Straight Jacket Type Fun
Knights of Old Republic
RPGs have never been my favorite type of game. Too many party members to manage while in-game, too many things to inventory, too many quests with their own side quests, and then there's the whole "1d6+1 with the Mage Armor of Buttwhomping with +3 Saving Throw" geek-in-mom's-basement factor on top of it. All of which results in me simply deleting an RPG from my hard drive and going back to first person shooters with their more streamlined approach (i.e. find things, kill them, and move ahead to next room).
But now, Bioware's played a dirty trick on me by making an RPG game based on the Star Wars universe; a genre that still appeals and entertains me despite the current mainstream disdain for certain parties (Lucas) involved with the current prequels and expanded universe lore. Despite my initial misgivings about purchasing an RPG, and in fact it's an RPG that has been ported from a console (the XBOX even!), the PC version of Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is without a doubt the best single player game I've come across in quite some time. The game offers an above standard storyline spanning across multiple worlds of the Star Wars universe, excellent gameplay that does not force the player to become bogged down in all the RPG minutiae that confounds an RPG novice such as myself, and an entertaining cast of characters to help you in your missions.
The story settles into about 4000 years before the Star Wars movies. The Sith and Jedi are both powerful groups who are attempting to either aid the Republic or destroy it outright. As the hero (or heroine) of the game you are thrust into the center of the action which of course will have far reaching consequences towards the entire galaxy and shape the future of the Sith and Jedi. Why, 4000 years before the Star Wars movies, do people already possess blasters and light sabers is anyone's guess but there they are in this game. Maybe technology progression has stopped, or maybe between the movies and this game something wiped out any advanced technology. Whatever the case, the time is different from the movies but if you've seen the movies you'll easily recognize the key elements as being Star Wars. But, like in many other RPG and adventure games, you first need to figure out who you are and what you're doing.
As the game starts you have no memories save for some bizarre dreams that make no sense at first but slowly come together as the game goes forward. In your adventures, you will explore planets that were either mentioned in the movies, seen in the movies, or are brand new to the game. There's the Wookie homeworld (Kashyyyk), Tatooine, and Datoonie to name a few. Without giving away too much, you're tasked with a quest to find some ancient maps which lead to another mystery. But that's not all. Each planet gives you the opportunity to have multiple side quests which will either help you earn experience, gain new items, or interact with your squad members more. The side quests are manageable since you are not tasked with traveling all over the game world searching for items. Instead, most side quests can be completed while still on the same planet where you were given the task. For example, on the first planet (Taris) you can perform bounty hunting for some extra credits with all of the targets for the bounty being on that planet. This cuts down on travel time making for a more streamlined gaming experience.
But don't let that fool you into thinking you can play this game in one or two sittings. My first time through this game took approximately 60 hours but your mileage may vary. Also keep in mind this has been my first RPG foray since Baldur's Gate II which, for the record, left a bad taste in my mouth. I was also backtracking a lot in KotORand there was one embarrassing moment when I could not trigger an event resulting in me hitting the Bioware forums and the Banshee gaming website for their thorough walk-through.
My only real complaint about the storyline concerns the clichéd characters in the game. True, it's the Star Wars universe and so by it's nature does not cater to the deepest character development but does the wise Jedi Master always have to be a Yoda type, or does the evil Dark Lord have to always use breathing filtration unit? Again, that's a minor point to me.
The gameplay (by this I mean fighting) itself falls between incessant clickfest (like Diablo) and the slower paced dedicated RPG game. While some more devoted RPG fans will probably complain about this, a standard gamer like myself does not object to being able to make the action real time or pausing between each turn to setup your attack queue. Besides which the fluidic motions of the character animation encouraged me to try to go real time just to watch the Jedi and Sith light saber duels. There are three classes of characters in the game for you to choose: Soldier (run and gun), scoundrel (thief for the most part), and scout (explorers). Each one emphasizes a certain attribute or attributes. Soldiers, for example, emphasize strength and vitality while scouts emphasize intelligence and dexterity for ranged attacks and even may cloak themselves or easily use computer hacking tools or reprogram droids.
