Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- February 12, 2003 16:45 PM PST
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Knights of the Old Republic is an ambitious balancing act for BioWare: a ?PC-style? RPG for a home console audience weaned on Japanese-style role-playing games like Final Fantasy X.
With titles like Baldur?s Gate and Neverwinter Nights decorating its resume, the name BioWare is synonymous with PC RPGs of the Highest Order. So when the folks at LucasArts decided it was time to take the Star Wars universe into the role-playing realm, they knew exactly who to turn to.
Balance and The Dark Side
When development started on Knights of the Old Republic, it was initially on the PC, familiar turf for the folks at BioWare. But they knew right from the start that they?d soon be developing it for a console, too?they just weren?t exactly sure which one. But once Microsoft announced the Xbox, the choice was obvious. "As soon as we looked at the specs," says BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka, "we knew that would be the one."
Knights of the Old Republic is an ambitious balancing act for BioWare: a "PC-style" RPG for a home console audience weaned on Japanese-style role-playing games like Final Fantasy X; a hybrid RPG that retains BioWare?s elevated customizability and side-quest count while satisfying legions of rabid Star Wars fans.
The "hardcore PC" roots are all here: modified Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition rules (Feats and traditional six-attribute stat system included), a completely customizable main character, and gaggles of sub-missions piled on top of oodles of side-quests. As in Baldur?s Gate II, every choice you make in conversation or action slowly nudges you toward one path?Dark Side or Light?until your character eventually winds up saving the galaxy or tearing it apart with bolts of Level 20 Force Lighting.
Walking on The Light Side
In modifying its habits for a console, BioWare had to break new ground: This is the company?s first completely 3D world (Neverwinter Nights used 3D models but fixed the perspective from the top), and BioWare?s usually complex interface has been simplified and streamlined for the Xbox controller. Combat is rules-based but real-time as your hero/anti-hero and two other characters (out of nine you?ll eventually meet) act out the commands you input into their queue. Enter a menu to pick a Jedi mind trick, and time slows down to a crawl, similar to Climax?s upcoming RPG Sudeki (also for the Xbox). Also new to the BioWare formula are mini-games?pod racing, gladiatorial events, space battles, even a Final Fantasy VIII or IX?like card game called Pazaak?and a far greater number of cinemas (both real-time and prerendered) to move the story along.
The Burden of Knighthood
When it comes out this May, Knights of the Old Republic could be the game that brings the last of the U.S. PC gaming loyalists to the console side of the Force. If the unholy union of Microsoft, Star Wars, and Baldur?s Gate can?t make it happen?well, chances are it?s a lost cause anyway.
