A few
months ago, Bioware and LucasArts released their long-awaited Star Wars RPG,
Knights of the Old Republic on the Xbox. With the developer of such excellent
PC RPGs as Neverwinter Nights and Baldur’s Gate at the helm of the project,
fanboy froth was at an all time high. With all this focus and hype, Knights was
destined to not live up to the huge expectations set upon it, right? Wrong.
Knights was a dream, combining the open-endedness of a PC RPG with the
accessibility of a console RPG. The game told a fantastic story, one that was
arguably richer and more entertaining than the recent crop of Star Wars films.
Now, the game is hitting the PC, with improved graphics, a PC-friendly interface
and the same incredible gameplay and storyline. PC gamers, get ready; because
Knights of the Old Republic is ready to take you off to that galaxy far, far
away.
Knights
of the Old Republic takes place 4,000 years before the events in Episode I. It
has been four years since the end of the Mandalorian War, and two years since
the beginning of war between the Republic and the evil Sith. You play as a
mysterious character who awakes on board a Republic ship being attacked and
boarded by the Sith. You find another soldier of the Republic and make your
exit on an escape pod, landing on the planet Taris, which unfortunately is under
a Sith quarantine rendering you both a prisoner and fugitive all at once. You
discover that a young Jedi with a fantastic power capable of turning the tides
of the war is held captive on the planet, and therefore must embark on a journey
to save her before she falls into Sith hands. This sets the wheel in motion,
and sets you on a quest to save the galaxy from a terrible threat.
Knights
of the Old Republic, while certainly not as open-ended as Morrowind, still gives
you an awful lot to do. Through your quest, you will explore several different
worlds, some familiar to Star Wars fans (Tantooine ), some unknown to Star Wars
fans (Taris), and some that Star Wars fans have been peeing their pants to see
for decades (Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeword). Each area has a main quest that
you can adhere to and a ton of little side quests that you can complete along
the way. There are also a few party member specific quests that you can perform
to get more of a background on your nine party members. Mission Vao, for
example, has a quest that helps you find her estranged brother by searching a
few different planets and Bastilla has a quest that helps you find her mother
and learn the truth about her father…
Given
the amount of things to do and interactions your character has with others, the
way you interact will greatly influence the type of character you will become.
Most of your dealings with NPCs will result in a shift in your Force Rating. If
you are the type of person who helps old ladies get across the street and goes
out of your way to do good things for people, then you will gain Light Side
force points. However, if you sell spoiled milk to school children and
essentially do bad things to people, killing or taking money and the like, then
you will gain Dark Side force points, turning you into a bad person. This evil
manifests itself physically as well, as your character will grow pale with
glowing eyes, similar to the way the Emperor looked in Return of the Jedi. This
also changes the type of force powers your character will be more inclined to
use. I say “inclined” because although you can have any force power you want as
you gain levels in the game, they will consume either more or less force power
considering what your Force Rating is. The gameplay dynamic also shifts as you
develop one side of the force as opposed to another. Your party members will
interact with you differently, and the storyline (including the ending) changes
slightly with each type, giving you a unique gameplay experience however you
decide to play.
The
combat system is somewhat of a hybridization of real-time and turn-based
combat. The battles are fast-paced and constantly moving, allowing you to queue
up attacks on the fly. However, should you decide that you need to stop the
fighting in order to pace yourself, you can pause the action with the space bar
(or whatever key you want, as the keys can be easily remapped) and queue up
moves or items.
Being a
PC-RPG-developed-for-a-console-ported-to-a-PC, Knights’ interface could’ve been
a real nightmare. However, the fine folks at Bioware did a smash up job of
making it as easy for PC gamers as any PC RPG. Movement is controlled with the
WASD keys, and the mouse controls the camera and handles any kind of on-screen
selection you could want. Plus the game makes use of nifty hotkeys, which
allows you to access menus and use items quickly and easily.
The
graphics were excellent when they hit the Xbox earlier this year, but after
being improved for the PC, they are spectacular. The player models look great,
with great facial expressions and animations. The environments are huge and
sprawling, anything a real Star Wars fan would hope to see. The lighting
effects are superb, with dynamic lights and shadows and great special effects
(fire up a lightsaber to see what I mean). Plus, PC gamers get the benefit of
higher resolutions, making the game truly a sight to behold on a high-end
machine.
The
sound effects are excellent, of course (c’mon, it’s a Star Wars game). The
music is great, a sweeping mix of new and old songs pulled from the films and
otherwise. The sound effects are great and also taken straight from the movies;
Star Wars fans should experience a paroxysm of ecstasy upon lighting up two
lightsabers (I know I did). The voice acting is perfect, among the best I’ve
heard in a game. The characters have unique personalities and attitudes, and
the alien languages are rich and layered, from the Huttese down to the Wookiee.
Knights
of the Old Republic was fantastic on the Xbox, but oftentimes being great on
consoles does not automatically mean being great on the PC. However, Knights
not only manages to work on the PC, it offers some pretty fundamental
improvements over the Xbox version and stands as one of the best PC RPGs out
there. A must-have for Star Wars or PC RPG fans.
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Gameplay: 9.3
While a tad linear, Knights of the Old Republic’s 30 to 40 hours of gameplay
will enthrall gamers for a long time. The side quests are fun and give new bits
of information, and the main quest is deep and engaging. With the ability to
either go the light or dark path of the force, this is practically two games in
one. The combat system is an easy to learn hybrid of turn-based and real-time
gameplay, and the keyboard-and-mouse interface works extremely well.
Graphics: 9.5
If
your PC can handle it, the graphics are great. The character models look
excellent with tons of detail, the animations are fluid and natural and the
special effects are fantastic.
Sound: 9.9
Near perfection. The music and sound effects are pulled from the films, and
the voice acting is some of the best I’ve ever heard in a game. The only
problems were a few bugs that came about a few times, but I could see this
getting fixed up with a patch down the line.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 9.7
The
original story set 4,000 years before the events in the film is as deep and
enriching as you’ll find in a game. The game also manages to capture the
charisma of the first set of Star Wars films (Episode 4 on), something that the
recent Star Wars films have thus far failed to do.
Overall: 9.5
The best Star
Wars game ever just got better with improved graphics and a nifty new PC
interface. A must have for any Star Wars or RPG
fan.
