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Rushed-UNFINISHED- Failed.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: March 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"So many bugs, too epic a story, too little time," is what Obsidian must have been saying as the shelf date of it's first collaboration with Lucas Arts was drawing to a close.

The game play was to be flawless; the story was to be epic, more so than the first installment in the series had been. But strapped for time and with Lucas Arts pushing for the game to be on shelves by Christmas, Obsidian was forced to put out a glaringly obvious UNFINISHED GAME.

Many of us, loyal KOTOR series fans, rushed out to buy the game. But as we approached the 45-hour mark, the horrible realization set in that this was, indeed, a rushed game. We fought through the bugs, the moderate load times, the game freezes harder than we fought through any programmed foe and as we approached the end of the game, the last battle, the cold fact was, that many of the plot lines were left dangling, whole subplots discarded; subplots that you spent at least 6 hours of the game attempting to complete! We pressed on anyway, fought the final battle, only to have a promising ending fall completely flat, left with more questions than answers.

Now, I hear you asking now, cliffhangers? No, not cliffhangers, glaringly obvious plot holes, sucking any satisfaction out of your being that you might have had, in completing a 45-hour long game.

The unrealistic time constraint imposed on Obsidian by Lucas Arts, to rush the game out before Christmas was obscenely detrimental to both the game's play and storyline. Lucas Arts seems to have made the choice long ago that profits come before quality and customer satisfaction, a disturbing trend in the gaming industry today; one that must be stopped. We need to show Lucas Arts that bullying smaller production companies into unrealistic time expectancies is unacceptable.

That games that win awards by default and not merit do not win over consumers!

Over the past few months since the games release, PC gamers have found strings of code, and sound clips from what was to be the games original ending, it was to be of EPIC proportions and lead designers of the game have acknowledged the time constraints as a major reason for the cutting of that material. Chris Avellone, lead designer, has even mentioned asking LA for permission to do a content patch, but has yet to hear back.

DO NOT PURCHASE AN UNFINISHED GAME. DEMAND A COMPLETE ONE.

http://www.petitiononline.com/kotor2

~Emily C. Lang

Not bad...Not great either...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The first KOTOR, as many have said before me, was a masterpiece of film and video game coercion. The story, characters, plot development and ending were all revolutionary. Not a big surprise when you see Biowares' past achievements. (Balders Gate, Neverwinter Nights etc.) But this game falls short in ALL of those categories. The story does succeed in giving you that 'I need to find out what's next' feeling early. Knowing little about your characters past and path ahead it drives you to play more. However, they kill this mood by making the first planet SO tedious and unfun. By the fifth hour on the first planet you are ready to let your characters past be a mystery. If you do manage to stay interested long enough to get off the planet, it only improves marginally. The characters are much less interesting and seem to have less to do with the story than in the prequel. (excluding one character) A lot less engaging side quests as well, becomming little more than 'mini chores.' The plot development was tolerable but was done an injustice by force feeding the storyline to the player. In the first game the plot was usually revealed by the interaction with other characters' (remember those long talks with Carth and Bastila?) In this one, there is a LOT less character interaction. Sometimes you can play nearly an entire planet without having to talk to anybody. Which makes it feel more like an RPG in the Jedi Academy universe. With so little interaction the continuous fighting becomes very tedious. At times, you are going room to room fighting 10-15 guys for HOURS without a single person to talk to. C'MON!! It gets so repetitive by the end of the game I almost stopped caring and quit, not because of difficulty (although it wasn't very easy either) but becuase it wasn't any fun. I wanted more chances to help or hinder others through conversation and persuasion/intimidation. Not just-You stupid Jedi, I hate you, I have to kill you. B-O-R-I-N-G! And what do you get if you wade through all of this monotony? Anticlimactic, convoluted, twistless plot turns. The biggest being the ending. The ending becomes obvious about 6-7hrs into the game, so it's no surprise who looms ahead at the end of the game. Once there a bunch of nonsensical garbage is fed to you about your past and all your characters futures. If the EVERYONES' future is already decided why did you spend 30hrs to create relationships and bonds with any of them?? STUPID. And once it's all over, the most unrewarding ending EVER occurs. I was left saying.....what? That's it? Are you serious? There is no alternate endings to my knowledge because I beat it good and evil and received the same B/S ending. The BIGGEST AND MOST INEXCUSABLE error made in this game was not being able to load your previous Player (Revan) and continue the story. Of course, if you didn't play the original you could still create a Revan and continue the story anyways. Not only that, but not even REALLY finding out what happened to him/her in the second game is insult to injury. Overall, this game falls short on so many levels it is hard to reccommend it to anyone unless they were HUGE fans of the original. Otherwise it would probably just cause them to lose interest. Hopefully in KOTOR 3 Revan will be a playable character. Yeah right.

