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"One Step Forward, Two Steps Back."


Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

7/10

For quite awhile, it seemed that RPG-loving Xbox acolytes were doomed to settling for watered-down, unsatisfying role-playing experiences. (Let's face it, folks; Bill Gates' system caters to a different demographic.) However, in the summer of 2003, BioWare and LucasArts released a Jedi-flavored salve for the wounds of these poor gamers. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic became a smash hit, winning (and deserving) obscenely huge piles of awards from magazines and websites.

A year later, a sequel was announced, to the joy of many. Since BioWare was toiling away at their own RPG, Jade Empire, the honor of working on the sequel was granted to Obsidian. Unfortunately for them, they were working under a very tight schedule, as it was expected to be in stores for the holiday season. Consequently, the testing process was evidently much less rigorous than usual, leading to a glitch and bug-ridden product. Released in December of 2004, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, as expected, flew off the shelves. However, several key issues (not all the game itself's fault) keep the second chapter in the KotOR saga from reaching legendary status.



Place KotOR and its sequel side by side, and I challenge you to tell one from the other. It seems Obsidian made no effort to improve on the (admittedly still somewhat impressive) visuals from the original. Obsidian deserves credit for addressing one of the major problems with KotOR: the lack of variety in NPC faces. Seriously, if BioWare thought the act of giving one guy a bald head and goatee made him indistinguishable from the identical Joe Shmoe down the hall, well, they need to lay off the juma juice. There are some neat small touches, such as your character visibly refining his/her fighting style as he/she levels up, but again, don't expect to see much of anything new if you happen to be a diehard fan. But, hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There are problems worthy of more criticism in this game than visuals.



I'm starting to sound like a broken record here: most of the sounds are the same as the original. Not necessarily a bad thing, repetition is (to imitate Master Yoda); Star Wars fans will recognize blasters firing, lightsabers blazing to life, and various other sound effects sampled directly from the films, thus ensuring perfect authenticity.



In Knights of the Old Republic II, you assume the role of a Jedi exile, cast out by the Council for joining the infamous Revan in the Mandalorian Wars and presumably stripped of your Force powers as additional punishment. Wandering alone in the Outer Rim for five years apparently was a good decision, as shadowy Sith assassins serving the titular dark masters have wiped out almost all of the Jedi, leaving you to be the last in their path, in their eyes. Through the course of the game, you (along with an ever-growing band of allies) track down the surviving Jedi Masters to get some answers and thwart the Sith -- or to exact your revenge for being exiled and humiliated. As with the last game, it's entirely up to you. In the background of the plot is the disappearance of Revan; everyone is wondering where he went, and how to find him.

The plot is much darker and less straightforward than its predecessor, a welcome improvement in my eyes; as much as I enjoyed KotOR, I felt that the storyline was a bit predictable. Unfortunately, the plot becomes almost too convoluted; by the end, it's unlikely you'll understand everything that has transpired. Also, there were major plot points and locations cut out because of time restraints on the development team (more on that later), and thus pieces of the plot are missing. Not good.

One of the highlights of KotOR was the moral freedom offered; if someone looked at you the wrong way, slaughtering them and their group was a viable option, as was ignoring them and defusing the situation. Instead of being the same old, same old, a certain character in KotOR II criticizes almost every decision you make, be it good or evil, possibly causing you (as the player, not the character) to second-guess yourself; not everything is black-and-white, dark-and-light. Now that's just plain good writing.

The Exile's companions are a mixed bag. Some are interesting, with colorful personalities and backgrounds, while others are simply "there"; they don't really have much worthwhile to contribute to the story. The same could be said of the Sith Lords themselves; it's almost criminal how little they're given to do in the game. I mean, these are supposed to be Masters of the Dark Side, eager to crush the life from your Exile's corpse with their vast evil powers, yet they do almost nothing for the whole game! Yes, it increases their mystique, but it would be nice to see them in action more, being a dark side fan myself. In particular, Darth Nihilus, prominently featured on the game box, is neck and neck with Darth Maul as "coolest Star Wars character that is almost completely inconsequential to the plot". The game's main antagonist was fairly interesting, with refreshingly different motivations than the usual villain. I also appreciated the cameo appearances by several main characters from KotOR.

After a 40+ hour gaming experience, one expects a stirring ending to inspire a sense of satisfaction at completing a quest. Don't expect one here. After defeating the final boss, there's a blatant setup for KotOR III, followed by a ten second cutscene (which, depending on the alignment you chose, could make absolutely no sense), and then... roll credits. That's it. Play again. Words could not express the rage I felt after witnessing this. (Your reaction may vary.)



Ah, here we are, where KotOR II both shines brightly and fails miserably.

Dozens of new feats and Force powers have been included, most of which are actually useful. With so many options, even deeper character customization is possible. Your statistics are used in a new way also; at workbenches and lab stations, you can create new items out of raw materials, and break down what you aren't using. With enough skill, you can create better upgrade items yourself than anything available to buy.

The introduction of special "prestige classes" is a great improvement; at a certain point, you are given the chance to pick a powerful new class for your character from three different choices, determined by alignment. These prestige classes offer awesome new abilities, and, with the level cap now at level 50, it's unlikely you'll run out of skills to power up your avatar with.

The new "influence" system in intriguing, letting you inspire your teammates to align themselves with the light side, or corrupt them with the toxic power of the dark side. I especially enjoyed the ability to train certain party members (who will remain nameless) in the ways of the Force, making already powerful warriors into mighty Jedi.

Here it comes, my major complaint about KotOR II: BUGS, GLITCHES, AND OH, YES, DID I MENTION BUGS? This game should have been delayed until after the holidays to fix everything. If it were only visual glitches, fine. Still don't belong there, but at least the game is playable. Not KotOR II! There are numerous "game over" bugs that require you to reload from another file, because it's impossible to continue. I lost several hours to a bug on Nar Shadhaa; I was not pleased, to put it mildly. Even more unforgivable, several awesome Force powers are broken; they don't work properly, some not giving the proper bonuses to the user, and some not inflicting penalties to the victims. Sure, it may not directly affect the progression of the story, but taken together they seriously hurt my opinion of the game as a whole.



If you're a uberfan of Knights of the Old Republic, you most likely have already finished and refinished this game. For the casual fan, I would definitely suggest playing that game first. I'd recommend Knights of the Old Republic II with reservations, though; it's definitely fun, but it seems like a lost opportunity to me.



Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/05