Last year Canada’s BioWare did something that hasn’t been done in a long time with Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR): create a new Star Wars game that was universally loved by critics and gamers. A year later BioWare has stepped aside and handed their game engine over to Obsidian and let them have a go at creating another Star Wars Role Playing Game (RPG).
It’s key to note that it really is only one year later. As such, it’s almost impossible to think that Obsidian could create a product that was as revolutionary as its predecessor with Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. The end result of that rushed production to get a new Star Wars game out in time for this holiday season means if you’ve already played the original at all, you've played this game.
The fact that KOTOR II is the same game you played a year ago with a few new wrinkles and a new story has the sum total of actually making the experience less impressive then you remember it the first time around.
In many instances the new wrinkles have actually served to make the game worse. It really shouldn’t take rocket science to figure it out either – if you take the same game engine used a year ago, fail to really upgrade its code, but then ask that code to produce better visuals, there's bound to be slow down. And you’ll find plenty of that in Knights of the Old Republic II. In certain instances the frame rate will actually nose dive into the single digits.
The gameplay has also remained unchanged. You’ll do the same things you were doing in last year’s game: Walk, Talk, and Attack. As you do those things you’ll still be accompanied by two companions who gain experience levels as you do yourself. And just like the original you’ll be faced with choices that will ultimately determine whether you’re going to join the light or dark side of the force.
The audio quality thankfully, is fully carried over to Sith Lords from the original game. Some great voice acting (which there are hours of) and music fill the title. This is one of those times where simply duplicating something from the original KOTOR meant that KOTOR II lived up to its predecessor.
So there you have the major carry over from the original. So let’s switch focus to what Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords brings to the table that is new.
The story is obviously new. In KOTOR II you’ll pick up shortly after the events of the first game, and control an established Jedi who has no knowledge of his past. As you play through the game you’ll unlock all the mystery surrounding your character, and unravel his history.
The game, which could take you more then 40 hours to play through, even adds much needed subtlety to the dark and light choices you’ll have to make. Thankfully this part of the game received much needed ambiguity. Sometimes you’ll be better off not making the obvious ‘right’ choice. The mysterious Jedi companion you have, Kreia, will let you when that happens, but many times it may boil down to you allowing people to learn from their own mistakes, rather then fix their problems for them.
A new type of character is introduced into the series as well, the Prestige class, that specializes in lightsaber combat. The new class of character also comes in a light and dark form, each of which has its own special attributes.
You’ll also get new weapons, more influence over your traveling companions, and actually get to play as those companions in many instances. There will be a few times in the game where Sith Lords will actually switch focus from your character to one of your companions, and force you to defeat enemies with them on your own.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is a great game – make no mistake about that. But is it as good as the original? Probably not. We can’t conceivably envision a gamer that played last years title saying that they’ve gotten more fun out of the sequel than the original. And if you’re new to the series you may actually have issues with slowdown, and a few other bugs that have creeped into KOTOR II.
This is the weirdest recommendation we will probably ever make. After spending all this time harping on about how Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords isn’t as good as the original, we’re still saying pick up a copy of it. Why? Because most of you will be Star Wars fans, and it’s so rare to have a new game of this quality based on the license. If you like Star Wars you won’t be disappointed.
