In 2003, BioWare brought the world a breath of fresh air with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The title quickly became the best and most talked about RPG of the year and a great addition to the long line of varied Star Wars games. Oddly enough, only a year afterwards the Xbox has been given a follow up, developed by new company Obsidian. Fans of the original game should not fret though; when playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords you can't tell that the title has actually switched developers. It is heavily aimed at fans of the original and stays very close to it, even bringing a number of the existing faults along for the ride.

Like the first game, Sith Lords takes place 1000 years before any of the happenings of the famous films, though this time you play a different character who has forgotten their Jedi past. Taking place not too long after the original, the introduction informs you that, after a battle with the Sith, almost all of the Jedis have been wiped out (funny how history repeats itself!) You're one of the remaining few Jedis and you can't even conjure up the memories or force abilities. From here it is up to you if you want to remain on the path of the Jedi or join the Sith.

From the start you're presented with some almost intimidating menus full of options for customising your character. If you are not familiar with the original title then this could seem very overwhelming, yet the game does a good job of trying to clue you in on everything, with helpful displays here and there (it continues this well into the game, even telling you what various buttons do the first time you push them). The menus all manage to feel a bit cluttered and unappealing, making first impressions not so good. Upon completing the set up of your new warrior, you're taken to a prologue, where you control a droid in a ship on its last legs, somewhere in the galaxy. The prologue does a good job of introducing the mechanics of the game, showing you how everything works; if you're already familiar with the first game you can simply skip this section at any time.

Once you get into the main game, fans of the first title will feel right at home, perhaps too much so. It's only been a year since the release of the last title and somehow this game is every bit as long and compelling, though very similar at the same time. The main gameplay uses the same semi-turn-based battles but the real highlight of Sith Lords, for me, is the great conversations and interaction you have with other characters and deciding what direction to lead you and your party in. The decisions you make along your illustrious journey will not just affect you; they also influence your party members as well.

If the first game just wasn't your cup of tea then this one will probably be no different, however those who did find enjoyment in KOTOR will no doubt like Sith Lords as well, though the amount of things that remain unchanged may catch some players by surprise. The main story will take between 30 or 40 hours each time through and there are plenty of engaging story elements along the way, as well as great Star Wars universe areas to visit. The story itself is about on par with that of the original, though some may not find the conclusion worthy of the build up the game creates for it. Still, the experience of playing through the game, interacting with all the characters and taking part in the epic RPG battles is worth the playing for and is the main attraction. Some of the dialogue bits are incredibly fun and engaging, sometimes you'll even find yourself struggling with the choices and questioning the morals of some decisions. One of the best aspects of the game and its predecessor, indeed perhaps the biggest selling point, is the decisions you can make and ultimately if you decide to go the way of the Jedi or the Sith.

If you don't like RPGs, don't be fooled by this game; it isn't a third person action game. The battles are all very RPG based, using skill levels and a somewhat turn-based system. The levelling up system can be very deep and you'll need to carefully decide what abilities and skills to take on when fine tuning your character. A lot of strategy and quick thinking is involved, however you have the ability to pause the action and pick between items, enemies and even tell your party members what to do. For the most part, the gameplay is very similar to the original Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, which was reviewed in 2003 by our own Geoff Holland and is worth taking a look at for a more in depth description of the game mechanics. Some players may have issues with how the game looks and works at times, especially in battles. Characters rarely react appropriately to the attacks that are dealt upon them and it all looks a bit silly at times, but then again, it's not trying to be an action game, it's an RPG and a great one at that.

A few twists from the original game are found in the form of new weapons, armour, items and characters that are almost all completely new. New abilities and force powers await; you can now make your character incredibly strong and nearly unbeatable using the prestige classes, which are extensions to the classes from the first Knights, thus allowing you to become stronger than you ever could in that game. Of course, the light and dark sides both have different abilities and ways to go with, and players who absolutely love the game will find a lot of enjoyment out of replaying and going in a different direction.

Although you find new things constantly in The Sith Lords, you can now also create new items using the labs or by upgrading all of your equipment. You won't need to do so very often but this is a very welcome addition, as is the ability to directly influence your party members, as mentioned earlier. You can lie to them or be honest, either way you'll want to persuade them to spill the beans on their past and other things that further the storylines. It's a nice addition that is similar to how you would persuade civilians in the last game and it's very interesting to see how they react to you and your influences.

One interesting part of Sith Lords is that often throughout the battle, the game switches to one of your companions to help out on the adventure, so you'll be playing as various characters throughout the game instead of simply your own main creation. Be prepared to play as weaker characters and not always be completely dominating with your built-up warrior though, since you won't always be able to use him. In the end it works well from a storytelling standpoint.

Presentation wise, I have to say I think this game falls a little flat. The menus don't look particularly good and may even scare off new players early in the game, and while the loading and saving screens look nice, loading can often take a bit of time and saving even goes into a separate screen; it doesn't take long but it would have been nice if it simply did this instantly. The game seems to oddly jump between cut-scenes at times too, which isn't that big a problem, nor is the odd mixing of the music which suddenly changes without notice, but it puts you off slightly.

The graphics may have actually managed to not be as good as the last title's oddly enough, but since this is a grand RPG it is forgivable. However, the frame rate drops horribly down to the single digits at times, which is surprising given that the graphics aren't really that spectacular. It doesn't happen too much but when it does, it is incredibly distracting, especially when trying to rotate the camera and partake in battle. The camera may also give some players a hard time in the beginning, as it likes to slide around after you're done adjusting it (when you let off the thumbstick the camera briefly continues to move in the direction you were moving it.) A game of this size and calibre should have lovely graphics and a smooth frame rate to match, however the light saber effects later on in the game are pretty great (as they should be; the light saber is a huge Star Wars selling point!) [Fwooom, schwooom, czxzxk! If you only knew the power of the dark side! Ed]

Fortunately the sound fares a bit better than the graphics do. The epic soundtrack you've come to expect from Star Wars is back, as well as some superb voice acting from Sara Kestelman, Greg Ellis (X-Men Legends, Red Faction 2, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth), John Crygan returns as Mandalore (he was Canderous Ordo in the original game), Edward Asner who returns as Master Vrook and dozens of other great voices. The top-notch voice acting makes the conversation sequences even better and more enjoyable. Though most of the sound effects have probably all been heard before in the long line of Star Wars games and movies, they aren't bad by any means. The sound really lives up to the high standard set by the original Knights and remains one of the best aspects of the game, it's a shame the graphics don't really match it.

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II - The Sith Lords is, as you have probably guessed, loaded with tons of replay value even after you've completed the monstrous game once. Hundreds of different options and paths await; for some it'll even be worth it to hear the different voices and responses made when you select different options. If you fell in love with Knights you'll instantly feel right at home and though some technology enhancements, better graphics and maybe a little more of an overall improvement to the structure would have been nice, Sith Lords lives up to the original in record time and captures what made the first one a classic, perhaps sticking to it just a little too closely.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).