Star Wars Knight of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

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1. Brendan February 22, 2008

   I think it’s important to stress that there’s a lot more “gray zone” moments in this game. Even if your character attempts to follow the straight and narrow, your allies will not. Certain characters preach the merit of not helping others, because it causes them to be weak. There’s cold blooded murder committed by those that profess to be good, and an overall feeling of bleakness that isn’t the normal lighthearted “good is good and evil is evil” feeling that we’re used to from Star Wars games. Parents that are usually OK with the Star Wars settings for their younger kids should be a little bit wary of this one.
2. Noah Enriquez March 7, 2008

   This game is an example of art. It is flawless. The graphics a incredible. There is blood however, when you travel to planet of Korriban a sith world, you discover your jedi master murdered, she is laying in a pool of blood.
3. Zack March 16, 2008

   This game was amazing. By far one of my favorite. I also loved the first KOTOR game, perhaps more than its sequel because of the exact reason the reviewer stated. The storyline in KOTOR 2 is a bit weak, but not horrible. The character development however is supurb. Great game, great review.
4. Joe March 23, 2008

   There is one thing that everyone else here missed. There is a part where you (if you chose to be a woman) or one of your female team members can dress up in the pirncess leah slave costume and dance for a hutt. Also, once you do this, you can wear it whenever you want. However, it is next to impossible to find this part, I’m the only person that I know that has found it and that is only because I played through it about ten times (and no I am not exagerating.) Also, the main character can make sexual remarks and ave a sexual conversation with the old lady about one of the other characters. This is one of the greatest games ever made, I highly recommend it.
5. Zack March 26, 2008

   Hmm…I must have missed the sexual diolague. I never found the Leah outfit either. Thanks for bringin that up.
6. Balrog April 5, 2008

   As with everything in the Star Wars universe, good and evil are a bit twisted. Good can become evil, evil can become good. Of course in the Christian worldview (which is my own) evil can definitely become good through redemtion, but in no way can a good guy suddenly lose his salvation and fall to the ‘dark side’. Nor is there such thing as ‘gray’. Someone’s either evil or saved. There is no in-between.
   This game however has all 3 of those: light, dark, and gray, and you can shift between them depending on the choies you make. Yes, your good guy can fall to evil and stay evil forever, if you so wish.
   Aside from this, it is a great game with top-notch graphics, some of the best on the Xbox. Story was much better in KOTOR 1 though. KOTOR 2 intruduces new and interesting characters, though, Bao-Dur to name one.
7. Tappster June 24, 2008

   Apparently you missed the part of the game where you can combat train with the Echani warrior named “the last handmaiden”. During this part, she strips down to her underwear, you yours, and she teaches you Echani unarmed combat. This part was completely unnecessary and should be enough for any true Christian to refuse to play this game. This level of sexual content is completely distasteful and remarkably sinful. It’s not suprising that so many people may have missed this part since the game is truly so immense, yet it was enough for me to completely throw the game away.

   I’m deeply disappointed that you would give this game a 4 out of 5 as a “christian rating”. Yes, it may simulate many of the options you could pursue in real life, yet that doesn’t make it acceptable to lose yourself in acts of gambling, betrayal, killing, lying, lewd jokes, manipulation, and sexual content. As if that wasn’t enough to turn a true Christian away from this sinful work, then the fact that you’ll spend at least 70 hours playing through game should-that’s 70+ hours of your life that should be used to glorify God and serve our brothers and sisters in need.
8. Balrog June 26, 2008

   Tappster, I didn’t find that sexually oriented when I encountered that in the game. Though it was unnecessary, I agree, for the designers to make her go that far down, but the Echanis in the game were an ancient and artistic race and their battle style had to be fluid and graceful. Not to say that the underwear was necessary, but the unarmed combat HAD to be trained to be fluid movements, unburdened by armor.

   And, this game has many redemptive qualities, as with the first one. You can chose your own path, light side or dark side. Of course, the game will contain some pretty dark subjects because of the choices you can make to do evil. But you can chose to do good throughout it.

