Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Review

The Old Knights of the Old Republic made new. Ish.

Version tested: Xbox

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'Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords' Screenshot k

Writer Annie Dillard suggested - and I paraphrase - that a writer should never leave the price-tags. This means you shouldn't let the reader know the effort which it took you to create a piece of writing. If it took you four years of research to cobble together a paragraph, you shouldn't leave anything that implies it was anything other than a few sentences glued together with word-plastics. Specifically, anything you created which purely exists to justify the research should be snipped by the holy hands of editing.

With the greatest of respect to Anne Dillard, she didn't spend over twelve hours a day for four days running to save the Goddamn universe.

See that face? That's the face of a man who's faced the foul touch of the Sith. It's a game that took me so deep that I've even started to look like a Jedi. Or, failing that, a tramp. It's so difficult to tell with these modern haircuts.

No, I haven't got time to shave. The Sith are going to destroy Dantoonie!

It's addictive. It kills your social life dead. And it's still the greatest Western style RPG on the consoles. In terms of creating an Xbox RPG in which you define yourselves by your decisions, minor and major, it's peerless.

Those provisos given I'm going to be a little harsh to KOTOR2, so I'm almost certainly sure that the review will read a little lower than the 8/10 that it'll find itself rewarded with. This is the way of the world. Any game can be the recipient of an infinite amount of writing about it - something that has been at least a year of people's efforts must mean there's enough to talk about for at least 20,000 words. The fifteen hundred or so I have here, before you get terribly distracted and wander off to investigate what incredible new perversion the porn-scientists have invented, have to choose their targets carefully. And why repeat what everyone's said before? KOTOR was great, and much that made it great reappears here.

'Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords' Screenshot 2

So we'll hit what's relevant and new, given the understanding that everything I wrote about the initial KOTOR stays true here. So remember: it captures the heroic note of the original game expertly, and continues to be the most romantic statement of Star Wars love currently available in the videogame lexicon. It creatures a universe, and whether you care about the Sith or not, it'll enchant you. Trust me: I'm a gamer who despises everything Lucas's little merchandising machine has begat, and still love KOTOR and child. Yes, it's perverted the imagination of a generation... but that Light Sabre sound-effect is still pretty nifty, y'know.

The basic mechanic changes in KOTOR2 are small but fundamental. For example, the simple addition of being able to use a single command to swap between two sets of weapons stops almost an infinite amount of time fiddling around with menu systems. Simply set up one group of weapons - usually one set for close-up and one set for ranged blasting - and you're away. It's hugely welcome.

Similar small tweaks abound. For example, rather than being stuck with several dozen random Qu'raaas'rr;hh'sgfh random punctuation devices, you can head to a workbench and recycle them. Anything you have no use for can be broken down into its constituent chemicals, and then recombined into artefacts you're interested in utilising, like the Haahhhahhhhahh Made-Up Word Modulator.

This would lead to a degree of considerable depth in KOTOR's simulation, except it continues one of the original's more odd aspects: that is, it's ludicrously easy. Determined to make an entry-ist Western-style RPG, it has created a game where utilising the full variety of approaches available makes your march through the game to be pretty much irresistible. If you're playing on the light side, for example, once you've got hold of the ridiculously effective Force-Stasis power, you'll find yourself entirely capable of pacifying whole groups of enemies then putting them to the sword one by one.

'Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords' Screenshot 3

It's worth noting that this was equally true with the original. On normal level, someone vaguely familiar with the manipulation of RPG statistics is going to find the vast majority of KOTOR2's challenges a walkover. Even on hard, a determined RPG-head is going to easily work their way through the confrontations the game offers.

But it's not all about simple can-you-hit-them-harder-than-they-hit-you. Rather than original creators Bioware, the game's developed by Obsdian, which was formed from the ruins of Black Isle. This leads to a strongly noticeable influence from games like genre-defining classic Planescape Torment. KOTOR2 features noticeably more text than the original, and also reacts more strongly depending upon your character's development. For example, having a high-level of repair skill will open conversational gambits based upon your technological know-how, with similar options appearing depending on your other choices or inclinations. While, yes, there's much of the classic Western-RPG triumvirate of "Yes, I'd like to help you very much you lovely man/Okay, Sure, how much will you pay me?/YOU MUST DIE!!!", it's considerably mixed up by other, more subtle, options.

