In my review of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, I stated that I'd given the game nearly 100 hours of my life (to play both dark- and light-side characters and endings) and didn't begrudge them.

I gave The Sith Lords 50.  I begrudge somewhere around the last 15.

It's easy to be overly harsh with a game like this.  KOTOR (as I'll call the first game) was a masterpiece, a smoothly flowing story with hours of well-written dialogue, interesting characters, a solid and fun system, and an excellent overall feeling of interacting with a dynamic universe that you as a player could make a real difference in.

TSL (the second) builds off of a virtually identical engine.  So, half the work was practically done for Obsidian already, right?

Well...

From the outset, let me state I never experienced any of the hardware failures that have plagued some players.  Nor do I share the feelings of some that TSL managed to take the same engine and make a worse-looking game.  Visually, I'd call the games about equal.

The game begins promisingly enough, with the player cast as a sort of Jedi exile injured and virtually abandoned on the Ebon Hawk, the Millenium Falcon-like starship of the first game.  Characters are introduced, the plot thickens, the search begins.

Early on you will start to discover the changes between the two games.  Items are now composed of elements, and can be broken down and recomposed into new items, if the skills necessary are available.  Items found in the game are now more randomly determined and distributed, theoretically giving the game more replay value, Diablo-like.  There is also a new role-playing contrivance called "Influence"; basically, if your character acts in ways another character approves of, you increase your influence with that character, and they're more likely to tell you of their back-story or otherwise act on your behalf.

Also, story-wise, TSL takes a slightly different tack.  While KOTOR had you rediscover the hero's lost past, TSL lets you define your own past to a degree as you tell other characters your own back-story.

Strange, then, for all how the new options and ideas seem to have been created with the notion of giving the player more freedom, it ends up feeling like less.

The ability to breakdown items is interesting, if you go for that, but I suspect most people would rather throw thermal detonators than make them.  It's there if you want it, but no particular loss if you don't, and given the skills needed, I suspect most players won't spend a lot of time with it.

The random items are, in a word, ridiculous.  They do an excellent job in harming the player's suspensions of disbelief.  "Oh, look... This random box contained *another* [armor piece] of [famous Star Wars' character's third cousin once removed]... Pile it with the others, will you?"

The Influence question is more problematic.  Meant to lend more depth to the conversations, it instead makes them feel less organic and more like another kind of hidden number-crunching, like combat.  Given the player is already trying to guide his responses according to a Force morality, to deny players the meat of portions of the story based on their responses seems unnecessarily cruel, and actually takes away from the role-playing aspect rather than allowing the player to indulge in reacting the way they feel their protaganist would.  Further, reading FAQs available online indicates that the system is highly susceptable to abuses in places, and my own experience has lead to some baffling turns (you've radically altered your life to follow me, turning your back on all you knew before, but you're still not going to tell me the last of your backstory?!)

And while the idea of telling others your story is neat, where your story heads is less so.  Without giving too much away, KOTOR's story amounted to: "This is who you *were*.  Knowing that, now, who do you choose to be?"

TSL is more "Everyone is reacting to you this way because of what you are, which is *this*.  So, now what?"  (Or, if you wanted to be more harsh, "Whatcha gonna do, cry about it?") It's less satisfying.  More reactive than decisive.

After putting in a significant amount of time, you will get to the portions of the game that I'm sure have been amply commented upon in other reviews.  The portions where you say, "Someone had a skeleton outline and a tight deadline, and ended up slapping fragments together to meet that deadline."  I reached to a point where I literally asked, "Why am I boarding this star cruiser?"  To face the villain, of course.  Now, if only it ended there.  Like many sequels, the desire to improve upon the predecessor means that TSL just keeps going, long after there is pleasure to be gained by doing so.  And in this case, long after solid content was generated to justify the extension.

So you'll face the villain, and defeat them in a rather confusing and vaguely exposited way, and then you'll face another villain, and another, both rather anti-climactically, and then there's some more exposition, and then you fly off (roll credits.)

Huh?

Sadly, while that description is accurate, it doesn't quite capture the full drudgery of the final hours of the game.  You see, having become an incredibly powerful character, you will now wander through a series of rooms seemingly strung together with cut-and-paste, filled to the brim with identical dark jedi and their flunkies, to *reach* those anticlimaxes.

(sigh)

There are suggestions of a great game here.  There are plot threads that could have been truly intriguing.  There are moral ambiguities that are commented upon, but never integrated.  There are relationships that could have, should have gone interesting places... But apparently they didn't get time to get written.

If I never had played KOTOR, I'd still think TSL was a flawed game.  But I wouldn't see it as as much of a tragedy of over-reaching and deadlines.  Scrap the item composition, the influence, and just give me real conclusions with the characters who've been watching my back for all these hours, and I would have been happy.  Alas, it wasn't to be.

There's still some great stuff here.  The dark, melancholy tone, the reams of dialogue which must still surely have taken many, many hours to write and coordinate, moments of excitement and grandeur and real, interesting choices.

A pity it ends not with a bang, but a whimper.

I still have to recommend this game, especially if you can get it for $15 or less.  But don't play it if you haven't played KOTOR.  And if you only play one, KOTOR should be it.

