Obsidian have acknowledged the popularity of HK-47 by not only having him return, but by incorporating a veritable army of successor HK-50 droids into the plot, all manifesting his trademark illustrative prefixing of statements and homicidal attitude. There is also a feeling of continuity in your party, as several characters from the original game make reappearances: some in little more than a cameo, others as full-fledged members of your party. Also, in an effort to prevent you from simply using the same three characters throughout the entire game (one of the original game’s few flaws), the game refreshingly shifts focus away from the protagonist at several points, forcing you to use the majority of the other characters in your party. Likewise, the addition of Lightsaber Forms (fighting styles that you can change to make you adapt your stance according to the enemies you face, which also alter the attack animations), prestige classes, new character feats and Force Powers all significantly enhance the way you can customise your lead character. The ability to build your own weapons and items like implants or health packs is a welcome improvement, with your skills and attributes directly influencing the things you can build. All these tweaks add subtlety and extra depth to the game, though newcomers might be bemused by the additions to the Workbench system, and the wider range of item upgrades that can be produced. Whilst the base game engine is the same as in KotOR, the tone of the game is very different, and several tweaks have been made to both the interface and the game mechanics. Here, all these expectations have been realised. There was also fevered anticipation that Obsidian wouldn’t simply rehash the original, but build upon and refine the game, and provide a tale of less clear-cut morality.

Being the sequel to the finest RPG on any platform in 2003, Star Wars fans the world over breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was announced that Knights of the Old Republic 2 was being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company formed from the ashes of Black Isle, who were responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed RPGs of recent years namely Planescape: Torment and the Fallout series.

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