Review - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, last month I discussed the 2003 game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Today, I'm taking a look at its 2004 sequel Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, as opposed to BioWare, The Sith Lords was not nearly as well received as its predecessor, but was still fairly entertaining to play. 

       Much like the original Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords has the player, who takes on the role of the Jedi Exile, choose their character class and gender. And, much like how Star Wars Legends canon set Revan as a Light Side male in the first game, the Jedi Exile, according to canon, is intended to be a Light Side female named Meetra Surik. However, it's entirely player's choice. Male or female, Jedi Guardian, Jedi Sentinel, or Jedi Consular, and of course the morality system setting up for either Light Side or Dark Side, and based on player choices. However, one new element is Influence. The Jedi Exile, through choices made in conversation, and increase or decrease influence over their allies. And, the higher the influence, the more likely they are to convince their allies to unlock latent Force sensitivity and become Jedi themselves. Cool. 

       So, the game opens with the Ebon Hawk, which looks like it took one hell of a beating, drifting into the Peragus asteroid field. The Exile is barely clinging to life in the medical room, while most everyone else aboard is dead or dying. The only hope of survival for the Ebon Hawk is T3-M4. And, by the way, the prologue section of fixing the Ebon Hawk and docking in the Peragus mining facility is skippable. But, the main game sees the Exile waking up in the medical lab in the Peragus mining facility. The mining droids are homicidal and most everyone in the facility is dead, with two exceptions: an elderly Jedi named Kreia, who was aboard the Ebon Hawk, and a prisoner named Atton Rand. The Exile teams up with the duo to investigate what happened at Peragus, and it's revealed that a droid, HK-50, was an assassin droid programmed to bring the Exile to an unknown individual. During the investigation, a Republic flagship, the Harbinger, docks with the Peragus facility, and much like in Peragus, most everyone aboard is dead. Well, everyone except a handful of Sith assassins, Sith troops, and a Sith Lord named Darth Sion. 

       Upon finding their way to the Ebon Hawk, albeit with Kreia losing a hand in a fight against Sion, the Exile and their companions, including T3, escape from Peragus as the Harbinger blows the place up. The next world the Ebon Hawk is sent to, only because it's the only planet in the astrogation charts from Peragus, is Telos, which was the home world of Revan's former companion Carth Onasi. Upon landing, the Exile and their companions are placed into temporary custody, and both the Ebon Hawk and T3 are impounded, while the Telos Security Force investigates what happened at Peragus. Luckily, it doesn't take long, and the TSF determines that the Exile wasn't at fault. However, a Republic cruiser called the Sojurn is en route to launch their own investigation. However, the Ebon Hawk never made it to impound, and is somewhere on the surface of Telos. 

        While at Citadel Station, the Exile is approached to help two groups involved with the Telos Restoration Project: the Ithorians, who seek to restore the planet to its original beauty, and Czerka Corporation, who wants to turn the planet into a destination resort for profit. Now, it's entirely up to the player which side they will help, but just know that helping the Ithorians gains Light Side points, while assisting Czerka gains Dark Side points. Regardless of which side the player helps, it ends the same way: the Exile is granted access to a shuttle to the Restoration Zone on the planet's surface, where they reunited with a fellow Mandalorian Wars veteran, a Zabrak mechanic named Bao-Dur, who agrees to help the Exile locate the Ebon Hawk. Upon reaching a compound currently under Czerka control, Bao-Dur discovers a power fluctuating in the polar region of Telos, which is where the Ebon Hawk was taken. 

         After fighting through an abandoned military base, where Czerka crew are dead and droids on the base are homicidal (sounds familiar), the Exile is able to locate a shuttle to reach a plateau in the polar region. But, the shuttle is shot down by a trio of HK-50 droids. Upon defeating the three killer droids, the Exile and their companions find a hidden training academy being run by a Jedi Master named Atris, who held onto the Exile's lightsaber... and has the Ebon Hawk and T3. Atris allows the Exile to reclaim the Ebon Hawk, and leave Telos with their companions. Back aboard the Ebon Hawk, T3 reveals that he downloaded a holo of the Exile's trial. And, it's in this trial where we see the other Jedi Masters that need to be located: Master Vrook (returning from the first game) on Dantooine, Master Vash on Korriban, Master Zez-Kai Ell on Nar Shaddaa, and Master Kavar on Onderon. So, we have destinations, and it's entirely player's choice which way the Exile chooses to go. Now, in the event the player chose a male for the Exile, an Echani handmaiden named Brianna joins the Ebon Hawk crew after the player leaves Telos. 

