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WARNING: EXTREMELY ADDICTING!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you want to stay up until 5 in the morning playing this game, then this is definitely for you. This is probably one of the best Star Wars games out there. It is a very involving game and you grow attached to the characters. What is even more awesome is the story. There are all these twists and turns and it all leads up to one truth... but I'm not going to spoil it here.

So here are the Pros and Cons of this game.

Pros:
-Extremely intriguing plotline.
-The romance subplots in this is hilarious. Some of the interaction between these characters are just so much fun and it really makes you want to set up a match.
-All of the characters are unique in their own way and all have pretty interesting stories except for a few.
-Challenging... you gotta figure out how to kill swarms of siths without getting killed yourself and at the same time, it can be such a great feeling when you accomplish it.
-The cut scenes all fit together really well and can really add to the story.

Now, the Cons:

-Some dialogue between the characters are soooo boring and there's no way for you to just turn them off.
-The cut scenes.. some of them you cannot skip.. so you're forced to watch it over and over again if you cannot beat a certain point in the game.
-There is a part where you are on the ship and you gotta shoot the incoming fighters.. not only can u not see where they're coming from but it's just really annoying to try and shoot them all down.
-Some of the side quests are really lame and some of the ways to make money (Pazaak, swoop racing) gets really tedious and can be difficult.

Another thing is that I can only play this game on my dad's computer since the video card on my computer is not up to par with it. It passes all the other system requirements but since I have one of those miniature computers, it's hard to find good video cards that would fit into there. That is what bugs me the most.. sooo make sure your computer really will run the game before getting it..

Other than that, this is a game you gotta try for yourself. I'm sure I'll think of more pros and cons later.

The true definition of roleplaying

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: October 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is my all-time favorite RPG and I'm an RPGer from way, way back. What I've always enjoyed about RPGs is the way they can draw me into a story and make me feel as if I'm part of it rather than passively sitting behind my screen clicking on my mouse. I adore books and these games are, to me, something like live-action books. KotOR is the whole package.

I've played the game on both XBox and PC and the graphics are simply stunning. Yes, there have been advancements but the detail of the game is really marvelous. I especially love it when my character is in the city and as she passes windows there are views of distant skyscrapers. The character graphics are also really fine and each character looks different and true to life. I loved the range of facial expressions that the characters had and especially enjoyed the arch expression that would occasionally come over my PCs face.

One of the other many strong points of the game is that it has somewhat divergent storylines depending on whether you play a male or female PC. I played both and I actually think that the extra interactions the female PC can have are better. This alone would sell me on the game because it seems that game companies are forever giving short shrift to female gamers. Half the time you're lucky if you can even play a female character at all, let alone being able to play one that has a richly rewarding storyline. I give BioWare major props for this and, in my opinion, they are the most female-friendly makers of RPGs out there.

The strongest and most compelling feature of this game, though, is the excellent storyline. There is a rather large similarity to Balder's Gate, that's true, but BioWare is a company that doesn't believe solely in flashy graphics. They obviously put a lot of time and care into the development of the game's plot and the variety of conversation options that the PC has is wonderful. The romance dialog for the female PC is particularly fine and I also really, really enjoyed the dialog my PC had with Canderous, who is one of the most interesting RPG characters I've ever encountered. It was the storyline of KotOR that kept me coming back for more and I played the game over and over again and still think of it with a great deal of nostalgia.

I suppose that, in a way, I'm lucky that not all RPGs are like this one because if they were I might have a hard time getting anything done! KotOR is so much more than a game though and I'd rank it right up there with some of the best movies I've seen and some of the best books I've read and even then it has an edge because it is far more interactive. This is a truly stellar game.

Despite Some Flaws, Remains Strong

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: January 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Knights of the Old Republic has a strong pedigree- Star Wars combined with BioWare, one of the best RPG makers of all time. Considering the success of previous BioWare games (Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate) it couldn't be that bad, and it largely isn't.

Let's start with the good things:

The graphics are amazing, and the areas all well done and extremely detailed. Some of these places have only been seen or mentioned in the expanded universe, but it's clear the developers did their homework when laying them out. Force effects, weapon graphics, and combat movements are all well done. You really feel like you're a participant in the Star Wars universe.

