Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- July 15, 2003 00:00 AM PST
Can Star Wars games be fun again? Why, yes, actually. See why inside.
For years, console and PC RPGs have lived in segregated worlds, borne of a common source but separated by audience and history. The time has come, finally, to end this abominable discrimination, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic will be the game to bridge this gap� not only is it intensely hardcore like a good PC RPG, it�s also intensely easy to pick up like a good console RPG. Integration is here! BioWare shall overcome!
Not Even the Force�
Set four millennia before Episode I, KOTOR features a galaxy in far greater turmoil than in your typical Star Wars plot. The Sith cult, led by a pale nutter named Darth Malak, has decimated Republic forces with a seemingly inexhaustible army of alien battleships�in fact, without young Jedi Bastila and her Force powers, the good guys would have been offed long ago. As a Republic soldier caught in the Sith maelstrom, you must rescue Bastila and follow her across space, playing keep-away with Malak and eventually discovering your own latent Force abilities.
KOTOR�s structure is very simple: walk around, find quests, carry �em out, rinse, and repeat for 50 hours. The battle system, however, requires special mention: It may look real-time in the screens, but it�s actually turn-based and intensely fast�just like in Baldur�s Gate, you can pause the action at any time to target enemies and assign commands to party members. There�s a learning curve in store here for most, but it�s quickly surmounted, and executing grandiose three-way combos on bosses soon becomes second nature.
�Holds Enough Power�
BioWare�s most magnificent achievement, however, isn�t the battle system or the graphics (which are hopelessly pretty, by the way). It�s the sheer size of the thing. Side quests number in the dozens; they sprout up like dandelions everywhere you go. You can become a Light or Dark Jedi based on your behavior, and the story branches believably depending on your alignment. And there�s so much terrain to explore�almost too much. In fact, hoofing around the vast expanses of some planets will make you wish you could borrow Mr. Skywalker�s personal speeder for a few hours.
�To Lift This Xbox
But no matter. The main point is: After many tries, someone�s managed to combine console and PC RPGs (two completely different genres, really) and create something that fans from both camps will love to bits. BioWare�s efforts have been well worth the wait�KOTOR is required playing for Xbox owners, and it�s worth finishing twice to spot the differences between the Light and Dark stories. Yes, it�s that good.
