Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Reviewed by CL on 2/26/2007

As a general rule of thumb, Star Wars sideogames suck (I present exhibits A, B, and C). However, with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (aka KOTOR), Canadian developer BioWare has managed to break the cycle and produce a truly great experience. KOTOR start you out in the shoes of a nameless Republic soldier as they are assaulted by the Sith, a seemingly evil faction who are trying to conquer the galaxy under the rule of a ruthless warlord called Darth Malak. However all is not as it seems and not everything in KOTOR is in black and white. The battle lines get blurred and you can take on missions which benefit either side. This is done using light/dark side paths that you can take during the game. Each side has its advantages and disadvantages. This makes for a wonderful role playing experience because you don't have to be the goodie two shoes who spends the entire game trying to fight the forces of evil. You can instead choose to fight for the Sith and thereby gain more power for yourself (and they can't really be evil if you're on their side,, right?).

The gameplay is your typical role playing fare where you equip different items to improve stats and abilities. Nothing particularly ground breaking here but it is fun nonetheless. The audio is also your generic Star Wars stuff and is also adequate. The reason this game didn't receive a higher rating is because I've seen how well this type of game can be done. I made the mistake of playing Jade Empire first before playing KOTOR. Both are made by BioWare and chronologically, KOTOR precedes Jade Empire. This is evident as Jade Empire is clearly the superior game in every respect. For this reason, I am forced to give this game a slightly lower score to keep the ranking system intact. Of course, if you're a Star Wars fan, you might reverse the ratings and declare KOTOR the victor. Regardless, you owe it to yourself to try this game out, it is good for 30-40 hours of fun.