A majestic "Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords"

Rare is the amazing computer game that captivates you until late at night, leaving you bleary eyed but ready for more in the morning. Rarer still is a quality sequel to that game. Rarest of all are the game and sequel both so amazing that you can't decide which one is better.

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (KOTOR 2), which was released in February 2005 for PC and in December 2004 for Xbox, is one of those sequels. It manages to live up to the grand footsteps of the original Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) when it snapped up over 35 "Game of the Year" awards.

Sith Lords picks up about five years after the end of the first game, about 4,000 years before the events of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace." Unlike the first game, where you wake up with amnesia, in KOTOR 2, your in-game avatar knows who they are, but the back story will only be revealed to the gamer through the fantastically written dialogue with other characters.

Fantastic is one word that excellently summarizes this game. For the entire 34 hours I played the game, from the opening notes of John Williams' now-classic theme to the end of the credits, I was enthralled.

The basic premise of the game is relatively standard Star Wars fare, building off of and continuing where KOTOR left off. After the Sith Lord Malak was defeated at the end of the first game and the Jedi Revan disappeared without telling anyone where he was going, all of the other Jedi suddenly started vanishing with no trace. Your character fought for the Old Republic in the Mandalorian Wars against the Jedi Counsel's wishes. When you returned, you found that you had lost your contact with the force, had your lightsaber taken away and were expelled from the Jedi order. Since then, you've been wandering the galaxy aimlessly. However, the unknown evil that exterminated the other Jedi seems to have trained its sights on you. In order to figure out what's going on and defeat this nameless evil, you'll have to roam the galaxy searching for the Jedi masters still rumored to be alive, trying to bring the Jedi Counsel back to its former glory.

The good

The few minor changes in actual game play from the first game include the new addition of force and lightsaber "forms" that emphasize certain aspects of your fighting style while de-emphasizing others. For example, certain force forms work well against other Jedis but poorly against foes with blasters, while others help you recharge force energy but have very little effect on your lightsaber-wielding. These forms are very powerful, and very often, choice of the correct form can mean the difference between winning and losing a fight.

One final, great new addition to the game is the ability to gain higher levels. In the first game, there was a cap at level 20, which left your character as a powerful Jedi but no true master of the force. In this game, your ability to gain higher levels and choose a "prestige class," with such names as Sith assassin, Jedi master and Jedi weapon master, allow your character to be truly powerful in the force.

The bad

KOTOR II features the same graphics engine from the first game, and while I found this totally acceptable and viewable, it's certainly not the prettiest thing out there, and some more powerful anti-aliasing would have been nice to get rid of "jaggies."

At one point, I ran into a broken quest, requiring that I open a door using a nearby console. However, because I went to the console before I talked to an ally, who told me to use the console to open the door, the door would not open. This error forced me to go back and replay that section, but I certainly wasn't too heartbroken to have to play though that section of the game again.

Finally, the game includes far too many minions and not enough boss-type major battles. For much of the game, your character runs around mowing down nameless, faceless cronies, and while this is always cool, it would have been even better to see a few more climactic original Star Wars-style lightsaber duels.

The awesome

As in the first game, the theme of good versus evil is a strong one, and you'll have to make many choices on the road to the light or dark side of the force, including choosing whether or not to help a man on the street escape from thugs and deciding which side to help in a struggle for control of a planet. The story in the game moves this cosmic struggle of good versus evil along well, but more powerful is the interplay between the characters in the game.

Force Push Video Game

Photo: A Jedi can control the world around them at will, throwing their enemies around with powers like force push.

A Jedi can control the world around them at will, throwing their enemies around with powers like force push.

Throughout the game, you grow from an out-of-practice Jedi with almost no contact with the force and little understanding of the world around you into a veritable giant in the force and an innate understanding of those around you.

As in the first game, other galactic travelers will come along with you for your galaxy-spanning journey. This group, or party, as it is frequently called, will stick with you throughout the game, and their distinct personalities will stick in your memories for even longer. Your party members are frequently at odds with each other, and the characters on board your ship often seem moments from all-out war, leaving you with no idea of whom to trust, adding a deeper and more sinister air to the entire game. This tension creates an aura that is sure to leave you begging for more.

Additionally, you can now have an effect on the light or dark side tendencies of your party members. As frequently advertised in commercials for the game, "This time, your choices affect everyone around you." Here is where a new concept for the second game, influence, comes into play. By making choices or saying things that your party members approve or disapprove of, you can gain or lose influence, making them sway closer to or away from your side of the force and opening up new dialogue options.

Even with its minor flaws, KOTOR II is undeniably one of the best games I've ever played. The hardest choice when it comes to KOTOR II is whether to play as a light side character or a dark side one, and in case you can't choose, you can just do like me and play through the game twice. If you'll excuse me, it's time to start down the road to Sith lordship.

Alex's Rating - A+