       Real quick, but there's something to note about one of the major characters in the game. After the Exile reaches a certain point in their alignment, between Light Side or Dark Side, this will trigger an individual showing up on the Ebon Hawk: Visas Marr, a Miraluka woman who survived an onslaught against her home world of Katarr, and was taken in as an acolyte of a Sith Lord named Darth Nihilus, who along with Darth Sion is also part of the Sith Triumvirate. However, upon her defeat, Visas switches allegiances and joins the Exile aboard the Ebon Hawk, provided the player spared her instead of killing her. In a way, Visas Marr's role in the game being dependent on player choice is similar to Juhani in the first game. Now, if the player reaches that alignment point on Telos, Visas will show up on the next planet the Exile goes to. 

       On Dantooine, it's revealed that a lot has changed since Malak bombarded the place and decimated the Jedi Enclave. The Enclave is a ruin, with only the sublevels accessible for the time being. Also, a sort of self-government called Khoonda has set up shop in what was once the home of the Matale family. The leadership of Khoonda allows the Exile to journey into the sublevels of the Enclave to locate Master Vrook. However, they instead locate a Disciple named Mical, who serves the Republic. Also, Vrook was taken by mercenaries to the crystal caves, where the Exile also collects a very special kyber crystal for a lightsaber. After freeing Master Vrook, the Exile is given a choice to either aid the mercenary leader Azkul in overthrowing Khoonda (bad idea), or helping Khoonda mount a proper defense and drive off Azkul and his mercenaries (good idea). And, it's also up to the player to speak to Vrook and convince him to reassemble the lost Jedi (good idea), or kill him for revenge (bad idea). Also, if the player chose a female for the Exile, the Disciple joins the Ebon Hawk crew after meeting the Exile in the sublevels of the Jedi Enclave. 

        On Nar Shaddaa, the Exile traverses to the Refugee Sector and helps stop the refugees from being muscled by both the crime syndicate known as the Exchange and a group of thugs from Serroco. After helping the refugees, a Quarren working with the Exchange invites the Exile into a meeting in a bar that is toxic to humans. Luckily, Kreia teaches the Exile a technique that can help them from inhaling the toxic fumes in the bar. After fighting through many foes, the Exile is taken aboard Goto's yacht, where he asks the Exile to help the Republic. The Exile's companions arrive to mount a rescue, and they make their escape after deactivating the yacht's cloaking mechanism, thus allowing it to be destroyed. Goto has his communication droid, G0-T0, join the Exile, along with one of two bounty hunters based on player alignment: a human named Mira for Light Side or Gray players, or the Wookiee Hanharr for Dark Side players. Finally, the Exile reunites with Master Zez-Kai Ell, who agrees to travel to Dantooine to help restore the Jedi. 

        Unfortunately, before reaching Onderon, the Ebon Hawk is shot down by the fleet of Onderon, and Atton is forced to land on the jungle moon of Dxun, where a Mandalorian camp has been established. The leader of the camp is Revan's old friend Canderous Ordo, who has since become known as Mandalore the Preserver. Canderous agrees to help the Exile reach the city of Iziz on Onderon, but only after proving themselves to the Mandalorians first by completing a slew of tasks. After completing enough tasks to impress Canderous, he agrees to take the Exile and one of their companions to Iziz via his personal shuttle. 

       However, Canderous' contact, a doctor with contacts in the Royal Palace, has been arrested on murder charges. After clearing his name, and collecting his holodiscs, the doctor contacts Kavar, who arranges a meet in the cantina. Unfortunately, Colonel Tobin, loyal lapdog to General Vaklu, arrives, and orders his men to kill the Exile, while giving chase to Kavar personally. After fighting their way back to the port, the Exile is returned to Dxun, where Atton reveals the Ebon Hawk is repaired and ready to go, and Canderous joins the crew. Now, something fun that the player can do is meet with groups of Mandalorians on Dantooine and Nar Shaddaa, and have Canderous convince said Mandalorians to join the growing clan on Dxun. 

        Sadly, there isn't much on Korriban aside from local beasts, Sith assassins, and Darth Sion. Master Vash, sadly, has been murdered by Sion and his assassins, and they attempt to kill the Exile, but the Exile escapes. Sion, looking on, allows them this reprieve, and swears that he and the Exile will fight sometime soon. 

        After a while, T3 receives a transmission from Dxun: Master Kavar has made contact and needs help. Vaklu and Tobin are leading an all-out assault against Queen Talia, and a Sith Force has gathered in the Tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun. So, the Exile and their companions must divide and conquer, with a small group of companions eliminating the Sith threat, while the Exile rides in a Basilisk War Droid to the battle in Iziz. And, of course, the player can choose who to help: Vaklu (bad idea) or Talia (good idea). If the Exile sides with Vaklu, Kavar dies. However, if the Exile sides with Talia, Kavar will join the other Jedi gathering on Dantooine. 

