My Review, thoughts, dislikes, and suggestions reg

[SD Nihil]

First I would like to start by saying this is the best game I have ever played. Bioware in my opinion has done an amazing job on this game. They have in my eyes shown a new standard in role-playing/adventure games that I believe others should follow. I know that Obsidian will do a sequal just as good if not better than KOTOR. They can really learn from there success.

 

Visually it resembles more like a dynamic movie than a dynamic game. The game is near perfect in the detail of person(s) within the game. Not only does the game display detail within the characters, but also within the scenery surrounding them. Grass, water, and even the reflection of the sun upon the water can easily be seen. It is simply stunning.

 

Audibly this game sounds like a real Star Wars movie. Even though some of the tracks in the game are not the Star Wars musics we have heard or are even similar you can tell that it has music from a Star Wars type of adventure. I am also impressed on how many mosaics Bioware was able to fit into this one game.

 

The game is very dynamic. Throughout your quest you are presented with many quests, side quests, and multiple ways of accomplishing them. And by multiple I do not mean simply a couple of ways of completing a task. I would say there are at least for the majority of the quests three or four ways of completing them.

 

And finally I do realize that this game has been out for a while now, but since it has been confirmed that there will be KOTOR 2, I would like to give my suggestions on how KOTOR 2 can improve upon KOTOR 1.

 

1. I have noticed that when speaking the characters in the game that the character's heads seem to do a pattern of movements when speaking. Could the characters do the expected head movements that belong in certain situations instead of having someone's head constantly moving all the time. What might help to tell when the proper movements should be displayed in this type of game would be to look "more closely" at real life situations. Not saying that some of these head movements were not influenced by real life. Also when the person's are talking in the game sometimes it looks like they are biting on their own tongues. This, if Bioware can, should correct this for the KOTOR 2.

 

2. When walking from one part of a map to another, for example walking from the Dun Sea to the Sand People Territory I have noticed that below the words for the next location there is a picture of a picture of a man running. It looks very similar to what a picture of a man looks like when portrayed in street signs. I see no purpose for it. The gamer will probably know even without that they are about to enter another location. So I feel there is no use for this extra item and it is my opinion it should be removed or not placed in the next game at all.

 

3. Another suggestion pertaining to the entering of a new location this time is about the scenery. Just before you enter a new location sometimes you must open up a door. Interesting enough there most of the time seems to be another door in front of you as the background before you enter the new area. I feel that instead of placing a picture of another door, there should be a picture of what the place looks like inside only less detail to give more of a realistic look.

 

4. And there should be a new switch in the options menu allowing the player to switch from third person play to first person play whenever they want.

 

5. These next couple of things are very minor, but can be improved upon. After defeating an enemy you sometimes find on his/her person armor that he or she was wearing when they fought you. So it does not make much since say when you get a Sith uniform off a dead Sith that his body lying there will still have the Sith uniform on. Also after the side quest, where you help out Matrik by using the LS solution and his apartment has been decimated there are these funny shaped containers all around a large pillar preventing you from re-entering his apartment. These containers can also be found in different locations in the Dun Sea located on Tatooine. Since there was a unique (no where else is it found in the game) pillar left after Matrik's place exploded why can't other unique items be placed as junk inside the building instead of containers trying to look like rubble just when it is obvious they are not (not trying to be overly negative here).

 

6. Sometimes when you give a response in a conversation the other person you are talking to or one of your members will act like you have said one of the other choices. For example to be more clear, on Taris at the side of the walkway in the North part of the city stands a man speaking out against aliens. Lets say you say "I don't know what's worse your hate mongering or lack of intelligence"(something similar to that) Carth may then say "kook or no this man could make trouble for us." which is a response that should belong with if you said "get away from me you crazy kook". I know I am being picky, but these are just a few ideas and suggestions to go along with my review of the game.

 

Overall I would give the game a 10/10. Like I said before the game is near perfect in design, but like every game there is always room for improvement if a sequel is to be made to it.

