Knights of the Old Republic is an excellent role playing game, although it is marred by some technical issues.
Your character is then forced to escape the ship, and you crash land on the planet below. This is where the game actually begins. You start to search with another Republic soldier (not the one you met on the ship) for a Jedi who also crash landed on the planet. Along the way, you make decisions that affect how your character looks, how other characters react to you, and which force powers you can use. For example, you can choose to save an old man from some mercenaries, and receive light side points which will allow you to use powers such as healing and stunning. You can choose to rob the old man, which you will give you dark side points, giving you grayish skin and allowing you to use force powers such as lightning and choking.
Throughout the game, you will meet characters who will aid you on your quest. These characters pasts can be revealed if you question them hard enough. Unfortunately, your decisions will not change their likeliness to confide in you. Once you rescue the Jedi, Bastila Shan, you will head to Dantooine where you will receive Force Powers and your lightsaber. From there, you will head across the galaxy to stop the main villain's plot.
Combat in the game is a lot of fun. Enemies are not too difficult, but not too easy. You select different types of attacks that you learn, and then you use it on enemies. You can choose to do this in either turn based or real time. The combat is based on dice rolls no matter which one you choose, so there are no advantages to picking one over the other. There is only one slight problem: Close range combat is much better then ranged combat. Close combat does much more damage, and the time it takes to reach the enemy is minimal. However, having party members using ranged combat to support you can be very useful.
The graphics in the game still hold up today. However, the framerate has some major problems (*cough* Dantooine *cough*). I ran the game on Windows XP with a 6800 gt, which is way past the recommended video card, and I was averaging 10-20 FPS in the Dantooine fields. I personally didn't mind it that much, but if you enjoy running games with 60+ FPS this can be a major issue.
The story in this game is top notch. You explore the Star Wars galaxy like never before, meeting interesting and unique characters. The plot will draw you in, and there is an excellent plot twist close to the end.
In conclusion, Knights of the Old Republic is an excellent game. However, it several small flaws which detract from the overall experience. For some, they can be a major problem, but for others, they can simply be a minor issue.