Review: Star Wars Knights of The Old Republic

In celebration of the release of the latest Star Wars movie I, probably the biggest Star Wars nerd in this school, will be reviewing a game from long past, from an even longer time ago in a galaxy far far away 4000 years before the rise of Darth Vader… Star Wars Knights of The Old Republic is a real time RPG set long before any of the movies and this is surprisingly the games strongest asset, as they are not restricted by staying contingent with the movies plots, which aids its story and allows for more emersion than previous Star Wars titles as you aren’t Luke Skywalker or anyone from the main movies and therefore playing a character with set motivations, and your not playing second fiddle to anyone, YOU are the protagonist not anyone else. The game begins like any other Star Wars game, with the standard Star Wars crawl setting the scene for the game, You take control of your player character on the Endar Spire, a Republic battle ship, above the planet of Taris (which is basically Coruscant except smaller and filled with xenophobes) eventually you crash land on the planet with your first party member Carth Onasi to find the planet under Sith occupation. The game is relatively linear in structure as you go from planet to planet looking for whatever maguffan you are looking for, and as you go along you gather your motley band of characters all of which have there own side quest to partake in. Creating your player character is fairly simple compared to other RPGs on the market, which allows for a lower bar for entry compared to other RPGs. The game ,as previously stated, is a real time RPG with the ability to pause whenever you want which allows the combat to be both action packed and strategic at the same time. The story is also very good with twists and turns through out, and one twist at the end that I won’t spoil. Although I sung it’s praises, the game does have it’s problems for example, the moral choices in the game are completely ridiculous as they are way over the top the Light Side options are fairly simple help the guy, pay the debt etc. While the Dark Side options are you essentially being a jerk to everyone, they don’t even offer much benefit for example: On the second planet Dantooine you talk to a bunch of Jedi about getting training, but you can just lie for no real reason about staying with the Light Side of the Force, you have no reason to do so and no benefit either aside from Dark Side points. There’s also the mini games which are generally side ventures to make credits, they all suck. First there’s Swoop Racing (Pod Racing essentially) which is very difficult and doesn’t give much in terms of cash and can only be done for money a few times. Or as a second option Pazaak, god help me Pazaak it is essentially Blackjack but you have a hand of cards to modify your count with. Which on its own sounds fine… But then again the computer cheats in many ways, they always go first, they count cards, and they generally have a better hand than you so you won’t win consistently enough to make a profit, unless of course you quick save before hand and save-scum your way to victory.

There is also a sequel to KoToR, Star Wars Knights of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords which was written by legendary writer Chris Avellone who wrote Fallout 2, Baldur’s Gate and many other games. KoToR 2 acts as a deconstruction of the entire franchise putting Jedi and Sith in a moral grey area as they both do bad things whether it be for the greater good or for their own gain respectively. But that is a story for another day, KoToR is one of the land mark Star Wars games for any fan whether they actually care about the expanded universe or not. So that is why this game deserves an 8 out of 10 because, despite it’s flaws, it still is a great game with memorable characters and a great story behind them. Thanks for reading and may the Force be with you all!