An added twist to the regular classes inherent in an RPG is the Light and Dark Side aspect. Do you want to be a prim and proper Jedi following the light and hoping to stop the Sith onslaught or do you give into your more base emotions and embrace the Dark Side of the force in an attempt to overthrow your Masters and become a Sith Lord, or do you go somewhere down the middle and be agnostic toward the Dark or the Light? Whichever path you choose you'll have plenty of ways to solve the adventures. While the Dark Side path is more direct (kill most and instill fear in the rest) the Light Side path involves less killing and more subterfuge. For example, on the desert planet of Tatooine you are given the mission of investigating all the Sand People. If you take the Dark Side path your goal is rather simple: kill them all. On the Light Side, however, you can steal some Sand People uniforms and go to speak to the leader and reach an amicable solution. Or you could go right down the middle: steal the uniforms, get into the base, then kill the leader after the fact if you so desire. Depending on your actions, you earn Light or Dark Side points but sometimes there are no absolutes. For example, you can often get away with an outright lie or bribe but not be penalized (or rewarded) with Dark Side points. It appears that only certain actions will trigger Light or Dark points and so you aren't judged for every little thing you do.
The RPG element is evident but not overwhelming. Yes you can customize some weapons and even the light sabers you wield but it's easy to manage and the descriptions are brief enough that it's easy to grasp what changes have been made. For example, if you customize a light saber with an extra crystal it does not rename the saber but simply states in the description "+1 Attack modifier" which of course is a good thing and easy to understand. There is also the usual cache of equipment and trinkets to put on your characters in the party. Arm braces, gauntlets, neural implants, and belts which can completely pimp out your group with all of the galaxy's finest equipment.
In fact, it could be argued there's too much equipment. Each character is able to wear nine pieces of equipment which makes remembering who is wearing what becomes too much to remember. Instead, what I ended up doing would be to put each member in my exploring party then strip them of all their equipment. With that done I could then give whoever I wanted to bring along the best equipment. While passable, it would be better if the game would have automatically handled this or at least left all the equipment in the inventory queue of my group. As it is now, if you leave a party member behind, their equipment does not show up in the inventory. Another nice addition would be a quick load out option. Why not let me have two or three configurations for each party member just a button push away: One for range attack, one for close range attack, and another for skill usage. As it is now, you have to pause the game, switch out the equipment, and then proceed which really can become tedious since the enemy tends to often get up close and personal.
Finally, there are the party members in your group. You can have up to nine characters in your party but may only take two along with you on adventuring. I believe Baldur's Gate and other such games allow quite a few more than that but I don't really mind since it's less to keep track of for me right now. You have an eclectic mix of characters covering all the different classes and then some. There's a scout and scoundrel team, several soldiers, several other Jedi (who themselves have their own sub-classes for Jedi points) and even droids; one a standard utility droid and then another assault droid who apparently possesses a massive mean streak. For example, back to the Sand People dialogue. After taking this droid with me the dialogue screens with the Sand People really start adding up and read like a short story. Finally the droid chimed in: "This is getting us nowhere master, should I kill them now?" What you do after that is completely up to you of course.
A nice feature of the character interaction is that in many parts of the game you might realize you need someone else. Do you have to walk all the way back to your starting point? Except in certain areas, you do not. Rather you can either immediately go back to your starting point (but then have to walk back again) or you can simply switch out characters from the group. Say, for instance, a big fight is about to happen but all you have is your scout and a Jedi. With a few quick clicks you can switch out the Scout and instead have your heavily armed soldier geared up and ready to fight. Again, this immensely reduces the tedium that so often hinders RPGs.
On a personal side note I want everyone to do this. At a point in the game you get a light saber. Be sure to turn your woofer way up when this happens. It made my head spin seeing my character wield that weapon. Not because of any phallic interpreation that I'm sure would make an Freudian have a field day but because of the way the sound and motions are so well captured and will greatly remind any fan of the Star Wars universe just one of the reasons why they probably enjoy it so much.
Make this one a top on your wishlist this season. Then kiss the rest of you Chirstmas holiday good-bye.