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http://forum.blackintel.org/index.php/topic,1300.msg12625.html#msg12625This is part two of three of my KotOR era review trilogy. I will focus a bit more on story for this one, as part 3 will be largely about the story from these two games, complete with me rambling about it.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is the second installment of the KotOR series, published by LucasArts and developed by Obsidian Entertainment (Bioware wanted to do their own thing, and thus recommended Obsidian to LucasArts). It was released in late 2004 for XBox and a few months later, 2005, for PC.
Do not read past this point if you do not want any spoilers!
The setting (and ending-ish). The game is set roughly 5 years after the first, with new characters, and some old. It follows another plot, but ties in with the original quite nicely. The Jedi have been slowly getting themselves killed, and the Sith are still present. You start out as the Exile, who served under Revan long ago during the Mandalorian War (which happens years before the first game), and embark on a journey to find the last remaining Jedi Masters. After a whole bunch of well-told events, you leave to go find Revan, who has has left for the Unknown Regions for purposes unknown and has not returned for a few years. More on that later in this review.
Gameplay. Basically, same stuff as the original game, but with cooler, better and more stuff added to it. Dialogue consequences are more complex, such as influencing your companions, and... Well, I guess not
that much has changed, but it doesn't need to either. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Still top notch RPG-that-looks-like-it-belongs-in-an-action-game.
Explorable universe. Bunch of planets to visit, and they all look unique. Unlike in the original game, where a sense of beauty, peace and discovery were present on the planets, KotOR II has a ominous feel that follows you around wherever you go. And it's great. Hmmm, beginning to think that I should just copy paste the KotOR review and be done with it.
Story. Really amazing. Play the game. In some respects better than the first one. Characters are really good, although I'm more attached to the originals. And once you reach the end, you'll be like "
what on earth just happened"? That's because as you get past two thirds of the game, it starts taking rather large leaps in story. Unlike the first, where everything was clear, the second game does a good job of leaving behind a ton of gaps and questions in the storyline. More on that later (deja vu?).
Graphics. More of the same, perhaps seeming to look a bit old, as Half-Life 2 upped the ante. Still looks great mind you.
Music. Mark Griskey composed the music for this game. Music, like the first, retains that Star Wars sound, but has its own voice. Where it differs from the first is that the music, has a sense of dread to it, and at times utterly sad. While I prefer a lot of the first game's music (planets, key characters), the second has better all-around themes, and battle music too. Heck, scratch what I just said, there is no comparing, both are great.
Jumble of thoughts. You should play this game with the lost content patch that Ati mentioned in my previous review, after you play the unaltered one first though. It's better to have a sense of the real story (I mean official canon) before playing with the extra awesome stuff after. That won't be a problem in my opinion, because you can do things in a different way each time, pretty good replayability.
Now, the extra content is stuff that would have been included in the game, but were cut due to time constraints. LucasArts wanted them to release the game in December for the holidays, big mistake. The game would have been soooo good if they waited a few more months. What's missing is, characters, planets, story and more. The vanilla version is well paced at first, but then everything speeds by and skips near the end because of this. Things aren't as fleshed out as they could have been (or should I say would have been, LucasArts
)
Ok, the story leaves of with really, really sad music and the Exile going off to find Revan. Basically, during the whole game you work to regain who you were (success), and plan something with the last Jedi Masters (failure, they die). So the game ends with everything you've done for nothing. But the last big chunk of it is about preparing to find Revan.
Now that leaves us with KotOR III, which is... wait... it's not out. It was in very early development, and then LucasArts cancelled it due to "financial difficulties"... Well, see you guys in a few days with part three!
Score when it came out: 85%
Current Score: 75%
And once again, this review is not an essay or anything. Cut me some slack please! Though come to think of it, you have all been supportive... Thanks! Guess it's just me being self-concious.
Next week will focus on the story that has been established, and a bit on that money grabbing MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic. It will mostly just be me rambling on about it. I know, I know, I said this already. Slyfox Out.
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Topic: Slyfox Reviews: Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Read 15990 times)