Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Comments by Kieron Gillen

Before reading this review, I wanted to get KOTOR and play it 'at some point'. After reading this review, I want to play KOTOR all this weekend.

Lucky I can do that, then.

what the ?

a fanboyish review @ eurogamer... now you are losing it...

You really really really have to think of planescape torment as the best rpg in the world and that nwn was a move to the bad side of gaming and kotor a sequel to nwn...

then review

I wish BGIE would hurry up and send me that Xbox so I can play this.

Pull your finger out Bobby.

i didnt understand a word of wot disc just said.

any1 care to answer my question? If i liked shenmue / zelda games, am i likely to enjoy this? ive never been into RPG's per say otherwise.

Damn it I am going to have to get this on the Xbox rather than wait for the PC version. And I'm skint. Time to finally getting around to doing some trading at my local indie perhaps...

Oh and TIE Fighter is the best Star Wars game I have ever played, no matter how good KOTOR turns out to be I can't see it beating that. Then again it's a completely different sort of game so the comparison is a bit silly to start with.

Finally! Someone realises that owning a console doesn't mean you want a watered-down, mass-market, arcade-action version of the game. Everyone else - take note. Ya buggers.

Spot on Blerk, just because a game is on a console doesn't mean that you don't want to engage your brain occasionally.

"You really really really have to think of planescape torment as the best rpg in the world and that nwn was a move to the bad side of gaming and kotor a sequel to nwn... "

KOTOR is far closer to Planescape than to Neverwinter. The single player Neverwinter was soulless, based around a fairly basic quest structure with little importance given to things like Character interaction, which are paramount to KOTOR (NWN being a single player adventure, and KOTOR being very much about party interaction. In fact, more party interaction than even Planescape with its relatively limited, if more detailed and infinitely beautiful, cast)

In fact, KOTOR does the actual emotional side of the characters development considerably better than Baldur's Gate. In other words, its the best take on a narrative-lead game Bioware have ever done.

Planescape being Black Isle's work, not Bioware. Which makes the "planescape torment as the best rpg in the world and that nwn was a move" a bit nonsensical.

KG

Not only has it raised the bar it, it has picked it up and flung it across the heavens.

Best voice overs, great story, brilliant characters, amazing depth, and incredible blend of linear and nonlinear game play. Finished it twice already going to start my third route through it as a dark Jedi.

They better be planning a sequel, I dont care if it is a true sequel or a FF type sequel with all new charcters, it just has to have the same quality and lenght!

after a "discussion" with the mrs, i shall not be getting this just yet.....


:|

Just buy it and wave your hand in front of your other half when you get home; "This is not the game you're looking for."

lmfao

Theres something wrong with this game.. Cant quite put my finger on it.

Its an RPG, I dont like RPG's. Its a star wars i game... i dont like star wars

THEN WHY THE fuck do i like it WHY WHY tells me i needs to know!

I was going to save money and deny myself this one til it got to PC.

Damn you. Damn you all!

KOTOR is the best RPG ever made ON A console, no exaggeration. So why not state the fact?

The "fact" is that no game based on D&D and a Star Wars license can ever approach the greatness of FF7 or Skies of Arcadia. That's just a "fact", there's no argument possible. "Best RPG ever" my lilywhite arse.

As for the PC release date Game has December as does Special Reserve.

Oh, the temptation to buy an Xbox right now!

Just got it. Phew... it really is great. Can't stop playing. Best Console RPG ever... and I love the tweaking and low level character management that you can do. Great that Bioware also made sure non hardcore RPG gamers don't have to do that. A RPG dream!

Why is it that Bioware games always make me feel I've chosen the wrong character after about an hour of play? My scout is not inspiring. :(

Excuse me if I wait for the PC version.

"The "fact" is that no game based on D&D and a Star Wars license can ever approach the greatness of FF7 or Skies of Arcadia. That's just a "fact", there's no argument possible. "Best RPG ever" my lilywhite arse."

I think that's basic prejudice. Skies/FF are based on a buncha numbers and stats. In other words, a straight D&D rip-off. You're objecting to a label.

And with Star Wars, I may have agreed with you until I actually played it.

You might argue that any game where you're lead along with a nose, your only interaction with the story being repeatedly pressing the X button can never be the greatest RPG ever. But I wouldn't, as I realise that the Western and Eastern forms have very different tropes. Direct comparison with FF or Skies or whatever has really very little point. KOTOR is a very different beast.

KG

See Virgin are selling this for €39.99????

