Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (xbox)

[danizduhman]

Star Wars is one of the best series of movies and games that has ever existed, period. Lucasarts has done amazing things with the original Star Wars Universe. But picture this: A whole new era of Star Wars in the works. An entire era to be creative with, to develop how the better known Universe came to be. The writers of this game have been given an easle to draw on, and they have come though beautifully.

Storyline

Star Wars KOTOR takes place 4,000 years before the original movies and the Galactic Empire. Jedi in this era are not a rarity, but a prominent force in the galaxy. There are thousand and thousands of them, and they enforce the law here. But, for every Jedi, there are just as many Dark Jedi. The Dark Jedi are either Jedi that have fallen from the light, or brought up in the darkness, and are known as the Sith. The jedi are waging a war, called the Jedi Civil War, and are losing. The Sith have gotten a flieght, but not just any fleight, an apparent endless one at that. The Republic is losing badly, and thousands of jedi have fallen in battle. As a member of the jedi order, it is your job to figure out and end this Sith threat, or fall from the light and join them.

Planets

There are several planets in this great game, and several you will recognize from the originals, including, Tatooine, Korriban, and Kashyyyk.

These planets are very detailed in not only graphics, but in storyline as well. What you say and do on these planets can effect the entire planet, with dramatic changes occurring. You can go places that you've always wanted to from the movies here, and see the set up's for some of the best movies ever created.

The Force....

The Force is a very important part of this game. With the Force, you can do almost anything. With over 40 force powers to choose from, you can be as evil or as light as you want, ranging from emitting lighting from your hands and creating whirlwinds, to healing and making yourself inhumanly fast. The force can change entire battles, making rifles sometimes completely useless, and making your opponent utterly helpless against your onslaught.

Party Time!

The good thing is you don't have to go about this alone. You can bring three members with you almost anywhere you go at any time. You have up to nine to choose from, and they range from Droids to Twi'leks to the almighty Wookie! You can be these characters and use their unique abilities to do things and go places you never could before. You come to depend and rely on their help.



Weapons

Weapons are something you just can't go without in the Star Wars Universe. You'll get shot, or cut, or sliced, or blown up. So, you have ways to do that to other people. The weapon sets in this game are very good, ranging from a mere pistol to a high caliber blaster rifle. The melee weapons are also very ranging, from the sword, to the infamous Lightsaber. Lightsabers in this game are very, very fun, mostly because of the customizable fact that they have. There are lightsaber crystals that you can find all over the galaxy, and they all have ranging effects, from increased damage to much longer range to increased defense. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, so use them all wisely. A man with a blaster cannot hope to take down a jedi.

The Gameplay

This is the first of its kind as far as I know, a RPG Star Wars game. You take turns attack with the force, to a swift lightsaber attack. But this isn't the kind of RPG where you find an enemy and you are forced to fight. In this, you can simply run around enemy, sneak past them, fight them, anything you want, as long as your abilities let you. As I said earlier, you have a party with you at almost all times, so when you attack, you can actually pause the game and select what attacks your entire party will do, making attacking much, much easier than relying on what the AI chooses you party to attack. It's just a lot of fun here. But the best part is the ending. Not that it ended, no way. The way it ends. Based on how you acted, choices you made, and plainly whether you were good or bad, you'll change how the story ends. There are several ways that it can end, both good and bad and mixed. It's just got an amazing way of things.


Pros and Cons

Pros

*Great gameplay

*40 + force powers

*Seven Enormous worlds to explore

*Very, very customizable game

*Your own Starship!

*Great Weapon set

*Beautiful and truly unique storyline

*Content download

*Addicting with multiple endings, you'll never want to stop!

Cons

*No multiplayer at all

*Graphics have small issues at times

*Based on your decisions, can be very short

*That's about it.

Overall Rating

This game gives you something to do for days upon days, perfect for any Star Wars fan, and never seems to have all of the secrets unlocked. A great game that truly deserved the Game of the Year that it got.

My rating is a 9.7 / 10

- danizduhman

[danizduhman]

rsstites, do you think you might be able to use this? I might do a KOTOR 2 one later.

[rsstites]

I agree with your rating, which would also be one of the highest the site has ever given. I will proof it on Tuesday or Wednesday, then we'll go from there.

I think I played this one for almost 100 hours.

[danizduhman]

I know, it's just an amazing game.

Loved it from start to finish.

[Anorithias]

icouldnt get into it. i tried it.

[sydislam]

I consider this game to be the best Xbox exclusive of all time.