Knights of the Old Republic 2 Review at GameSpy

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I cant wait to get my hands on this game, lets hope it is not as buggy as part 1 when it came out, i had to play taris 3 times because the game didnt go any futher then that until the patch came out.

 

It used to be like that, but now the biggest distributor doesn't release original versions unless in pre-sales and for double the price of the translated version. Most people think it's because of Polish language laws, but that's rubbish. It's because they don't want people from abroad to buy games for less than in their own countries and here games have to cost less than, let's say, in the core EU or in the US, because the country is poorer (the average salary slightly exceeds $500 per month, but 90% people get much less than that). Theoretically, that is, because in practice some software still ends up more expensive than in the wealthier world.

 

Well, I guess all I can do is wait and hope then. Hope for them to fix the bugs that is.

There's nothing worse than an RPG with bugs. The entire point with an RPG is the story and the "roleplaying", meaning the immersion. Even if console RPG's don't allow the same kind of freedom and in-depth character development as PC RPG's do, the story and the scripted events are at least that much better there. Too bad the worst enemy to immersion is a bug.

As for the AI, how the hell can they not have improved it? One of the biggest issues people had with KoTOR was the horrible AI that caused events just like the one the reviewer described there. I can't believe they didn't only not improve it, but actually produce a much worse one instead.

The review was a good one though. Although I will not buy it because of the bugs, I will root for them to fix those issues. And when (if) they are fixed, I'll be rushing into the stores like my life depended on it. Just like last time.

 

I was really looking forward to this game but have now been recruited by a friend to give world of warcraft a shot. I will probably pick up KotOR2 when I have the time.

 

Just to update this a bit, the game is great, and not even quite as buggy as advertised. My only two issues: I had troubles with installation and had to use the workaround, and I have to leave movies turned off. I have experienced absolutely no problems with AI as mentioned above in this thread, and the game actually runs better than KOTOR1 did for me.

The dialogue and character interactions are (sometimes strongly) reminiscent of PS:T and the environment is a rich update of KOTOR1. On the flip side, I'm missing out on some important scenes since I have to play with movies turned off, but I'm still diggin' it. I wasn't sure if it would be worth suffering through the early days of the release after reading some reviews, but it is. Get this game.

 

I'd heard horror stories about getting it to work with Radeons, but so far no problems at all(I think I'm 2/3rds or so through the first area). Installed fine, ran fine.

Looks promising so far.

 

I'm using a fairly weak card--Radeon x300--and my only problem is that I can't run the movies (I'm not even sure this is a vid-card issue, although I assume it is). Which Radeon are you using, Sparkhawk?

 

9800 Pro 128MB. My only problem is that I bought it second hand and after long play it tends to stutter, but that's in every game (heat issue I believe).

Up to Telos now and so far not a single bug that I saw, except for the camera being inside the speaker's head on one occassion (I think that was what happened).

 

Just to update, I'm at the end of the game and the flaws have become much more of a problem. It's not unplayable--no system hangs or anything--but whole sections of exposition seem to be missing (and of course I can't see the movies). I'll finish a level and, without any explanation, suddenly I'm on another planet with new quests in my quest log but no explanation of what on earth I'm doing. It's a choppy experience that makes the game seem very unfinished.

On the other hand, my consular/master is a juggernaut of destruction. It's much, much worse than KOTOR1, even. Paralyze 10 enemies, hack them up, repeat. With a wisdom of over 40, nobody resists my force powers. Not that I'm complaining or anything. It's still great fun--and it will be even better when the patch comes out. I might save my replay of the game for after the patch, though.

 

How did you get a wisdom of 40?

 

Artifacts, implants, many level-ups... I suppose it's not that surprising, really. If you can get to level 30+, why not?

 

Not to mention if you got a Charisma of 40 instead you could likely use whatever force powers you want no matter your alignment...

I'm not sure I like the upgrade system in this game. Very flexible and powerful but I think I prefer the simplicity of the last one instead of the monstrous possibilities here.

 

"Monstrous possibilities" is a good description of the game in general. The number of choices in dialogue, feat/power/skill development, and ways to handle a quest is quite overwhelming. I like it, but there is definitely a different feel to the game than KOTOR1.

As to attributes, the game now provides all manner of gear that gives bonuses to wisdom, charisma, and intelligence. The "CHARNAME" Crystal, for example, gave me massive boosts and I even forgot to upgrade it before the end of the game. Also, the lightside mastery bonus for a consular is +3 wisdom, and for a master it's also +3 wisdom, and the two bonuses stack. I think my wisdom at the end of the game was 37 with gear, 42 with Force Enlightenment active (which was always), and I was only level 28. If you were to take your character to the xp cap, it might kill all the fun in the game--although of course I'm going to try for it on my next run.

Anyway, I beat the game and quite liked it. Now to plan my replay...probably with a patch installed.

And just in case anyone has looked at XBOX reviews or walkthroughs of the game, you should know that dexterity-based characters work just fine on the PC version. I had a defense of 58 without even really trying, and nothing could hit me at the end of the game. Of course, when they did hit me it did 50-100 damage, but that was ok--I'd just paralyze the enemies, heal up, and beat them to death.