PC Owners had a right to be peeved. For the past 10 years, they were always first to get the Star Wars games – from the original Atari arcade game on the C-64 to Jedi Knight 2, the games either launched on the PC first or were launched on consoles simultaneously with the PC.
When Knights of The Old Republic debuted on the Xbox in the summer, PC owners were chomping on the bit to get their hands on this Bioware designed game. Was it worth the 3+ month wait for it to appear on the PC? Of course it was. Should you buy this one if you already have the Xbox version? Well, if you like higher resolutions, better graphics and a few more items and one extra location thrown in for good measure yes. Otherwise, it's basically the same game with a better interface (RPGs belong on the PC, in my opinion).
First off, let's all send a memo to LucasArts – the box has probably the most high end system requirements I've ever seen. While a P3 1Ghz is required, the recommended speed is a 1.6 Ghz or faster processor with 512MB of RAM! Another jaw-dropping requirement is the 4.0 GB (that's GB) of disk space required on install. The game ships on 4 CDs…so enjoy disc swapping. Don't most Pentium 3 or better PCs have DVD drives? Let's start using them!
Now that the rant is out of the way, let's get to the story for those who are Xbox Challenged: This is a Star Wars game based thousands of years before the 'real' Star Wars universe we've all come to know and love. A Sith armada has been unleashed by Darth Malak! The Jedi Order is in total disarray as many more people sign up with the Sith. Now, here you come….which path will you choose?
Of course, your actions in the game determine your path. Before we get to that, though, let's talk about character creation. In traditional RPG format you'll start by selecting a character. You'll have 3 classes to choose from and you can also pick your gender. As time goes by and you gain experience (by killing or otherwise) you'll open up new classes including the all important Jedi classes.
If you have played other BioWare games (NeverWinter Nights, for example) you'll probably figure out that although the game is nicely dressed up, there's still dice rolling at the heart of the game, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Let's face it – RPG's seem to have a stigmatism to them that they will bore people to death. Knights of the Old Republic really adds some things to an old genre – the way the action sequences play out don't make it seem like you have an attack sword +3 and a 20% to hit bonus, but it's all still there.
Graphically, the game shines well above its Xbox counterpart. I could go on and quote chapter and verse of different Star Wars locales, but let's just say it looks much better at the higher resolutions the PC provides.
The game audio is also excellent – Creative's EAX sound really works wonders, from the swoosh of the lightsabers to the voice acting; it really sounds like you're in the game. The voice acting is also very well done – and just in case you can't understand what's going on, there are plenty of subtitles to click through during the game.
KOTOR is part 'choose your own adventure,' part action, part role play and mostly Star Wars all rolled into one. While I usually complain about a game taking only 10 or so hours to finish, I will readily admit that I haven't done everything you can possibly do in this game – KOTOR falls in the other extreme – it easily has over 100 hours of gameplay that I can see, and probably more than that. Most RPG games can be overwhelming to a beginner but KOTOR is one of those games that really invites you to keep going and play through the game. You're never in this game thinking "darn, I'm only a level 1 and I'll never finish it!" – instead you're thinking, "I can't wait to see what's next!"
What's very unique about this game as opposed to many other RPG is that in this game, even if you solve the quests, will NEVER play the same way a second time. Yeah, you can argue that other RPG games allow for different classes and what not, but in KOTOR the way you play the game and handle every NPC plays a direct role in the person you become on the light or dark side.
KOTOR is a beautiful game that should appeal to all kinds of players –even those that cringe at the letters R-P-G. There's plenty of action in the game and all the side games such as the card games add to the fun and give you a breather from talking to the other characters in game. I can't speak enough about KOTOR. If you have a PC and have even the slightest interest in the Star Wars universe, you need to pick this one up.
-Dan
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