PC Review Reviews Gaming Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

It's been quite a while since we've seen a truly good role-playing game. The closest we got to a decent single-player RPG in 2004 was with the likes of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It presented itself as a merely 'OK' RPG while it implemented great gameplay techniques but suffered from numerous bugs and a bad use of the first-person perspective. Fortunately, developer Obsidian has refreshed this RPG drought with their latest offering as the sequel to one of the best RPGs to be released in years.

As the sequel to 2003's hit RPG, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic , Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords takes place five years after the events of the original game and thousands of years before any of the feature films. As the title implies, this sequel once again sees the Jedi battling against the Sith in an attempt to save all mankind. It would seem that the events of the original game have wiped out all but a handful of Jedi. The Sith and their dark lord have been traveling known space searching for the last of the Jedi. Most of the Jedi were killed in the Civil War between the Republic and the Mandalorians. Without the wise counsel of the Jedi Order, Revan rose up arms against the attackers of the Mandalorians, and you followed him to war. When you returned from battle, the Jedi Counsel exiled you from the Order and you took your own path.

Now, five years after the events of the Civil War, you find yourself on a very familiar ship (the Ebon Hawk) drifting through space after an attack. This is where you first begin to play the game, and are once again introduced to the game through a tutorial level allowing you to play as a droid given the task to slightly repair the ship while everyone else has been knocked unconscious. After the tutorial level you soon land on a mining post, which soon becomes abandoned due to some strange happenings.

Just as in the original game, you find yourself waking in an unknown environment with your memory of the past years, and the war, lost. You soon meet up with Kreia who was a fallen dark Jedi and is now neutral between both the light and dark sides. She is the first companion you take along on your travels and proves to be a noteworthy person to always have in your group. After meeting up with her, it's now up to you to decide the fate of the universe as you choose your standing with either the light or the dark side throughout the course of the game.

Kreia is just one of many allies to join your group throughout the game. You'll soon come across many different races that soon join your party, all of which have their own special abilities and talents. You'll even see some reappearances from such characters as Carth Onasi and Bastila Shan. While these characters don't join your group at anytime, they do make short appearances and are quickly noticeable. Your party houses up to ten characters, but you can only have up to two following your main character whilst on a planet. Kreia is perhaps one of the most intriguing characters in the game. Since she is neutral to both sides of the force, you'll find here questioning your decisions and she may change your mind at times.