IGN Review!

[D_&_C]

Video Review

 

Note - I think you have to be an IGN Insider member to be able to get the video review.

 

But I have it on my hard drive . . .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

is it possible for you to host it under yousendit or a similar program? or is that not allowed?

[The Omnifarious Host]

Ok this was a review that we won't be able to fully appreciate untill we play the game. It's just that simple. After we play the game we might not like this review at all or we just might be in aggrement with the reviewer.

 

This could have been a game with a F- grade or a 33.0 and it would still be a vague review. After praising Obsidian for the longest about "if it ain't broke don't try and fix it" lines, IGN goes on a bashing parade of technical issues. So what are they saying as they give the game a very high scoring 93?

 

It's not that the attacks on the game engine might not be warranted(we all knew the game engine had save and load bugs that had us saving our progress constantly), but that they attack Obsidian for not upgrading it after the fact.

 

I'm ready to play the game. I'm not interested in reviews that attack the developer for doing something that it was praised for by game sites and industry publications for almost a year. Obsidian didn't mess with the engine. They didn't fix it, they just left it alone. If the game's plot story comes up short, well I sort of expected that it would. Most of us know by now that this is a trilogy.

 

If they had told us that the game wasn't worthwhile playing I would have taken that more seriously than the critique on technical issues. I wish I could have asked the guy who wrote this sparce review some questions instead of all the technical whining. Yeah the game's load times are going to be a little long but why didn't you tell us about the gameplay itself? That required no spoilers, no plot giveaways. Why not tell us about the voice acting? What about the screen resolution? Did Obsidian give us a true HD 1080i game?(like Enter the Matrix for Xbox) Couldn't you have elaborated on the game's new FEATS? We know almost nothing about the new feats in the game. What about the issue of Jedi Robes and the issue of some with hoods and others without? Alot of people were interested in that. How do the Sith Robes compare? Do they all really flow as beautifully realistic as they do in the trailers we've seen?

 

There were so many things the reviewer could have been telling us. It's interesting. It's not the most flattering review and still they give it a 93. Clearly someone enjoyed themselves while playing. They invested 45 hours. Some reviewers don't even finish a game before they start writing.

 

Here is what I took from the review.

 

"KOTOR II's overall story is not quite as strong as the sweeping epic of the original, but its pieces are more compelling"

 

We always knew that topping the original Revan storyline was going to be impossible. No one should expect the new PC's story to be more epic than Revan's.

 

 

"Many of the smaller story elements -- the music, the questions about the very nature of good and evil -- are stronger than the original KOTOR, but Obsidian didn't do the best job at tying them all together. The story starts strong but stumbles across the finish line. And KOTOR II suffers from some of the same problems of the original"

 

So the reviewer thinks that game starts strong but ends weak. Fine, but KOTOR1 had the same problem? Hmmmm, we'll have to think about that.

 

 

"I like KOTOR II's story, especially since it ties in with the events of the first game, but it doesn't come together in the end as well as it should have"

 

We will all have to experience this for ourselves, but I'm willing to give the reviewer credit for stating how he felt. Just that some of his messages are mixed.

 

 

Some good things that were mentioned were:

 

 

"When the dialogue is silent, KOTOR II's emotional core is punctuated by an excellent score. This is one of the best soundtracks of the years, with more than an hour of original music. John Williams set a standard with the Star Wars movies and the music of KOTOR II resonates his influence. The score is just as much a part of the story, because it helps set the mood of a moment and adds a human element to a video game world."

 

 

That's encouraging.

 

 

 

"It's going to take some time before you receive your Lightsaber (it took me 17 hours to acquire mine), but once you have the handy energy sword you begin learning Lightsaber Forms. Think of these almost like martial arts styles. You can switch to any of the forms you've learned at any time, even outside of combat. Each form has its benefits and drawbacks. Shin-Cho works well when you are surrounded, while Juyo is an overly aggressive form good for one-on-one battles (but leaves you more open to Force attacks). It's surprising to see how vulnerable certain forms make you in the wrong situation and how powerful they can be when chosen wisely."