   Now, yes, I agree, I wish I could silence Atton Rand. He’s probably the dirtiest character. But look at Bao-Dur. He’s kind, generous, hard working, forgiving and helpful- positive qualities that any Christian should admire.

   I think you are overlooking the good things about this game and focusing on the parts of the game that are there because evil DOES exist, and the game has a nice line drawn between the two. There will be evil characters, even you can be an evil character, and they can’t make evil seem any different then it really is.

   Of course, you are right, there are some small implied sexualities, some poorly dressed women, and there is gambling, killing, lying, and other negative things, but that is because evil IS negative, and I’m glad the game portrayed it to be negative. The game rewards goodness.

   Overall, yes, they probably could have toned down on the sexuality. But there are many good things about this game. So yes, you are right, but I try to focus on the good things about a game when I play it.
9. zachary methven[a christion sp?] July 12, 2008

   i don’t think the game is so bad that it should be thrown away. and i am a christion. so just cuz you can fight the hand woman nerly naked dose not mean you have to. and i just told her to put on some clothes…and she did.
   anywho i think its a great game and injoyed reading this thingy you put together about the game.
   thank you.
   zack
10. Solid Fenix 117 September 8, 2008

    This one is not as good as the 1st one the story is bad the gameplay and graphics are the same and the characters from the first one are better but this on gets a 3 out of 5 from me.
11. Dustin December 5, 2008

    I think that this game truly shows the essence of good and evil. It is true that there are choices available in the game that are purely evil, but the point of the game is to make good decisions. Almost any objectionable content can be avoided completely. Saying that this game is bad because bad choices can be made is like saying people are bad because they can do evil. Good isn’t really good if there is no alternative.

    Aside from the content, this game makes you think about what you are going to say and do before you do it. Although a few times I was forced to make decisions that I was uncomfortable with, there is no point at which the player is forced to make a bad decision.
12. Colonel Link December 5, 2008

    I just finished my second playthrough as a Male, Light Side, Jedi Consular. The game is MUCH different this way. I did find the Echani fighting thing this time, but as Zachary said, you can tell her to put on clothes and she does. Also, playing as a light side character is so much more satisfying than dark this time around. And I understood the story a whole lot better this time, and I must say it is really quite good.
    Oh, and it seems I was wrong in my original review: your character does know who he/she is. The player just doesn’t know everything until the end. Also, I forgot to mention that in the violence category, one of the enemies looks like his body has been cut up and pieced back together, and he’s quite gruesome.
13. GodsPoet December 30, 2008

    Okay, I’ve heard enough about the Echani girl. You can ask her to put clothes on. No reason to throw the game away. For me, the line between good and evil was very straightforward. About the dark side, you choose your path. The only part really about sexuality might be about you and the blind girl if your male.
14. Samwise Gamgee January 12, 2009

    I would just like to mention that Kreia, the old woman, has a very twisted philosophy. She acts as the mentor figure for your character and constantly rebukes you when you perform good deeds. She says that acts of goodness weaken their objects, making them dependent. She said that for every good deed she did, she “brought greater harm on the galaxy.” Kreia also stresses that “good” is a very relative term.

    It seems that this character is heavily influenced by postmodernism. I don’t really think that this is such a great thing when she is represented as the wisest character in the game. When I played this game, I always excluded her from my party so that I wouldn’t have to hear her comments. Anyways, just something I thought everyone should know.
15. Colonel Link January 15, 2009

    I never liked Kreia much anyway. But I also just found a few sexual comments while playing through again. If you talk to Kreia after a certain time and after doing certain things, she will tell you to refrain from “mating” with any of the crew members.
16. Colonel Link February 1, 2009

    @SeriousGamer:
    Next time, let everyone know if you’re going to write a spoiler. Figuring out if she is good or bad is one of the main plot points of the game.
17. LoserWhoNeedsALife March 28, 2009

    SamwiseGamgee . Kreia was the villian and an evil character. And on many occasions your able to disagree with her and critcize her philosohy. You start to disagree with her more and she becames less of a mentor to you(if your light side which I’m sure most of you are) Though, if your dark side you will look up to her.
18. Willow700 April 21, 2009

    I didn’t care for this one as much as I did the first KOTOR game. This one was not quite finished as they rushed it out to sell, sell, sell. I did enjoy some of the new force powers and the new influence system (if it would have worked decently).

