Knights of the Old Republic II:
The Sith Lords

The Sith Lords have sent the Jedi Council into hiding, and it's up to one young Jedi to set things right

	Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
	LucasArts
	Xbox
	MSRP: $49.99

Review by Mark H. Walker

ive years after the conclusion of the original Knights of the Old Republic, the story once again begins. The Sith Lords have ravaged the ranks of the remaining Jedi, destroying their academies, murdering their order and sending the Jedi Council into hiding. One young, promising Jedi remains to stand up to the evil enveloping the galaxy. That Jedi is you, and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is your story.

As the name implies, The Sith Lords is the follow-up to LucasArts' critically acclaimed and wildly successful Knights of the Old Republic. For those who have been living on a desert island, KOTOR and The Sith Lords are beautifully designed role-playing games set in the Star Wars universe. In Sith Lords, you'll quest through a 40- to 50-hour story with numerous comrades, although only three can accompany your character at once. The questing constantly forces you to chose between good and evil, light and dark. As you do, you—and your party—will move closer to the light or dark side. In short, your actions have consequences.

Combat is semi-turn-based. Yeah, the fights appear to be real-time, your Jedi thrusting and slashing with his or her sword, the other party members firing away with their blasters (or whatever). Yet hits and damage are calculated using a variation of the vaunted d20 system, and you can pause the action at any time to target a new enemy, heal someone, invoke Force powers or anything that you feel needs to be done to win the battle. There is no multiplayer.

As good as the Force gets

Sith Lords has all the class, intrigue, tension and fun of the original. Although developed by a new team (Obsidian), the games plays as well as the first. Once again the series has created characters, such as your Jedi's mentor, Kreia, that we truly care about, and thrust them into a story that glues us to our seats, eager for the next chapter, plot twist or event.

But of course the game isn't all about story. The action is nonstop, and the combat system is one of the best compromises between real-time and turn-based that I have ever seen. It has the speed and visual appeal of real-time combat—it's just so cool to watch laser bolts fly down a ship's narrow passage while lightsabers hum and slash. Yet the game offers the tactics of a turn-based duel. For example, you can enter a room of enemies, pause the action, order a party member to toss a stun grenade into their midst, and then direct your Jedi to slice and dice them while they are stunned. But the strategy doesn't stop there. Leveling up your characters presents its own set of challenges. Should you specialize in melee weapons, which inflict more damage, or ranged weapons, such as blasters, which allow you to deal your pain from afar? They are tough choices, but choices you must make, not only with your Jedi, but also with your other party members. Later in the game, quests require that you split your party, and if all the characters aren't sound, you'll never complete the quests.

And, believe me, this is one game that you'll want to complete. Sith Lords gives gamers more of what made the original title everybody's Game of the Year in 2003: great story, super combat and interesting role-playing. If you visit the Star Wars universe but once this year, visit it here.

Gee, did I bubble enough? Sorry, it's just that dang good. If you like role-playing, you'll love this game. —Mark

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