Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is a Roleplaying game originally for the Microsoft Xbox, and later released for PCs running Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. The game was developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts in 2003. A sequel, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was released a year later in December 2004 from a different company, Obsidian Entertainment.

Set about 4000 years before A New Hope, Knights of the Old Republic covers the era just after that of the Tales of the Jedi comics, the time of the ancient Old Republic.

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 dialogue choices to major plot decisions, aligned to the light or dark side of the Force.

Opening text crawl
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

Four thousand years before

the rise of the Galactic

Empire, the Republic verges

on collapse. DARTH MALAK,

last surviving apprentice of

the Dark Lord Revan, has

unleashed an invincible

Sith armada upon an

unsuspecting galaxy.

Crushing all resistance,

Malak's war of conquest

has left the Jedi Order

scattered and vulnerable

as countless Knights fall in

battle, and many more

swear allegiance to the new

Sith Master.

In the skies above the Outer

Rim world of Taris, a Jedi

battle fleet engages the

forces of Darth Malak in a

desperate effort to halt the

Sith's galactic domination....

Plot summary
After a battle with the Sith, a lone soldier on the Endar Spire, a Republic vessel carrying an important Jedi passenger, managed to reach an escape pod with decorated war hero Carth Onasi. After crash landing on the the city-world of Taris, Carth managed to drag the injured soldier away from the wreckage and to an abandoned apartment on the Upper City. The soldier was unconcious for a few days, having nightmares and visions all the while.

When the soldier awoke, Carth informed him that they needed to locate and rescue the Jedi Bastila Shan, whose escape pod had crash landed elsewhere on the planet and was missing. Bastila was key to the Republic's war effort against the Sith due to her unique talent of Battle Meditation, a Force power that allowed her to instil an entire army with confidence and spirit, while discouraging and confusing the enemy. They set out to find Bastila, proceeding cautiously on the now Sith occupied world.

The soldier and Carth eventually learned that the escape pod had landed in the Lower City of Taris, a rough area below the priviledged tower-top Upper Taris. There, competing swoop gangs, the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkars were in a fierce gang war. As access to the Lower Sector was barred by the Sith, the soldier had to disguise himself as a Sith soldier to gain entry.

In the Lower City, the soldier and Carth went to the Hidden Beks hideout, where they learned from the Beks leader Gadon Thek that the leader of the rival Vulkar gang, Brejik, had taken Bastila captive and planned to offer her as a prize for the winner of the upcoming swoop race. Gadon agreed to sponser the soldier as the Beks rider if he could retrieve a prototype swoop-bike accelerator that had been stolen from them by the Vulkars. In order to get to the back entrance to the Vulkar Base, Gadon told them to seek out the Twi'lek girl Mission Vao and her Wookiee friend Zaalbar, who were supposed to be in the Undercity of Taris, the lowest level of the city where those who had committed crime were sentences to live in exile.

In the Undercity, Mission ran to the soldier and Carth, telling them that Zaalbar had been captured by Gamorean slavers while they were exploring the Undercity. Mission agreed to help them into the Vulkar base if they would help her find Zaalbar. Eventually, they managed to rescue Zaalbar from the slavers, and the former pledged a Wookiee life-debt to the soldier for rescuing him.

Mission then led the soldier into the Vulkar base, where they managed to retrieve the accelerator, which they then returned to Gadon and the Beks. At the swoop race the next day, the soldier managed to win the race, but Brejik backed out on the deal at the last moment. Just then, Bastila managed to break free of the cage she had been held in, and she and the soldier killed Brejik and several of his thugs.

The crew were looking for a way to get off the planet through the Sith blockade when a message came for them that a certain Mandalorian mercenary named Canderous Ordo wanted to speak with them at the Cantina. Canderous proposed that they steal the Ebon Hawk, a freighter belonging to his employer, the Exchange boss Davik Kang. But first, they would need the passcodes to get through the blockade, and the only ones he knew of were in the Military Base. To get into this, the soldier would have to purchase a special droid that Davik had had programmed with the entry codes to the base, T3-M4.

