Best. Star Wars Game. Ever.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Release Date: 2003
System: XBox
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) for Violence
Publisher: LucasArts

I have to admit to being pretty ambivalent about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic when I first tried it out. I mean, c'mon - a Star Wars RPG? It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and it threw me off enough that I avoided the game for a while. After hearing rave reviews about it, however, I decided to give it a try. In the end, I was more than happy that I gave it a shot.

Simply put, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the best Star Wars game ever made, capturing the Star Wars feel better than any other game before it or since.

KOTOR takes place 4,000 years before the events of the first Star Wars movie, in an era of intergalactic war. Darth Malak and Darth Revan, former heroes of the Old Republic and current Sith Lords, have plunged the galaxy into war, laying waste to the Republic.

As the game begins, you (in the role of your choice: either a soldier, scout or scoundrel, and either male or female) are aboard the Endar Spire, a Republic ship that's under attack from Sith forces. It turns out the Sith are looking for a Jedi Knight named Bastilla Shan, who is in command of the Spire on its current mission.

As the ship falls apart around you, you're forced to escape, crash-landing on a decaying city-world named Taris, along with a Republic soldier named Carth Onasi. Upon hearing news that Bastilla has also crash-landed on Taris, you set out to find Bastilla and escape the planet.

However, Bastilla's rescue is just the beginning, as her rescue propels your character on an exciting adventure across the galaxy on a mission that will either stop the Sith forces in their tracks - or lead them to their ultimate victory and plunge the galaxy into darkness.

There are so many good things about this game that this review could go on forever gushing about them. For starters, the game's plot is awesome. The story of a small group of people that end up changing the fate of the galaxy is quite familiar to anyone who's ever seen Star Wars, and yet there's so many original elements in the plot that it never feels rehashed or boring. The game's plot also has a huge twist about midway through the game that serves to heighten the drama.

Another great element along those lines is the game's Light Side/Dark Side system. How your character responds to questions and chooses to act in certain situations will influence whether he follows the Light Side or the Dark Side of the Force. Your choices will also influence the game's ending.

A wonderful cast of characters that join you throughout the game only adds to the game's fun. From Carth Onasi the troubled soldier to model Jedi Knight Bastilla to a psychotic droid named HK-47, all of the characters have their own story to tell, and are a lot of fun to interact with.

The game's engine is also worth mentioning. It's based off of the D20 system used in the pen and paper RPGs Star Wars Roleplaying Game and Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. You can create your character using the system (as well as a handy guide) at the beginning of the game, giving him stats as appropriate, which will affect game play. For instance, a character with a high Dexterity score will usually be pretty good with a blaster, while characters with high Charisma might be better served by talking their way out of things. The class you choose at the beginning (soldier, scout or scoundrel) will also likely affect how you create your character.

The engine uses the relevant stats along with a degree of randomness to determine success or failure in various objectives, from blasting an enemy to convincing someone to let you into a restricted area to defeating a door lock. It may sound a bit complicated, but it all boils down to a very simple thing: the higher your bonuses (in the relevant skill or attribute), the better chance you'll have of succeeding. You get better at your attributes and skills as you level up as well, just like a usual RPG, except you can choose where those improvements go. Other options that can be gained or purchased (called "feats") can do everything from making your lightsaber swings more powerful to making you nearly unstoppable at computer hacking. It's a good system that works very well for the game.

The combat system is extremely well-done. It's technically turn-based, but the combat proceeds so smoothly that you may not notice at first. The combat system incorporates the randomness/bonus format of the overall engine, and include the ability to use combat feats to give you an advantage. And yes, you get to use a lightsaber in this game, along with all sorts of other cool weapons.

Perhaps the greatest thing about this game is that it captures the Star Wars feel better than any other game before it. It's tough to describe, but somehow, it feels more like an interactive movie than a game - in all the right ways. Even as you control the protagonist of the adventure, it feels like you're watching a Star Wars movie unfold before your eyes. The game's music only enhances this, fitting the game's many moods perfectly. The voice acting also helps immensely, never seeming cheesy or forced and always seeming to convey emotions very effectively. No other Star Wars video game has ever felt like this before, and it's a big part of what makes KOTOR the best Star Wars game ever made.

The game does have a few flaws, though they're not enough to kill the game. First of all, the game's upgrade system - which lets you upgrade certain weapons and armor to make them more powerful or give them other qualities - is far too limited. Too few items can be upgraded (though all lightsabers can). The system is quite useful for the weapons that can be altered, but more items should have been available for upgrading.

Secondly, there's an upper limit on how far your characters can advance - only up to Level 20. Granted, that point is usually only hit by the time you get to the final area, at least in my experience, but it would have been nice not to have the limit.

Despite these minor flaws, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a must-have for any Star Wars or RPG fan. If you haven't played this game yet, try it out. You will not regret it.

Score: 9.5 out of 10 (translates the Star Wars feel more faithfully than any other game before it, and gives the player a massively fun ride in the process)