In this thorough review I'll tell you why anyone and everyone should experience KOTOR, easily one of the best games ever
User Rating: 9.6 | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic XBOX
I actually looked over this game a few times before I gave it a try. When reading through the instruction manual of the game the battle system looked boring and the game didn’t seem to have much personality. I bought the game only because it was met with such high appraisal amongst gamers everywhere. I am sure glad I decided to give into the hype and realized how wrong I was about this game soon as I started playing it. This game has got one of the best storylines in the history of gaming. You start out on a ship wearing nothing but your undergarments and without a clue as to who you are or how you got there. As the game goes on the many questions that are presented in the beginning will begin to answer themselves. This game also has the biggest shocker I have ever experienced. It is not the type of storyline where you play for a little bit and then sit back and watch, in this game you experience everything first hand. You will eventually become a jedi, and due to your exceptional talent you will be sought out and requested to do various tasks with several different ways to resolve them. The manner in which you handle these tasks can sway you to the light or dark side of the force over time. Your alignment will also be shifted by the way you treat your companions and other npcs. You could choose to remain neutral if you like, but just keep in mind that you will eventually have to be decisive about what side of the force you are on. Your decision will have a huge outcome on the way events play out in this game. I played through this game twice because I wanted to experience the light side and the dark side, and it was just as satisfying the second time through. It is fun to see how different events play out when you make different choices. The game play in this game is just as exceptional as the story. It is an rpg and there is an extreme amount of customization. In the beginning of the game you will have to pick a face for you character, name him/her, and decide what job class you want to be. You can also personally distribute all of your stats and skills if you like, and I strongly recommend that you do. The skills in this game are used for more than just combat. There is a skill for repairing stuff, computer knowledge, demolition, and etc…. So if there was a locked door that you needed to get through, there are several ways in which you could do that. You could hack a computer to open it, pick the lock, blow it open, or even just hit it with your light saber. You also have a choice a three character classes to start with. The scoundrel is skilled and clever, the soldier is powerful and skilled in combat, and the scout walks the middle ground between the two. Later you will have three choices of jedi classes for which you can be, with similar differences between them. That is when you acquire force powers and it really gets fun. There are three types of force powers: light, dark, and neutral. If you are on the light side of the force light force powers will cost less to cast and dark powers will cost more to cast. Neutral powers always take the same amount of force points to cast. This is the reason why it is important to choose a distinct side of the force. It will eventually enable you to become much more effective than if you remain neutral. It is also important not to overload your character with non-combat skills, because you need to be able to fight when it comes down to it. You will have characters with you that can have various non-combat skills beside yourself and you can switch between characters in your party anytime you like when walking around. The fact you can save anytime and anywhere is awesome. That way you can play no matter how much time you have at your disposal and get something done. If you get bored you can save and take a brake without having to find a save point. But with all these game play options it is very hard to get bored. The battle system is no exception to the innovation in KOTOR. As you progress through the game you will meet several characters that will fight alongside you. Two people can fight with you at a time. When you come upon an enemy you begin fighting without any transition to a separate battle screen. The battle system is real time with the exception that you have a button you can press to stop and give orders to any of you party members at any time. Being an rpg, you just tell a character to attack and they will start to attack an enemy, there is no “attack” button like your typical action game. Keeping track of all of your party members commands is quite a task, so the absence of an attack button/s is a good thing. You can battle in real time if you like though and just switch the character you’re controlling to give commands. When your not controlling a character you can set how they fight using the menu screen. They can be told to be aggressive, defensive, to use force powers a lot, etc…. This helps keep characters from getting them self killed quite effectively. All in all the battle system is nothing short of masterful. I’ll be a little shorter winded about the graphics. They are much better than what they are given credit for. The same graphics are used for cut scenes and game play in this game and it works great. The characters look good, the environment is beautiful, and spell graphics are done well. My biggest gripe with the graphics are they use the same npc characters a lot and later in the game when things get intense there is some lag. Other than that, they are very impressive. I love how as you fall to the dark side or commit the light side your appearance changes. People in the game will comment on your appearance when they see you shifting to the dark side or staying true to the light side, this subtle detail is very satisfying. Not much can be said about the sound other than it is classic star wars. It is beautifully orchestrated as usual and the voice acting is done well. Conversations in this game are conducted smoothly and sound natural. I never get bored of the humming of light sabers clashing in this game. Perfect in my opinion. There is couple things that I wish Bioware would have done differently though. With all the choices you are presented with throughout the game I wish there was more than just a good and bad ending. It would have added more replay value. And I it would have been nice if they gave you more reason to use all the skills that you have the option of using in the game. Most doors and treasure chests can just be hacked open using your light saber. These are very anal retentive details though that I thought would have made a nearly perfect game even better. Issues aside, Star Wars Knights of the old Republic is all it’s dished out to be. Its customization gives it more personality than any game I ever played and its story should not be missed by anyone. Even if you are not a fan of star wars or rpgs the variety of things to do and pacing will keep you entertained to the end. With the 35-40 hours it takes to play through each time this game is a bargain. 