With T3's help, they managed to get the passcodes from the the base. Canderous then took the soldier and one of his companions to Davik's place, where he passed the soldier off as a potential candidate for employment with the Exchange. After opening the security gates to the hanger, the three went to get the Ebon Hawk and escape. At the same time, Malak had just ordered his fleet to destroy Taris completely in order to prevent Bastila from escaping. The soldier and his companions were confronted by Davik and the bounty hunter Calo Nord in the hanger; they killed Davik, and left Nord under a pile of rubble that had fallen on him during the Sith assult. After gathering all of his companions, the soldier took the Ebon Hawk and escaped the Sith onslaught with Bastila safe and sound.

Locations and characters
The game is played over numerous planets in the Star Wars universe:
 * Dantooine
 * Kashyyyk
 * Korriban
 * Manaan
 * Rakata Prime (referred to as "Unknown World")
 * Sleheyron (cut)
 * Taris
 * Tatooine

Players also visit other locations:
 * Ebon Hawk
 * Endar Spire
 * Leviathan
 * Star Forge
 * Yavin Station (PC only/ or downloaded from Xbox Live)

Along the way the player meets a large number of characters that join their party:
 * Bastila Shan
 * Carth Onasi
 * Canderous Ordo
 * HK-47
 * Jolee Bindo
 * Juhani
 * Mission Vao
 * T3-M4
 * Zaalbar

Continuity
Set shortly after the Tales of the Jedi comic books from Dark Horse, BioWare designed the game around this little-documented period in order to have more conceptual and artistic freedom. This means the game has little resemblance in appearance and aesthetics to the classic Star Wars games of the classic Galactic Civil War era.

Knights of the Old Republic took a rather ambitious approach towards previously established continuity. Not least among these were the filling-in of Galactic history, moving the "ancient" look of comics set in a similar time period slightly towards 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. Also, it may have explained the unlikely event of parallel evolution (that is, the Star Wars universe being populated largely by humanoids) by having a Sand People historian remark on the player's similarity to the ancients of their people, kidnapped by the Rakata aeons ago. It also invented a few Sith Lords of the old Sith Empire, and hinted that they may have had access to the Star Forge. In order to emphasize its place in continuity, there are references to known heroes' possible ancestors and future events (like a possible first contact with the Yuuzhan Vong).

As the game is set during a period long before the familiar films, the creators modelled their ‘universe’ on many characters and details from the movies, as well as including mentions of potential ancestors for film characters. This was done in order to keep the ‘Star Wars’ feel, and not create just ‘’another space RPG’’. Examples of this include the modelling of characters, such as Darth Malak, a towering Dark Lord of the Sith who speaks through a vocabulator due to an old injury, on Darth Vader, and the inclusion of wookiee and droid companions as part of the player’s party. Additionally, many scenes have direct analogues in the films, such as the capture of the main character’s freighter smuggling vessel (Ebon Hawk/Millennium Falcon) by tractor beam, followed by a prison break and loss of a character on board a vessel (Leviathan/Death Star) of the enemy empire.

New continuity
As an RPG, ‘’Knights of the Old Republic’’ inevitably produced a huge amount of new continuity, much of which is made up of minor characters that have no great impact upon the plot.

New characters
{|-
 * valign=top|

A

 * Adrenas
 * Ajuur
 * Kel Algwinn
 * Anglu
 * Jolan Aphett
 * Toll Apkar
 * Kandon Ark
 * Lur Arka Sulas
 * Ashana
 * valign=top|

B

 * B'ree
 * Bacca
 * Zoriis Bafka
 * Yuthura Ban
 * Bandon
 * Belaya
 * Billan
 * Jolee Bindo
 * Nayama Bindo
 * Bochaba
 * Bolook
 * Brejik
 * Bwa'lass
 * Nilko Bwaas
 * valign=top|

