Knights of the Boss Republic

Leviticus 35:17
And God said unto man, "No nerd shall be without a love for Star Wars". And it was so


Star Wars is a unanimously loved film, for all the right reasons; lasers, lightsabers and the Mos Eisley Cantina theme. It is one of the few films that has survived the trials and tribulations of terrible prequels, still being loved by tens of thousands worldwide. Knights of the Old Republic was the first PC Star Wars game I played and I can honestly say it was instantly amongst my top 3 favourites.


The game takes place long before even the prequels, telling the story of the mysterious Republic soldier and his crusades against the Sith. A straightforward story, admittedly, but it is filled with charismatic characters, a fantastic soundtrack and memorable landscapes.


Let's start with the characters. One of the things I loved most about this game was how starkly they contrasted the films, whilst simultaneously staying true to the Star Wars Universe. Whereas in the films there was always a definitive line between Light Side and Dark Side, with all Jedi being paragons of justice and all Sith being dastardly criminals with the scruples of an SS Soldier. KoTOR, however, blurs this line slightly. though the game starts with the Sith being quite definitely evil, there are sections in the story where you are forced to interact extensively with them (don't worry, this is a no-spoiler zone), and I have to admit: they have some persuading arguments. I found myself questioning whether the Dark Side were actually as evil as the Jedi always profess, and I started leaning more and more towards the thinking of Jolee: People shouldn't get so hung up on the whole Light Side, Dark Side thing.


The Sith were painted more as troubled and misdirected than they were actually evil. Many of them seemed to have noble thoughts and actions, yet directed them in a more unorthodox way. Though Hayden Christensen tried to portray this "troubled youth" angle in the two latter prequels, though the notion was lost on his god-awful acting.

The only negative point I think I can make about this game is the stunted combat system. Whenever you see an enemy, the game automatically pauses, and lets you plan the start of the battle. Though this is useful, and definitely saved my ass more than once, it staggers the action, and made the fights, for me, less fluid (something I always loved about lightsaber battles).


Regardless, this game remains one of the best games I've played to date. And a word of advice if you're to play it: Never stop spamming Power Attack.