D&D in a galaxy far far away
Pros:
Good story and graphics. Its Star Wars
Cons:
Not long enough. A couple of unanswered questions
The Bottom Line:
Buy it because of the plot, the graphics, you get to brandish light sabers, its D&D in a galaxy far far away
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Knights Of The Old Republic 2 (KOTOR2) is the sequel to the award winning KOTOR. The first game garnered so many awards, expectations for the 2nd game were naturally high.
Does the game deliver? Yes and No.
For people who loved the first game KOTOR2 is great. It continues the tradition of an RPG in the Star Wars universe. It may not be as large, or give you the feeling of complete open-play like Baldur's Gate or NeverWinter Nights did, but this is because of the tight plot. I found Baldurs Gate too large, and after months and months of playing never actually finished it. KOTOR2 can be completed in approximately 40 hours. The developers did a great job of balancing open-ended play and a tight plot. The side quests never deviate too far from the main quest.
Because the first game was such a success the developers didn't bother upgrading the graphics engine or anything else. Thier philosophy was, if it aint broke don't fix it.
A few people have complained about the dated graphics, but i thought they were stunning. I think the people who complained all run high-end, state-of-the-art systems, which most people don't have.
This game tries to emulate the epic feel of the first game, but for some reason doesn't quite get there. It is huge, the plot is grand, but maybe it just didn't have the originality of the first one.
Also, the last part of game feels a little rushed, and the plot falls apart. Its almost as if the story got too convoluted, that they ended it as quickly as they could, without tying up all the loose ends, which probably resulted in most people complaining that it wasn't finished.
Although this bugged me, it wasn't the end of the world. Simply because I had such fun playing the first game, I just wanted it to continue, and thats where KOTOR2 shines. It was made for the people who loved the first game.
Actually I was having so much fun playing, that I wasn't really concentrating on the plot.
As for the actual gameplay, I found it to be better than Neverwinter Nights. I liked the interaction between the main character and other characters the player can control. The voice acting is superb and beleivable. The inventory system could have been better. You end up picking up so many weapons, armor and other items its almost impossible to go through them all to see which ones are better than others.
Will non-Star Wars fans enjoy this game? Yes, I think so, provided they play KOTOR first. Its is a classic RPG, but instead of dungeons and dragons, its more a case of planets and aliens. The D&D rules are the same, the concepts of character upgrades, experience points are all the same. And if you ever wanted to be a Jedi or Sith, or love the humm of light sabers then this game is definitely for you.
Its not a mindless frag fesitval, and its not a slow point and click adventure. It lies somehwere between the two. I also think most games are targeted to a male audience. These games will find fans with both sexes.