C

 * C8-42
 * Galduran Calrissian
 * Chorrawl
 * Chuundar
 * Christya
 * Gorton Colu
 * valign=top|

D

 * D-X12a
 * D-X12b
 * D-X12c
 * D-X12d
 * Matton Dasol
 * Dehno
 * Dern
 * Dia
 * Doba
 * Forn Dodonna
 * Dorak
 * Mika Dorin
 * Ivan Dragos
 * Duan
 * Deadeye Duncan
 * Duula
 * valign=top|

E

 * Elinda
 * Elora
 * Esala
 * valign=top|

F
{|-
 * Cassus Fett
 * Sharina Fizark
 * Ward Fizark
 * Fodo
 * Komad Fortuna
 * Freyyr
 * Zelka Forn
 * }
 * valign=top|

G

 * Veren Gal
 * Eli Gand
 * Gar
 * Garn
 * Garouk
 * Gelrood
 * Gendar
 * Gerlon Two-Fingers
 * Gjarshi
 * Gluupor
 * Gorwooken
 * Grann
 * Grrrwahrr
 * Handon Guld
 * Gurke
 * Gurney
 * valign=top|

H

 * Hasek
 * Forii Haxa
 * Hendar
 * Hester
 * Hijata
 * HK-47
 * Jamoh Hogra
 * Greeta Holda
 * Holdan
 * Tulak Hord
 * Hortath
 * Ben Hu'al
 * Hudrow
 * Hulas
 * Elassa Huros
 * valign=top|

I

 * Ice
 * Igear
 * Ignus
 * Ilsa
 * Ixgil
 * Yortal Ixlis
 * Iziz
 * valign=top|

J

 * Ja'Gatcha
 * Jaarak
 * Jagi
 * Jarg
 * Javyar
 * Hukta Jax
 * Jergan
 * Jhosa
 * Jon
 * Caal Jordan
 * Juhani
 * valign=top|

K

 * Karal Kaar
 * Kadir
 * Jurgan Kalta
 * Davik Kang
 * Davin Kast
 * Lurze Kesh
 * Kni
 * Kota
 * Kraat
 * Kudos
 * valign=top|

L
{|-
 * Yuka Laka
 * Vrook Lamar
 * Largo
 * Adum Larp
 * Larrim
 * Lashowe
 * Gana Lavin
 * Zhar Lestin
 * Ll'awa
 * Loopa
 * Galon Lor
 * Tyvark Lowan
 * Luo
 * Rickard Lusoff
 * Luugro
 * Deesra Luur Jada
 * }
 * valign=top|

M

 * Malak
 * Malya
 * Marl
 * Ahlan Matale
 * Shen Matale
 * Casandra Mateil
 * Matrik
 * Elam Mattic
 * Louie Mattic
 * Thalia May
 * Firith Me
 * Mekel
 * Fodo Medoo
 * Mic'tunan'jus Orgu
 * Queedle Molto
 * Elise Montagne
 * Motta
 * valign=top|

N

 * Naleshekan
 * Janice Nall
 * Junix Nard
 * Narkal
 * Calder Nattic
 * Nemo
 * Niklos
 * Furko Nellis
 * Kono Nolan
 * Calo Nord
 * Nubassa
 * Raxsus Nuli
 * Shaela Nuur
 * valign=top|

O

 * Omeesh
 * Carth Onasi
 * Dustil Onasi
 * the One
 * Canderous Ordo
 * Orsaa
 * Ahita Othar
 * valign=top|

P

 * Ajunta Pall
 * Phirk
 * valign=top|

Q

 * Duron Qel-Droma
 * Quatra
 * Dorak Quinn
 * valign=top|

R
{|-
 * Redros
 * Reeza
 * Revan
 * Rilka
 * Yuka Rill
 * Rorworr
 * Rothrrrawr
 * Rukil
 * Rundil
 * }
 * valign=top|