 

17 hours to aquire a lightsaber?!! Yessh!! But the Lightsaber forms are most welcome.

 

 

"There's no level cap, so you can get pretty powerful before the final battle. By the time you reach the last few areas, you'll be able to rip almost any enemy to shreds. In a way this makes sense, since you are building up your power to be a great Jedi (or Sith). Scrubs shouldn't be able to touch you. One of the last worlds is just a mess of Apprentice Sith being slaughtered by your superior swordsmanship. The only problem is this ease remains in some of the final boss battles. I won both of the final battles without dying or feeling particularly challenged, a far cry from the difficult end-game against Malak in the original KOTOR. I wish the bosses gained a power boost based on your experience level to offer some difficulty in their final defeat. But the boss battles are pretty interesting, if not particularly challenging. It's the revelations they provide that proves more engaging than the combat itself"

 

I like the idea of being powerful near the end of a game. I didn't want a Leval Cap so I got what I wanted. No complaints here, although the reviewer whines a bit more.

 

 

Basically the reviewer left it open for gamers to decide, and we will once we play it ourselves. But you really have to wade through alot of mixed messages that end with a 93 rating to read this review.

[Naso]

Sorry to jump back a bit in the thread, but I'm not as much talking about scripting bugs and stuff, though the doors on Manaan underwater caused many a restart for me, but general engine issues. They finally seemed to have fixed the disappearing character visible clothes problem, and the random inversion of polygon coordinates, which were very bad, but there was a memory leak that was never fully addressed, as far as I know, and tons of crashing. I know some of that was due to the ATI thing, but the responses from bioware really made me doubt that it was all ATI's fault. Then there's the performance, which, in no way is comparable to the results.

[khollar]

is it possible for you to host it under yousendit or a similar program? or is that not allowed? 

I'm not familiar with what you're talking about there. I would assume that their content is protected by copyrights. If you have any questions about the video review, I'll be glad to answer them.

[GhostofAnakin]

Sorry to jump back a bit in the thread, but I'm not as much talking about scripting bugs and stuff, though the doors on Manaan underwater caused many a restart for me, but general engine issues.  They finally seemed to have fixed the disappearing character visible clothes problem, and the random inversion of polygon coordinates, which were very bad, but there was a memory leak that was never fully addressed, as far as I know, and tons of crashing.  I know some of that was due to the ATI thing, but the responses from bioware really made me doubt that it was all ATI's fault.  Then there's the performance, which, in no way is comparable to the results.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You're referring to the PC version of KOTOR I? Weird. I had no trouble (no bugs, no crashes, no glitches) when I played and my computer probably just barely met the recommended system specs.

 

Hopefully whatever "bugs" that exist in the XBox version that caught the reviewer's attention are looked after by the time the PC version is released.

[Archmonarch]

I'm not familiar with what you're talking about there. I would assume that their content is protected by copyrights. If you have any questions about the video review, I'll be glad to answer them.

 

Im not a lawyer, but my father is one, and I really doubt anyone would copyright a video review. Not only would it be pointless as much of the review belongs to the game which is copyrighted separately, but it leads to the question why? So I think it would be okay to spread it. Just my opinion. Youre entitled to your own.

[khollar]

Hmmm. You could be right. That certainly makes sense.

[D_&_C]

is it possible for you to host it under yousendit or a similar program? or is that not allowed? 

I'm not familiar with what you're talking about there. I would assume that their content is protected by copyrights. If you have any questions about the video review, I'll be glad to answer them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My original thought was that you may be able to host it on here but I mainly wanted to know how excited/satisfied the reviewer seemed, and was there anything mentioned in the video review that wasn't mentioned in the written review?

[DarthDoGooder]

If you email them, I'd bet they'd be happy to tell you if they copywrited it or not.

 

As to what one guy said: The game might be copyrighted and even the indivdual clips of video might be copyrighted, but they could copyright the presentation/whole video, if they wanted. I think it should be okay to host somewhere, but if you're not sure...just email them.

[khollar]

The video review was done by Hilary himself. (Confirmation that Hilary is a guy.)

