Oh Star Wars, where did it all go wrong? Why do you hate me so? All those years, those precious years of my childhood invested in your rich goodness. I wrote fan-fiction. My very first, full length, literary work was a Star Wars fan fiction. A story that was, originally, intended to be only a few pages, that grew into an, incomplete, six novel epic. And then George Lucas made those bloody prequel films and killed everything.

Ahem, but, enough about that. Before all that, sort of, we were graced with one of the greatest Star Wars, indeed, one of the greatest Role Playing games to ever dance before our unworthy eyes. Even now, KotOR still stands up as a paragon of its genre. Offering a level of complexity, despite being adapted from the DnD D20 roleplaying system, that was both deep enough for dedicated gamers, and simple enough for complete newcomers. With a story that, not only despite, but because of it’s openly contrived and, painfully, clichéd twists and turns, has a narrative flow that is well nigh perfection in storytelling.

Add to that some, even now, still quite impressive visuals. The facial expressions coupled with the top-notch voice acting BioWare is now so well known for. The sound effects are visceral and incredibly satisfying, and the incidental music, in particular, is superb. Each area has it’s own theme and tone, both in appearance and sound. The entire game is a study in detail, or more accurately, attention to it. If I was to have one complaint, it would be the length. And even that comes in at a good twenty plus hours. All joking aside, KotOR is a shining example of the depth of the Western RPG model. It’s actually quite intriguing to look back and see how KotOR evolved into the Sith Lords, and from there to Mass Effect.

It has everything. Oh, and boy, do I mean everything. Drama, conspiracy, romance, intrigue, Twi’lek jailbait (Mission is fourteen people, fourteen, keep your hands to yourself) and so very, very, very much more. Being an RPG, with powers and skills and all the usual shabang, the combat flows somewhat slower than, for example, The Force Unleashed. But what it lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in variety. The Force, here, really has been unleashed. Lightning, lightsabre throw, Force push, all the usual spam attacks, along with a whole slew of others. Force Heal, Force Speed, Force jump (this is awesome when leveled up, you actually teleport to your enemy D:) the list goes on.

Where do I even begin? Uhm…probably four paragraphs up, at the start of the review. But shush, I’m having a geekgasm. I could go into more detail, spoil you with all the digital goodness, but do I really need to? If you haven’t already played KotOR, you’re either a doofus…or a doofus. Just, go play it. Right now. Yes, now. Don’t finish reading this review, just play the game. Nothing else I say matters from this point on. Play the game. I could talk about the impending invasion of the fish-chicken consortium of Ecky Thump, which could save the world from a new dark age. But playing KotOR is more important.

Okay, but seriously. Even if you’re not a fan of the Star Wars setting, films, books, name, T-shirts, or anything. KotOR really is just that good. It’s a fantastic game, and has truly earned its place in the hall of fame. Ignoring some of their more recent gaffs (all since being absorbed by EA, just sayin’) there is a reason BioWare are so well respected. And KotOR is, pretty much, the entire cause of that. One game, that raised the bar so high, people still love them now. BioWare I mean. Not to be missed. I really don’t need to say any more.