S

 * Sami
 * Samnt
 * Sanasiki
 * Casus Sandral
 * Nurik Sandral
 * Rahasia Sandral
 * Guun Han Saresh
 * Sasha
 * Lyn Sekla
 * Selven
 * Nico Senvi
 * Shaardan
 * Shaelas
 * Shaleena
 * Bastila Shan
 * Helena Shan
 * Shasa
 * Shelkar
 * Sherruk
 * Sol'aa
 * Sslamoth
 * Bendak Starkiller
 * Sunry
 * Bib Surool
 * valign=top|

T

 * T'sllth
 * T3-H8
 * T3-M4
 * Tamlen
 * Suvam Tan
 * Tariga
 * Tela
 * Gadon Thek
 * Vandar Tokare
 * Tooka
 * Garm Totryl
 * Trewin
 * Twitch
 * valign=top|

U

 * Ujaa
 * Ujii
 * Gilthos Uksaris
 * Trask Ulgo
 * Jorak Uln
 * Uriah
 * Fazza Utral
 * Uzgak
 * valign=top|

V

 * Griff Vao
 * Mission Vao
 * Vek
 * Senni Vek
 * Marlena Venn
 * Tanis Venn
 * Dak Vesser
 * Andor Vex
 * Viglo
 * Vandar
 * valign=top|

W

 * Roland Wann
 * Janos Werka
 * Woorwill
 * Worrroznor
 * Uthar Wynn
 * valign=top|

Y
{|-
 * Gonto Yas
 * Crattis Yurkal
 * Kebla Yurt
 * Yusanis
 * }
 * valign=top|

Z
{|-
 * Zaalbar
 * Zaerdra
 * Zax
 * Zeena
 * Ziagrom
 * }
 * valign=top|

New sapient species

 * Dimean
 * Iridorian
 * Karakan
 * Paaerduag
 * Rakata
 * Selkath
 * valign=top|

New creatures

 * Brith
 * Deluvian fatworm
 * Firaxa
 * Gizka
 * Horn kath hound
 * Iriaz
 * Kath hound
 * Kinrath
 * Mykal
 * Orchana ray
 * Rakghoul
 * rotgrub
 * Shyrack
 * Tach
 * Terentatek
 * Uller
 * Wraid
 * valign=top|

New droid models

 * assault droid Mark I
 * assault droid Mark II
 * assault droid Mark IV
 * Czerka Corporation protocol droid
 * HK protocol droid
 * K-X12 probe droid
 * security/maintenance droid
 * patrol droid Mark I
 * Sith security hovercam
 * submersible probe droid
 * T3 astromech
 * utility droid
 * war droid-series
 * valign=top|

New organizations
{|-
 * Exchange
 * Genoharadan
 * Infinite Empire
 * Sith Empire of the Star Forge
 * }
 * valign=top|

New planets

 * Althir
 * Bondar
 * Daminia
 * Deralia
 * Erai
 * Erai III
 * Fyrth asteroid fields
 * Malachor V
 * Manaan
 * Ordo
 * Phemis
 * Rakata Prime
 * Sigil
 * Sleheyron
 * Sorjus
 * Talravin
 * Taris
 * Transel
 * Ukatis
 * valign=top|

New vehicles and vessels

 * Ebon Hawk
 * elevator basket
 * G-wing light shuttle
 * Interdictor-class Star Cruiser
 * Landspeeders (ancient models)
 * |Manaan Manaan sub
 * military droid carrier
 * Republic assault fighter
 * Republic capital ship
 * Republic cruiser
 * Republic fighter
 * Republic escape pod
 * Sandcrawler (Czerka Corporation model)
 * Sith fighter
 * Sith freighter
 * Star Forge
 * Swoop (original model)
 * Yavin Station
 * }