Though the rules are based off the D20 system Star Wars game, they have been altered for real-time play. As with BioWare's other work, this conversion was generally well done, and the accompanying game interface is quite intuitive (if you're wondering, it's something similar to 'drive mode' in Neverwinter, with an added mouse cursor). Combat looks real time, even though it's turn-based under the hood.

Characters and interaction are very well done- all dialogue is spoken, and the voice acting is superb. There's a ton of side quests to take on, and you have both light and dark-side choices when dealing with people and situations. This is the sort of flexibility many previous D20 computer games lacked. Your companions (up to two at a time from nine potential allies) interact realistically and all have their own stories. Some, such as that of the sadistic HK-47, are quite amusing.

Added touches, such as mini-games Pazaak and Swoop racing, are generally good. Most of the puzzles you encounter are quite fun, and the game music is both original and well done (for the first time in a SW game?). You have a sense of freedom in that many of the quest objectives can be done in whatever order you see fit. Many items you find (including all lightsabers) are upgradeable with special parts. There's also a ton of items and equipment to find and use, much of which have unique avatar appearances.

The story is killer. If you're wondering, I'm a hardcore Star Wars fan that has read most of the books and seen all the movies multiple times. I won't say more since I don't want to spoil it, but the story is better than both of the new movies and many of the books. Seriously.

That said, there are some issues with the game:

Though it has great graphics, the game doesn't run very smoothly. My system greatly exceeds the recommended requirements, and it's still choppy at 1024x768. This is especially the case in combat involving numerous enemies.

In the adaptation from the pen and paper game, the developers decided to nerf ranged weapons big time. Even the most powerful upgradeable ranged weapons do less damage than relatively mundane melee arms. In fact, there's no good reason to gear your character(s) toward ranged weapons instead of melee. This is a bit weird in a setting as futuristic as Star Wars.

Though you have some degree of freedom, it's not unlimited- you'll often be stopped by invisible walls when traveling in what looks to be perfectly passable terrain. Though most of the game areas look huge (e.g. the city of Manaan looks like a floating Los Angeles) you actually can't explore most of it. You're also barred from doing quest steps out of order by locked doors, force fields, and other such gimmicks.

There's surprisingly few options in character generation and general character/party customization. You can only be a human, and choose from 3 classes- Soldier, Scoundrel, or Scout. The appearances are surprisingly limited for a BioWare game, and there's only one voice per gender. This doesn't matter much, since your main character rarely speaks- others do all the talking. Your main character is the only one that can multiclass, and in fact MUST do so- and it will be to one of the three Jedi classes- Guardian, Consular, or Sentinel.

The game is very heavily combat oriented, and some of the puzzles are clearly just there to slow you down (thankfully, these are quite rare). There are some quests or choices obviously geared for the less combat-capable classes (i.e. scoundrels and consulars) but when it comes down to it, you really have to be able to dish it out. Fortunately, your allies can help you with this for most of the game if you aren't that type.

There are very serious technical issues with the game. It crashes frequently and freezes even more often. I won't harp on this because it can be fixed in patches (of which there is already one out) but I know game doesn't even run with many system configurations. It's advisable you do some research on this or wait for patches before buying.

When it comes down to it, Knights is one heck of an RPG. At this point it is the only Star Wars computer RPG other than the flawed Galaxies MMORPG, which makes it doubly appealing to fans of the series. Due to its excellent plot and believable game world, this is a sure-fire pick for any Star Wars fan.

One of the greatest games of all time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: November 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Not only is Knights of the Old Republic THE best Star Wars game ever made, it's one of the best RPGs of all time. Period. No, scratch that - it's one of the best GAMES of all time. Now, I'm not going to go into detail about all of its amazing features, since the countless other reviewers have already done that. All that needs to be said is that it's a superb, 50+ hour RPG with a story and characters that might be even better than those of the outstanding movies. Buy it today. You won't regret it.

Oh, and by the way, after skimming through the reviews of this game, I've seen about ten one-star reviews written by idiotic kids who obviously have never heard of an RPG. Do yourself a favor and don't let the reviews of nine-year-olds who only want "ACTION! ACTION! ACTIOON!!!!!111!!" cloud your judgment about this fantastic game.