This density of response isn't solely a positive aspect, however. Putting aside those who are turned off by a mass of dialogue - it's important to remember there's a reason other than remedial marketing which consigned Planescape Torment to the bargain bins - it keeps the failing of the first game of having simply too many characters. While the general standard of writing is as good as any game, with so many individuals able to join your party it's all too easy to lose track of the character arcs. It's especially true since you're only able to have the console-standard three-people-to-go-on-adventures-with-you-at-any-time, meaning for vast periods of your adventure the majority of your team are sitting on the Ebon Hawke and playing Pazaak. That said, it improves the game over the last by having far less of the gathered parties being hopelessly ineffective. Rather than the original, when you found yourself gravitating towards perpetual three-Jedi groups, here you'll gather a more cosmopolitan party before setting off to save the world.

'Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords' Screenshot 4

The smarter breed of reader will by now have grasped one of the major problems with KOTOR2. The fact that there was a full paragraph devoted to "You can switch weapons on one command" should imply this isn't exactly Brave New World territory. This is very much a slightly improved version of KOTOR taken out for another spin, with another plot slid into the engine. Partially it underlines how much it's what you choose to do with an engine that matters rather than the engine itself - after all, Half-life 2 and Vampire: Bloodlines both rest on the same technical base. This feels a very different beast to the original KOTOR purely because the plot Obsidian has chosen to fire through the filter. It's far more grey; more Empire Strikes Back than Star Wars to choose an apposite example - including the somewhat open conclusion. Equally, the planetary set-pieces are generally better developed and paced, referencing everything including pop-culture (Seven Samurai-esque defend-villages-on-Dantoonie, for example) with many nods towards the original.

But its ingenuity in turning the weaknesses in the game into strengths can go only so far (Remember Planescape turning the quick-load immortality into actual immortality? There's something similarly metacritical, if more subtle, here). While there's a thrill in returning to locations you're familiar with ten years on in game terms, it can't overwhelm the realisation that these are just the original levels stripped bare and re-fabricated according to Obsidians whims.

It's understandable why the team did it. They had a year and a bit to get this massive game constructed. At 40 hours of solid play, it's a good third longer than the original. But understandable doesn't mean excusable.

And even less excusable is the degree of bugs that have reached the Xbox version. The original was twitchy, but this is much more so. At the least, expect amusing gallivanting by your digital actors in the cut-scenes as people walk into each other and/or walls on the way to their requisite positions. At the worst, expect everything from broken quests downwards. In the middle, expect looping conversation trees and even worse pathfinding than the find-Sith-by-way-of-Mongolia of the original. Put simply, it's one of the buggiest console games I've ever played.

Of course that matters, but by keeping to the same closely measured design throughout, it matters less than the even buggier Vampire: Bloodlines. It drives at its familiar riffs, throws in a few unexpected and joyous chords, hits a few bum notes and then leaves the stage.

It'll be a hard audience that doesn't call for some manner of encore.

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8 / 10

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Comments (46) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hicksy #1 7 years ago

    interesting review :)

    i really hope they clear the major bugs for the PAl release as I have this on pre-order and won't be impressed if they have not bothered...

    /contemplates switching to the pacthable pc version...
  • templar-wizard #2 7 years ago

    i too, am loving the game.
    the inclusion of french phrases, earth time and distance measurements are jarring and bizare.
    even if im not the most militant of SW nersds, its still annoying.
    there should have been more attention to that form of detail.
    although from my 30 hours in, the game continually reminds me that it is and is not Star Wars.
    the use of the franchise labels and trademarked names hide its generic D+D (-alike) core.
    inclusion of space battles and ground war set-pieces should be a must for the envitable sequel.
    (although there is a sequence which is pretty close...)

    and the writers really needed an editor for the dialogue...

  • yegon #3 7 years ago

    I'd agree that its buggy, but thankfully they've just been of the slightly irritating variety so far (I'm about half way through).

    If you can, I would suggest waiting for the PC version - however, if its anything like the 1.0 version of PC Kotor1 you should really wait for the PC ver to be patched...which means waiting a *further* couple of months. Ouch.
  • Blerk #4 7 years ago

    Whhhooooaaargh!

    Christ, that's a scary picture, Kieron!

    /changes trousers
  • yegon #5 7 years ago

    Hicksy - I wouldn't hold out much hope for the PAL release being patched at all. Usually only happens when there is a killer game ending glitch. THe Carth glitch in Kotor1 wasn't even fixed and the PAL release came *months* after the US version version *sigh*
  • Tiger_Walts #6 7 years ago

    Does the US release work on PAL machines?
  • Thamuhacha #7 7 years ago

    >THe Carth glitch in Kotor1 wasn't even fixed and the PAL release came *months* after the US version version *sigh*

    It was a bugger too. Made me start again because I got annoyed with him ...

