Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Posted Aug 15, 2003 by Wes Phillips

Updated Jan 18, 2008 at 04:22 PM

System: Microsoft Xbox

Also available for: Windows PC

Publisher: LucasArts

Reviewer’s rating: A+

ESRB rating: Teen

Game type: Role-playing

Kind of like: “Baldur’s Gate”

Best feature: The combat engine is a revelation for the genre. It takes a turn-based system utilizing the latest “Dungeons & Dragons” rules and pushes it to the background to give the feel of real-time combat without losing the strategic elements of turn-based games.

Worst feature: The frame rate is a bit choppy in places and the frequent loading can get annoying.

The bottom line: If you’ve forgotten why you love “Star Wars” over the last few years, this game will jog the memory. By comparison, the story and scope of “Knights” makes the prequels look like scruffy nerf herders. This tale takes place 5,000 years before the original story. The faces are different but it still feels like a galaxy far, far away. Especially when you start cauterizing sand people with a lightsaber.

The game has all the normal RPG features that fans have grown to expect, such as item management and statistics building, but the character interaction takes center stage.

The dialogue choices that you make affect whether your character will lean toward the light or dark side. The outcome of the game is different depending on the various paths you take. This type of interaction allows you to play through the game numerous times without it becoming stale.

In our opinion, embracing the power of the dark side is a laugh riot. But as a testament to the rich story, you may feel guilty after robbing that honest storekeeper blind.

That’s just scratching the surface. There is a card game called Pazakk invented just for the game. It plays a bit like blackjack and can be a good source of extra credits. Also, you get to race swoop bikes and blast enemy ships like an arcade shooter.