LucasArts Officially Announces KOTOR II

Ares Halcyon writes "Today LucasArts officially announced Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the next chapter for 2003's award-winning Xbox/PC RPG. Set in the unique timeframe of the Old Republic, 4,000 years before Star Wars Episode I, KOTOR II: The Sith Lords features an all-new more perilous storyline, new character, classes, locations and force powers. As previously covered on Slashdot Games, the title is published by LucasArts and developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. and is planned to be released for the Xbox and PC in February 2005." There's also a first preview of the sequel over at GameSpot, noting gleefully: "The array of Jedi powers available to you will be broader--you'll now have more than 30 which will include force confusion and force sight."

Comments

Yeesh.

[mikedaisey]

From the GameSpot preview:

"Looking back, the game's impact is probably close to the gaming equivalent of the first time one of our prehistoric ancestors discovered the benefits of fire. While this may sound like hyperbole, KOTOR can be seen as an impressive achievement on two levels."

That doesn't sound like hyperbole--it *is* hyperbole, and a ridiculous one at that. Does GameSpot pay so little that it can't find someone who writes better than that?

Re:Yeesh.

[TrueBuckeye]

Especially when you look at the fact that it is just a Neverwinter Nights Star Wars Mod. I am not faulting it, it is an amazing game, but still let's not go overboard on the "great invention" thing. You can clearly see its roots in NWN and then back to the Baldur's Gate series.

Re:Yeesh.

[moonbender]

Um, where exactly are those NWN and BG roots you speak of, apart from the fact that all these games use the same basic ruleset and are (vaguely) in the same genre? KOTOR most certainly is nothing even remotely like a NWN Star Wars mod.

Re:Yeesh.

[TrueBuckeye]

I disagree. The graphic engine was updated from the old tileset method, but the game engine is directly ported. It uses the exact same underlying d20 ruleset with feats, spells, skills, ability scores, armor class, and hitpoints. You can still have up to 2 henchmen, but in KOTOR you do have direct control over them. Even the seemingly-realtime-but-actually-turnbased-with-pau se combat engine is the same. This isn't meant to be an insult of KOTOR, just an observation that it isn't as revolutionary as some say. Perhaps calling it a mod is a bit of an exaggeration since modders wouldn't rebuild the graphics engine, but it certainly borrows far more from NWN than not.

Good but repetetive

[DrDoombender]

Am I the only one who gets tired of hearing about jedi vs. Sith lords? Why don't they try Red vs. Blue for a change, geez.

Also, once again. Its a jedi (or potential jedi) who is torn between light and dark and can go either way. Good idea, but its becoming cliche.

Well in any case, I won't judge it till its near completion. I liked KOTOR, but I hope they improve your options for making choices. Also, I would like to see a higher capacity for a romantic relationship in the game (it was pretty lame in KOTOR). Finally, more choices in locations to visit/ more in depth areas to explore. I felt somewhat caged in KOTOR.

I don't want to have to say, "this isn't the game your looking for" *waves hand* to people.

Re:Good but repetetive

[prockcore]

Also, once again. Its a jedi (or potential jedi) who is torn between light and dark and can go either way. Good idea, but its becoming cliche.

Becoming? It's been cliche since 1977.

Re:Good but repetetive

[ctr2sprt]

KOTOR is a great game when you take it as what it is: an adventure/RPG very much like the old Sierra Quest for Glory games. If you play it hoping to get a traditional RPG in the style of Baldur's Gate, you're of course going to be disappointed, because that's not what it's supposed to be like.

Most scripted romances, whether in books, games, or movies, are pretty lame. It's really a function of the storyline. Most real-life romances don't just magically appear, they form from tons of little stuff that goes on all the time. But in a 2-hour movie you just don't have time to show enough of them for the romance to make sense. The very best movies show enough of those little things to suggest that others are going on offscreen, which can sometimes be enough to suspend your disbelief. But really, the only way to do it is to devote big parts of the plot to the romance, and it's tough to do that in the context of the greater story (saving the world, usually).

Re:Good but repetetive

[WormholeFiend]

the only thing that would make it more cliche is the appearance of a member of the Mon Calamari race proclaiming "IT'S A TRAP!"

KOTR and Jedi Knight should lead a SWG redesign

[linzeal]

Lucasarts is brillant in some respects esp in the KOTR and JK franchises and should use that knowledge for SWG.

I don't know about you but I'm an old school FPS from Wolf-3d onward and would like some skill to be involved in any gaming situation I involve myself in. If I wanted a game of chance I would go down to the Greyhound bus stop and pick up a transient hippy whore to sleep with. Star Wars Galaxies is something I enjoy on a rare occasion when I'm not neck deep in schoolwork but it lacks satisfaction when I kill something as it has a RPG combat system. Now that the lightspeed expansion is on preorder and it is rumored to have "real dogfighting" I wonder if there will be that sense of accomplishment I got from Tie Fighter when I destroyed an allied bomber squadron, sigh.

Bioware

[gtshafted]

All Bioware made games have been some of the best games I've ever played - very deep / good gameplay with good story... the only common bad thing is that all Bioware games is that the endings (except for Baldur's Gate II) seem too short. Given the size and depth of most their games, you get the feeling of "all this work for nothing". This includes the 1st KOTOR (for ex. there is no mention of the end result of your relationship with your love interest in the story... this is a lot like the 1st Neverwinter stand alone game...)

Hopefully giving development to former members of Black Isle will change this. I definitely enjoyed the endings to the Fallout Series and Planetscape Torment.

Yes but...

[MMaestro]

Any news about multiplayer? True theres always Jedi Knight II, but I like the idea of being able to customize (at least to an extent) a character and bring him online for some online fighting.

Dogfighting in Galaxies? Not the droid you're.....

[Song for the Deaf]

I wonder if there will be that sense of accomplishment I got from Tie Fighter when I destroyed an allied bomber squadron, sigh.

The visceral thrills you're looking for are likeley to be found here

Is Star Wars is doomed to be the christian rock of video games, i.e. pale imitations of already successful genres?

I will never be buying a lucasarts game again.

[bludstone]

My star wars fandom is old, dead, and buried. I thank mediocre writing, cliched storylines, and blantant consumerism. It just sucks now.

Frankly, after they cancelled sam and max 2, and fired their most brilliant set of (non-starwars) creative staff, I see no reason to buy a lucasarts game ever again. There was a very high artistic merit in the earlier lucasarts adventure games. I feel like this is lost in the constant re-hashing of starwars titles.

These days, the entire star wars universe seem to only be about milking the consumer.

Hell, they wont even sell me the stuff they own that I _want_ to buy! (read: friggin SE-only original trilogy starwars dvds) Im going to be forced to buy a bootleg, thanks to them.

Great

[dyefade]

I'm so glad they cancelled Sam and Max 2. Now they can get on with more important projects.

Seriously, this really sucks. They cancel a great game, lay off a load of people. But not to worry, there's always room for more Star Wars.

Re:Who the fuck is Obsidian ...

[rpillala]

Obsidian's not Bioware, but was instead founded by some people from Black Isle. Black Isle is the studio recently cancelled by Interplay. BI produced the greatest CRPG of all time - Planescape: Torment.

Hope that helps :)

Ravi