        Once the Jedi Masters are either gathered, eliminated, or some combination of the two, it's time to return to Dantooine and visit the restored Jedi Enclave. With the upper sections now accessible, the Exile walks inside with their companions, and Kreia sits as the Exile goes in search of the truth from those who exiled them from the Jedi Order. The reason the Exile was cut off from their connection to the Force was due to the final battle at Malachor V, where a doomsday weapon built by Bao-Dur called a Mass Shadow Generator caused so much death, the pain was almost too deafening for a Force wielder, so they cut off their connection in order to survive. With that, a wound in the Force came about. Also, the Exile is able to make Force bonds with those who are Force-sensitive, and this latent skill is being taught to this new generation of Sith threatening the galaxy. The Masters feel that as long as the Exile exists, they are a threat that could mean the death of the Force. So, the punishment of exile still stands, but with one difference: the Exile will be cut off from the Force by the Masters. But, Kreia forces them to feel what the Exile felt at Malachor V, and they all perish as a result of their reliance on the Force. 

      What follows is a return trip to the Polar region of Telos, where a confrontation with Atris is long overdue. Atris has been tainted by the Dark Side, and she must be stopped. After defeating the fallen Jedi Master, the Exile has one more confrontation to oversee: one with Darth Nihilus, who threatens Citadel Station. After fighting to reclaim Citadel Station, it's off to the Ravager with Visas and Canderous. And the party, joined by Canderous' Mandalorians, has two goals: defeat Darth Nihilus and plant several proton cores at key weak points on the Ravager to destroy the ship. When both goals are met, and Visas finally coming to terms with what happened to her home world and her people, the Sith threat against Telos is ended, and the Exile meets with a Republic Admiral (and based on a conversation about Revan earlier in the game, that Admiral could very well be Carth), who thanks the Exile for helping save Telos. (In addition, if the Admiral is Carth, he will have a discussion with the Exile about Revan, and will also have a brief discussion with Bastila about why Revan left). But, with Telos safe, it's off to the final showdown on the ravaged planet Malachor V, which is teeming with toxic vents and dangerous Storm Beasts, as well as crashed Republic ships from the Mandalorian Wars. 

       Also deep below the surface of Malachor V is the Trayus Academy, which is an old Sith training ground where the remaining two members of the Sith Triumvirate have gathered: Darth Sion and Kreia, who has taken up her former identity of Darth Traya. The Exile traverses the Sith academy and confronts Sion one final time. While this is going on, the Exile's allies are in the midst of a few things. For instance Mira (Light Side) or Hanharr (Dark Side) is having one final confrontation with the other, while Bao-Dur has his remote traverse through the crags of Malachor V to reactivate the Mass Shadow Generator, which will finish off the cursed planet. 

        With Sion convinced to let go of the Force, and finally die, the Exile faces off against Darth Traya, upon which an epic clash occurs. And, upon Darth Traya's defeat, the Exile learns a few things. For instance, with the Light Side ending, it's revealed that the Exile's allies, some of whom the Exile trained in the ways of the Jedi, were in fact the true Lost Jedi, and they will be the ones to rebuild the Jedi Order in the Exile's honor. Mira, Visas, Disciple/Handmaiden, and Atton would be the ones to restore and redefine the Jedi Order. Canderous would continue to lead the Mandalorians as requested by Revan, Bao-Dur and the droids would have an uncertain future...save for T3, who would help guide the Exile on one final journey: to follow in Revan's path to the Unknown Regions to confront the True Sith Empire. 

         So, while The Sith Lords has a much bigger story when compared to the original Knights of the Old Republic, the gameplay hasn't changed much between games. Force powers are similar, as are melee and blaster attacks, with a few new additions to Force powers, such as Battle Meditation, Force Enlightenment (for Light Side players), and Force Crush (for Dark Side players). Also, player choices are much more prevalent in this game when compared to the original Knights of the Old Republic. I already mentioned how the choice of gender/Force alignment can affect the overall party, but there's other bits in the story that are affected. For instance, on Nar Shaddaa, there's an entire side mission about finding a new dancing girl for Vogga the Hutt, so as to put Vogga to sleep to slip some alcohol into a drinking urn for his hounds, and the alcohol puts the hounds to sleep, allowing the player to get into a vault of goods in Vogga's hideout. Now, if the Exile is male, then it's down to either Mira or the Handmaiden to dance for Vogga, but if the Exile is female, then the Exile can dance for Vogga instead. 

