Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

You may be looking for the 1994 graphic novel, Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic from Dark Horse Comics.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. The game was developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts in 2003.

It is set in the Star Wars universe about 4000 years before the Star Wars movie takes place, during the time of the Old Republic. The story begins as a Republic ship, the Endar Spire, is ambushed by Sith fighters while in orbit around the planet Taris. As the ship is destroyed, the player and Carth Onasi land on the planet in an escape pod. Their priority is to find Bastila Shan, a Jedi Knight with a unique power, her Battle Meditation.

This Force Power allows her to make fleets of ships perform at the maximum efficiency, countering every enemy move quickly and effectively. With her battle meditation, even a small Republic fleet could win over the incredible Sith armada. Without Bastila, the Republic won't stand a chance. And thus the player becomes embroiled in an epic story spanning seven worlds, from his humble beginnings on Taris to a final showdown against Malak, the Dark Lord of the Sith, whose end will determine the fate of the galaxy. Throughout the game, the player gains numerous companions (although only two can be in your party at once) and experiences many startling revelations.

KotOR is the first computer RPG set in the Star Wars universe. It uses the d20 System, from the 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. The game also allows the player to either be good (light) or evil (dark) using an alignment system that tracks actions, from simple word choice to major plot decisions, based on whether they are aligned to the light side of the force or the dark side.

Locations and characters
The game is played over numerous planets in the Star Wars universe:
 * Dantooine
 * Kashyyyk
 * Korriban
 * Manaan
 * Taris
 * Tatooine
 * Unknown World of the Rakata

Players also visit other locations:
 * Ebon Hawk
 * Endar Spire
 * Leviathan
 * Star Forge
 * Yavin space station

Along the way the player meets a large number of other characters, some of which can be directly controllable:
 * Bastila Shan
 * Carth Onasi
 * Canderous Ordo
 * HK-47
 * Jolee Bindo
 * Juhani
 * Mission Vao
 * T3-M4
 * Zaalbar

Other characters met along the way include:
 * Ajunta Pall
 * Calo Nord
 * Darth Bandon
 * Darth Malak
 * Davik Kang
 * Uthar Wynn
 * Yuthura Ban

Continuity
Knights of the Old Republic took a rather ambitious approach towards previously established continuity. Not least amongst these were the filling in of Galactic history, moving the 'ancient' look of comics set in a similar time period to the more 'modern' look of the movies, and greatly expanding the Exar Kun War to a devastating Galactic conflict.

Additionally, the game provided a full history of Tatooine, and also explained the origins of Kashyyyk’s ecosystem. It also invented a few Sith Lords of the old Sith Empire and hinted that they may have had access to the Star Forge.

Since the game is the first to take place in this little-documented period, it has little to resemble in appearance and esthetics to the classic Star Wars games of the classic Civil War era. However the creators modelled many characters and details from the movies in order to retain the familiar feeling and not make 'just another space RPG'. Examples include: Darth Malak/Darth Vader, Ebon Hawk/Millenium Falcon, Zaalbar/Chewbacca, Sith Infiltrators/TIE fighters, Swoop racing/Podracing, Vandar/Yoda, Pazaak/Sabacc, Sith/Imperials, Sith soldiers/Stormtroopers, T3-M4/R2-D2, protocol droids/C-3PO.

Voice actors
The following voice actors were used in the game:
 * Jennifer Hale - "Bastila Shan"
 * Raphael Sbarge - "Carth Onasi"
 * Rafeal Ferrer - "Darth Malak"
 * John Cygan - "Canderous Ordo"
 * Kristoffer Tabori - "HK-47," additional voices
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - "Jolee Bindo"
 * Courtenay Taylor - "Juhani"
 * Cat Taber - "Mission Vao"
 * Ed Asner - "Master Vrook Lamar"
 * Ethan Phillips - "Empire medical droid," "Krantian governor," "Royal grenade trooper"
 * Cam Clarke - "Sith Diplomat," "Kono Nolan," "Gate Guard Trewin," "Junior Czerka Scientist," "Sith Student," additional voices
 * Phil LaMarr - "Gadon Thek"
 * Robin Atkin Downes - "Mekel," "Griff," "Vulkar Mechanic"
 * Tom Kane - "Master Vandar Tokare," "Rodian"
 * Frank Welker - "Sunry," "Jorak Uln," "Gar," "Swoop Fan," additional voices

Trivia

 * The game mentions various characters that have ties to the original trilogy and could be interpreted as ancestors, including Galduran Calrissian (Lando Calrissian), Cassus Fett (Jango & Boba Fett), Komad Fortuna (Bib Fortuna), and Admiral Forn Dodonna (General Jan Dodonna).
 * The name Bendak Starkiller is an homage to the name originally chosen for Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
 * Bastila Shan's character was originally to be Vima Sunrider herself (a Jedi appearing in the Dark Horse Comics' "Tales of the Jedi" series). The name Bastila was originally meant for the Cathar Jedi character. Eventually, it was decided to create a different character rather than use Sunrider and the Cathar Jedi would be named Juhani.
 * Certain lines through out the game also pay homage to the original films: Mission Vao says, "I have a bad feeling about this" several times, referring to a line spoken repeatedly in the films. Additionally, the line "My name's [your character's name], I'm here to save you," is a homage to the line Luke Skywalker delivers when rescuing Princess Leia.
 * The quest "The Trouble with Gizka" is likely a reference to the Star Trek episode entitled "The Trouble with Tribbles". Also, HK-47's line "Dammit, master, I'm an assassination droid, not a dictionary!" is similar to Dr. McCoy's frequent catch-phrase from the series.
 * When the player is being tortured on the Leviathan and pressed to reveal the location of the Jedi base on Dantooine, a possible response is "Alderaan, they're on Alderaan". In Episode IV: A New Hope, Princess Leia lies that the Rebel Alliance base is on Dantooine to avoid Alderaan's destruction.
 * At one point in the game Canderous Ordo tells of a ship he once chased until it crossed the boundaries of the galaxy; he says that the ship looked like an asteroid and spat fireballs. This sounds very much like a Yuuzhan Vong vessel from the New Jedi Order that will return to invade the galaxy millenia later.

Critical reaction
The general critical response was enthusiastic. KotOR has won numerous awards, including Game Developers Choice Awards' best game of the year, BAFTA Games Awards' best Xbox game, and Interactive Achievement Awards for best console RPG and best computer RPG.

The game also won a Game Developers Choice Award for excellence in writing and for original character (HK-47) and an Interactive Achievement Award for best story/character development. Gamespot deemed the Xbox version of KotOR Best Xbox Game of 2003 and Best Role-Playing Game of 2003

Sequels
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was developed by a different studio, Obsidian Entertainment, using an improved version of the engine from the first game. It was released for Xbox in December, 2004 and PC in February, 2005.