Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

KotOR II, eh? I'm sure most fans of the series were a tad surprised when they heard a sequel would be coming out so soon after the first. We've all heard the horror stories about the "expensive expansion pack" kinds of sequels. KotOR II does NOT fit into that category.

KotOR II's storyline is set 5 years after the event of the original KotOR. While you do not play the same character as the first game, you play a new one that is just as (or maybe even more) interesting. The plot itself can be viewed many ways. While the dialogue is rich and very well written, the plot itself doesn't have much structure (though that's more or less intentional).

Your party characters interact much more, and this time they don't just stand there and do nothing. However, their stories can't be fleshed out as much as the first game, and you may find yourself loosing interest in some of them later on in the game.

Overall this is a fantastic game. Its smartly written, and carries a really groovy "fantasy-esque" feel the changes the star wars experience (for the better). The game starts out magnificent, but towards the end you will start really seeing the holes (the game's development schedule was far too ambitious). Really, the only way to form a fair opinion of this game is to play it yourself.

I'm not actually a gamer, but once in a while I can play something which I think is worth it. Well, let me tell you, dear readers, that game, along with the original KOTOR, was a stunning experience! The beauty of the far-away worlds, the masterpiece soundtrack from Jeremy Soule and Mark Griskey and the fantastic story will catch your mind for long days to come. Bioware (the developers of Knights of Old Republic) and Obsidian Entertainment (the sequel) truly did an outstanding job in creating the worlds that one will never forget having once "visited" them. In case you haven't played it yet, whether you like Star Wars or not, type Amazon in browser or get yourselves to the nearest store and get the game. You will not be disappointed.

It's hard to try and live up to a game that's been voted "Best Game of the Year" by at least 6 different groups. But this game almost does it. Enhanced interaction and influence with highly developed party members, more upgrades for your weapons, and a fascinating plot leave few weaknesses. If you've been reading the IMDb threads about this game or Xbox magazine, you know this already: the bosses are just not as menacing as Darth Malak was in the first game. Even so, I was playing this for hours at a time, whenever I could muster it in my schedule, and it became dangerous how much emotion I poured into that game. If you've played KOTOR 1, definitely play KOTOR 2.

This is an amazing game, full of side-quests and chances to choose your outcome in many ways, just like the last game. Unfortunately, the new developer, Obsidian, seems to have forgotten to ruthlessly weed out bugs in the game. For instance, in my experience I found that the game would freeze during the load repeatedly, an...unfavorable aspect of the game. Also, the game has an unkind tendency to do a random choose of what items are dropped by enemies, and what items are given to shops. This has a good side and a very very bad side. On the plus side, the game can randomly give you high-damage items, like weapons or armor, that are over-powerful until nearly the end. On the negative side, you are likely to go through the game and miss at least one thing. While these items are not related to any quest, they are still items that can be very useful. Another problem I had with it is that the new upgrade system is much more, and possibly too complex compared to the previous game, with up to 6 factors in upgrading certain objects. This does not mean that the game is bad. The game is a very fun RPG, and the characters are very funny, while at the same time very helpful. Some new twists actually encourage you to interact with your non-playable characters. There is also a nifty change in the level system which raises the bar of leveling from 20 to level 50, at least. I did find the plot rather confusing at times, but all-in-all it was worth the wait, and worth the money.

I wish the new star wars movies had a story and writing this good. They took the star wars ip and added more adult themes, they added choices which werent just either black or white ( Kotor 1), they expanded on the story by exploring the force and adding philosophy to it. They also found the perfect balance. the conversations dont bore me like the later games of obsidian, talking about pillars of eternity which was a total letdown story wise for me. So much meaningless text which became a chore to read each time i talked to someone. Kotor 2 doesnt have that, 90% of the time, expecially with kreia, i listen like i would listen to some intellectual celebrity (neil degrasse tyson or carl sagan come to mind). When she talks about the force i feel like i listen to carl sagan talking about the universe. A little more time and a higher budget would have made this game legendary.