    Speaking of fluid combat…you don’t have to be nearly naked for it to work. There are types of clothing that accomodate and suitable for that type of thing.

    To this day, I have never been able to bring myself to play darkside in either of the KOTOR games.
19. Bioware Fan boy May 16, 2009

    Better than the original, this game provides fantastic, accesible RPG-ing with some compelling moments.

    The Good
    With a slightly different flavour from the original, Knights of the Old Republic II : The Sith Lords (k2 from now on) keeps just enough continuity with the original to be accessible, enjoyable, and at time extremely compelling. Because it is a sequel, it lacks the features that made KOTOR I a unique and superior to many RPG’s on the market, but while it doesn’t pave any new road, k2 provides an excellent gaming experience, even superior to its predecessor in many ways. This review will be written primarily for those who have not played the first KOTOR game.

    As in all RPG’s, the fundamental questions of quality relate to storyline and character quality. Are the quests good? Are the characters memorable? Can I make meaningful alignment-related (e.g. good/evil) choices? Can I customise my character sufficiently to provide a ‘role-playing’ experience? Is the plot interesting? I would argue that in terms of these RPG/plot/character questions, k2 excels.

    The plot starts out a bit confusingly, as you wake up on a station (in the age-old gaming plot device) without any recollection of how you got there. The confusing bit for the player, and a weakness of the story, is that somehow the CHARACTER seems to know a bit about his history, but you, the player know absolutely nothing. It’s quite odd to learn about your character by seeing him say ‘I used to be a Jedi.’ There are other hackneyed plot bits throughout, but it’s important to remember that this is an RPG, so the line between ‘hackneyed’ and ‘epic’ can become blurred.

    These weaknesses aside, the plot is quite good. You’ll travel with your band of characters throughout the galaxy to different planets. You’ll then be embroiled in numerous minor and major quests that drive the ultimate story line about your main character.

    The ‘boss’ bad guy is not revealed until quite late in the game, a la Neverwinter Nights. I’d argue that this is a strength to the game, as it makes the experience more compelling.

    The characters throughout the game are fantastic. NPC’s abound, as well as the standard ‘commoner’ characters. ALL of the human conversations are voice-acted, and quite well I’d add. The NPC’s you interact with are usually memorable and lifelike. There are few ‘caricature’ characters in this game. Your character is a sort of anti-hero, another commonality between this and KOTOR I, but there’s a distinct subtlety to his anti-heroism. He has just enough mystery to be intriguing, but not enough to be clearly crafted as the ‘mysterious’ character. I think playing it through with a female character would be even more interesting, as anti-heroes are so rarely female. There is apparently the option to pursue romantic ties between your character and others, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Too busy force-choking people.

    Additionally, ALL of the party members have distinct personalities, most of which are quite engaging. The meddling Kreia drives me up the wall, I chuckle at HK-47’s commentary, and also enjoy getting to know the somewhat-too-obviously-elusive Atton. It makes for satisfying gameplay to know that there are 8 or so people you can choose to have hang around your character. Like in the original, the party members you choose will interact with one another and you and you can learn more about their respective histories through fighting alongside them, much as you’d expect from real life, were you to be a space-faring adventurer…An additional element to this game that sets it apart from the original is that your main character will have ‘influence’ with each of the other characters. This influence is affected by whether or not you treat them well, agree with them, etc. The more influence you have, the more this character will ‘open’ up to yours in dialogue, and also the more their alignment will switch along with yours.