 

He is pretty matter-of-fact in his presentation of the review, but he is that way in the other video reviews he's done that I've seen. No real excitement(except about the philosophical issues), but no real ragging on the game except for the issues he mentions in his written review(frame rates, load times, etc.)

 

He spends most of the review talking about influence, which he likes. He also talks about the prestige classes and how that unlocks new feats/force powers.

 

He does end by saying "Definately a winner. One of the best RPGs you can get on XBox. Certainly get it if you liked the first one."

 

I like the video review because it shows me actual footage from the game, how it functions, and then a few spoilers, which just whets my appetite for more.

 

I e-mailed him to see if he cares if I share this video review. I'll let you know his response.

[PadawanJoe]

I as well as everyone else should expect lower scores across the board for KOTOR 2 only because it's the same engine, same graphics, same combat, etc... just a different story with more feats and force powers... essentially more of a very good thing...

 

Actually my 2 favorite things about KOTOR and what separated it from the pack was the dialogue scripting (which is even better here) and the great voice acting (which is the same here)... so for me this review was good.... 2 tenths of a point less really isn't much...

 

Oh btw, for an above poster who incorrectly refered to the reviewer as a 'she', Hilary Goldsteen is a guy... who probably got killed in school for having a girl's name... :">

[khollar]

Kreia's voice sounds cool in the video review. And the "scary mask" person appears in a cutscene. Scion is shown in a couple of cutscenes.

[The Omnifarious Host]

the reviewer said that it took 17 hours to get a lightsaber.

 

 

I wished he would have elaborated on if this was THE lightsaber quest or if you won't be able to loot a lightsaber from one of the fallen foes in the game.

 

17 hours?!!!!!

[TheHutt]

That's very well possible... I heard off one review or something a while back about someone spending 60 hours in one game. Being as Obsidian wanted to make lightsabres rare to give a more powerful and a respectful view on it, I could believe it could take a good quarter or so of the entire game to get one. It also depends on the fact that maybe the IGN reviewer went through many dialogue options in the beginning of the game to take up time.

[Naso]

Yeah, I had all those problems. My compy's a p4 1.6, 512 ram, with a 9600 Pro, ever-so-slightly overclocked. (I turned it back down to standard to check stability, no improvement). Far Cry at 1024 everything medium feels much smoother than KotOR, same with UT2k4, and pretty much everything I've run but Doom 3, and it looks nice and all, (and really I don't care about the graphics that much), but not nearly good enough to justify the performance hit.

[D_&_C]

The video review was done by Hilary himself.  (Confirmation that Hilary is a guy.)

 

He is pretty matter-of-fact in his presentation of the review, but he is that way in the other video reviews he's done that I've seen.  No real excitement(except about the philosophical issues), but no real ragging on the game except for the issues he mentions in his written review(frame rates, load times, etc.)

 

He spends most of the review talking about influence, which he likes.  He also talks about the prestige classes and how that unlocks new feats/force powers.

 

He does end by saying "Definately a winner.  One of the best RPGs you can get on XBox.  Certainly get it if you liked the first one."

 

I like the video review because it shows me actual footage from the game, how it functions, and then a few spoilers, which just whets my appetite for more.

 

I e-mailed him to see if he cares if I share this video review.  I'll let you know his response.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see. Thanks for the overview.

[jaguars4ever]

Apparently it's a "he".

 

Poor bastard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Guess his parents really wanted a girl. "

 

 

The video review was done by Hilary himself.  (Confirmation that Hilary is a guy.)

Are we positive? I watched the video, and it sounded like a man but it's PC was female. So either he's a man with a girl's name & a female character (i.e. a woman wannabe), or she's a man sounding woman - go figure. ^_^

[Judge Hades]

There is nothing wrong with cross gender role play. I have done it plenty of times over the years as a player and one of my favorite characters is Vici Von Zahn, Cowled Wizard agent of Amn, Fighter/Rogue/Necromancer that used the undead to eliminate and terrorize enemies of the Cowled Ones.

