Bastard of the Old Republic Comments by John Walker
Part 1: A nice man takes a journey to the Dark Side.
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Heh that was a good read :) I never really play the bad guy in rpg's, its not my nature. Let all just be friends and get along! :P Anyone know if in Mass Effect, after you've knobbed that blue bird, you can wave some cash in her face and ask her if she's got a sister? Now thats a fun kind of cruel :P
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's Darth Mal*a*k mate :)
Of course, I'm only pointing this out as I've just done the exact same thing as you - my characters are normally good - and I'm gutted that I don't have a well respected gaming site to post my experiences to! KOTOR2 next...
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most recently on 22/02/09 @ 01:48
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Great article, I've been looking forward to this one since you mentioned it on RPS.
I have to say I feel your pain, I've been tempted to force myself to go for the evil options to see the other side of the game but I've never been able to do it. I just identify too much with the in game character, heck I missed half the content of Mass Effect because I felt I shouldn't be messing arround with side quests when the future of the galaxy was at stake. Now thanks to your bravery I'm getting an idea of what it'd be like. Thanks. |
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Slabbathepave
22/02/09 @ 02:58
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I like to put myself in these situations when faced with these sorts of moral choices. I find that when played that way these particular games are somewhat tailored to not only my playstyle but my mindset.
Pleasingly it turns out i am a bit of a shit...not evil but certainly not above banging your sister from behind with a picture of your mum taped to the back of her head, whilst you wait in the next room. |
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Trip SkyWay
22/02/09 @ 03:03
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Funny stuff. I can very rarely bring myself to take the evil path, so it's good to hear what's down there.
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BrokenSymmetry
22/02/09 @ 03:21
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Great article.
I tried many times to play KOTOR on the dark side, but I always fail early on. I just can't sell that serum on Taris to the crime lord. Can't do it.
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most recently on 22/02/09 @ 03:21
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TheLittlestHobo
22/02/09 @ 06:28
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A GENUINE CLASSIC! (and I'm not really a big Star Wars fan)
I was obsessed with KOTOR and didn't want it to end after completing it as Good, so I played it through again as Evil. For the most part I managed it (except I bottled it on Zaalbar's sidequest; I couldn't bring myself to go dark on the big furry lug.) The most traumatic part is near the end when you kick off the dark ending by having to force your crew to take sides. Of course, the good guys make a stand so there is a big unavoidable battle. That just killed me. I agonised for ages on initiating that sequence. I even tried reloading, going back through all the dialogue permutations looking for a way to save them. But it was no use; to see the dark ending you have to fully commit. So I closed my eyes and didi the deed. Really gutting. (Though through the pain there was a spark of light relief as when it all kicked off, Carth ran away like a girl! Was almost worth it for that lol moment.) I was gonna do the same thing with Mass Effect, but those haunting KOTOR memories stopped me. Anyway, good luck John, your soul will need it! :) |
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Yeah, I'm far too nice in my games, too. Mostly, the rewards for being a goody-two-shoes are far better, anyway.
I really like the way that Mass Effect handled it. Being a Renegade in that just made you an asshole - not necessarily evil. I enjoyed being an asshole in Mass Effect. Other games don't have nearly the same level of satisfaction, apart from a quest or two in Fallout 3. |
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Barbellion
22/02/09 @ 07:45
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A brilliant read, very funny and very true. I tried to do the same with Mass Effect and just couldn't - after an hour of being so very horrible to everyone I couldn't face any more and went and had a bath so my halo resumes its usual sparkle.
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smoothpete
22/02/09 @ 09:36
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"bald with a goatee - a clear sign of evilness" - hey, screw you man, I ain't evil!
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NegativeZero
22/02/09 @ 09:37
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This is actually one of the reasons I liked the writing in KotOR II more - you could go out of your way to be an insufferable asshole, but if you did then several of the dark characters would criticise you too. There's a lot more moral ambiguity in it and the more impactful dark side options seemed to be less overly 'evil' and felt almost justifiable from a certain point of view.
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Colonelkurtz
22/02/09 @ 10:07
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Wow, thank you for going down a road i'll never be able too. Let's just hope you don't come out of it a changed man. I once tried a dark-side character in the original kotor, but i only managed to play him when i was in a bit of a bad mood, and i didn't even do the most heinous quests.
Mass Effect is another story though, and i thought they did the actual moral balance much better. Instead of being satan incarnate, you're just someone who prioritizes the mission before everything else. I actually loved playing trough the game twice, and actually being happy with the character i'd created |
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'Lucas's rapidly unravelling stories'
Hugely tedious. Stopped reading there. " Is there anything that doesn't piss you off? You seem to get angry with almost everything! Try and find some enjoyment in life, it's fun! Great article, and I agree with the people bigging up Mass Effect's "nice guy/asshole" thing, I really enjoyed being a bit of a dick in it. Much easier than being straight out evil, the difficulties of which this article showcases well! |
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I've never found being evil hard in games until Bioshock. KotOR, KotOR 2, Jade Empire, no problem. Huge preference for being good and I'd always take the good path first, but I loved replaying the Bioware games to see the results of different choices. Bioshock, on the other hand. Killing an innocent little girl when you could save her? No thanks.