-GuyintheTV
'All judgements are final'

HUGE let down

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

When KOTOR came out I fell in love from the second my first character had to fight for survival aboard the Endar Spire, to the climactic battle deep within the Star Forge. The story just drew me in more and more and the characters connected just right. Finally, I found both endings hugely satisfying. When news of KOTOR 2 came around I was hooked instantly.
KOTOR 2:
I was really impressed with the prologue where you play as astroid driod T3 to repair the Ebon Hawk and guide it to a nearby mining facility. The game SLOOOooowed down from that point to a near halt. The inclusion of all new force powers and "classes" are a welcome new addition. Waiting 80% of the game before you touch a lightsaber was in my opinion a poor decision. Sure you have to appreciate having the weapon, but you can appreciate it just fine mowing down enemies from an earlier point in the game with it as well as customizing it to the degree KOTOR2 allows.
The characters were uninspiring. They seemed to have little reason to be part of your party. Their motives are kept secret as if it will build to something huge at the end...but no, they're just a group following you around. A huge part of KOTOR1 for me was being able to talk to your party constantly and always finding out a little something more about them. KOTOR2 on the other hand, I found myself getting the same exact conversations from every character from the second I met them to the second The horrible endings occur. Bottom line: NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
finally since there was so much I found lacking, in an attmept to place as many charcaters on screen at a time, the frame rate drops to a rediculous low at some battles. Obviously the problem that lead to KOTOR2's overwhelming problems was the rush to get it out. The story and characters simply were not compelling enough. I've since traded in my KOTOR2 and still enjoy playing the original-it never gets old.
Pros:
Fun prologue, good new force powers and classes
cons:
No character development, bland areas to explore, horrible frame rate at times, poor endings, rushed to get out in the market

Lives up to the first

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the greatest games I've ever played, right next to the first one. This one took me even longer to beat, but that made it much more enjoyable. This game is different than the first, which is in a way good. In the first you had to figure out a lot of logic things, but in this game its mostly battle strategy. The graphics are again, amazing as is the length of the game. The ending really wasnt a suprise, but still was great. I wish they would come out with a third.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.......

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: December 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First of all let me say that if you played KOTOR, and you are still waiting to decide to get KOTOR II. Don't wait any longer. This is definatly what you were waiting for. I have played to the ending on the first planet and so far the overall experience has been great. It is just like you jump from KOTOR right into KOTOR II. They tweaked it just enough to give the game what spice it needed, but for the most part this IS KOTOR. Sure Obsidian could have taken more time with it, improved the graphics some, corrected some glitches, but honestly with the sitation they were in having to fill the shoes of Bioware, I think they opted with the best idea, don't screw with a piece of greatness. It's like they took a pair of classic coverse and just put some subtle flames down the sides for coolness, not make a whole new damn shoe. All in all I would have to say the KOTOR II is a fantastic game, not just for RPG ers or Star Geeks, but for all gamers looking for a marquee game.
Ahh, Finally a sequel, one year after the original(incredible in it's own right) that doesn't suck, suffer from sequelitis, or just clone the original. I say most definatly RPG of the year if not game of the year.

Give in to the dark side.. or not
just play KOTOR II or you will suffer for it

Uninspired story line

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I loved the first version of the game -- an engaging story with fascinating characters and plot twists. The sequel, rather than taking the franchise to new heights, slips into linear and flat stories, and tons of exposition.

Some play enhancements are to be found, but they are overshadowed by story and tech problems.

Any comparison to Republic I is going to be a tough act to follow. Unfortunately, Republic II moves the franchise in the wrong direction.

Nothing new to see + no ending

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: January 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I really enjoyed KOTOR I because I thought BioWare did a good job of merging the Baldur's Gate(PC) gameplay with console gaming conventions. It really presented something new and unique to console games. The story line was also quite compelling and brought you to an exciting ending. While KOTOR I had its flaws, they were easily overlooked in light of it's achievements. After all, you can only ask so much of a development team. This time around, I expected the same creative minds to have provided me with a whole new set of things to be amazed at or, at the very least, have the same good things as KOTOR I and fix many of the flaws in the game.

