chore and something that just pops up between random boss battles, in KOTR you can follow it pretty easily. There are quite a few interesting and exciting twists and turns that come throughout the plot line through the way. Although the main portion of the story stays the same, there are some aspects of it that change with your character's affiliation with either the dark side or the light side.
The story begins with the main character on a republican ship that is being attacked by a Sith vessel. You, along with another playable character (Carth), are among the survivors of the ship who crash on a planet that is currently under siege by the Sith. The main portion of the story begins with you and Carth searching to find Bastilla, a Jedi knight with a special Battle Medallion skill (which actually doesn't seem to do much at all), who was also on the ship and survived. From this point onwards, (I really don't want to go into too many details, as from this point onward it would become spoilers) the story develops from this. There are parts that are cheesy, and there are parts that are brilliant. The story line isn't epic, and masterpiece worthy like some other RPGs, but it is far from being terrible.
Sound Voice Acting - KOTR has a fairly wide range of different voice acting. Since there are many alien species that speak different languages other than English, there are some characters that speak in languages that you can't verbally understand. Fortunately, your character in game is fluent in many different languages, and you rarely run into a species that you cannot speak with.
For many of the main NPCs and playable characters, the voice acting is quite well done. The voices sound believable, and they are synched well with the model characters that they represent on the screen. For the ones that speak in a different language, it's hard to tell whether or not between different characters, as they all seem to have similar voices. This is understandable however, since they wouldn't want to have to give too many different people new languages to speak. Ultimately, the voice acting, although with a few exceptions, is quite well done.
Sound Effects - The sound effects of the game do their purpose. When you fire a blaster pistol, it sounds like you're firing a blaster pistol. The light saber sounds like it did in the movies, which is what you would expect from a game based off the said universe. There really isn't anything special to mention in this category, considering that you get what you would expect.
Overall
All of these elements combined make KOTR quite an excellent game to play. I did mention that there are a few weak points scattered throughout the game in my overview of the review. When I say this, I mean little things, such as a few cheesy story line moments, some annoyances within the game system (such as the fact that you are given the luck of the draw as to what you can upgrade with your characters on the leveling up), an things like that. Nothing major that would take away from the game, but things that keep the game from being a perfect game.
For those who are looking for a good time, give KOTOR a call.
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