Everything you loved about the original.
User Rating: 9 | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords XBOX
KOTOR II is a worthy successor to the best RPG of 2003. The storyline is excellent so far, and has the same "you really are a jedi" feel as the original. One major difference is that as your alignment shifts towards light or dark, your party members change with you. It doesn't sound like a major shift, and in reality, it's cosmetic, but it does add a little bit of depth to an already deep game. Everything you'd expect is here - deep, enjoyable characters interacting with an incredibly well-developed and scripted plot. There is a bit of an "I'm an amnesiac again?!?" feel to the beginning, but they did an excellent job of accounting for the original storyline. One problem I thought I'd have is that they would have no way to reference the original, since your choices changed the outcome, but it's handled very well. At the very beginning of the game, you basically trade gossip with someone who didn't know the details of Revan and Malak, and you have the chance to correct him, which lets you sculpt the plot to align with your personal outcome in the original KOTOR. The interface is practically identical to the original, with a few minor improvements like notification that a cannister is empty when your crosshairs are over it (it was occasionally annoying to get turned around and reopen cannisters in the original). Consequently, there are still some of the same minor issues: movement occasionally feels a bit slow, targeting sometimes means scrolling through multiple enemies, etc. My biggest complaint so far is that every once in awhile, I'll think I'm out of combat mode and try to inspect something, only to change my weapon from primary to secondary. On the plus side, the interface's strengths are still the same - it's intuitive, fluid, and has a bit of a rollicking feel to it. Character development is essentially the same. You'll see all of the same skills, many of the same feats, and a lot of the same powers. That said, I've been very pleased with the new powers that are present. Can you say, "Battle Meditation?" It's nice to start out as a Jedi, though I miss my old scoundrel. Bottom line, if you liked the original (and who didn't?), you'll like the sequel. That's quite a feat, especially when the original is as good as KOTOR was.
