Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic is a game of legendary status. Created in the early 2000s, it became a breakthrough hit for its developer, Bioware, and was the first successful attempt at creating a computer role-playing game set in the Star Wars Universe. The game is a cult classic by right and is still highly popular among fans.
The core gameplay is that of a third-person RPG with WASD moving mechanics and a camera rotating horizontally. Today this seems very obsolete, but back in the day an RPG that feels like a shooter was a new thing. Combat and other actions are performed by clicking on objects and people and selecting available options from context menus. It's a neat, simple and effective interface combining action and thought. Unfortunately, unlike the interface, the game's graphics now look horrendous. Time has not been kind to low-polygon models with jerky limited animations. But that is to be expected after a decade and a half of technical progress. Despite visual shortcomings, the role-playing system is still very nice, based on classic tabletop rules, but modified to fit the style of Star Wars. You can build very different characters based on class, skills and abilities.
Of course, no one would play this game today for graphics or gameplay. But the story is a whole different matter. The game is considered one of the greatest examples of Star Wars material beyond the original trilogy of films. The characters, the quests, the adventure - Bioware managed to capture the essence of what makes Star Wars enjoyable. Saying more would be a spoiler, since even now people who haven't played the game should have a full enjoyable experience. And if you haven't played this game, you are not a very good Star Wars fan, indeed.
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