         One major new addition is Character Influence. This feature allows the Exile's companions to have equal alignment to the Exile, and can make it more possible for the Exile to persuade certain companions into becoming Jedi themselves. For instance, enough influence can convince Atton and Mira to become Jedi Sentinels, Bao-Dur and the Handmaiden to become  Jedi Guardians, and the Disciple to become a Jedi Consular. The only companions that cannot become Force users are the droids, Canderous, and Hanharr. And, there are three droids: T3-M4, G0-T0, and HK-47. As for the latter, there's a fetch quest in The Sith Lords that has the Exile collect four components to restore HK-47: the HK vocabulator, the HK control cluster, the HK processor, and the HK combat chassis. Collect all four and install them, and HK-47 is back, and joins the crew. 

       A major upgrade in The Sith Lords by comparison to the original Knights of the Old Republic comes from the roster of Jedi attire and lightsaber colors. By comparison to the original game, the Jedi robes are more in line with their designs from the Prequel film trilogy, and there are more lightsaber color crystals to choose from. For instance, there are lightsaber color crystals such as blue, yellow, green, silver, orange, red, violet, viridian, and cyan. Also, the variety of Jedi robes include such variants as Jedi robes, Padawan robes, Baran Do Novice robes, Norris robes, Gray Jedi robes, and Dark Jedi/Padawan robes, just to name a handful. 

        I also liked how the game showcases new worlds such as Peragus, Telos, Nar Shaddaa, Onderon, Dxun, and Malachor V, as well as returning to Dantooine and Korriban, and seeing how the events of Revan's visits to both worlds during Knights of the Old Republic had an adverse effect on both. Seeing that the death of Uthar Wynn led to a destabilization of the Sith Academy on Korriban, to the point where it's now abandoned and the Dreshdae settlement no longer exists, is fascinating, and seeing Dantooine attempt to recover from Malak's attack on the planet, having salvage teams traverse the sublevels of the Jedi Enclave, and the locals establishing a form of government in the former home of the Matale family, was also fascinating. But, I think that the first game just had a more fascinating variety of worlds with the likes of Tattooine, Kashyyyk, and Manaan. Still, I enjoyed the many worlds in this game, as well. 

       The voice cast in the game is absolutely fantastic, with some of my favorites including the likes of Nicky Katt as Atton, Emily Berry as Mira, Greg Ellis as the Disciple, and Kelly Hu as Visas Marr. Daran Norris as G0-T0 was certainly interesting, and it was really cool to get the returns of John Cygan as Canderous, Kristoffer Tabori as HK-47 and HK-50, Rafael Sbarge as Carth, and Jennifer Hale as Bastila. As for the villains, both Louis Mellis as Darth Sion and Sara Kestelman as Darth Traya were a very different breed of evil, while Darth Nihilus (who had no voice) was utter nightmare fuel. There were plenty other voice talents, with a few notable mentions including Ed Asner as Master Vrook, Grey DeLisle as the Handmaiden, and so forth, but there are too many to mention. 

        Unfortunately, and this is just me, but I think that the roster of villains is a bit too high. Aside from the main trio of Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Traya, there's also the likes of Azkul, General Vaklu, Colonel Tobin, and the various members of the Exchange and their many bounty hunters. For the most part, the planetary villains are all disconnected, and have no influence on each other, but their respective defeats do have a hand in whether or not the Khoonda militia or the Onderon loyalists show up to offer aid during the Defense of Citadel Station in the closing acts of the game. 

         Also, The Sith Lords is notorious for having a ton of content removed. For instance, there were intended to be interactions between HK-47 and the multiple HK-50 units out there, and there was supposed to be a segment in the HK factory located beneath the military complex in the Telos Restoration Zone, as well as other interactions and moments. But, to meet the release deadline, much of these elements were removed from the game. Luckily, for the PC version of The Sith Lords, there is a Restored Content Mod that reintroduces these cut elements. Unfortunately, the planned release of this Mod was cancelled for the Nintendo Switch version, as Aspyr, the game company responsible for the Nintendo Switch remasters of the two Knights of the Old Republic games, no longer has ownership of the title. 

       But, I will say that, in spite of that fact, I did enjoy playing through The Sith Lords. While I will always believe that the original Knights of the Old Republic is the overall better game, the sequel is still really enjoyable. The idea of a Jedi Exile traversing the galaxy looking for answers behind their exile, convincing former Jedi Masters to reconvene, and assembling a group of allies and helping them on their own Jedi journeys, was definitely interesting. But, it's definitely an overall downgrade from its acclaimed predecessor. 

        I would like to take a moment to mention that Nicky Katt, who provided the voice of Atton Rand in the game, tragically passed away back in April of this year. In addition to his multiple acting roles in film and television, his performance in this game was truly memorable, and he is genuinely a talent that will be missed. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys in the next review.