"More filler than true sequel"

No one can deny the appeal of Star Wars. It's a fantastic universe full of memorable characters and creatures who get to use the niftiest gadgets and for the most part deal with their problems with a blaster rifle. That's because Star Wars is not bogged down with complicated moral dilemmas and unanswerable philosophical scenarios. It's a straight black and white affair, with every sentient being aligned to either the Light (Good) or Dark (Evil) side of the Force. George Lucas knew what he was doing when he created Star Wars. He didn't have Luke troubled by the morale implications of killing or dismembering hordes of anonymously evil Storm Troopers because it would've slowed down the action, and left his characters clinging to justifications that would have invariably alienated some of his potential fanbase. That's why messing with the dichotic formula set forth by Lucas is a risky affair that could've easily ruined a game set in the Star Wars universe. Even the formidable Dark Forces series, which has been the most true to the franchise and has culminated in the pinnacle of the Star Wars gaming experience Star Wars: Jedi Knights II: Jedi Outcast (I'm completely ignoring Jedi Academy) has maintained the Light/Dark Side dynamic without treading the gray area between the two. But Bioware did just that when they released Knights of the Old Republic a couple years ago. You could choose to be as good, bad, or indifferent as you wanted to be and watch as the story unfolded around you in accordance with your choices.

Bioware did a marvelous job at transforming the formally hack'n blast Star Wars gameplay into a fully realized, multi-branching RPG, replete with skill-sets, force powers, items/weapons/armor, and a core battle mechanic that is a hybrid of live action and turn-basing, with a virtual 20-sided die at the heart (ala D&D) which determines whether your actions are successful or not, based on the roll. All of these things are present and accounted for in this sequel from Obsidian, along with a few extras, but do they work on the level as the first game did? Read on to find out.

GRAPHICS

It will be noted here for the record that Obsidian never intended to make a new Star Wars game from scratch. Rather, they wanted to build one from the tools that they inherited from Bioware. This essentially means that the graphical engine is the same one used in the first game, albeit with some weather effects. Now this isn't a good thing, since the graphics of the first game weren't that spectacular to begin with. But fans of the first game were willing to overlook this minor contretemps because of everything else that the game offered.

With this sequel, Obsidian is asking us to do the same. I can do that, though I still have to be honest in saying that the character models are pretty lame. And it seems to me that Obsidian actually used morerecycled character models than Bioware did. Evidently they chose to ignore the complaints of the first game that every third NPC you encountered looked identical. On the plus side, the fighting animations are as smooth as ever, though they too could've used more varying, especially since this game now offers different lightsaber fighting styles (they all look the same.)

SOUND

I am happy to say that the music in KOTOR II is some of the best heard in any Star Wars game. Each piece creates the perfect ambiance while striking a balance with the mood of the setting. I am not a musician and don't know a whole lot about music; so I lack the vernacular to properly describe just how well suited the music really is.

The voice acting, though I'm loath to admit it - mainly because I so loved Carth and Bastilas' voices from the first game and I hated Atton and Kreias' voices- is at least as good as its predecessor. That is saying a lot, because I can't recall anyone who had any complaints about the first game - aside from the fact that some people thought Carth was "whiny." So well done to Obsidian for good voice work and music.

CONTROL

Here is another aspect of the game that was well done. The control is identical to that of the first game, with various buttons performing various essential tasks like rotating camera, pausing, queuing actions, deleting queues, etc... Characters are controlled using the analog sticks for motion.

GAMEPLAY

Once again Obsidian has relied on the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the gameplay and left it identical to the first game. Unfortunately, some things in the first game were broke, and did require fixing, which Obsidian either neglected or chose to ignore. There are a lot of small things in this game that should've been fixed and I'll name a few now.

While playing the game you will pick up excessive amounts of items along the way, many of which are completely superfluous to an even greater degree than in the first game. Things like security spikes and security tunnelers are so plentiful that it is almost pointless to spend skill points on them.

