{"id":2552,"date":"2013-03-13T17:46:10","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T17:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2552"},"modified":"2013-03-13T17:46:10","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T17:46:10","slug":"my-top-100-9-star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2552","title":{"rendered":"My Top 100: #9 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2003<\/a>

2003 – LucasArts\\BioWare (Xbox, PC)<\/p><\/div>\n

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What’s this?\u00a0 An RPG in the top ten??\u00a0 I know it’s not\u00a0turn-based, but it’s pretty darn\u00a0close.\u00a0 It definitely isn’t the sort of game I would have checked out, had the Star Wars<\/em> name not been\u00a0at the\u00a0front of it.<\/p>\n

When the game was first announced, the idea of a Star Wars<\/em> game set 4,000 years before the events of the\u00a0movies intrigued me quite a bit.\u00a0 There were comic books set during that timeframe, and the technology I saw when I flipped through those pages was a bit more primitive and organic-looking than\u00a0what was in the\u00a0movies.\u00a0 The game should be quite interesting, even if it was an RPG.<\/p>\n

I bought\u00a0Knights of the Old Republic<\/em>\u00a0when I picked up my Xbox, along with Enter the Matrix<\/em>.\u00a0 It was somewhat of an impulse buy, considering the fact that I had no idea if I was going to like it, or the console it was on.\u00a0 It was Star Wars<\/em>, so why not?<\/p>\n

This goes without saying, but I liked it.\u00a0 I liked it\u00a0a lot.<\/p>\n

Once you get your character attributes all lined up, you’re dropped into the midst of a fierce space battle.\u00a0 The capital ship you’re on is being bombarded, and it’s up to you to learn the ropes and get to an escape pod as quickly as possible.\u00a0 Of course, it’s just a tutorial level, but you still have that “I need to get the hell out of here” feeling in the pit of your stomach.<\/p>\n

In that first level,\u00a0the battle mechanics are explained quite well – even an RPG\u00a0newb like myself had no problem getting accustomed to it.\u00a0 While it’s not turn-based, the game does pause when encountering an enemy.\u00a0 This\u00a0gives you plenty of time to\u00a0choose\u00a0how you’d like your character to attack, and assign tasks to different party members.<\/p>\n

I’ve never been\u00a0a fan of waiting for my turn to attack, preferring instead to be fully in control of my actions – you know, like in Zelda<\/em>, you swing your sword, land hits, and that’s the end of it.\u00a0 I guess that’s why I’ve never been a fan of Final Fantasy<\/em> or other popular role playing games, where you’re often\u00a0at the mercy of a roll of a virtual dice.<\/p>\n

KotOR<\/em>\u00a0pretty much works like a game of Dungeons and Dragons <\/em>(which I’ve never played, by the way), and it was\u00a0a bit strange to me at first\u00a0in that I wasn’t fully in control of how often my character attacked.\u00a0 Still,\u00a0not once did I ever feel like I wasn’t in control of a situation.<\/p>\n

“OK, so I have this semi-powerful guy, this not-so powerful droid, and a Jedi to go up against…\u00a0 here’s what I’m gonna do…\u00a0 Aaaaand go!”<\/p>\n

It could be a bit frustrating when your character shot a blaster bolt into the floor in front of him instead of a target across the room, but that stops happening after you level up a bit.<\/p>\n

The decisions you make throughout the game give you Light Side or Dark Side points, and you can gain certain abilities if you stay on one path more than another.\u00a0 Whether you want to feel like a hero by helping everyone you meet, or you feel like being a menace to society and causing a ruckuss at every opportunity, you can do it!\u00a0 Definitely a great time, either way.<\/p>\n

The path your character takes is quite amazing, working his (or her) way up from the depths of the city world of Taris, all the way to becoming one of the most respected (or feared) warriors in the galaxy.\u00a0 I won’t spoil the ending, because it truly blew my mind when I saw the cutscene, but it’s the kind of story that once you know how it ends up, you’ll feel like playing it all over again…\u00a0 and again…\u00a0 and again.<\/p>\n

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