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Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords Review - PC

The original KOTOR was a roaring success because it was an immersive addictive RPG that remained loyal to the star wars universe. KOTOR 2 follows from that success as one would guess; once again you are to take the role of a Jedi to adventure through space making decisions that will ultimately determine the fate of yourself, your party members, and the rest of the galaxy. KOTOR 2 is well written, well composed, and full of imaginative ideas, if perhaps lacking a little polishing on the integration of those ideas.

My expectations for KOTOR 2 were very high, and that was before I found out that Chris Avellone, Lead Designer of the absolutely brilliant Planescape: Torment as well as being one of the top guys responsible for Fallout 2, was going to be in charge of the KOTOR 2 design. Ever since then I've been drooling for the game's release.

Gameplay

KOTOR 2 starts you off on a mining space station. You've just clambered out of the medical bay and the place looks deserted. Some brief investigation indicates you were poisoned - perhaps that explains the orthodox memory loss that's present in almost all RPG. The usual questions jump to mind. Where am I? How did I get here? Where did I come from? Why was I in a medical bay? And who poisoned me?

KOTOR 2 plays much like the original. In-fact the game concepts remain almost exactly the same. The game uses a pseudo-AD&D system where players create a character with certain attributes - intelligence, charisma, wisdom, strength, dexterity, constitution - and then earn experience points, level-up, and choose new feats, skills and Jedi powers for their character to gain.

Which character class the player chooses - out of guardian (warrior), consular (mage) and sentinel (a weighted mix between the two) - determines the amount of feats, skills and powers their character gains every level. Also as with the original, the characters alignment affects the cost of using force powers; evil characters can use powers such as choke and force lightning at a lower cost than good characters.

But there are a few changes to the system to be noted. Intelligence, charisma, and wisdom now play a greater part. Wisdom and intelligence have a greater effect on speech options and strength with the force whilst a high charisma allows characters to use force powers of the opposite alignment at less of a penalty cost.

KOTOR 2 now features the ability to construct items at the lab stations and work benches. This is a very nice touch because almost all the skills in the game are required to make certain items. Such things as med kits, vibro-swords, light sabre lens, mines and steroids can be created from parts and chemicals. Current items can also be broken down to make parts or chemicals, allowing players to use all the useless junk they've looted to make something useful.

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