Voice actors
A large number of voice actors were included in the game. The following voice actors are some of the most prominent:
 * Jennifer Hale - "Bastila Shan"
 * Raphael Sbarge - "Carth Onasi"
 * John Cygan - "Canderous Ordo"
 * Rafael Ferrer - "Darth Malak"
 * Kristoffer Tabori - "HK-47," additional voices
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - "Jolee Bindo"
 * Courtenay Taylor - "Juhani"
 * Cat Taber - "Mission Vao"
 * Ed Asner - "Master Vrook Lamar"
 * 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 Vao," "Vulkar Mechanic"
 * Tom Kane - "Master Vandar Tokare," "Rodian"
 * Frank Welker - "Sunry," "Jorak Uln," "Gar," "Swoop Fan," additional voices

Xbox Cheat Codes
(WARNING: Save before inputting these codes in the event of the game crashing or freezing.)
 * Low/High Pitch Voices - Insert another controller in the 4th socket. During the game, hold white for high-pitch voices (sounds like a mouse) and black for low pitch voices (sounds like Darth Vader).
 * Free-Roam Camera - Pause the game and select "Messages". Press X, Left, A, X. (Note: You can confirm if the code has been entered correctly by checking "Messages" > "Feedback". If it is correct, you'll see the message "Punch it, Chewie!) Once you exit out of the pause menu, press the Right Thumbstick to enter the Free-Roam Camera View.

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). It is also possible that, both because of his name and appearance, Jolee Bindo may be Korun, like Jedi Master Mace Windu.
 * 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 millennia later.
 * If the character chooses to explore Jolee Bindo's life, on one dialog, both the character and Jolee make a small parody of Limp Bizkit's song "Nookie" ("I did it all for the Wookiees" "The Wookiees?" "The Wookiees!")
 * The random name generator sometimes offers such last names as "Organa", Mothma and such first names as "Luke", Padme, "Lando" or "Wedge". Other names of note (not related to Star Wars) are "Homsar", a character from the Homestar Runner Flash cartoon series who mostly appears in Easter eggs and "Kerrek" a monster from the "Peasant's Quest" series.
 * The Upper City, Lower City and Under City on Taris, closely mirror the class seperation struggles in Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi classic Metropolis.
 * When you're on Tatooine and you go into the Czerka office, the Czerka woman will tell you something funny. When you have "Force Persuasion" or a high enough amount of Persuade, she will start talking about Czerka's plans to leave Tatooine and leave the Sandcrawlers behind too. If you ask what will happen to the enormous Crawlers, she sarcasticly says; "Who knows?, Maybe the Jawas will find a way to use 'em? Hehe...Yeah, like that's ever going to happen..." This is ofcourse referring to Episode IV, where Jawa's indeed use the Sandcrawlers and gives an explanation on how the Jawa's purchased the big machinery.

Cut content
While KotOR I does not have as much cut content as its sequel, KotOR II, it is still present. It features the planet Sleheyron (briefly mentioned in both games) and an alternate ending for a dark side female PC's romance with Carth, which the player could choose to kill Bastila and die on the Star Forge with Carth.

The existence of a cut planet can be also deduced from Rakatan computer terminals the player encounters on Dantooine. They mention six types of planet environment, and five of them correspond to planets where the Star Maps are located:


 * Arboreal: Kashyyyk
 * Barren: Korriban
 * Desert: Tatooine
 * Grassland: Dantooine
 * Oceanic: Manaan
 * Volcanic: Sleheyron (cut)

Two other cut-content from the game was the second level of the Vulkar Swoop Gang Base, where the player would have to disguise himself as a Vulkar to get through.

The other, took place on Manaan if the player beat Bendak Starkiller in the dueling ring on Taris Deadeye Duncan shows up in the docking area, telling how he escaped the destruction of Taris and asks if he can use the name Mysterious Stranger.

By enabling cheat codes in the game, the player has the option to wear an alternate version of Cassus Fett's armor not available via normal gameplay.

Some of this content, including the Deadeye Duncan encounter on Manaan, and the alternate Dark Side ending, can be restored in the form of community created addon modifications or "mods" for short.

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.

There are rumors about a third game, but it has not yet been officially announced.