    Can't wait for this. Can't WAIT.
  • Lothar Hex #8 7 years ago

    Tiger, you need a slap.
  • tincanrocket #9 7 years ago

    Not sure about this one, especially with the listed bugs and limited changes from the original, which, having played it through, was, IMHO, a little bit rubbish. Am far more interested in Jade Empire, to be honest.

    /slips into flame-retardant rocket-suit
  • Roamer #10 7 years ago

    Bugs in a console game is inexcusable! Microsoft really needs to tighten up its quality control. Or at least issue a public apology...
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/05 @ 10:38
  • BradlayLaw #11 7 years ago

    I have this sitting sealed in my room but I need to finish Metroid Prime 2 (50% through so far) and RE4 should arrive in the next few days (which will have priority over this). Where will I find the time?
  • daylen #12 7 years ago

    Another US Import review... How oh so very "euro" of Eurogamer. [Sigh]
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/05 @ 10:44
  • UncleLou #13 7 years ago

    Nice glasses, and a good review, too. Don't think I'll bother, though the fact that it's a bit more subtle than the original does pique my interest.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/05 @ 10:49
  • Mr Wonderstuff #14 7 years ago

  • Thamuhacha #15 7 years ago

    >Tiger, you need a slap.

    It's actually a fair question because some Xbox releases (Fable, most famously) are multi-region.

    I am pretty sure that this isn't though ...
  • yegon #16 7 years ago

    Yeah, Project Gotham 2 was multi region too.
  • krudster #17 7 years ago

    Daylen: what exactly is your issue with us doing import reviews? You can buy these games over here you know (CEX, Game Focus, online). Plus, consider that there are virtually no new games of any significance out in January. What should we publish instead?
  • andrewfromdoncaster #18 7 years ago

    This Kieron Bloke seems like a good writer ; his other reviews have been of a high standard.

    Strangely though, that little picture at the top looks like Eddie Irvine with Edgar Davids' glasses on......

    /ponders
  • Mr_Sleep #19 7 years ago

    "But in hindsight, a week after completing it, it feels a bit flatter. I see the many faults now, I feel the rush wear off."

    That's exactly how I felt after finishing the first one, however I persevered and tried out different paths and different character generation etc and it just kept getting more and more dull and lifeless. It was not a game that I wanted to replay much after that, which is a shame cause that's one aspect of RPG's I enjoy the most.

    I figured the sequel was going to end up this way due to the suggestions earlier this week and frankly I'm dissapointed, I guess there is the whole "if it's not broken" ethos but unfortunately the original was broken.
  • smoothpete #20 7 years ago

    My question is, having loved the first one, do I buy this or save my £s for Jade Empire?
  • jonnyreb #21 7 years ago

    Makes me laugh how people complain about reviewing imports - usually the same people that complain if you review a game a week or two after it's come out meaning you actually *play* the whole damn thing (unlike some other sites I could mention).

    Can't please everyone all the time I guess :p

    And I'll definitely be picking this one up......even though I never had the heart to play through the first one more than once.
  • Thamuhacha #22 7 years ago

    >My question is, having loved the first one, do I buy this or save my £s for Jade Empire?

    As time goes by I realise that RPGs are by far my favourite games. And Bioware are the best IMHO.

    So get both. You can always part ex KOTOR2 for Jade Empires as it is a few months after.
  • pjmaybe #23 7 years ago

    Ahh well that pic will give me something else to have nightmares about other than Pandora Tomorrow's multiplayer...

    /checks shadows, soils self

    Peej
  • Mr_Sleep #24 7 years ago

    "I didn't like the Planescape world at all, and couldn't even play that game for more than a couple of hours"

    That's the problem, the first few hours are pretty tedious, it starts getting a lot more interesting as the game progresses.

    Empire is clearly TeH W1NNN!!!!
  • UncleLou #25 7 years ago

    (except that I didn't like the Planescape world at all, and couldn't even play that game for more than a couple of hours)

    Ahab, I knew our tastes when it comes to RPGs differ a bit, but I hadn't realised just how deluded you are. ;-)
  • w00t #26 7 years ago

  • yegon #27 7 years ago

    Planescape's universe was excellent, a real departure from the generic tat that permeates most rpg's. The dialogue/script was so well written that every rpg since has been huge disappointment to me tbh.
  • Nillsens #28 7 years ago

    I never got that far in the first one. Someone would have had to have thrown Ewoks at my head in order for me to remember it actually had anything to do with Star Wars.
  • w00t #29 7 years ago

    Planescape was amazing IMHO...
  • vandy404 #30 7 years ago

    So here's a question... should I get the Xbox or the PC version? If the bugs are as bad as reported it may be worth going for the PC hoping they are fixed in a patch. There are other advantages of course. What do people think?
  • The-Bodybuilder #31 7 years ago

    Erm, since we are on the subject of import reviews, I was wondering if EG would ever do a review of phantom dust for the xbox?
    So far, it hasn't been penned for a PAL release. That's a game that deserves an import review (as it might not even come out here).
  • Scimarad #32 7 years ago

    I've steadily lost interest in this one - Just seems like they are rehashing the first game.