We didn't read the manual, but just after seeing that appear it told us we needed to level up, and an upwards pointing arrow could be seen as representing that :)
Cheers Max...didn't check for replies yesterday, figured it out this morning at eh 6 am..I got up early rather than staying up - my wife is pregnant, so I can't really ignore her pleas for an early night because she is exhausted....not like a previous girlfriend who threatened to leave because of all night long Dune 2 sessions...in the bedroom. "Yes Commander"!

if u liked shenmue...you'l like this. Not sure weather to compare it to zelda, different type of rpg. Plenty of dialog and scripted sequences to keep one entertained. I played for 6 hours yesterday and didnt even realise.

/me looks at the clock...realises he has 10minutes to get ready and get to work.

thank you matty p

its alright. no1 else takes time to answer questions...;)

most just post

1st YAY \o/ etc ;)

I think that's basic prejudice. Skies/FF are based on a buncha numbers and stats. In other words, a straight D&D rip-off. You're objecting to a label.

Of course it's basic prejudice. You didn't spot my big fat tongue in my big fat cheek. You probably also didn't spot the post at which I was poking a bit of fun. Let me quote again: "KOTOR is the best RPG ever made ON A console, no exaggeration. So why not state the fact?"

There are no "facts" here, de gustibus non est disputandum. As it happens, I'm no Star Wars fan but I'm salivating at the sound of this game, can't wait for the PC version (and crossing fingers the system requirements won't be too demanding).

If you think I'M being "biased" making statments like KOTOR is the best RPG on a console, then YOU'RE just a moron with really bad tastes in games, aka an elitist European apologist prick, and I think us non-elitist European apologist pricks know who I'm talking about.

ROFL!!

Skies of Arcadia is the best console RPG because it is. There. An argument you can understand.

Superb game that should be bought by anyone with a Xbox!

Me loves Bioware - those lovelies have given me so many hours of great fun....Might have to start an appreciation campaign...

The eastern games have no sense of humor, which really bugs me. KOTOR has parts that actually made me laugh out loud, something I haven't done since that N64 game Conker's Bad Fur Day. That assassin droid really is hilarious, no joke.

"You didn't spot my big fat tongue in my big fat cheek."

I was hoping it was, but not really expecting it. This is, after all, the Internet. I'd have expected the examples you chose to be a little more ludicrous if you were mocking the whole fact/opinion thing.

But yes. Sorry for tarring you with the same general brush.

"de gustibus non est disputandum"

Man, I love this stuff.

KG

Yeah, all intended in good humour.

No seriously, KOTOR sounds great, I love both eastern & western RPGs and there's a huge lack of the latter on consoles. I just wish there were more for my console of choice (more western *and* eastern actually).

I do get a bit irritated though at the followers of a certain western console who feel obliged to proclaim any half decent game that comes out for it as the best thing ever. Be happy chaps, it's a good game, you don't have to proselytise the whole time.

(oh and I should add that "console of choice" doesn't mean that I've only got the one console on religious grounds, it means that I've only got the one console on practical/financial grounds.)

The eastern games have no sense of humor, which really bugs me. KOTOR has parts that actually made me laugh out loud

That's an interesting line to take, because I'd have thought the opposite was generally true. I've not played KOTOR (yet) though I'm planning to, so I can't say whether it's funny or not. Other Bioware RPGs have been very short on the humour though. Apart from that nutter with the hamster - Minsc wasn't it? Usually their greatest failing is the awful turgid cod-fantasy setting with no light relief whatsoever. Given the Star Wars setting for KOTOR, I'm not expecting any departure from that tradition. Star Wars being legendary for having no sense of humour. I mean, Jar-Jar Binks ffs!!

By contrast, Japanese RPGs are a bundle of laughs. Which is what makes them so appealing to a European audience I think (yeah I know, I'm generalising, so sue me). Skies in particular had me laughing on several occasions. All in all they have a much lighter feel, and far more developed scripts. The flip side is greater linearity, less character development.

At the end of the day, though, they're really two different genres. Calling them both RPGs is a bit artificial, and comparing them is an exercise in pointlessness.

Quote from Otto: The "fact" is that no game based on D&D and a Star Wars license can ever approach the greatness of FF7 or Skies of Arcadia. That's just a "fact", there's no argument possible. "Best RPG ever" my lilywhite arse.

Nah... FF7 was good, SOA is good, but neither is the best RPG on a console, not by a long shot. Each one has too many flaws. Suikoden 2, most of the Shining games and Phantasy Star 4 all out weigh them.
IMHO anyway Otto. :)

Well, I'm a tiny way in and very ambivalent. Having not played NWN, it's a little hard getting used to a version of the great BG gameplay in something that looks like a third person actioneer with frame rate issues ;)

Mind you, entering the under world/zone/level and getting my arse kicked repeatedly brought up some deja vu - very reminiscent of a section of "Planescape Torment" that. Anybody care to vouch for when the game really kicks off and stops training you? After all, that didn't seem to happen in FFX for about 12 hours...

