First Encounter

By Danny Chihdo

Far sooner than initially expected when the original release date of February 2005 was announced long ago (at an E3 far, far away), Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is upon us! And, despite a change of developers, the latest installment of what we can only hope will evolve into a KOTOR sub-franchise outdoes the original in every respect while keeping the rock-solid core of a brilliant, accessible role-playing game.

New worlds, new creatures … same awesome lightsabers.

So that gets the "does it measure up?" question out of the way. It most certainly does, and that's no mean feat for Obsidian, even if many of their designers also worked on some of the best-known PC RPG classics in history (Baldur's Gate and Fallout, to name just two). As the game opens five years after the end of the first KOTOR title, you're injured and unconscious aboard a very familiar starship—the Ebon Hawk, back again and now the ride of your new character. How that happened—heck, how any of this happened, especially the apparent elimination of the Jedi Order—is not immediately clear, though the opening crawl reveals that whatever ending you achieved in the original game, the Sith ultimately destroyed the Jedi. What else is clear is that you are quite possibly the last Jedi in the galaxy, an exile who doesn't even have a lightsaber but holds the fate of the Order in his or her hands. It's a very different feel from the beginning of the first game, when the Jedi were plentiful and powerful despite the ongoing war with the Sith. This setting is much more reminiscent of the classic trilogy, with the Jedi's light nearly extinguished and the evil Sith empire in almost total control of things.

Will you help save the Republic, or conquer it once and for all? The choice is yours, and it's not nearly as simple as it was the first time around. Dialogue trees are involved and sometimes even challenging. And, as your adventure takes you to seven different planets and through an eye-popping number of new side quests and missions—including the ever-popular swoop racing and pazaak mini-games—you'll find that this is definitely not just a retread. In fact, Halo 2 or no Halo 2, we're looking at another serious Game of the Year candidate.

Master Chief isn't the only one dual-wielding.

Obsidian introduces the concept of "influence" in the sequel, which—whether you know it or not—was something sorely missing from the original game. Remember how everyone in your party maintained exactly the same alignment they had when you met them, no matter what you asked them to do or how you used them? No more. Now each character in your party will react to the main character in different ways according to how you treat them. There's a lot more than just a "good" or "evil" response, and not every character will react to the same dialogue in the same way. Influence can be gained by intimidating another party member, for example, or by praising them. And, often, what influences one character will turn off another, so you have to put all of your leadership skills to use. Even location can influence another character, if they're in comfortable surroundings or think they have reason to trust you because of where you're talking to them.

Your hero's skills (and those of party members) with mechanical gadgets and chemicals are also now crucial to the full experience. Remember those odd bits of dialog from the first KOTOR that seemed to indicate you could buy new parts for your swoop? And, yet, you really couldn't? Well, now you can break down pieces of equipment (either broken or intact) to create new items depending on your needs. Low on health? Get to a workbench and use your skills and knowledge to whip up a medpac.

Gotta love that Force Lightning.

Combat options have been greatly expanded with the inclusion of new lightsaber and Force forms. Lightsaber forms, which are the domain of the Sentinel and Guardian classes, are strictly combat-oriented (unlike the first game, you'll be a Jedi from the start, but you'll still have to wait to get your lightsaber—it's a major quest, in fact). Certain forms are better against different types of enemies, and will change both your character animation and your chances to hit and do damage. And, they just plain look cool, especially as you grow in level and the lightsaber animations change with you. Force forms, on the other hand, augment and change the way you can use Force powers, and are available to the Jedi Consular. On top of all that, you can now graduate to Prestige Classes—highly focused character types like Sith Marauder or Jedi Weapons Master that will make your hero even more powerful.

What you do with that power, now that's up to you. Will you journey to the demon moon of Dxun and steal the power of the ancient Sith Lords for your own, or will you resist temptation and stay in the light? Will you attempt to save whoever you can on the imperiled Peragus station, or will you leave innocents to die? Who do you serve? Who do you trust?

Me, I can't wait to find out. Then find out again, and again, and again …