Starwars Roleplayer's Dream

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Gameplay: Your actions during the game have an actual effect on wether you'll turn more to the light or the dark side of the force. Allthough only your actions at the end of the game will actually effect the outcome of the game. Conversations will present the player with different options, which will mostly (but not always) result in a different reply. All your 'missions' (for lack of a better word) are neatly ordered in an overview as well as the conversations you recently had.

Char Creation: At character creation the game utilises a system similar to AD&D games where you have some choice between character's appearance and have to allocate points to different attributes of the abilities. The game also uses a skill system to further specialise your character to your own preferred playstyle. Both will advance during the gameplay as your character gains new levels.

Story: The game starts off as you wake up aboard a ship under attack of an enemy fleet. Next you will be plunged in a rollercoaster storyline that will capture any roleplayer's attention more and more as intrigue and deceit builds up with some plottwists that will make you wonder why you didn't see this coming earlier on.

Combat: This is mainly a roleplayer's game and players that prefer fast paced 'twitch' action won't get all too much satisfaction from these battles. Combat in KoToR is reduced to click and wait with every now and then a special move. To further simplify combat, you can pause the game at any time and decide what you'll do next, but this is mostly unnecessary since your options are not all that mind dazzling.

Graphics: The graphics are good without being great, but it has the trade-off that the system requirements aren't that high. Facial expressions change all the time, which give the characters a sense of being truely alive.

Sound: All the conversations are spoken, so as long as you are interacting with a human you'll actually hear the voice. The aliens speak in their respective alien tongues as well, but the sound you'll hear will be limited to the same samples over and again.

Music: This is one of the few games in which the music won't start to annoy you over time. The score adds a great deal to the feeling of the game and is for once not drawn from the movies.

Overall: This is far from the first game I have played that was developed by Bioware, and allthough the previous ones were mostly very entertaining, this one beats them all. If you are a roleplayer and a fan of Starwars this is THE game to play and when you finish it you can look out for KoToR 2 which is in the making.

The Best Star Wars Game To Date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Any game that can successfully hold on to you for 20 hours plus of game play has to be good, in my books. I could quite literally sit down to this game, and not move for hours on end, glued to the screen. What makes it so much fun is that although it's challenging, there aren't really times in the game when you feel stuck or lost for what you're doing. You've always got a good sense of direction and chance of getting through alive. I think the only time when I really 'feared for my life', was close to the end, when I stupidly brought a droid to do a mans job!

What makes a good RPG, like KOTOR, is depth and breadth. Some games are ridiculously linear, in that you have one story to follow, with a couple of mini-games thrown in, and that's all you get. Bioware seemed to have honed the art of RPG perfectly, in that despite having one main plot to follow, you can easily have another twenty or so going at the same time. Each character has their own story to tell, their own mission for you to embark upon, whether it be as small as finding a lost droid, or as epic as destroying the Star Forge.

The characters, in fact, are probably my favourite part of the game. I've gotten over the whole lightsaber novelty since Jedi Knight. The main character who you play, although customizable, has no real personality. You're given options of how to act, but they aren't very diverse - simple good, evil, and neutral choices. You gain points for your actions, and its easy to predict how you're alignment is going to turn out. For all this is a very basic method, it's still fun to toy with your alignment and see what paths open themselves to you depending on your responses.

The team members you can pick up vary in quality. There were a handful who I never really used - Mission the Twi'lek (a scout, who just looked weak), Zalbaar the wookie (... didn't strike me as the useful type), the astromech droid (I forget his name, but honesty, rushing into battle with one of those at your side is suicide). Canderous, the Mandalorian bounty hunter, and HK, the wise-cracking robot, have something sharp and cynical to say about everything, making using them worthwhile if only to hear their snide remarks. The trio of Jedi are, perhaps, the most efficient party to use however, with their power highly outweighing that of those who rely solely on ranged weapons.

The Force powers are a bit lacking, at least for the lightside. There were barely any offensive techniques, aside from saber throw, whirlwind and disable droid. Then again, being a Jedi isn't about power! The array of armour is vast and it's unlikely that a single play through the game will give you the opportunity to sample each piece - in part because some suits require a specific alignment (to good or evil) to be used. Likewise, there are so many weapons - especially ranged - that it would take hours alone simply to test them all out.