I am sad to report the KOTOR II just simply did not deliver. The graphics were better in this game, but not by much. While I do have to credit the them for streamlining a few things in the game like switching between melee and ranged weapons, most of the game simply didn't seem different. You still have quite a limited amount of interaction in quests. You either take the dark path, or the light path. Once you've chosen this, there's really no variance what you do. Another thing that's barely changed is the combat. While they've added a few little things to give you more options in the game, the overall combat of KOTOR II is every bit as mindless as the first. If the AI controlling my characters were just marginally smarter, I wouldn't have to do anything at all. Quite simply put, KOTOR II felt more like KOTOR I version 1.2 than KOTOR II.

Everything I've mentioned so far may have kept KOTOR II from being a great game, but the utter lack of a decent ending is what really kept this from being a good game. Someone above compared the KOTOR II ending to the Halo 2 ending. I strongly disagree. I think that someone put together a coherent and complete story and decided to split it up for Halo 2 and 3. This is clearly not the case with KOTOR II. KOTOR II's story line feels like someone wrote a coherent story and, after completing about 75% of it, was suddenly told that they were out of time and/or money and to fill the remaining 25% of it with essentially 2% worth of story line. It is clear that there was supposed to be more, but the game was cut short for some reason.(Trying to meet the x-mas deadline?) Whatever the reason, the end result is that games aren't getting a full KOTOR II, we're only getting 77% of a game. The rest is gone.

In summary, if you really liked KOTOR I, you'll probably enjoy KOTOR II, but not nearly as much. They're marginally more features throughout the game and an utter lack of anything that resembles an RPG ending. My advice would be to rent the game. If the story gets you excited, which it may or may not, don't get your hopes up 'cuz it all comes to an abrupt end for no appearant reason.

Great game untill you realize what could have been

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: March 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Bottom line is that this game could have lived up to its predicessor, and that is saying a lot. Sadly, The publisher (lucusarts) pushed this game out the door in a sad attempt at making a few pennies before the game was finished.

Much content was cut from this game (the missing files have been found in the PC versions directories) and it was put togather with chewing gum and duct tape as a result. The ending makes no sense at all, and some of the vital portions of the story had to be cut.

Do not buy this game untill a content patch is allowed or a bonus disk is given out to make this game whole.

Liked it better than KOTOR1

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't ever write reviews, but have to disagree with some of the negative reviews posted here. I found KOTOR2:TSL to be, if anything, better than the original KOTOR.

I found the plot and pacing to be more natural than the first, with side-quests woven in more naturally. In KOTOR, many side-quests seemed tacked-on. Also, companion character development (not to mention voice acting) was much deeper and more satisfying in Sith Lords. The addition of the Influence to character interactions created a whole new dimension to the experience (though they didn't fix the problem of repetitive conversations if you ask too often).

In-game enhancements such as more robust workbenches with specialized item creation was not only an interesting addition, but creates all kinds of new strategic possibilities with tie-ins to player character skill development. (Need armor for your ranged character with high energy resistance? Build it. Need to customize somebody's blaster to get past those despicable Dark Jedi and their blaster deflection? Build it. But you may need to work on your Stealth skill first. Or maybe you want to focus on putting as many energy bolts downrange as possible; choose different upgrades. Don't forget there are additional upgrades besides crystals for your lightsaber now, too. The possibilities are vast.)

Other interface enhancements such as putting the character behaviors (support options) in the tool bar are great but still feel familiar.

Also as some others have mentioned, Obsidian raised the level ceiling and have modified the skill/feat/powers progressions so you tend to get more; creating a lot more options during play. It is nice during combat to switch up attacks and actually have more than one to pick...

Some of the specific issues raised are load times, frame rates, and bugs/unfinished bits. I did not find load times significantly different from 1, nor did I particularly notice frame rates being worse. Perhaps there are more blaster-storm free-for-alls in 2, but the ones I can think of in 1 were the same way. (Don't get me wrong, there are some times when I've got 3 Jedi and 6 lightsabers deflecting a LOT of blaster bolts all over the map and it gets kinda hairy.) As far as the unfinished bits, yeah, there are some things on maps that don't lead anywhere that are supposedly unfinished subplots. It didn't really distract me too much.

Over all, I will likely replay 2 more often than 1; so don't buy too much into the negative reviews. I have nothing but praise for Obsidian's worthy successor to the classic Bioware original.

Not up to the original

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: January 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Although a good game there are too many issues to call it great. It is not better than the first game which was a disappointment to me.

Pros:

Good Story, New items, maps, lightsaber's now have 6 slots to upgrade, item creation and breakdown, 9 additional characters, story tie in to the first game

Cons:

Long load times, glitches, freezes, poor end to the story, lack of character involvement even with 9 characters, too much errand running (more than the first)

I liked this game and I am not sorry I own it but the first is still the one to own.

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