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

"This game has fallen flat of expectations"

It almost seems as though every good game has its sequel, and about half of those sequels turn out to be terrible, or at best mediocre. Very rarely can a sequel push through the modern limits of gaming and create a new form of entertainment to influence future games to come. The majority of games make huge attempts, but simply fall flat and become obsolete. Unfortunately, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is one of the games that cannot escape the majority and break out of the pattern. As a sequel to a Game of the Year, more should be expected from developers.

The game in itself isn't too terrible. However, compared to the last game, it may as well not even exist. It has undergone a developer change for the worse. This shift in creators has caused several problems with the game, both in the graphical department and the gameplay department. The unwritten “don't fix what isn't broken” rule seems to have been ignored, and several things that were great about last game have since been changed. Some of these changes were minor, and others were major. Regardless of the scale, they have almost all had a negative impact on what was once great fun.

Gameplay- 8/10: The gameplay itself isn't too bad. However, it is worse than before. The majority of negative changes took place in this category. The game itself has become too complicated, whereas its predecessor was very simple and easy to learn. Several new features have been added into the game, including combat options.

One of the biggest combat changes is the addition of “stances.” Stances are things you can use in conjunction with your lightsaber combat, which all have different benefits and drawbacks. Some stances have strengths against multiple enemies, some against redirecting blaster fire, and some for taking out one person at a time. However, each stance has its drawback, and it is more of a pain to monitor your stances than it is to use them. In short, most players without OCD will be forced to baby-sit their stances so that the drawbacks of them aren't always active. It is more of an unnecessary hassle to have to monitor what stance you are currently using than to just not have them at all.

Two minor changes from the last game involve the ability to equip and unequip a weapon while in combat, and the ability to change party members combat styles (aggressive, ranged, etc) right on the combat screen as well. However, there is no reason to want to do either of these, and instead the buttons to do so are easily hit by accident. A minor nuisance, but at the same time a pointless one.

For those new to the game, the gameplay is quite simple. Sith Lords is a turn-based RPG, in which you have three party members at a time. You travel from world to world following the storyline. Combat is simple; you just have to push buttons on one character at a time to give them their actions. While you are controlling one character, the other two are controlled by the computer, which allows the game to be played real-time or pause-after-turn.

As with the previous game, Sith Lords greatly involves your companions who travel with you. This time around, instead of doing side quests to unlock their stories, you gain “influence points” with them by doing actions they approve of, saying things they like, and so on. This looks good on paper, but just as has been said in countless other cases, so did Communism in the Manifesto. The problem with this system is that you need to travel with the companions you like, and in most cases this means neglecting the others. In KotoR 1, you had the option of learning about everyone because everything was sidequest based. That is no longer possible. You simply can't please everyone, which isn't very appealing.

The new influence system also means that you are limited to what your companions want. If you aren't trying to please them, there is no point in having them in your party anyway. It is incredibly difficult to gain influence with some of them while going in a path different than what they are aligned too. While it can be done, it is an incredible pain and in most cases forces you to limit your choices- and fun- during the game.

Despite the onslaught of negative changes, Sith Lords does retain many of it's predecessors good qualities (as far as gameplay is concerned). It is still has the same basic RPG core, which is a fairly redeeming factor.

Graphics- 4/10: I shudder to think what happened in this department. While the graphics themselves are fine (though they haven't really improved since last game), the game suffers many moments of choppy frame rates and low FPS numbers. An attempt has been made to make bigger environments. However, the developers must have forgotten even the basic knowledge of LOD's and lower poly counts when possible.

Here is a quick 3D Modeling lesson for you all: All 3D objects are comprised of polygons. The more of these on a screen, the harder it is for a computer or hardware device to process them. When there are too many, the screen starts to get choppy. This is exactly what happened with KotoR 2. The developers made large landscapes but didn't compensate for the polygons.

Even in small landscapes, however, this negative visual effect happens. There are times when small rooms will be filled with enemies, and you can barely see what is happening as your character jumps all around the screen. There are numerous instances of this, all of which are incredibly annoying. The last game was fine; we don't need twenty droids in a bedroom.

Story- 5/10: To quote Mitch Hedberg, “What happened?” This is terrible. If you have played KotoR 1, you are at no advantage to the back-story of this game. You will get to make a few notable observations, make three or four connections between characters, and call it a day while you sit back dazed and confused.

The game picks up where the last game ended. However, if you have played KotoR 1, neither of its endings will make sense in this new storyline. None of the characters can seem to fill you in, either. If you have read R Glenn's review of this game, you will know that he defined the story as unnecessarily cryptic. If you are looking for a second opinion, here it is: He is right.

There are several characters that know the turn of events since last game. However, getting them to tell you even the smallest shreds of history is an unnerving task, and you will pretty much be left looking at your screen going “What the eff” after they start to explain. Characters will talk behind your back about a few of the events, but aside from that, nothing else important happens. There is no connection between the sequel and the prequel.

The story also has an insanely slow start. You will spend your first few hours of the game practically without one. You'll find yourself in random locations for a good part of the beginning of the game, wondering what in the hell you are supposed to be doing. Don't worry, I doubt it if the game knows either.

The story comes (in)complete with characters that don't develop. Your party members will make one of two actual decisions about themselves and call it a day. One of your main enemies doesn't even talk (or he does, but it's the same as listening C3P0 talk to R2D2 in the original trilogy). While some old friends from the previous game will be revisiting, many of them only get one or two scenes in the entire game, leaving you to wonder just what is supposed to be happening.

One thing this game does do is give you a perspective of the other side of things as well as giving you a more complete view of events. For those who played through last game, this game had a moment or so where my negative opinions on Revan were changed after having a few conversations and seeing a few datapads for myself. What's good about these moments is that for all of them, the actual decision will be up to your personal opinion and feelings. However, this small in game bonus is not enough to make up for an entire failed story that leads to nowhere and back.

Sound- 9/10: Unfortunately, the sound may be the high point of Sith Lords. As always, there isn't much to comment on it, other than that the sound effects are good, the voices are good, and everything is working. Horray.

Replay Value- 7/10 Like it's predecessor, Sith Lords has a fair amount of replay value. I've gone through KotoR 1 at least fifteen times now, and will probably be going through this one at least one more time. There is so much to try, especially since the game is so limiting once you pick what path you are choosing. However, I don't see myself putting in as many hours considering how tedious this game can get.

Overall: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, is a game that easily had promise and potential, but fell flat as soon as it changed developers. Normally, things like graphics and storylines cannot ruin a game, but Sith Lords has been plagued with the most extreme and uncanny glitches and exploits, and at times you can't even see what is happening on the screen because of the graphical issues. If you are looking for a good game, stick to KotoR I, and do not venture here. However, if you were a diehard KotoR I fan, you might still salvage some fun from this game. Don't count on it though. As a precaution, rent this game before purchasing it, and pray you have the coffee to keep you awake.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/05