    There's too many other decent RPGs out there for me to bother with it, I think.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/05 @ 18:52
  • bungalooBunny #33 7 years ago

    Have this for some time now, it's ace.

    Don't expect much innovation over the first one though.
  • BremXJones #34 7 years ago

    Commodore75:
    It should be noted that I don't actually spend much time playing buggy console games. To choose recent infamous examples, I've never played either Driver 3 or Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. The most buggy console game i've played is a very different thing to buggiest console game ever.

    And it's still nowhere near as bad as - say - Vampire.

    KG
  • commander dixon #35 7 years ago

    commodore 75 has nothing to do with me .....
  • BremXJones #36 7 years ago

    Er... just to make sure everyone in the thread knows (And some do, I can see, but it hasn't been made explicit):

    Obsidian are the Black Isle people's new team, including huge chunks of Planescape's design team, including lead designer Chris Avellone.

    KG
  • steven #37 7 years ago

    Nice review, I really didn't need to read reviews befor deciding to buy the game that is a sequel to my fave xbox game... but what worries me are the graphics, why Obisidian.. single digit frame-rates? Oh well i'm still buying it!
  • BremXJones #38 7 years ago

    "You are increasingly, perhaps, a little too much the subject of your own writing."

    Rumbled.

    KG
  • deiseach #39 7 years ago

    8/10 for a game that you absolutely adore? Hmm . . .

    As for Kieron [sic] looking rough in the photo, at least he's long ditched the ponytail!
  • savant #40 7 years ago

    For goodness sakes, Kieron, enough of the "this is me reviewing" bollocks. Just give us your opinion of the game already. It was the same with the World of Warcraft review. With all the self-aggrandising you're in danger of describing the process of reviewing and not actually doing any.

    Just! Stop! It!
  • Roamer #41 7 years ago

    Vampire was a bit buggy, but only once did it impair my enjoyment of the game. during the Society of Leopold tunnel run. Knights of the Old republic was much worse, where framerates would frequently take dives into the abyss of gaming hell. At least Vampire had an autosave feature :) I'd kinda hoped that publishers had learned to let developers finish their games before releasing them by now...
  • BremXJones #42 7 years ago

    1500 review. A less-than-200 word intro about my beard. 1300 words which don't mention me at all.

    Worth mentioning that I'm only ever commissioned for 1000 words anyway, meaning that the intro was actually free, along with 300 words of analysis.

    Note on influencing your party: Just because the PR goes on about it, doesn't necessarily mean it's worth talking about or alters the game in any way.

    Note on talking about the story quality: It helps to actually read the review before critiquing it.

    Oooh! Bitchy!

    KG
  • BremXJones #43 7 years ago

    Trigger Cut:
    If I was genuinely corporate, I'd just write 1000 words and never respond to anything in my thread.

    I also now dread people doing word-counts on my articles.

    Doc Tep:
    Bar Ebay, no. It's an odd legal situation Planescape finds itself, and the Ebay copies normally go for at least twenty quid. And, no, you can't have mine, no matter how nice you are.

    KG
  • 205gti #44 7 years ago

    I've finally bought the original on budget (£10 Blockbusters!) - it's a completely unplayable bugfest - It crashes all the time, corrupts saved games and is going to be returned today.

    Not one mention of any of this in any review - I should have read the comments on Eurogamer...
  • EVERYGAMER #45 7 years ago

    Really loved the game. Did the same thing as I did when I got the original and just played and played, could'nt stop my self. 3 days 13hours a day and when I got to the end....... I have to say this game has possibly the worst ending since Halo 2. It just ends. At least KOTOR had that great Light ending where you were with all you mates at the temple or the Darkside where your fleet goes out to conquer all known space. After the excellent story arc I was expecting more!
  • deiseach #46 7 years ago

    Having played the game, Kieron has got it right. It's brilliant, marginally better than the original both in technical and story terms. But the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility means it's just not as good.

    Imagine sitting someone down and getting them to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Episodes I thru XII, all back-to-back. If each 'episode' was incrementally better by the same factor as II is over I, you'd run screaming from the room by Episode XII.

    It's great. It's better than 95% of the tripe that masquerades as entertainment in computing. But it's not as compelling an experience as the first time around.