Five years after the events from the award winning Knights of the Old Republic, the Sith Lords have hunted the Jedi to the edge of extinction and are on the verge of crushing the Old Republic. The Republic no longer has the strength to protect its worlds. Sith Assassins are hunting the one they believe to be the last of the Jedi, the one who holds the fate of the galaxy - you. Yes, you are the last known Jedi left and it is up to you to decide a future for yourself and the Jedi order. Bringing a new chapter to the Star Wars series, this sequel to the blockbuster RPG again delves into the saga's founding lore that was explored in the original.

If you've played KOTOR (and you really should!), then this KOTOR2 offers much of the same in terms of gameplay, plus a little more. /Ed.note - If you haven't played the original won't necessarily feel lost here but the new story does build on events and characters from the previous game/. You will still be selecting gender and class, and you will have the option to assign all your attribute/skill points and select your feats, or you can use recommended numbers. Since you start out as a Jedi, you will have different class selections at the beginning of the game, but you won't even need to select Force powers, because you earn your early powers through play. The skills system is also much improved, whereas there was really no need to develop a range of skills in KOTOR, the player is now rewarded for developing skills in that they open new dialogue options in conversation with.

There are several new planets in the game - Peragus Station (A mining faculty), Telos (Carth's homeworld), Nar Shadda (Once was a place of luxury but turns into a criminal haven), Korriban (Sith home world), Onderon/Dxun (Jungle like planet), Dantoine (Remains of the Jedi academy) ,some of them were seen or mentioned in the original game. In addition to the quests that are pertinent to the story line, there are still numerous side quests on each world to keep you occupied and gaining experience.

And what is a Star Wars game without Force Powers? All of the powers that fans of the original loved (and used extensively) are still there. Some new powers have been added as well, mostly on the Dark Side. New powers include the malevolent Force Crush, a crueler version of Force Choke that lifts an enemy off the ground as it painfully crushes and contorts his body. Force Scream damages and stuns all enemies in a radius around you, and Force Sight shows you another character's Force alignment and allows you to see through walls. The abilities are class-specific, although you have the freedom to assign the points in whatever way you want. The constraint is that abilities foreign to your character's class "cost" double.

Like its predecessor, The Sith Lords uses a mix of real-time and turn-based combat. Basically, the combat will play out in real-time, but you can pause ([space] key) at any time to give orders to your party members about what they should do next. Although you start the game as a Jedi, it's a while before you receive a lightsaber. They are somewhat scarce in the game, probably because they can be made very powerful indeed. As with the original KOTOR, double-bladed lightsabers work as double weapons and are similar to fighting with a weapon in each hand. Therefore, the double-bladed lightsaber is most effective if you have few, but very powerful lightsaber upgrades because it makes the most of them. You can learn up to several Jedi Lightsaber Forms. These are fighting techniques whose effectiveness depends upon the tactical situation. Each form shines in certain conditions, but also has weaknesses. Learning the characteristics of the Lightsaber Forms, and switching between them as the combat situation changes, can allow a Jedi to prevail in what would otherwise be a fatal encounter.

In spite of how great the game is, there are many, many bugs. Sadly, they do affect your enjoyment of a game. I never had the problems with movement and combat A.I. in the first KOTOR that I had with this one. It's the same engine, and it reuses a lot of the same material. How could this have gotten screwed up? Heh, hard to say. Ask developers. I hope they will fix all these bugs as soon as possible.

Despite some unsightly bugs, if you're an RPG or Star Wars fan, you should not miss out on this game. The role playing and combat are just plain fun. And there is almost limitless replay value for playing the different alignments. So, if you are excited in going through another KOTOR adventure, you will be very pleased.

related links: homepage, walktrough, cheats, trainer +7

System requirements:
Minimum: Pentium III or Athlon class 1 GHz or faster CPU, 256MB RAM, at least 32MB OpenGL 1.4 compatible AGP or PCX 3D Graphics card with Hardware T&L, DirectX 9.0c compatible Audio Device, 4x Speed CD-ROM drive
Recommended: Pentium 4 or Athlon XP class 1.6 GHz or faster CPU, 512MB RAM, 128MB 3D Graphics card with Hardware Vertex and Pixel Shader (VS/PS) Capability, DirectX 9.0c compatible Audio Device, 16x Speed CD-ROM drive
* Gamepads and joysticks are not supported