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Review : Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic
On Friday I found myself at Blockbuster video after seeing Ms Anna. I wanted to rent a new Xbox game because my cube of black and green dopeness was being neglected. I was tempted to try Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball and see if it really was as cheesy as the rumors. But my eye was caught by Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic. So I put the soft core video game porn volleyball game back and rented the new hot Xbox RPG.
Now the Xbox is not known for it's good RPGs so that make this an extra shiny gem. If the Xbox had more good RPGs it would actually stand a chance in the Japanese and Asian market places. This game was developed by BioWare up in the cold wasteland that is Canada. BioWare is worshiped for their PC based RPGs like Neverwinter Nights so the mixture of BioWare and Starwars is enough to make most PC RPG fans eyes roll back up in their head and pass out with joy.
It is strange but I have never been able to get really into US made RPGs with the exception of Diablo and old pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons in the 80s. SW:KOTOR as the cool kids call it is based on the game play of Neverwinter Nights but is set in the Starwars universe 1000 years before episode one. The Jedi are trying to lead the remnants of an early republic army against the armies of the Sith. There are tons of dark Jedi running about and not one of Jar Jar's kind to be seen. This is a good thing. The game play is over-the-shoulder 3d with multiple characters on a team. You play a blank new recruit to the republic army and your ship get's taken over by the Sith so you excape onto a planet below with another republic fighter. There is multiple choice questions presented to the player when you pick your responses in the conversations with other characters. Your responses determine how the charectors respond to you and they affect what paths your player takes during the game. You can either be a goodie to shoes and be a model member or the republic or you can descend into madness and the dark side of the force. I guess you would have to play this game twice to really get the full effect. The first time you try to save the republic and the next time you play through the game you try to become a Sith and put Darth Maul to shame.
The graphics are really well done and are as realistic as possible on the Xbox. The charectors are really animated well and the overall look and feel is no doubt Star Wars. This must have been hard to pull off because since it is set 1000 years before any of the movies they could not include any of the designs but it still needed to be recognizable as Star Wars. The rich environments and social interaction reminded me of Shenmue. But some of the tunnels started all looking the same.
The combat is a bit boring and uninvolved. You choose your action is pseudo real time and then they go and fight. It is almost like most of the fights happen automatically and it would have been cool if it got a bit more personal. I could see how the combat system could be really cool when you are controlling nine characters in your party.
This is a really big budget A list Xbox title and is an very good American style RPG. I just could not find myself getting to excited about it but I don't know why. I guess I found it a bit over complex and see how it could get a bit tedious. If you are into Starwars, American RPGs and own an Xbox then you should go out at get it. If you do not qualify for those three things then it is best to rent it first.
Jake at July 20, 2003 
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Comments
I finally opened my copy of SW:KOTOR and I love it. I am excited that there is finally a decent RPG on the XBOX! But I have to agree that the combat could have been more personal. And I think that I could, in the end, see the game becoming a little tedious in some aspects. But for now, I am loving it :)
Posted by: Mici at July 22, 2003 9:29 AM
And no Jar Jar and Ewoks that I have seen
Posted by: Jake at July 22, 2003 9:42 AM
I liked the Ewoks. They were cute. And I want a Chewbacca!
Posted by: Mici at July 22, 2003 9:51 AM
Chewbacca was a Wookie.. and what a wookie he was.
Posted by: Jake at July 22, 2003 9:53 AM
I knew he was something, but couldn't remember what.
Posted by: Mici at July 22, 2003 9:55 AM
