Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

"A Masterpiece"

Let me preface by saying that I owned both Baldur's Gates I & II (if you are unfamiliar with these games, they were RPGs made by the developers of Knights of the Old Republic, KotOR for short, which were arguably some of the best PC games ever). I owned them both, yet I never played more than a few hours of each. I wanted to, I knew that they were excellent game and that I was a fool for not appreciating every moment I spent on them, yet I just could not get into it. KotOR has all the depth and charm that people love about the Baldur's Gate games, but with far more immersion, a powerful 3D engine, and enough draw to keep someone playing for months.

Graphics: 10/10

Some might say that my rating of the graphics is too high, that my overall love for the game has clouded my judgement. KotOR's graphics are underrated the same way that Morrowind's were. People do not realize how much this game has to generate, render, and keep in memory at once. Not to mention that this game has excellent lighting and an amazing draw distance! Alien faces gleam with sweat, faces are alight from the warm glow of nearby computer screens, and, perhaps most beautiful of all, when something walks through the grass in this game, each individual blade of grass bends and sways realistically. The framerate can be a but shaky at times, but it never hinders gameplay. The only realistic way to alleviate the framerate-related woes would have been to lower the graphical quality, and I suspect Bioware expected KotOR's graphics to be underrated already. Not to mention that each face shows real emotion during conversation, which leads me to the next category. Each person's equipment is perfectly visable on their character model, and the player can easily tell exactly what kind of weapons and armor an enemy or friend is using just by glancing at the character models.

Sound: 10/10

The sound is probably the first thing to strike the player as masterfully done. Every, every single voice has a voice over. Every line is perfectly lip-synched with the speech. The alien languages are perfectly transferred, each race speaking their own dialect (still perfectly lip-synched). The one minor problem some might have with the alien languages is that aural lines are repeated over and over again. Each language has about 5 lines, depending on the mood of the speaker. One tends not to notice this until one starts to skip lines, however. The weapon sounds are absolutely perfect, too. The sound is perfect, exactly what one would expect and hope for: a cross between Star Wars-eque dynamic themes, and the ambient hums of Baldur's Gate. John Williams' themes are evident here, if not clearly in the forefront of the music. Some new theme music has been composed, and it is excellent.

Presentation: 10/10

The menus are all sleek and futuristic. The setup is basically a futuristic version of the Baldur Gate menus. The presentation throughout the game is superbly cinematic. For best results, turn the subtitles off and listen to what each character says. Not only will the game last longer that way, but you will get much more out of your experience. And don't worry, this game has an excellent, excellent, plot.

Gameplay: 10/10

The battle system is fairly intuitive. By the time you get through the opening sequence and land on your first planet, you will have mastered combat. The part that will intrigue and ensnare most players is the ability to choose your path as a Jedi through your actions. For every petty, cruel, and downright despicable thing you do, you will gain a certain amount of Dark points. For every homeless person to whom you give credits (did I mention there's an excellent monetary system built in to this game?), for every time you stand up for truth and justice and stand up for the tenets of the Jedi order, you will gain Light points. Eventually, you will become the quintessential Jedi: morrally perfect, sometimes even annoyingly boyscout-ish; or you will become as evil as possible: using the force to persuade anyone to do your bidding, killing innocents out of nothing but shear bloodlust, stealing the last few credits from society's downtrodden, and plenty more. Once the player becomes a Jedi, Force powers are available. There are three basic types: Light, Dark, and Universal. Light powers range from ''Heal'' to ''Destroy Droid'' (Destroy Droid is basically a more humane ''Force Lightning''). Dark Powers range from Force Choke, to Plague, to Insanity, to Drain Life, to pretty much anything you've ever thought would be cool and bad@$$ to do with the Force.

Replay: 10/10

Morrowind had immense replay value in the sense that one could spend hundreds of hours with a single character. This game has replay value in the way that there are just so many ways to play through this game. Each gender represents a different experience. Character class-wise, there are 9 possible combinations, with practically limitless customization. This game isn't too difficult: it's hard enough so many parts require strategy and planning, and on occasion many retries. However, it's easy enough so that nothing ever seems impossible. It actually has puzzles that require you to think (GASP!)! There are three endings: Light, Dark, and a secret ending (posted both on Bioware's website and on Gamefaqs).

Overall: 10/10

To review, let's just go over the finer points of this game, shall we?
- Build and customize your own lightsaber
- Train at both Jedi and Sith academies
- Impose your will on reality with the Force
- Determine both your own fate and that of the Galaxy with every decision you make
- Experience a cinematic game like no other
- Befriend and rival against some of the most memorable videogame characters ever

Well, I hope that settles it for you. Do yourself a favor an experience not only the best thing ever to happen to the Star Wars franchise, but also the best thing to happen to XBOX so far. With downloadable content coming soon, this should be a sure bet. Enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/03, Updated 07/30/03