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RedSparrows
22/02/09 @ 11:55
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'I suggest reading Primo Levi if you want to find out about the 'banality of evil'.
You may retch at the thought of being evil in a game, but I wonder what you are doing in the real world to promote good? ' Yes, one can read Sofsky (if you wanna be Foucauldian), or Primo Levi, or any number of texts that try to deal with the banality and incomprehensible horror of the 20th century. But you can also play KOTOR and feel shit about being a bad guy. I always play a goody. I'm too soft.
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most recently on 22/02/09 @ 11:58
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RedSparrows
22/02/09 @ 12:10
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Hahaha, if i kill someone by accident I reload my game, regardless of time lost.
Well, usually. Although, the Dark Brotherhood quests in Oblivion were just awesome.
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most recently on 22/02/09 @ 12:10
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I've only succeeded in playing a Dark Side character once, and even then I only 'turned' following the infamous Darth Revan revalation. It just feels wrong.
Have to say that I've never had any issues being a bit a bastard to Bastila though. She just rubs me up the wrong way in the same manner and Kreia in KotOR II. Arrogant snob. Anyway, yeah. Bring on KotOR III. /Bindo Dammit. |
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Nice article (for once). I'm glad KotOR is getting some spotlight again since it is Bio-Ware's best RPG to date (NWN may be close, but I'll go with KotOR) and an example of what they are capable of when they spend enough time on a game. Sadly, efforts such as Jade Empire and Mass Effect tell me that they are more keen on downsizing and dumbing down their games, and releasing them as soon as possible to reap the rewards.
I look forward to seeing the following articles... I assume the picture used means that KotOR II will gain some attention too? :o) |
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hyperkineticninja
22/02/09 @ 14:39
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God I love this game, another good one was the "Romeo and Juliet" type quest, so many possiblities there! And of course what you can do with Mission and her Wookie at the end!
On a different note, you know that box you are asked to transport by the Hutt but not open it? Did anyone open it? I did, was very interesting...Especially with what comes towards the end! |
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Really good article. You should write more stuff along the lines of this!
Personally I'm completely the opposite, in that I act like a complete bastard in everything I play. As I like to see the consequences of actions that I would never do in a real life situation. However, Fable II really made me question my actions, I felt especially guilty seeing how my poor dog was becoming corrupted by my actions... :-( |
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xbendystevex
22/02/09 @ 14:58
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I usually play as girls too, but end up playing through this sort of game at least 4 times so I can do the good/evil boy/girl thing. Being a complete dick is waaay more fun though, you can't help but love cackling along to a game surely? And glottis0, you're right, that IS a fantasticperk of the evilness..
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spiderfan2099
22/02/09 @ 15:08
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Friggin' hilarious. Look forward to the next part, you should do KOTOR2, Fable 2 and Mass Effect as well!
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That sounds an awful lot like how I've felt when I've (usually briefly) attempted to play an evil character in various RPGs over the years.
Yes, it's just fiction - they are all just silly, little characters on a computer screen, but if the writing (and voice acting) is solid, they can feel a lot like real people and that means I'll naturally treat them like I would actual people. Which for me tends to consist of being nice and helpful towards likable characters (including the mildly annoying ones, like Mission Vao) and rather abrupt and dismissive towards those that are mostly just annoying, like Carth :). |
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Rev. Stuart Campbell
22/02/09 @ 16:47
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"I'm sure it's meant to be a funny, reverential type look back at a classic, but all it does is comes across as a poor attempt at wit, and ego self fellatio. It's a really poor piece that spends too long masturbating and not enough time going down. While perhaps the author sought to lend a comedy leaning to his opinions all he has done is provide a joke 2.0+ piece. Thank frell some of the old writers are still about. Once upon a time VG reporting was done properly, these so called educated types can't see past their next quip, let alone pass judgement on, and actually write about something and make it interesting. It's almost as if VG reporting has been relegated to the quick laugh category. Yay."
Really, though - what? |
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greysuitedman
22/02/09 @ 17:29
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this article surprised me to be honest...I played KOTOR2 (not got around to 1 yet) and I was as evil as a 1950s irish priest from the get go
i figured that was the fun of the game, plus all the co-characters were jerks. I particularly like the way sometimes being "evil" in the game is actually just being a boorish stubborn and slightly stupid dickhead. of course the amazing money shot for being a wanker throughout kotor2 was at the end, after about 5 chances to spare someone's life where it stops just short of "NO REALLY, PLEASE SAVE ME, I THINK YOU SHOULD" I killed her and then the entire universe imploded. |
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