One out of every 100 implants now has a moderately high Constitution requirement, so it's almost pointless to spend attribute points on it. Regardless of the difficulty setting, you will pick up extremely valuable Jedi apparel early on, only to find less valuable equipment later in the game. And now, because of Prestige classes, you are never forced to choose between Force powers or attack strength. In the first game you had to sacrifice one for the other, which added strategy and replay value to the game. But this is no longer the case as you can start off as a Jedi Consular and add Jedi WeaponsMaster to your class, or start off as a Jedi Guardian and add Jedi Master to your class, which gives you the best of both worlds. But even if you stick with one throughout the game, you will rarely ever face an enemy that requires you to actually pause the game to queue actions. The game is just plain easier than the first one, which makes it less challenging and less fun.

On the plus side, Obsidian has added a new dimension to character interaction with its Influence system. To be honest, the system isn't as deep as I originally thought it was, but it still allows you to gain conversations with your other characters. With enough influence, you can get some surprising and very satisfying results from your crew.

The biggest fault I have with the gameplay (and I'm not alone here) is that the game tends to freeze like crazy for some people. I guess it's dependent on the type of drive your Xbox has i.e. Thompson, Samsung, Phillips. Those of us who have a Thompson tend to be unlucky and have the game glitch and freeze up all the time. This was the main reason I returned the game to the store instead of keeping it. I couldn't take the game freezing on me every 30 minutes. I don't understand why a game like Halo can work flawlessly on every system and yet Kotor II only works with certain ones. I'm not kidding, if you have a Thompson drive you may be in for the same thing if you get this game.

STORY

Earlier on I said that Bioware tried something new by letting a player traverse the dark territory between the Light and Dark side of the Force. Obsidian, to an astonishingly greater degree, has practically centered the story in this dark territory, or "Gray Side" of the Force. From the very beginning, it is clear that there is no "right" way to do things. Kreia will continuously second guess and contradict your choices, often expounding upon choices that you've made, whether they be Light or Dark, show how many seemingly good decisions lead to disastrous results. Characters like yourself and Kreia all are somewhere between being good and evil, and have made difficult choices in their pasts that make you see them as complicated beings instead of stereotypical good guys/bad guys.

They story starts off half a decade after the first game, which comprised what is now referred to as the "Jedi Civil War" You play a war hero from the previous war, the Mandalorian Wars, who served with Revan before he and Malak turned to the Dark Side. Right off the bat you have to decide whether you were fighting for the Light of Dark Side, because characters will often ask you questions about your past and why you did certain things. Rather than watching yourself through a series of flashbacks, you create your past persona while at the same time creating your present one. It was a bit disconcerting at first, since everyone asks about the Mandalorian Wars and expects detailed responses, even though you've never been there; so you have to kind of wing it and just pick responses that sound good to you.

One of the problems with the story though is that because it involves more moral and philosophical scenarios, you have to pick and choose the moral tenets that most agree with, whether you really even do. A lot of times Kreia will chime in with her wizened, pessimistic, and jaded illuminations. These are supposed to end your arguments with unshakable foundations of truth, even though half the time I felt like screaming at the television, "No, that's not true, you old b**ch!" Obsidian, unlike George Lucas, now has to present various ethical and philosophical interpretations so that every kind of player can be represented to some degree or another. But the problem lies with the fact that many of them are just plain shallow and stupid. Half the things that come out of Kreia's mouth are so contentious and pretentious that they deserve some kind of rebuttal, though they never offer one.

And the absolute worst part of the story, in my opinion, is that there is absolutely no progression from the first story. The entire game is a stand-alone vignette that has little to do with anything really, other than taking down some more Sith Lords. These Sith Lords though, are never fleshed out in any meaningful way. They are really little more than the anonymously evil StormTroopers of the movies. In an effort to make up for the lack of continuation from the first game, Obsidian boosts amazingly powerful enemies, one of whom can destroy an entire planet by himself, along with the mysterious "Force Bond" shared between the main character and Kreia. But these boosts never pan out; we never learn anything substantial about the Sith Lords or even the Force Bond. For me, this was hugely disappointing.

Conclusion

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is not a true sequel. It's more like KOTOR 1.1 Rather than a new game, it feels more like some filler material to keep us satisfied til the next game from Bioware come out. While the music and voice acting remains top notch, the gameplay and story have only gotten worse. The thing is, I probably would've kept this game if it didn't glitch on me every half-hour. This alone is the reason that it gets a 6.5 instead of a 7.5. I think Obsidian needs to set their sights a lot higher in the future if they wish to make another Star Wars game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/05