My impressions after a day of non-stop play

[Thalandor]

So I got the PC version yesterday and basically played 12 hours strait today. So here is what I think so far on the game, to let ppl know if they should buy it or not, or wait for patches or not.

 

Let's start by getting rid of the main issue: bugs. I started playing this game thinking that it would be a horrible bug fest (according to Gamespy review). Well, I'm 12 hours in, and I got a crash ONCE. And it did not reproduce itself. I did not encounter other problems, except maybe a couple of glitches in camera positioning during 2 or 3 conversations, but nothing bad really. So far so good.

 

Flow of the game: I was a bit surprised by the initial amount of linear content you have to go through. I'm at the point were I can choose to visit 3 or 4 planets in the order I wish, after 12 hours of play and a level 11 character. Much longer than Taris and Dantoine were in the first game. Oh ya, and still no lightsaber. It seems you gotta work hard for the darn thing.

 

Graphics: About the same as Kotor, but I have to admit the rectangular corridors are a bit boring. Outdoor environmenents look better though. And also, they seem to have redone most of the faces for the characters, and they look better. The NPCs look very good too, kudos to the artists.

 

Voices and sounds: Generally very good voice acting. The woman playing Kreia is extremly talented, and the character itself is very intringing. And that other character too, Bao-Dur... he sounds like Bill Clinton lol. It suits the character very well. And, a nice surprise was that Carth Onasi from the first game is voiced by the same person. Kewl.

 

Gameplay: The gameplay is very much like the old kotor... but somehow refined and a bit more varied. They have added a bunch of customization options for weapons and armors, its no longer as restricted as it was it was in the other game. In fact, its not special that a weapon can be upgraded, its special when its not upgradable . Also I find that there is way more conversation that there was in the other game, but its very well written and acted. It helps tell a very complex story and that doesn't surprise me, knowing the designers. Very good job here.

 

In any event, if you liked Kotor 1, you should really like kotor 2. Playing this game makes me nostalgic of old black isle games...

[Tuco]

Yeah, you're right about what you said.

 

Looking back after beating it, they should have given you a light saber much earlier and had you fighting jedi quickly after that. It took me around 14 hours of play time before I got my light saber, I would have preferred to have had it earlier and started to get into some real combat sooner.

[Icon]

Bugs? Just finished from start to end(over several days of marathon play), and I had one crash. What bugs? For an unpatched game I can live with that.

 

There were a few things I'd have liked of course, getting my lightsaber sooner being number one. A Jedi does NOT wield a sword. But the character interaction in this thing helped to make up for that. An excellent game and worth the cash I spent.

[Carrie]

I'm trying to figure out if one place is a bug, or no. There's a place where Kreia and Atton are seemingly talking in separate cells, but atton is not visible anywhere, even if he's in the scene. He wakes up outside somewhere after, but isn't he supposed to be in the cage for that one dialogue?

[SunTzu]

So I got the PC version yesterday and basically played 12 hours strait today. So here is what I think so far on the game, to let ppl know if they should buy it or not, or wait for patches or not.

 

Let's start by getting rid of the main issue: bugs. I started playing this game thinking that it would be a horrible bug fest (according to Gamespy review). Well, I'm 12 hours in, and I got a crash ONCE. And it did not reproduce itself. I did not encounter other problems, except maybe a couple of glitches in camera positioning during 2 or 3 conversations, but nothing bad really. So far so good.

 

Flow of the game: I was a bit surprised by the initial amount of linear content you have to go through. I'm at the point were I can choose to visit 3 or 4 planets in the order I wish, after 12 hours of play and a level 11 character. Much longer than Taris and Dantoine were in the first game. Oh ya, and still no lightsaber. It seems you gotta work hard for the darn thing.

 

Graphics: About the same as Kotor, but I have to admit the rectangular corridors are a bit boring. Outdoor environmenents look better though. And also, they seem to have redone most of the faces for the characters, and they look better. The NPCs look very good too, kudos to the artists.

