Techtite's X-Box Game Reviews

"Another fine game for the X-Box, and not just a great RPG, nor just a great Star Wars game; it's a great game, period."

---from the review

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You may also wish to buy:

 Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic: Official Strategy Guide

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Click picture to order this game (X-Box)

A Techtite Review

X-Box is no stranger to a new Star Wars game, but to be honest, it's been a rocky road. Obi-Wan was nice but not great, largely because you could only save your progress at the end of any level (!). Hey; what's the point of an internal hard drive if not to be able to save games at will? Case in point: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, an extremely elaborate Star Wars RPG, as designed by Bioware; the same RPG gurus that made Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate for the PC. As that guy put it at the start of that classic battle in Superman 2; Man, this is going to be good!

The most inspired aspect of this game is that its time frame is set entirely separate from the films. Set 4,000 years before Luke Skywalker was even a glint in Anakin's eye, this is an age of Jedi when the evil Sith are as plentiful as they were! The reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Revan, and his apprentice Darth Malak, have discovered a powerful relic that could spell doom for peace and prosperity in the galaxy. Although a prologue praises the defeat of Revan, his apprentice still lives! It is up to you to seek out their secret weapon's location, defeat Darth Malak, and restore order to the galaxy...by whatever means are necessary.

What do I mean by that last line...? Not unlike many Jedi games in the past (though far unlike Obi-Wan!) you can follow either a dark or a light path of The Force, leading to (at least) two totally alternate endings. You can become a Dark Jedi and defeat Malak to become the new ruler of the Sith, or you can become a Jedi Master, and restore peace to the galaxy. Personally, I prefer the latter, though suit yourself. It's a "happy ending" either way, I suppose, depending on your own personal taste.

As for the overall story, it begins as you escape your doomed Republic vessel (the "tutorial mission," so to speak), followed by your escape pod's escape to the nearby planet of Taris. Trouble is; Taris is a totally Sith dominated world (!), beginning the game with a bang. After saving the leader of your fallen Republic ship, Bastila (a female Jedi, no less!), you escape to the Jedi Outpost of Dantooine (Star Wars trivia buffs will remember that as the name of the abandoned rebel base Princess Leia used to lie to the Empire in the first movie). From then on, you have been discovered to be strong with the force; you're a Jedi Padawan!

From Dantooine, you discover your first "star map." This is where the game truly picks off, because not only are you a prospective Jedi, but you also have your own ship! In your quest to find other star maps, you can travel to the wookie world of Kashyyyk, the Sith temples of Korriban, the aquatic Manaan, and, yes, Tatooine. What's really cool about this part of the game, though, is its total independence. Any one of these planets can be visited and revisited at will. Many quests can even be abandoned and restarted later, if not abandoned completely, if they are not required to obtain that world's star map. Aside from the core star map quests, however, the choices are all up to you.

There's a lot to see here, as is the case for any well designed RPG. Nine characters will join you during your travels, to be used for any quest (only two can go with you on a quest, at any one time). What's more; two of these characters are totally optional (!), dependant on your actions. Among these allies, five have optional side quests of their own, involving old friends/family, which are accessible only if you "get to know them" (i.e., choose them to join you on multiple missions). If your character is male, there is an optional Bastila "romance" side quest; if your character is female, there is a similar romance possible, with the flyboy Carth. Each world has around half a dozen optional quests in themselves, that can be pursued, or ignored completely. All the largest worlds also have mini games possible, like "pod racing" and a card game called Pazaak (sort of like "21", only better).

While I'm not a member of the "bash all new Star Wars movies because we can" brigade, I will also admit this much; this game's characters are far more enticing, "alive," and intriguing than anything you've seen in the Star Wars films as of late. I won't go into their personal stories here (there wouldn't be any room for the review!), though I will offer this advice: you owe it to yourself to go to the droid store on Tatooine, and buy a cynical ex-assassin droid named HK-47. He's priced at 4,000 credits (or less if you don't mind a "dark side" penalty!), and worth every penny. HK's banter is so hilarious, you should play at least one game with him in every away mission, to hear his every quip. Of course, this is one great character of many. The mysterious female padawan Bastila is worth mentioning here, too. This isn't even getting into Darth Malak, one of the most imaginative of menacing nemesis I've ever seen for any "T for Teen" rated video game to date.

What makes this game shine, however, is how far it goes to make these characters seem so...real. It is not uncommon for your companions to have a chat during any "lull" in your travels (when mapping out the desert of Tatooine, for example). At one point, I found Carth and Bastila bickering over how easily Bastila was kidnapped by a mere band of mercenaries on Taris. You can decide to join in on the teasing, or defend Bastila's honor; it's up to you. Mission may also ask like any teenager would, why Bastila doesn't use her Force tricks "for fun." This is just a pair of examples among many. Such lifelike conversations reach their peak when a totally engaging plot twist occurs, causing your entire party to discuss what has just been revealed, in full. It just made the whole story far more engaging for me, for the game to take the time to allow the characters to have this conversation; a conversation that, if these were real characters, they would obviously need to have. The  final levels are all the more effective because of this one scene.

If there's one piece of advice I can give, it is to not try to rush through this game quickly. This is not a game that you race through only to post on the message boards with pride that you finished it in "24 hours." If you "finish" this game for the first time in a few days, fine. If you're completely done with the game in that time, however; you're a total moron. There are so many little nuances and side trips in this game, it is nothing short of a travesty if your own game time does not attempt to see them all. It's one thing to take "the quick and easy path," as Yoda would say, and turn to the Dark Side. It's another thing entirely to take a quick path in this game! Don't do it.

Gripes...? For one, not unlike the feeling many people have with The Phantom Menace as a whole; the first world, Taris, was a story that barely needed to be told. With no Jedi skills yet, and many quests to complete before you can escape this planet's cold grasp, it will be several hours of game time before you can even hold a light saber! Granted, you meet Bastila soon enough, and she can use a light saber just fine, and yet...it's not the same, you know?

There's also the matter of X-Box Live. No multiplayer possibilities here (aww!), which would've been cool, if you could join two friends and have them play the other characters in your party (who otherwise, for the most part, are under AI control). No; the only X-Box Live option is "additional content" to download; a promise that has yet to reach fruition. This is all the more frustrating because the PC version is released with a small, albeit not-available-for-us level set in a space station around the planet Yavin (from the first movie). As of this review's posting it has been said that all these perks on the PC will be made available via X-Box Live...though nothing is available yet. Hopefully this will change soon.

However, there's no denying the thrill the game offers, from your first step on Dantooine and every step thereafter. Meeting the leader of the Jedi Council is one thing (a little fellow that looks like an ancestor of you-know-who); when you get to "assemble" your own light saber, however, there is nothing more than goose bumps to be felt by even the most agnostic of Star Wars fans. So, yeah, Taris may be long and wide before the game gives you a light saber to play with (an upgradeable light saber, no less!). It gets better though. Big time.

I could go on and on about this game, but I think I've said enough. This is clearly the RPG must-have for Star Wars fans, though how about the typical fantasy game fan? If you prefer the typical tale of dragons and spells and spell casting, I would still recommend this game for its excellent characters, engaging story, and a plot twist that to me was the best thing seen in Star Wars since "I am your father!" True, none of us are able to wield a real light saber (aw!). This game is close enough.

---Techtite