Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

I've been a fan of Star Wars for many years, and I've played many of the franchise's games. Some of them provide excellent action ('Republic Commando', 'Jedi Academy'), but none of them are memorable in the way that 'Knights of the Old Republic' is. In fact, the only Star Wars game which I think approaches it in terms of quality is its sequel. The premise of 'KOTOR' is fairly simple: You play a soldier whose mission it is to stop a powerful Sith Lord, and in order to do so you have to find several components of an ancient map. It may sound like a cliché RPG, but on your travels you'll encounter so many interesting people, fascinating stories and incredible quests, you'll never want it to end. I know I didn't.

This game is awesome. I'd just like to get that off my chest.

Let me tell you why. Firstly, Bioware have produced the greatest storyline ever achieved in video game history. Who would've imagined a star wars game to have a storyline instead of non-stop stormtrooper shooting like all the others? The story is dark, deep and has more twists than a virgin's knickers. You will become so damn engrossed with the story that you will forget real life, and for that i don't blame you. With this game, it comes as a right.

Secondly, the gameplay is the best i've ever encountered. I could spend the whole day walking around and talking with npcs. The npcs are so detailed and every one has a background story, or a task that they would like you to perform. The fight sequences are brilliant, mixing turn-based action and strategy together to form a perfect mold. You have to prepare yourself before each fight and choose your moves carefully, which is reminiscent of final fantasy. Also, the fact that one decision could change your path from light to dark side is a power to behold. Every decision matters.

And lastly, the graphics are consistently gorgeous. For such a huge game you may think that the graphics department would be lacking, but Bioware are perfectionists, and thank god they are! For never in this game you will want to look away from the screen, the beauty of it will grab hold of you and refuse to let go.

This game is a masterpiece. It is the most significant game since Doom and the best game ever made! Explore 10/10

This game is incredible! The game is so big and you can choose to help people or kill them or make their lives miserable. You can decide to become the Dark Lord or you can turn to the light side and be a Jedi Master and save the galaxy. I have played it at least fifteen times and every time I have played I always discovered new ways to play the game. Although it is a Star Wars game it is almost completely different from the movies. You can interact with the people in your team and get involved into their story lines. Except an old man in your group. Well maybe you can and I haven't done that. It is a really big game. Although I thought a planet you have to travel to, Manaan, was pretty boring, the rest of the game was great. I was curios to find was that a space station you can go to at Yavin, was not in another copy of the game that two of my friends had. It sucks for them because in the game you build a lightsaber and can put crystals in it to make it more powerful and to have different colours. You could have yellow, or red, or green, or blue, or violet. But two other crystal colours you can buy near the end of the game are at that space station. But a really hard thing to do (for me) was to turn to the dark side. It was really sad to ruin these peoples lives (even though they probably deserved it). But, that is just me.

If KOTOR were made into a movie, it would be the third best movie behind only episodes 4 and 5. It's easily better than any of the prequels and even "Jedi." The story is excellent and the characters are real and fun and you care about them. Being part of the story is fantastic.

KOTOR I is still better than KOTOR II (Sith Lords) mainly because the story in "Sith Lords" doesn't really flow as well. Both are fun, but if you haven't played either yet, play KOTOR first since KOTOR II spoils some of the plot.

I'm sure the graphics will become dated over time (they already are) but the story and game play will stay top-notch for a long time. The music is also excellent and is as good as anything John Williams ever wrote. In fact, it blends with the original Star Wars music seamlessly. The game engine does a very good job of playing the correct thematic music at all times.

The re-playability factor is also good because you can be both good or evil, and male or female. This gives you four versions to play. I recommend saving often just so you can go back and try different things. There is no penalty for saving games and it's fun to see what happens.

Another fine product from Bioware. The people who brought you the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights have struck again. In fact the game is remarkably like Neverwinter Nights but excels in so many different areas than it's counterpart. And the fact that it is Star Wars, which has so much more appeal to the regular joe than a D&D game, just adds to the factor.

Let's talk about plot. Yessir, please. This is the greatest plot ever put into an RPG game. The major plot twist ranks up there with the Usual Suspects. To those readers out there who haven't played the game, I am not exaggerating. To you newbies, pay attention to the dialog in the game and the unfolding plot rather than concentrating on the action. You will smile at the coolness of it all when IT occurs.

Not to say the action won't keep you salivating. From the get go, you are thrown into battle with a whole series of choices for your character to make. The character creation is reminiscent of the third edition D&D game, but is still not too overwhelming for a newbie. Plus half the fun is juggling your choices on leveling to see what the outcome might be. This gives it major replay value. If you have a high end computer, sit back and watch in glee as the battles unfold especially aboard the bridge of an Imperial ship. Your character somersaults, twists, turns, ducks as sparks fly when lightsabers crash all while laser blasts criss cross in the background. Great stuff! Another advantage this game has over Neverwinter Nights is the choice of two henchman whom you can level as you please. There are a lot of choices for henchman, each with their own engaging story and quests. Play them all. I am sure you will.

The game has a variety of planets from the Star Wars world to visit on your Millennium Falcon like spaceship, the Ebon Hawk. Visit Kashykk, the jungle like planet of the wookies, the desert world of Dantooine, the waterworld of Manaan or the barren wasteland of Korriban, home of the Sith.It has mini games such as Pod Racing (great fun) and gambling in the cantinas with a game called Pazaak. It has a huge variety of armor, weapons and items. Then there's the lightsaber. You can find various crystals in the game that increase the power of your saber which I found very exciting as my character explored his surroundings. My choice to dual wield made the game that much more fun.

Play this game soon. Immerse yourself in the Star Wars world for at least 24 (maybe more) solid hours of game play. I am sure you will be swept away into the epic of it all and make you cry out for more.