 

Voices and sounds: Generally very good voice acting. The woman playing Kreia is extremly talented, and the character itself is very intringing. And that other character too, Bao-Dur... he sounds like Bill Clinton lol. It suits the character very well. And, a nice surprise was that Carth Onasi from the first game is voiced by the same person. Kewl.

 

Gameplay: The gameplay is very much like the old kotor... but somehow refined and a bit more varied. They have added a bunch of customization options for weapons and armors, its no longer as restricted as it was it was in the other game. In fact, its not special that a weapon can be upgraded, its special when its not upgradable . Also I find that there is way more conversation that there was in the other game, but its very well written and acted. It helps tell a very complex story and that doesn't surprise me, knowing the designers. Very good job here.

 

In any event, if you liked Kotor 1, you should really like kotor 2. Playing this game makes me nostalgic of old black isle games...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Saying *you* havent experienced any bugs says absolutely *Nothing* about how it will work on "Random Guys" computer.

[Fanboy24]

I love the game. Seriously, there were a couple of graphical issues, but that's cause i'm on a 9600 and i wanted to push the card to 1280 * 960 @ 75 HZ. Got resolved after I got rid of Shadows and Grass, and I don't really miss 'em, but if you're that kind of gamer, I don't see how you're gonna get amazing graphics unless you have an X600 or something above that. But honestly, I can forgive that so easily, that I don't even have to talk about it, because the Story line is soooo amazing. The graphics are good, except for the occasional weird occurances (lines coming out of a characters head) and the occasional dialouge loop (trying to get kreia to talk to you about force powers). Otherwise, this game is great. Anyone that complains is nuts.

[Aryanne]

Overall good so far.Story is great very indepth.Graphics are good to considering what they had to use.Lil surprised to see some of the sexual comments in here being the opposite sex and all-never expected to see content in a Black isle er Obsidian game like that but its ok sometimes even funny.No bugs-Now where was i oh yea playing my game BYE.

 

 

Oh only 1 complaint-why doesnt the ebon hawk have no storage space-like in kotor 1-you know thats sorta like your home.

[awildawn]

I love the game. Seriously, there were a couple of graphical issues, but that's cause i'm on a 9600 and i wanted to push the card to 1280 * 960 @ 75 HZ. Got resolved after I got rid of Shadows and Grass, and I don't really miss 'em, but if you're that kind of gamer, I don't see how you're gonna get amazing graphics unless you have an X600 or something above that. But honestly, I can forgive that so easily, that I don't even have to talk about it, because the Story line is soooo amazing. The graphics are good, except for the occasional weird occurances (lines coming out of a characters head) and the occasional dialouge loop (trying to get kreia to talk to you about force powers). Otherwise, this game is great. Anyone that complains is nuts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well, I'vot an amd xp2000+ and a geforce fx 5950 ultra and everything set at the maximum (1280*1024). It is good looking even though it isn't HL2, makes you wonder how NWN would have been if it had been out a year later.

[BlackJaguar]

I love the game. Seriously, there were a couple of graphical issues, but that's cause i'm on a 9600 and i wanted to push the card to 1280 * 960 @ 75 HZ. Got resolved after I got rid of Shadows and Grass, and I don't really miss 'em, but if you're that kind of gamer, I don't see how you're gonna get amazing graphics unless you have an X600 or something above that. But honestly, I can forgive that so easily, that I don't even have to talk about it, because the Story line is soooo amazing. The graphics are good, except for the occasional weird occurances (lines coming out of a characters head) and the occasional dialouge loop (trying to get kreia to talk to you about force powers). Otherwise, this game is great. Anyone that complains is nuts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well, I'vot an amd xp2000+ and a geforce fx 5950 ultra and everything set at the maximum (1280*1024). It is good looking even though it isn't HL2, makes you wonder how NWN would have been if it had been out a year later.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Same here: I got AMD XP 2700+ (@2.3Ghz); 1GB 33DDR and MSI FX 5950 Ultra and I play KOTOR 1 & 2 in 1280 x 960 at 75Hz. I have the graphics maxed out and I use anisotropic 8x and AA 4x and I got no slow downs at all. Perhaps ATi hardware is not supported well...