Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - Sith Lords (PC)

Initial gameplay expectations were somewhat blunted. Whilst the plot expanded itself in the typical RPG-fashion (stepped encounters, whilst gameplay is explained and the player familiarizes themselves with aspects of fighting and other interactions), I felt it was somewhat lacking in depth compared to the first chapter.

There was littler intra-planet interactions, with each planet seemingly encompassing its own discrete Universe, unlike the first, where several quests could only be completed across two or three planets.

This had the added bonus of making for more challenging gameplay, as well as enabling the storytellers to incorporate changes in your environment, ostensibly based on your gameplay, but skillfully carried out, nonetheless.

The graphics were somewhat more simplistic than the first - if you recall the breathtaking views on the mysterious "Unnamed" world - and seemed altogether less smooth, especially during combat, and when turning corners, or running. Game sprites "skipped" round corners, or sometimes, ended up in a totally different area in a corridor, when simply running straight down the centre of it!

Combat itsef was mostly unchanged. Although mysterious new "lightsaber forms" are added, I have completed the game and still fail to see their true usefulness when weighed against a good belt of "force lightening". Considering you do not get them until later, you cannot really even see any benefits from them when your characters are weaker, and such techniques might count for more.

More mature players will enjoy the possibilities opened by such additions as the Workbench and Labstation - facilities enabling a player to manufacture and upgrade armour, and recycle unwanted items, or duplicates, with each individual character outperforming others at certain abilities, thus opening new or advanced items for creation. Ultimately, though, such features are not truly required to complete the game.

Then, the finale. After thoroughly playing the build-up to these events, I was anticipating an earth-shattering finale with amazing spangly graphics as a reward for taking on half the Sith, single-handedly (a minor disappointed, too, having spent the whole game building up my comrades). Your allies play virtually no part in this endgame, and you only know of the events thereafter from questioning your nemesis prior to their ultimate defeat.

No spangly graphics. No amazingness in pixels. No closing shots or conversations afterwards, with allies. Just a few short sentences describing the immediate (in most cases) hereafter before your nemesis croaks it.

There were even inaccessible places on the map where it was obvious the developers had sliced great chunks out of the plot, as well as the disjointing occuring with the final activation of the shadow drive mission, with the Droid. SO disappointing.

After having taken so long to build up the storyline, I felt short-changed at such a meagre ending and would have spent my time differently, throughout the game, had I known. Additionally, the introduction in the game of various characters from the first installment, hinted at far better end-scenes to conclude the multi-layered plot. There was, however, no end scene to speak of, other than a three second (yes, seriously) cut scene, followed by the credits.

The first KOTOR displayed that the development team could produce gold. The second KOTOR displayed what happens when idiots take over the time-line, instead of listening to the people who understand gameplay. I would have happily waited another year, if I had to, to play a second installment with a sculpted, polished ending, as opposed to one so obviously spun out in the last minute, that payed little heed to the efforts of the game player and ultimately provided little in the way of a sense of accomplishment (remember defeating the final boss in KOTOR?? That guy just wouldn't die...), let alone answers to dangling issues left by other characters.

Lastly, I had hoped that this installment would draw upon the saved game of the old installment - at least basic elements, such as Revan's gender for instance. Instead one must manually set such aspects and the game does not incorporate this easily (Revan is referred to as both genders in one sentance, at a certain point in the game!). I feel sure that such a thing would be emminently possible, with a fall-back plotline provided where no existing saved games were found. I would even tollerate physically pointing the game at whichever old installment save that I wished to use, if it would have meant a more complete game play experience.

Final words on this, then: Great gameplay, good plot efforts (at least at first), lousy finale (- the downfall of so many promising RPGs).

The graphics engine appears to be very similar to the previous KOTOR game, which is adequate for the game, but certainly not jaw dropping in any way.

The same excellent gameplay is there, with a few new tweaks (more workbench options, a combat stance mode, a few extra force powers, etc...) all of which add to the game, and are introduced slowly so as not to swamp the user with too many new things.

The plot is long and just as full of as many twists and turns as the first one - which is great. It will help to have played the first game, as there are many references back to it.

My only gripe and the reason for not giving it 5 stars is that is just doesn't feel finished. It has crashed to desktop once, the cut scenes sometimes finish before they are completed, and conversation takes place sometimes with the person facing the wrong way, or hands typing on a computer that is not there. Some of the voice acting has a bit of a "first take" about it, where a second or third may have been needed to get it 100% right.

So great game - wait for the patch! (or play the original if you have not already done so)

And so, with all the inevitability of both death and taxes, a sequel has been released. From a gameplay-perspective, it is a massive improvement. Everything is even more customisable than before, and in this way, KOTOR II succeeds its predecessor admirably. You also now begin the game as a Force-sensitive character (with the ability to use the Force), rather than working up to it last time.

Unfortunately, many people were most interested in the intriguing story of KOTOR, and in this department, the game falls flat on its face with all the grace of an epileptic yeti. The story is abysmally structured, and upon completion, it is woefully obvious that Lucasarts forced this product out in time for the Christmas sales in America, without one iota of regard for the quality of the game. Assuming that the Star Wars license is an excuse to print money (which it is), they have conned the fans out of what could have been a truly fantastic game.

There are a horrendous number of glitches. In a three hour sitting, you'll probably crash at least once in each of those three hours. If you're lucky. The swoop racing minigame doesn't actually work at all. The sound quality is appaling, which makes absolutely no sense, given that Lucasarts is affiliated with a man who single-handedly brought the world of digital cinema forward about ten years. The story exposition is dull. You begin on a deserted mining colony, and fight nothing but droids for about 2 hours. This was orginally intended to be tense and creepy, since bodies litter the floor, but with the mono sound and the crashes any time something exciting happens, the effort fails.

The end of the game, without revealing anything, is even worse. To call it an 'end' is actually pretty generous of me. Bits of it just don't make sense. The reason for this is not that the game wasn't poor from the beginning. The guilt lies entirely with Lucasarts, and this buggy mess should not reflect badly on Obsidian, because it isn't their fault (although it will). Intrepid gamers, dissatisfied with the dismal game, have searched the code on the discs and found files that weren't used. Putting these together, the story makes sense. It's actually really good, and makes sense, unlike the convoluted mess that was published. The reason that these lines weren't used is that Lucasarts imposed unreasonable deadlines on the Obsidian team, and forced them to cut aspects of the game so as to publish it earlier. These weren't even cut very well. Characters tell you of things that will happen, but then never do because they got removed. An entire planet got cut for fear of missing sales.

Lucasarts also deserves to be brutally criticised for their abyssmal post-production support. The first patch was promised 'soon'. It took 2 months. The second patch was promised 'in a few days'. That was two months and a bit ago, and we're still waiting. Not only do they mess the fans around, but they have also abandoned all boards and forums, and given no explanations or updates as to what is going on.

In conclusion, this is a dismal disappointment. Star Wars fans will buy it, and RPG-lovers will buy it, but anyone who was expecting a worthy successor to the KOTOR legacy should avoid this like bubonic plague.