Over the past few years, BioWare has had an explosion of successful titles released. While Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins may be the two most talked about titles from the company at present, a large part of the company's success can be traced back to their first big licensed game: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It was one of the more successful games on the Xbox, a system that, aside from Halo, struggled to find big games that would leave their mark. The game’s impressive sales on the Xbox were surprising due to the fact that the title was primarily marketed towards the PC audience. Regardless of which port gamers played, they were in store for a Star Wars game that would change not only the LucasArts franchise, but the RPG genre as a whole.
The thing about Star Wars that separates it from every other licensed series is that most of the games are actually good. Certainly there will be the occasional piece of rubbish that is released, but for the most part LucasArts has a great track record with their published games. Knights of the Old Republic broke away from the traditional Star Wars story, focusing on neither the Galactic Civil War, nor the Clone Wars. Instead, the game took players back thousands of years to the great war between the sith and jedi for control of the old republic systems. Players assume command of a character with no past, and can name him or her whatever they so choose. They can focus attributes and skills into three classes, which can be customized at the player’s discretion as they level up. And although the story mode forces players to complete the jedi trials at one point, players can choose to refrain from using the force and/or their lightsaber if they so choose.
The characters in Knights of the Old Republic are ingeniously designed, and play off one another perfectly. The fact of the matter is that – no matter how hard you might try to be a peacemaker – not every character is going to get along with one another. Canderous will always view himself as one of the greatest warriors the galaxy has ever known, and isn’t afraid to boast about it. Carth has his own inner demons to deal with and is never completely trusting of anyone. Mission lives for adventure, but is more concerned with the well-being of the party than herself. Every one of the characters that joins your party has been scrutinized by the developers down to the tiniest of details. Even assassin droid HK-47 has a personality all his own, offering the player with sadistic humor and advice that is somewhat insulting to their intellect.
The planets are so vastly different from one another that things rarely feel repetitive. The only exception to this would probably be on Taris. It serves as the central hub before the quest for the Star Map begins, and players carry out a large number of tasks there. This requires a fair amount of backtracking which can be monotonous at times, but the payoff for most missions on Taris grants the player with large boosts to their combat skill and overall experience points.
Combat plays out beautifully in Knights of the Old Republic, and is in large part why BioWare’s later games were so successful. When encountering an enemy, the game pauses temporarily, allowing players to assign targets and attacks to each party member. Once everything has been determined, players can un-pause the game and watch their party fight it out. But players can also choose to pause the game again in the midst of battle if they wish for characters to switch targets or attacks.
The variety of weapons available in the game is impressive. Melee weapons range from the milder vibro blades and stun batons to the more powerful lightsabers. Firearms are divided into two groups: dual-wieldable and the larger two-handed guns. Blaster pistols are provided in plentiful amounts early on in the game, but scouring sith weapons caches may occasionally reveal an assassin pistol or two. Rifles are the heaviest weapons one can find on Taris, but Dantooine and Kashyyyk hold plenty of disruptor rifles and crossbows, which are far more accurate and deadly. Most party members have trademark weapons that can be customized with additions such as the hair trigger and energy cell. Lightsabers can be altered in attack focus and blade color by swapping out crystals. Even armor can be upgraded with mesh underlay and reinforcement.
Depending on whether the character chooses the light or dark path, different force powers will be unlocked. Light-side powers tend to focus more on healing and stunning enemies, whereas dark-side powers are centered more around injuring enemies and crippling droids. Every character you interact with, every decision you make in the game determines the outcome of the story. This coupled with a truly creative story makes the experience all the more engaging. Knights of the Old Republic also deserves a round of applause for its inclusion of one of the greatest plot twists ever included in a video game.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a title that every Star Wars fan should experience. There are some traditional RPG fans who criticize the game for using a real-time combat system. But to me, it wouldn’t make sense to do it any other way. The soundtrack feels new and creative, but the overall vibe is still classic Star Wars. The buildings and spaceships foreshadow those in the films and other Star Wars media. While Knights of the Old Republic definitely deserves recognition as one of the best Star Wars experiences, it also deserves recognition for redefining RPG titles and PC gaming.
I'd personally put this one waaaaaayy higher. It is one of the best games ever, and add to that it's revolutionary gameplay, and to me it should be in the top five at least! (admittedly, I haven't played too many PS games, so I am lacking in my gaming knowledge.)
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