The servant has *not* eclipsed the master.
In my review of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, I stated that I'd given the game nearly 100 hours of my life (to play both dark- and light-side characters and endings) and didn't begrudge them. I gave The Sith Lords 50. I begrudge somewhere around the last 15. It's easy to be overly harsh with a game like this. KOTOR (as I'll call the first game) was a masterpiece, a smoothly flowing story with hours of well-written dialogue, interesting characters, a solid and fun system, and an excellent overall feeling of interacting with a dynamic universe that you as a player could make a real difference in. TSL (the second) builds off of a virtually identical engine. So, half the work was practically done for Obsidian already, right? Well... From the outset, let me state I never experienced any of the hardware failures that have plagued some players. Nor do I share the feelings of some that TSL managed to take the same engine and make a worse-looking game. Visually, I'd call the games about equal. The game begins promisingly enough, with the player cast as a sort of Jedi exile injured and virtually abandoned on the Ebon Hawk, the Millenium Falcon-like starship of the first game. Characters are introduced, the plot thickens, the search begins. Early on you will start to discover the changes between the two games. Items are now composed of elements, and can be broken down and recomposed into new items, if the skills necessary are available. Items found in the game are now more randomly determined and distributed, theoretically giving the game more replay value, Diablo-like. There is also a new role-playing contrivance called "Influence"; basically, if your character acts in ways another character approves of, you increase your influence with that character, and they're more likely to tell you of their back-story or otherwise act on your behalf. Also, story-wise, TSL takes a slightly different tack. While KOTOR had you rediscover the hero's lost past, TSL lets you define your own past to a degree as you tell other characters your own back-story. Strange, then, for all how the new options and ideas seem to have been created with the notion of giving the player more freedom, it ends up feeling like less. The ability to breakdown items is interesting, if you go for that, but I suspect most people would rather throw thermal detonators than make them. It's there if you want it, but no particular loss if you don't, and given the skills needed, I suspect most players won't spend a lot of time with it. The random items are, in a word, ridiculous. They do an excellent job in harming the player's suspensions of disbelief. "Oh, look... This random box contained *another* [armor piece] of [famous Star Wars' character's third cousin once removed]... Pile it with the others, will you? "

The Influence question is more problematic. Meant to lend more depth to the conversations, it instead makes them feel less organic and more like another kind of hidden number-crunching, like combat. Given the player is already trying to guide his responses according to a Force morality, to deny players the meat of portions of the story based on their responses seems unnecessarily cruel, and actually takes away from the role-playing aspect rather than allowing the player to indulge in reacting the way they feel their protaganist would. Further, reading FAQs available online indicates that the system is highly susceptable to abuses in places, and my own experience has lead to some baffling turns (you've radically altered your life to follow me, turning your back on all you knew before, but you're still not going to tell me the last of your backstory?! )

And while the idea of telling others your story is neat, where your story heads is less so. Without giving too much away, KOTOR's story amounted to: "This is who you *were*. Knowing that, now, who do you choose to be? "

TSL is more "Everyone is reacting to you this way because of what you are, which is *this*. So, now what? "  (Or, if you wanted to be more harsh, "Whatcha gonna do, cry about it? ") It's less satisfying. More reactive than decisive. After putting in a significant amount of time, you will get to the portions of the game that I'm sure have been amply commented upon in other reviews. The portions where you say, "Someone had a skeleton outline and a tight deadline, and ended up slapping fragments together to meet that deadline. "  I reached to a point where I literally asked, "Why am I boarding this star cruiser? "  To face the villain, of course. Now, if only it ended there. Like many sequels, the desire to improve upon the predecessor means that TSL just keeps going, long after there is pleasure to be gained by doing so. And in this case, long after solid content was generated to justify the extension. So you'll face the villain, and defeat them in a rather confusing and vaguely exposited way, and then you'll face another villain, and another, both rather anti-climactically, and then there's some more exposition, and then you fly off (roll credits. )

Huh? Sadly, while that description is accurate, it doesn't quite capture the full drudgery of the final hours of the game. You see, having become an incredibly powerful character, you will now wander through a series of rooms seemingly strung together with cut-and-paste, filled to the brim with identical dark jedi and their flunkies, to *reach* those anticlimaxes. (sigh)

There are suggestions of a great game here. There are plot threads that could have been truly intriguing. There are moral ambiguities that are commented upon, but never integrated. There are relationships that could have, should have gone interesting places... But apparently they didn't get time to get written. If I never had played KOTOR, I'd still think TSL was a flawed game. But I wouldn't see it as as much of a tragedy of over-reaching and deadlines. Scrap the item composition, the influence, and just give me real conclusions with the characters who've been watching my back for all these hours, and I would have been happy. Alas, it wasn't to be. There's still some great stuff here. The dark, melancholy tone, the reams of dialogue which must still surely have taken many, many hours to write and coordinate, moments of excitement and grandeur and real, interesting choices. A pity it ends not with a bang, but a whimper. I still have to recommend this game, especially if you can get it for $15 or less. But don't play it if you haven't played KOTOR. And if you only play one, KOTOR should be it. The servant has *not* eclipsed the master.