 

I remember this one mission that she was to kill a merchant who had crossed the Cowled Wizards in dealing in "stolen" magic items imported from Thay. SHe killed his entire family and animated them as undead to kill him. Oh the fun that was to be had there. Mind you the Paladin of the group was not amused.

[jaguars4ever]

There is nothing wrong with cross gender role play.

Agreed. But just like character death, cross-gender roleplay should have a story dynamic enough to adjust to the differences; it shouldn't merely feel tacked on. I hope Obsidian gets this right.

[Gargantuan]

Yeah, I had all those problems.  My compy's a p4 1.6, 512 ram, with a 9600 Pro, ever-so-slightly overclocked.  (I turned it back down to standard to check stability, no improvement).  Far Cry at 1024 everything medium feels much smoother than KotOR, same with UT2k4, and pretty much everything I've run but Doom 3, and it looks nice and all, (and really I don't care about the graphics that much), but not nearly good enough to justify the performance hit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I have a setup almost the same specification as yours, and KOTOR really did not run well. It is probably because the game was based on the Aurora engine which in itself was a modified NWN engine, which runs on OpenGL. ATI cards do not run OpenGL applications as well as GeForce variants.

 

BTW, it is promising that IGN gave such a high rating, but they are notorious for doling out ratings that are unabashedly high. They gave GTA: San Andreas a whopping 9.9.

[Naso]

I've run other things that use open gl though that have been fine, I mean I kind of doubt it's all just because ATI doesn't have good open gl support, since I've not really had problems of this magnitude with anything ever, and I've played a good number of games. It'll run ogl a little slower, but not much, and there are some random things that are a bit funky, like the glow effect in Jedi Academy or something, but they are usually quickly fixed.

[Gargantuan]

Yeah, it's strange. It's always the Bioware games that give me performance trouble. Speacking of which, I have trouble running NWN well, either. I am having doubts as well since XBox has NVidia chipset and if KOTOR 2 runs a bit slow on it, I guess I might as well opt for Nvidia next.

[angshuman]

Has anyone noticed how poor Gamespot's coverage of this game has been compared to IGN? The previews etc. also don't seem too enthusiastic -- most of them are on the lines of "shaping up nicely". Somehow I don't feel these sites are entirely professional with their reviews. Although in general I'd wager my money on Gamespot's reviews, this game seems to be sort of an "IGN exclusive", and I wouldn't be surprised to see a 7.5-ish score on Gamespot.

 

Not that it matters

[Exar_Kun]

It's a real shame that Obsidian couldn't do more to improve on the technology. When the first KOTOR hit, a lot of this was forgivable. It was a new engine and a spectacular game. Obsidian worked on an established engine and overall it looks almost identical to last year's offering. There are also a number of bugs in the game. This was the case with the first game as well, but again, I'd hoped for a smoother experience the second time around, but KOTOR II actually seems a little buggier. With better presentation, load times, and a little better storytelling in the end, KOTOR II would actually be better than the original. As it stands, The Sith Lords is still a fantastic game, warts and all.

 

I don't remember Halo 2 having a totally different engine, hell i dont remember halo 2 being that much diff from the first one except new weapons, multiplayer options, etc. which is exactly what obsidian did with kotor 2.

 

so basically these guys took off for presentation and graphics. seemed pretty biased to me, but im just a little upset cuz it didnt score higher than the first. ill wait to pass judgement myself. good job obsidian.

[Naso]

If you want nutty reviews, look at half of the ones on Firing Squad. I mean, sometimes it's dead on, like Halo 2, but sometimes, it's just bizarre, like Jakub saying about nintendo, "but no one over 12 cares". Basically you just have one guy write whatever he thinks, and professionalism is hard to put into something so opinion-based.

 

I thought I heard someone saying NWN was worse on nvidia, though maybe I'm just making that up. I've been very happy with my ati card. Have come to the conclusion that bioware is very good for game concept, mechanics, and all that, just they have really terrible testing. I can't count how many times they said "we can't reproduce this on our systems" when there were just streams of people reporting the exact same things. Looking at the system specs, it really seems like some sort of unoptimized build or something.