Beads of sweat run down his battle-hardened face, the cool rivulets sending an involuntary shudder down his back. "This was a difficult one," he says to no one in particular. He never knew that they would have to face three of them.
In a few days it might seem a miracle that only two companions were lost in the battle. But for now, he grieves their passing. They were good friends. Surveying the corpses one last time, he powers down the lightsabre and clips it back inside his tattered tan robe. Now is the time to heal and refocus on the power of the Force. There is no telling when the Sith Lords will be back...
In a galaxy far, far away
It has been a year since Lucas Arts released one of the top role-playing games of recent times, Knights of the Old Republic (Kotor). Now, in Kotor 2: The Sith Lords, the company is out to prove that gamers cannot have too much of a good thing.
Five years have gone by since the events of the original. The Sith Lords have hunted the Jedi Order to the edge of extinction with only a lone Jedi Knight remaining - you. As you struggle to reconnect with the Force, your decisions will lead you to the light or dark side and will affect everyone around you.
The original title was responsible for resurrecting the dying (if it was not already dead) Star Wars gaming franchise. It seems Lucas Arts finally realised it had a cash cow on its hands and needed a quality title to get the wheels turning again.
Bar a few exceptions, until the release of Kotor, Star Wars titles were used as prime examples of what not to do with a lucrative movie franchise. That is in the past, as titles like Kotor, Star Wars: Battlefront and now Kotor 2 show that Lucas Arts is doing its bit to ensure the unhappy past is quickly forgotten.
Only a lightsabre away
In many ways, Kotor 2 is similar to its predecessor. Not that this is a bad thing. It recaptures the epic feel of the original and succeeds in combining a free-form game with a story that ties the many quests together in a way that would make Morrowind fans proud.
As in the original, the decisions players make will affect whether they turn to the light or dark side and give them powers accordingly. Also, you can control a party of up to 10 characters that make for a fast-paced experience when it comes time to fight someone.
The combat is still the same real-time/turn-based affair with players able to issue orders to their characters and then watch a combat round unfold. In keeping with the spirit of the Star Wars movies, combat is also an up-close affair with melee attacks proving more powerful than long-range ones.
Sadly, Kotor 2 has not been able to keep up in the graphics department. While it is not a bad-looking game in any way, shape or form, titles like Far Cry, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 have spoilt gamers who are now looking for top-of-the-range graphics as par for the course.
I must point out that good graphics do not a quality game make. Playing Kotor 2 awakens a more cinematic experience than what you would get from more graphically superior games. Granted, it is comparing apples with pears, but Kotor 2 is a role-playing game (RPG) that transcends genre-specific boundaries.
One with the Force, he is
If you have not played the original yet, then now is the time to do so. Distributor EA Africa has made the title available at a bargain-bin price.
Play it, love it and adore it. And when you are finished, you are left with the salivating prospect of doing it again on a much bigger scale in Kotor 2.
This is definitely the hottest RPG franchise at the moment. Get it now before someone spoils the story for you.
Share