 

Now that I have given my review/thoughts, if anyone has anything to add or has anything to say about the above please do so. Your idea could very well affect the next game.

 

You can find this review and other suggestions here: http://swforums.bioware.com/myviewtopic.ht...347982&forum=76

 

Thank you.

[SD Nihil]

I hope this gets read because this review contains my ideas, and the link I gave contains other ideas by other individuals. They should all at least be hard and considered. Thank you.

[Shdy314]

Devs have a hard time reading and responding to really long posts. They are very busy people after all. So if you really want them to hear what you have to say shorten it to your top two suggestions they can skim over.

[blizzardski123]

But RA-Jeff is right...KOTOR is a 10/10.

[Shdy314]

6. Sometimes when you give a response in a conversation the other person you are talking to or one of your members will act like you have said one of the other choices. For example to be more clear, on Taris at the side of the walkway in the North part of the city stands a man speaking out against aliens. Lets say you say "I don't know what's worse your hate mongering or lack of intelligence"(something similar to that) Carth may then say "kook or no this man could make trouble for us." which is a response that should belong with if you said "get away from me you crazy kook". I know I am being picky, but these are just a few ideas and suggestions to go along with my review of the game.

No that's an appropriate response since that could easily lead to a large and loud argument/public disturbance. If you say anything that may set the guy off Carth is yelling is a bad idea when going incognito.

[SD Nihil]

Thank you. And whenever you and the rest of the developers get the time please read the rest of the ideas, I know you are very busy. I can't skim these down to a few ideas. I feel all of these ideas are important. These ideas have been compiled over a long time. Please of course read the other ideas within the links. They are from other people. Don't worry there ideas are short. Like I said I know developers are busy, but whenever please read the ideas.

[Drakron]

I dont get n

[Gorth]

I dont get n

[Opus131]

Caps lock does that in the pc version... but it was so confusing that I never figured out if it was useful for anything...

 

It was probably just a feature that enabled you to admire the scenery from a different angle.

 

Third person (or isometric) perspective often works better, when you try to give a "cinematic" feel to a game. First person perspective is fine for FPS and action games, where maximum field of view is more important.

 

Edit: Oops, I didn't mean to imply that Drakron thinks it should have it, he just conveniently brought up the point in a quotable form

Mmmh, you forgot the most important element of first person view : immersion.

 

This is why first person game always need to have the best graphics and the best interactivity, it's a direct result of the need for immersion. In those games you don't just play a character, YOU are the character and you are seing the world throught your own eyes.

 

That's also why games like Half Life are the most popular, because they tell a story not throught cinematics or dialog, but by showing you directly.

 

This is what all the buzz around games like Half Life 2 is all about...

[Gorth]

This is what all the buzz around games like Half Life 2 is all about...

I never played any halflife

 

I might have to catch up on that one someday. Same thing goes for that System Shock I've heard some positive things about.

 

As for Kotor2, I suspect the are going to reuse the formula (the cinematic feel) of the first one. They need the little camera tricks, the showing of your own combat moves etc. for the engine doesn't give a lot of immersion otherwise. The graphics engine didn't impress anybody (at least I hope not). Consider it "misdirection of attention" or a sleight of hand trick if you want.

[Opus131]

I never played any halflife

Well, since they are releasing the sequel within the next few months (hopefully), and since they are porting the original on the new engine (i think as a stand alone product, but it will also be included in the Special Edition of HL2), this is the best time to give it a try

 

System Shock 2 was also a very fine game, defenatly worth playing...

[Gorth]

Thanks Opus, I'll give them a try when I can get my hands on them.

[Maria Caliban]

Different viewpoints create different psychological effects and force you to interact with the virtual environment in different ways but no viewpoint is inherently 'superior' for various genres. Dues Ex and Morrowind are both examples of role-playing games that utilize the first person perspective. Alice and Diablo both created intense action in a third person and isometric viewpoint, respectively.

[SD Nihil]

So do you like that idea?