Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Mac)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the most advertised and well-reviewed video games of all time. Among it's myriad other achievements, it garnered 2003 Game of the Year from Computer Gaming World, PC Gamer, Amazon.com, and others (...).

Set an even longer time ago, none of the traditional Star Wars characters appear in this title. Starting this fresh new adventure is easy thanks to drag-and-drop installation from the now-standard Aspyr installation window. It's going to take time though - KotOR is Huge! It comes on a DVD instead of a regular compact disc and maxes that out at 4.27GB. So be sure to check your system against the requirements.

When you first start the game you'll have to wade through character creation before you see anything but a glimpse of the antagonist. But don't worry; once your character is created and you begin the epic, you'll be welcomed by the traditional Star Wars fanfare, though an original score will accompany the adventure. The game features new characters and places, but like the music, it is recognizably a part of the Lucas universe most of the time.

The game is, simply put, the first full-fledged Star Wars role-playing game for PCs and consoles. It is based on the newest Dungeons & Dragons rules - for better and worse. On the one hand, the rules of the most popular RPG ever are robust and well rounded. On the other hand, they show through the interface and are not a perfect marriage to the Star Wars universe.

The rules have been well adapted and fit skills such as repair and persuasion, feats such as blaster marksmanship and melee combat, and even force powers. By choosing from the limited character types you will find that most aspects of the Star Wars universe can be experienced through this game. Your decisions in the game even affect whether you lean toward the light or dark side of the force, eventually leading to a decision to work for good or evil. Along the way you can customize your abilities, skills, and even force powers.

But that is also where the complexities of the engine start to show through. Initial character creation and subsequent upgrades can take a lot of time for a gamer looking for a simpler RPG experience. To their credit, the developers do include a button that will automatically select recommended upgrades for your character to minimize the labor for such players.

Of course Star Wars is an action-filled franchise and so combat is one of the most important parts of the game. It is not handled as elegantly as some RPGs I have seen, but there are a lot of attack options. Each time you encounter an enemy the game will pause automatically and pop-ups will allow you to select a target and attack for your main character. When you resume, your attack will be carried out along with any other tasks you assign (such as using a medpack to recover health after a hit or a force power to disable your opponent).

Along with combat and several mini-games you will spend a lot of time with D&D staples. Exploring, trading, and conversing with non-player characters are all very important in this game. Unfortunately, your view of the beautiful sights is hindered because you cannot look up or down.

Interaction with other characters is handled better. Most of the dialog is actually recorded so you get to hear conversations instead of just reading them - that does a lot for the cinematic feel the game takes on when the rules aren't showing through. The choices you make in your conversations have an effect on the game too. That's important in an RPG and too rare in computer games.

I won't give away any of the plot, but it is worthy of it's inspiration. The game is beautiful and sounds great too, but it performs poorly on some systems. On my 1.2GHz iBook, I often found video jerky and movement controls intolerably erratic despite exceeding the requirements.

Despite such technicalities, Knights of the Old Republic is an awesome science-fantasy role-playing experience. If you are a Star Wars fan who enjoys the basic RPG dynamic, this game is going to be great for you! If you prefer fast-paced action and less administration in your game, buy Jedi Academy, also from Aspyr, instead.

This game will not work with 10.4.2, unless you use the Aspyr-provided workaround. Here's what they had to say:

There are currently some issues with the video card drivers in OS 10.4. A future operating system update should correct this, but there is a workaround that you can use in the meantime.

In the Finder, go to your home folder, open the Library/Preferences/Knights of the Old Republic folder.  
Double click the 'swkotor.ini' file to edit it in TextEdit
Scroll down to the section [Graphics Options], and add the line "Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1" (without quotes)
Save the swkotor.ini file and close it.

The game is based on the Extended Universe, which is a large Star Wars based universe that has been expanded by role playing books, comics, story books etc.

So those that are looking for episode 4-5-6 type of Star Wars experience may not find it there. Others that are familiar with the content other than the movies will not have an adaptation problem.

The game, the quest system, D&D like interface, and the strong 3d engine for its time looks really good, and you will really enjoy your every minute while playing it.

The only problem is that the aspyr mac version does not work with intel based macs at the moment, but a patch is being worked on. There isnt any estimated release date for the patch.

I have never played a RPG style game before, so was a bit skeptical about buying this. Well after Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, I just needed more Star Wars gaming. The game spans worlds, with smaller plots throughout, making it great to play more than twice. There are optional side games of every sort, plus the plot line and cut scenes make for a story comparable to any of the movies. The game plays great on my system 512mb/1.25ghz. And the scenery is beatiful. Now I only hope Aspyr doesn't drag it's feet on KOTOR 2.

And I really like Carth... no matter what anyone says.