The selection of locations available to visit was also excellent. Instead of sticking to the usual haunts found in Star Wars games, players were given the option to visit exotic locations never before seen, such as the tundra world of Manaan and the Wookiee homeworld. Of course, Tatooine is in the line up, but the planet never tires - especially when krayt dragon hunting is on the cards!

Overall, an extremely worthwhile buy, with hours of replay value to be had.

Best in Years

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It's been a long time since we've seen a truly amazing Star Wars game hit the PC. With Knights of the Old Republic, I've got to say it was worth the wait.

Install:

Holy moly, it takes up 4 gigs of hard drive space. Aside from that, install was pretty painless on my Intel/WinXP/ATI system. With recent drivers for my hardware, I was up and playing the game in no time at all.

Gameplay:

Gameplay took some getting used to, but once I became accustomed to the fight system, it won me over. Like any good game, it's easy to learn and difficult to master. You can play it real-time or pause between rounds to plan out a detailed strategy. I strongly suggest the latter, especially on the Difficult setting.

But as a wise old Jedi once said, there are alternatives to fighting. Stealth, puzzles, computer "slicing," the repair and reprogramming of droids, and smooth-talking can get you out of otherwise impossible situations.

Storyline:

Holy cow, now I see where those four gigabytes of disk space went. Dialogue, dialogue, and more dialogue. Surprisingly, it's more engrossing than either of the prequel movies! The characters have fluid and seamless interaction with the world around them.

Every situation and every conversation gives your main character a chance to move toward the light or dark side of the force. This influences (and possibly derails) the entire storyline and course of the game. I've stuck with the light for the first time through, but I can't wait to go back and replay from the Dark perspective.

Although there's a main storyline, there are tons of extra activities to keep you busy. Prize-fights in a duelling arena, gambling (the Panzaak card game is as addictive as Tetris in and of itself), side quests all provide endless hours of extra gameplay.

Overall:

If you like Star Wars, this game is an absolute must-have. If you like RPGs, this game is an absolute must-have. I hate to sound overly glowing, but this game is truly one of the best.

It Feels Oh So Good..... To Be Bad.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I know I'm a little late with this review, but like me, I'm sure a lot of you are looking at this game because of all the great things you have heard and on top of that the great price! Taking into account the price and value of this game I can't really recommend against getting it.... Part of me wants to.... But I can't.

Some will say that the strongest point of this game is the story. And I will agree that the writers did a fantastic job on developing an adventure filled with epic intrigue, betrayal, and even a little bit of romance. However, I ended with the feeling that the story would have been an excellent fit for a movie and only a good fit for a game. I say that because some plot points felt forced and I often found myself not in the least bit interested in the story behind certain quests and the ramblings of the people in my group (unless it was the gorgeous Bastilla of course!). I guess it didn't take long for my character to turn to the Dark Side as I was forced to tell most of the people to shut up and handle their own problems. Granted that was fun in itself and definitely a great feature of the game, but it would have been nice to care one way or the other.

I guess that brings me to the biggest feature of the game. "Choose Your Path". Yes, you can choose to be good or evil. Yes, there are Dark and Light Side powers. Yes, there are different endings. And yes, it affects everything about the game and is obviously the feature it was designed around. This is basically done through dialogue choices where it is pretty obvious what the "good" answer is. There are a few memorable conversations but for the most part I was just clicking the evil answer as quick as I could so I could Force Choke some more innocent people.

This raises an interesting point. Would I still recommend this game if you could not choose the Dark Side? Without much hesitation I would have to say "No". We have all played the good guy games. That has been done before and this game would not have been a stand out in that category. The inventory management system is very poor. "Gear" or equipable items, which are normally one of the best parts of an RPG seems like an after thought, and the movement system is a little bit awkward. I often cursed that my Death Field would not work on my own party as they were blocking me into a corner.

Now let me inform you of a little secret that you can choose to use or not. If you have ever dreamt of being a Jedi God and an absolutely unstoppable force in the galaxy all you need to do is only take 4 or 5 levels of your original class before you become a Jedi. This allows you to "save" levels and take them in one of the powerful Jedi classes. It might be a little more challenging to make it to Dantooine and become a Jedi, but once you do you will be unstoppable. And I do mean you will be utterly invincible. Enemies won't even be able to touch you as you throw them all over the screen with Force Waves and then finish them off with Shock. Even the final boss will be nothing but a mere annoyance. And this is at normal difficulty. A bit of an exploit I'll admit, but it is so much fun.