    The quests contain the garden variety fetch quests. But in addition to the bread-and-butter quests you’d see in any RPG, there are a number of interesting minor quests available. Sometimes they involved playing two NPC’s off one another, sometimes there’s a betrayal involved, etc. Overall, the minor quests are good, if not great. Incidentally, a fair number of them involve puzzles which vary in difficulty, which might please the adventure-gamer within some players.

    The major quests, which further the story line, are fantastic, and require their own paragraph. There is a great deal of party shuffling in this game (a la Final Fantasy 3 & &) but this is never a pain because all party members earn experience together (see gameplay comments below). Instead, it becomes really exciting to split the party up to see how other characters interact and get a chance to see how strong they’ve all become. I was riveted by all of the times in which your party gets split up. Usually, the cuts between groups are quite frequent and are tied to actual plot cliff-hangers with reasonable levels of importance (e.g. one of your characters appears to be dead). These are actually some of the best moments I’ve had in PC RPG gaming.

    All in all, the RPG elements of k2 are fantastic, above and beyond the quality present in the first.

    The gameplay is also excellent in its own right, even if it builds on its predecessor. It’s all a complex series of stats and dice rolls, a la D&D 3rd Edition. However, rather than simply having one motion for ‘attack,’ each melee move or blaster shot technique has a number of animations. The effect is that it appears to be real-time fighting even though it’s actually a series of rolls. Clever. One will eventually see all there is to see in the combat system, but this is to be expected and is hardly much of a weakness.

    There are feats, skills, attributes, and force powers to contend with for each character. Obviously, non-force users don’t get force powers. The number of feats has been increased since KOTOR I, which I feel is a positive thing. KOTOR I felt like dumbed-down D&D 3rd Ed (no comment) and k2 has done much to increase the complexity of choices available to players. Still, much remains the same. There are two basic paths to combat: ranged and melee, and within each are three feats to use for attacking. There are also 8 or so skills (computer, repair, etc) which are identical to KOTOR I. Suffice it to say that there is a reasonable amount of customisation available, but not as much as in a proper RPG. But this is also expectable. Think of k2 as Neverwinter Nights with training wheels.

    Actual in-game control is fluid and intuitive. There is a optional training scene at the beginning of the game to assist in orientation to the control of the game, but many won’t need it.

    The Bad
    The graphics and sound are beginning to look and sound their age. With the source engine, far cry, doom3, and all manner of other great graphical engines, k2 is dated. Full stop. The sounds are also mostly recycled from a) John Williams’ now 25-year-old score or b) the same as in KOTOR I. The dated quality of the graphics and the samey-ness of the sounds are clear weaknesses to the game. Still, because this is an RPG and not a FPS, I’d argue that they are minor weaknesses.

    The Bottom Line
    To summarise, KOTOR II is a fantastic game. It is simple compared to other RPG’s out there, but it is also accessible, engaging, and entertaining. It has an excellent plot, memorable characters, and a reasonable amount of room for character customisation. While its graphics and sound are a bit drab, these weaknesses are not significant when compared to the strengths, as this game contains some incredible gaming moments. And hey, who DOESN’T want to be a Jedi for a little while?

    Though I cant recemend this to christians as there is violence. As christians we should not play violent games. After all the bible teaches peace and pacifism.
20. Bob The Hun July 28, 2009

    The Bible does not teach pacifism, and if you can’t reccemend games with violence how come you bought a game with so much combat?
21. CJ July 29, 2009

    This game is one of the best I’ve ever played. There are sexual references, but no worse than middle school. I think that while there’s unnecessary crudeness, the point is to not let it affect you. I place the blame on the ESRB for not noting the partial (but mild) nudity in their rating. I’m not saying the rating should be changed (I’ve seen much worse in T-rated games) , but this game, as well as KotOR 1, is inappropriate for people under 13. The game is otherwise OK by me.
22. AE14 December 31, 2009

    i found it on my first play through just saying

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