The story in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is just as every bit as good as its graphics and gameplay mechanics, if not better. KOTOR takes place 4000 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode One. Shortly after the threat of the Mandalorian wars, the Republic is faced with a new menace, the Sith. The Sith used to be a separate species of its own, but after the renegade Jedi moved to their homeworld they became just a group of people that were following an idea, the idea of conquest and power. Now the Sith are led by the very heroes of the Republic that helped them win the Mandalorian wars. In particular an ex-Jedi, turned Sith lord by the name of Malak. Malak now leads the Sith armies against the Republic and against his once fellow Jedi companions. Not only did former Jedi rebel against their former ideas, but former commanders of the Republic forces also rebelled as well. Malak now hunts a young Jedi by the name of Bastila, an individual that is believed to hold the key to victory for the Republic; you (the hero) are assigned on her starship.

That of course is just a mere touch of the complex and compelling story that you help unfold in Knights of the Old Republic. One of the most amazing aspects of this game is how the world responds to your actions. It is very open ended, and the decisions that you make during the course of your adventures directly affect the outcome of the entire game. Not only do your actions determine the storyline, but they also affect the development of the main character and the non-player characters. What this means is that if you want to put your character on the path to the Dark Side, you can. Various actions reward or punish your character with DP or LP, which are short for Dark Side Points and Light Side points. These points help represent what side of the force you are on, and this will determine how much it costs your Jedi to use certain force powers. For example, a Jedi on his/her path to the Dark Side will expend more of their FP (Force Points) using the Cure force power, than someone who strictly follows the way of the Jedi.

Gameplay-wise KOTOR plays quite differently than any other console RPG that we have seen, so far. However, gamers that are familiar with NeverWinter Nights and to some extent the Baldur’s Gate series, should find themselves right at home with this title. . Knights of the Old Republic is a third-person title; you control your party with the left analog stick and you can manipulate the camera with the right analog. All actions are initiated with the “A” button, this includes such actions as, climb, talk, open, and attack. While adventuring you can cycle through the items and people you can interact with by using the shoulder triggers. Skills, force powers, and items can be selected on your action menu with the D-pad.

Combat in KOTOR is done in real-time, meaning that once you give your character and NPCs their commands they will carry them out until you change them. Combat can be paused on the fly with the simple click of the “white” button, allowing you to change commands in the midst of battle. Also, you can set “AI scripts” for the NPCs in your party. Meaning that while battle goes on the NPCs will do certain actions at certain times. For example, you could setup one of your characters to throw grenades whenever enemies are in range and friendly characters are out of the blast radius; with a party of three to control most of the time throughout KOTOR this scripting can be quite useful for party management. Also, I’d like to add that KOTOR has one of the best built in tutorials that I have seen this game is very player friendly, which makes it tremendously easy to get started and to get into to.

Character development also plays an important factor in how you will play . Knights of the Old Republic. Skills, feats, and of course force powers all affect what your character can do in and out of battle. These all increase from the XP (experience points) that you earn for completing quests, learning vital info, gaining DP/LP and of course defeating your enemies. One thing that sets KOTOR apart from any other party based RPG is that no matter who is in your active party, everyone gains XP, so when you bring out a character you have not used in quite some time, he/she will not be 6 levels behind the rest of your party.

Now as polished and as near perfect as KOTOR is, there one almost inconsequential gripe I found while playing. While exploring some of the more complicated cities and “dungeons”, the path-finding AI became a little wacky at times. NPCs sometimes get caught on a lip of a wall because your lead character is going down a curved hallway, or they will fall so far behind, the NPCs will try to find a shortcut by cutting through some rooms while running into some bad guys. However this is really just a minor nuisance that doesn’t detract from the great gaming experience that is KOTOR.

Graphically Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic looks plain fantastic. Backgrounds feel so authentic and of course the aliens are pulled right out of the movies. The animations are done superbly as well; lightsaber battles between Jedi can be breathtaking at times. Only occasionally does KOTOR suffer from the choppiness when the action gets a little too hot and heavy. Also, the lack of different faces that you see on NPCs that you talk to is a little perplexing; but even with that being said BioWare has brought the Star Wars universe to life 100 percent with KOTOR. Furthermore, the presentation is topnotch, everything from little critter sounds to the voice acting is nothing short of amazing. The presentation just helps to create the ambiance that BioWare was shooting for.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is an epic tale about the eternal struggle between good and evil, set on top of extremely solid and surprisingly polished gameplay mechanics. Almost everything about this game is utterly extraordinary; the story, the pacing, the all around gameplay, the character development, and the fact that you can become a dark lord yourself! BioWare hit the nail right on the head when they crafted this masterpiece, the guys and gals at BioWare nailed the atmosphere of the Star Wars universe dead on. No other Star Wars title has even come close to doing what BioWare did with KOTOR. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the greatest RPGs that I have played thus far, this might very likely be my vote for Game of the Year when this year comes to a close. If you are a fan of the RPG genre or a fan of the Star Wars universe than stop reading this review, shut down your computer and drive to the nearest retail store and purchase this game, or simply order it online from our friends at Amazon.com. And even if you don’t like RPGs or the fabulous Star Wars universe, it will still be worth your time to check out this game, it’s that good! Grab this game, and may the force be with you.