So if somewhere inside you there is a little Darth Vader waiting to come out then this is the game for you. It will let you give in to every Dark urge you have and then some.

If you are just looking for a great all around RPG I would recommend looking elsewhere.

Why complain about graphical issues?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: May 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

When I first recieved KOTOR, I was heartbroken that I couldn't play it because of graphic issues, my card was way out of date. It was a simple trip to compUSA and 80 bucks lost. Then it ran perfect, except now I just need more memory, or it'll run choppily in some places. Another simple fix. So why do people just whine and whine and whine that they can't get it running on their desktop when they can just as easily go to a computer store and buy the right card.

Now for the game's review.

When I started playing KOTOR, I couldn't stop. You couldn't pay me to stop. As I mentioned, the insufficient RAM space makes for some choppy areas, but I've adjusted. It's true that you really get into the characters, they each have their own personality. My personal favorite is Zaalbar, he always gets picked on by Mission. I usually feel sorry for him, which is how much this game allows you to feel for your characters. The game itself isn't as linear as I thought it would be, and really makes me happy that I have elbow room finally. This did what no other Jedi game did. The battles arn't just click-and-done. There are some places where the enemies are hard, and where some are easy. That doesn't mean you won't need healing somewhere. The minigames are forced upon, but they can be fun. Though I hardly call manning the gun-well and keeping your ship safe a minigame. Pazaak is fun to relieve the stress, because it's rules are just like Blackjack. (Though I think that guy in the Lower City cantina really DOES cheat). Swoop racing is one that's forced on you to rescue Bastilla. But, then again, it is fun. As with the characters, you really get into swoop racing. After every shift you feel a jolt inside you, only to feel like you really are going that fast, the G-force pushing you back in your seat. Though I do advise you upgrade your swoop every chance you get. All in all, this game is great. I wish it were a movie, it would be better than Episode I and II, but not III. Nothing can best III.

By far the best RPG I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: December 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Although I'm not really a Star Wars fan, I must say that this is probably the best roleplaying adventure game I've ever played. It is more immersive than any game I've ever played, and even though the game has a 3rd person perspective I really felt involved with the characters and the storyline to an extent I'd never felt with any other game. The cinematic cut scenes really make one feel as if one is in a Star Wars movie - really excellent work, and these scenes really mesh well with the game itself, giving an almost perfect continuity. The storyline is exciting and intelligent, and the characters are interesting and well-acted by the voice actors (quality voice acting is often lacking in even the most professional games). The game is surprisingly long (a relief after having played some VERY short adventure games in the past). I spent 66 hours on my first run through (and I missed a few side quests), so once you get through it the sense of accomplishment is great.

The story itself is quite linear. I'm by no means a fan of linear storylines, but the game overcomes this drawback by means of a branching character development feature which allows your main character to either embrace the light side or the dark side of the force to varying degrees - a feature that really makes for interesting and varied gameplay. This aspect is enhanced by the cleverly written dialogue which changes to fit the decisions you make regarding your character's development.

My only citicism is that in the mini-games within the game the control options are somewhat limited, which is probably because the game was originally produced for the console market. The Swoop racing in particular suffers due to this - I found it hard to control the swoop bikes using keyboard input. Not a major problem though, since the swoop races are merely a side quest and can be ignored if you find them too annoying.

I see some reviews here that claim that the game has hardware compatibility issues. On my system (P4 2.66GB NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200) it runs very smoothly at the maximum 1280x960 resolution (as long as I don't add too much anti-aliasing), and it had only one minor video glitch - a black screen at one point that I overcame quite easily by simply clicking around the screen. I must say that I haven't seen many complaints regarding compatibility on the game's official site.

All in all, this is an excellent game that I'm sure will be greatly enjoyed by anyone who plays it. I think Knights of the Old Republic will be an excellent choice even for the casual gamer who doesn't usually like this type of game - the difficulty options are well implemented, giving a nice challenge for every level of player.

Don't miss this one! It's well worth the price.

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