Star Wars, since the first movie was released, has become a worldwide phenomenon. It is a legendary franchise of movies and now of games too. What’s more intriguing about it is that every time something officially related to the movie comes up, whether it is a game or a pair of shoes, it is always so splendid that you have to say a big WOW! They never let down the name of the franchise and the existing testimony to that is the ‘Knights of the Old Republic’ game. Developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts, the game came out on July 15th, 2003 for Xbox. With the release of this game, another massively popular product has been added to the Star Wars Hall of Fame. Call it luck or excellence of execution; these people really know how to make it up to the mark.
Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Malak, has started war against the Republic. Malak has become so powerful and aggressive that Jedi is now no match to his powers. Most of Jedi’s knights are down and some of them have joined Malak. Of course, you are a part of Jedi’s league but there is no definite character. You can either choose to be a female or a male and you start the game on a ship that is already being attacked by Malak’s forces. Your character will gather information and the several pieces of the puzzle to figure out how to stop Malak. Also, your character will build an army of companions and go against the dark forces of Malak. Basically, your player in this game is substituting Jedi. He or she will learn the skills that Jedi possesses and gradually will turn into someone as powerful as him to beat Malak.
The combat system is this game is round-based and your time is divided into separate rounds. You encounter several enemies in each round. Their attacks will differ in each round and every round has a fixed time interval. However, you can figure out how to pause the round at a specific event, if you want to.
The most exciting part of the game is the alignment system which is capable of tracking the character’s actions and speech determining whether the player is on the dark side or the light side. If you play generously and help others on the way, your character will be on the light side. If you play aggressively and selfishly, your player will be on the dark side. You will notice that with your character’s eyes turning yellow and the skin will turn pale. So, that is quite a lot of fun as you have to be careful of what you are doing. Unlike other action games, this one is more realistic and whatever you do will have a direct impact on your character so beware and go slowly!
If you are not fighting then you are probably talking or interacting with other characters in the game. The interaction is based on a dialogue menu system. This means that you get to select the response you want to make to the person you are interacting with. But remember, the dialogue options you get will vary depending on your skill level and the gender of your character.
There is actually quite a lot in the game that is unique to the gaming world. The battle system is a blend of real-time and turn-based battles. During the combat you have options like Force powers, blaster shooting, lightsaber dueling and so on. There is a variety of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition rules of combat used in the game.
The most perfect game for those who like playing story based action games. If you want zombies and military actions then this might not be the right choice for you. But, if you are looking forward to a game that can offer excitement, thrill and most importantly a good gameplay then this one is for you!