Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords review

The good Star Wars prequel series continues with Knights of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. You play as a Jedi (no relation to the original game’s hero) who left the Order years ago after the war with Revan and Malak. During your absence, three new Sith Lords rose to power and purged the galaxy of nearly all Jedi. As the last known Jedi, you must reclaim your powers and take down the Sith before they finish what they started.

The Sith Lords looks and plays nearly identically to the first game - a deft turn-based combat system that looks and feels like you have real-time control over the dramatic action - which is just fine, since the first KOTOR was so satisfying. This time you start out wielding basic Force powers (there are 60 new powers and feats to choose from), but you still have to fight your way through a large chunk of the game with blasters and conventional swords before you get your hands on a more elegant weapon. You’re gonna earn that lightsaber, pal.

The moral decisions you face affect not only your alignment, but that of your entire party. Certain party members will like you more depending on if you lean good or evil, and winning them over can gain you access to special side quests. Swoop racing and Pazaak are both back, plus a few other minigames to keep the main game from getting old, but the replayability factor truly makes this game amazing. Playing through as a Jedi will make you itch to go back and do it all over again as a Dark Jedi, so that you can let loose and kill, rob and otherwise ruin the lives of everyone you come into contact with.