This game is absolutely incredible. I'm a HUGE Neverwinter Nights fan, and this game is almost better than NWN (almost). The graphics are amazing, but even better than the graphics is the storyline, which, in my roommate's words, 'rocks my socks'. There are choppiness issues with the visuals, but it's easy to look past them. The game really lets you make your character into a huge presence in the Star Wars universe and lets you lose yourself in the characters and worlds. 1 word: AMAZING.

I purchased KOTOR as the first game to go along with my new Intel-based iMac. However, neither the product packaging, the Aspyr website, or any other site selling this game mentioned that it is functionally incompatible with an Intel-based processor. As a result, it will lock up, suffer major graphics and gameplay issues, and be completely unplayable. When contacted, Aspyr (the game maker) said that they were aware of the problem but would not provide any support, despite the fact that their own website has no mention of this incompatibility.

It's too bad. It looked like a great game. Unfortunately, it's a complete waste of money for anyone with a new Mac.

"Knights of the Old Republic" is a well crafted, and highly addictive, RPG, not just a great Star Wars game. I found that once I got on Dantooine, I couldn't stop playing. Everything about this game sucked me in, the gameplay, the characters, and best of all, the story.

I will note that the gameplay of KOTOR felt a little foreign the first time I played it. It's a turn based system, with hits and damage calculated by the various levels of strength and defense of the combatants. At first, this was a little tedious (expecially the terminology, like "Adds +4 to Fortitude") but after a while, I got into it. I found myself liking the fact that combat acts are performed by the computer without a lot of button-mashing. I hate games that make me input combos at rapid-fire speeds in order to perform really cool moves. With this game, it can all be done with one command.

Aside from that, the best thing that KOTOR has going for it is its attention to the story aspect of the game. The plot is great, possibly even good enough for a mini-series or a comic book. But what compliments the plot elements are the characters. I love the fact that these characters have histories and they are revealed slowly as time goes on. That makes the player feel like they're really getting to know these people. Carth and Bastella are probably the best-constructed characters in the game, but Jhuani comes in at a close 3rd. Also, Darth Malak is one bad assed villain. If a writer can create an engaging villain, he'll usually have my attention. Everything about Malak works, from the costume to the voice and dialogue. In essance, he's a Vader knockoff, but he carries his half of the story very well.

Now, for the flaws. The only things wrong here are technical, and that could be a Mac issue. I'm running KOTOR on a 12 inch Powerbook G4 with 786 RAM. I didn't alter any of the System Preferences for Graphics and I found that at times, such as in most of the Cantinas, the graphics become rather choppy. There were times where my character would freeze, I'd press "Forward," then a few seconds later, he's off and runnning across the screen like a bad cut-out cartoon, moving and frozen at the same time. But I was able to look past that in order to get to the rest of the game.

This is a must for Star Wars fans; it won't let you down. It might have a harder time pleasing someone whose not familiar with the mythology because it's so heavy in alien languages and myths about the Force and the Light/Dark relationship, but I recommend it for any RPG fan.

Now, about KOTOR II: Sith Lords for Mac...

This is truly a great game. A fantastic RPG in every way that matters. And unlike most RPGs coming out at the moment, this game doesn't resort to FPS-like realtime combat. However, and this may just be my ignorance talking, I am stunned a game that came out 4 1/2 years ago is selling for $40.00 "reduced". Mac users are clearly getting the shaft.

Now I write this review without the expierence of smooth gameplay besides the fact my system meets and surpases most of the minimum requirements. Even with my low end 1.25 ghz eMac (with might I add a gig of ram and a brand new 120 gb hardrive) I expected it to at least run smoothly with the graphics turned down, I was wrong. I opened up the game and started a new game and immeditley it was choppy, I turned everything down, graphics, resolution, texture, everything and it was still a little choppy. I managed to get about 1/3 into the game when I finally cracked...HOW CAN I RUN WORLD OF WARCRAFT WITHOUT ANY CHOPPYNESS BUT NOT THIS GAME?!?!? Well the answer is WoW is better and unless u have a G5 stay away from KOTOR.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, very very good game, if only if does not crash one you. I can't even get past the first world simply because the game fails to load a new area and then crashes. When I bought it, I thought it would be wonderful like physical joy. Only then did I find out that the game does not run on a Intel Duo Processor even though it has twice the speed required to play it (500Mhz). Even with patches that supposedly make the game run on a Intel Duo Mac. It still crashes. In fact it is worse, before the patches I at least could get through the tutorial and play for a little bit. However with the patches, the logos for companies that made and sponsored it won't even appear. Releasing one of the best RPGs there is and then not making so it runs on a common processor is a kick in the pants. It is even worse because it costs a whooping $[...]. Personally I don't like wasting fifty dollars on something that only crashes and freezes my computer. If you consider buying this game, don't get it fort he Mac, get it for the PC or even the Xbox, that way you will pay less for more.