I think Eastern RPGS tend to be a bit more smack you in the mouth cartoon funny.

Whereas western ones tend to be a bit more subtle in the humour and rely on the player at bit more to notice stuff - like the portraits of the D&D cartoon characters in BG2 (might be BG1)

Im goimg to fuck that sith govenor over one day, really i am!

Whereas western ones tend to be a bit more subtle in the humour and rely on the player at bit more to notice stuff - like the portraits of the D&D cartoon characters in BG2 (might be BG1)

Er yeah, my unsophisticated sense of humour must have missed out on those subtle comedic gems. ;p

Oh and Lutz, I should have added a smiley to that comment of mine further up. Don't take me too seriously, I'm not actually saying FF7 and Skies of Arcadia are the best console RPGs ever, I'm saying shouldn't call things "facts" when they're nothing but subjective opinions.

LOL @ otto getting stuck into a thread heavlily guarded by xboxen fans ;)

i badly want to play this game, more so now that i know u want it mate !! :D hahahaha....

lol

This truly is a fine game. I bought it late friday evening, tried it for a couple of hours, went to bed and woke up at 4am(!!) saturday morning and just had to go play! Didn't stop for the whole day. There's just something magic about Bioware games.

WOPR : "Remember, fact times importance equals news. "

You is the man!

Sorry, Otto. :)
Was a bit tired when I wrote that, probably read it the wrong way... :)

heh back!

bremxjones/kg:
Of course I know who made planescape...
What I meant was that the move to go towards the singleplayer approach in nwn from baldurs gate 2 was a change for the worse, you lose the tactical approach and the game becomes easier... kotor did change that yes, but they still have the camera stuck to a player so you arent as free... so its like something in the middle...

Character interaction great.

I do not want bill gates in my house dammit... (but nevertheless I have played pgr and halo on the xbox and pgr was extremely good, along with burnout 2 probly the most fun racers, halo however wasnt as great as some think)


Heres hoping that the pcversion of kotor will have a camera that is free to move away from the characters and that you can pause the game on the spacebar... its just me that get annoyed by little things and cant continue playing due to that...

something which surprised me about KotoR is that Bioware opted to write most of the music from scratch, i'm about 80% thru and have not heard "imperial march" once, nore the cantina song.

i wonder why :P

The music is incedental and mostly background, but if you really listen to it it's dead good. Jeremey Soule scored the game; he's the bloke behind the Morrowind music, my favourite game music of all time pretty much. If you're interested, his website is www.jeremysoule.com

I suk with a lightsaber :(

rah! the mrs bought me the game, aint she a sweet heart. just been playing for 2 and ahlaf hours with out realising it. Liking it so far. seems like a really good story already.

the frame rate really is quite poor tho, dontchya think?

I guess I'm the only one bothered somewhat by the fact that this is set 4000 years before Episode 1, yet doesn't even look like it is set a year before. BioWare are forever in my heart for giving me the chance to run around with so many other Jedi but is 4000 years not a bit too much? 400 years may have been better.

Also, my mate just said to me "I'm currently on Dantooine finding out about a characters missing kid". Oh how I love this game! I'm also on Dantooine find out about a characters missing brother!

well, despite only getting it a few days ago im right near the end..

.. well, just after THAT plot-twist, i wont ruin it for you but looking back at the stuff people said towards the start, it makes sense now.

I read the first line of this review and recognised it instantly as Mr. Gillens PC Gamer preview, I didn't have to read the rest. Nethertheless, I enjoy his writing style and a freelance hack needs to make a living, also how can you doubt a man who has been proclaimed by some as the best reviewer ever. Or should that be...

Best.Reviewer.Ever.?


A quick check on Game Rankings puts KotOR at an average review score of 94.1%. So we already knew that this is a quality title, I still have not yet got my copy yet, lazy b'tard that I am, I failed to leave the house over the weekend. A long bash at Eternal Darkness to blame, I am trying to get all those unfinished games out of the way before I start on KotOR.

PS Anyone know if those bugs were ironed out?

>>

I've encountered a few. A jitter in FMV's sometimes, NPC's mindlessly banging into one another in the background as a cut scene happens, NPC's walking into the main character as he talks in a cutscene and skittering in all manner of directions to get away, some path finding problems with other characters getting stuck as you run about, and a few more but nothing extreme.

this is a very very good game. FF8 use to be my best rpg but not anymore. the few bugs i have come across are very minor and in no way hurt the game play (fps, bumping characters, stutters)