I'd have to say that after the Impact that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic left both gamers and fans in 2003, it was very hard for any developer, let alone a "New" one to fill the shoes of the most celebrated and most award-winning games in the system's short history. Despite all heavy critism, the skeptikal views from the gaming community, and the numerous "You can't top that" boards all accross the Internet, Obsidian managed to deliver a game that is well deserving of the title, a "Great Sequel."

A lot of people have asked me, "Which one is better?". Well, i've decided to breakdown my answer based on the 5 major game categories and keeping in mind the RPG factors that surround both games, i've picked a winner in each category and finally an overall winner. So read on to find out more...


GAMEPLAY:

Both games play and feel remarkably close to the other, and that is a very good thing. The ease of the menu and inventory slots become almost instinctive after a good half hour into the game. The mechanics are solid and foundation that these games built on are tested to be one of today's easiest learning templates. The character development scheme is very focused and the amount of flexibility you have in creating the perfect character is very deep. The first Kotor 1 delivered an amazing mix of both NPC interaction, Combat, and Puzzles. The 2nd game built on this and expanded it to a point where not only does your actions affect just you, it now has a direct impact on your companions. Kotor 1's characters were very interesting, but the cast of Kotor 2 just were more, in plain terms...FUN!

Winner: Kotor 2

GRAPHICS:

Eye candy is important. I want to be able to play a game that can display beautiful visual sequences and a believalbe cast of characters. I want women to like, well women. Not more so to awk at them, but at least give me the sense that i'm actually conversing with a woman and not an allien looking for the next shuttle to Endor. Both games delivered some very good graphics that gave you the feel of a true Star Wars Universe. Unfortunately for Kotor 2, the use of too many on-screen NPC's at one time especially during key fighting sequences, made it difficult for the game to deliver a fluid feel.

Winner: Kotor 1

SOUND:

Even with your eyes closed, the game just plain sounds like Star Wars. From the background music, to the sound of your light saber, everything in the game tells you that you are in a Star Wars universe. The use of excellent voice acting mixes in perfectly and it keeps you involved in the game. With more interesting characters and a more diverse sound quality that its predecessor, the 2nd game used the foundation of the original to create a sound scheme that's too perfect to ignore.

Winner: Kotor 2

STORY:

Every RPG gamer knows that without a good story, there is no game. In the original Kotor, the story was King. A great fluid flowing story and a jaw dropping twist in the middle made the game's story almost impossible to forget. The 2nd game offered the same kind of twist but in smaller more constant bits and peices. The only flaw to that approach, is that when you think that you are the middle of a plot-turning point, you find yourself dissappointed as you've already seen or heard that even before you get to the climatic twist. Although your companions are more involved and the little subplots that occur in-between stages are interesting in its own, it's hard to ignore the epic story, climax, and "your own ending" offered by the original.

Winner: Kotor 1

REPLAY VALUE:

Both games offer anywhere between 25 to 30 hours of gameplay. The open-ended "play how you want" gives you that feeling of going through the each of them just to see how it would play out. The Original game gave us a true sense of choosing between saving the universe or ruling it with your unstoppable fleet. The second game's approach was to do this in segments of the game. Help stop a revolt or lead the rebels to overthrow a ruler? Stop the mercenaries or be a hired gun to help them rule a planet? All these options are there and the use of true choices are left in your hands. Despite an unsatisfying ending, the path of getting there and choosing how to get there gives the 2nd game more of a "I'll play it again to see what happens if I kill X rather than keeping him alive" notion to go through it more times that you'd expect.

Winner: Kotor 2

So, it's 2 to 3 with the edge going to Kotor 2. So is it really safe to say now that Kotor 2 is a better game? Well, judging from these 5 major points, then I can say it is. But just knowing that without the groundbreaking original, and the fantastic engine that this game is built on, we would just have another game short of being epic and a true look of the world of Star Wars.

------Darth Turtur--------

interesting. I never really got a chance to play KOTOR2, world of warcraft came into my life and i can't quit. I'm defanity going to put this on my rent next and beat list. KOTOR1 was awesome i put 70hrs into it.

Both excellent games. I still prefer KOTOR 1 though

Both of the games are totally worth the $50. But there is one thing that made me like the first one better. It was the weapon upgrades. In the second one, I found my self continually ripping apart equipment only to rebuild it spending serious time doing so. With the first one, the only thing with any real upgradability was the lightsaber which could be done very quickly. Expanding on the upgradability was a good idea, but unfortunately for me, detracted from the game.

I am not at all of fan of Star Wars but KOtOR had me hooked for months on end. I would say it is not a game it is a experence. The story lines had me wanting more and that dosn't happen much. I loved being bad ass and using the dark side and killing innocents. Number just seemed like it was a expension not a new game. I would have to go with number 1 and if you don't have it get it it's under 20 new and can be had very cheap used even in Canada. I got mine for 3.99 at my local game shop called Game Centre. I would give number 1 a 9/10 and number 2 a 8/10 both a great games and show why the Xbox is better then a PS2.

I like KOTOR II.

Well, on paper (as far as category goes) the 2nd **Should be** better. But i'll admit, Kotor 1 is really the much better of the two. It's a shame that TSL is the way it is. Could've been a much better game if more time was put to it. Oh well...

i say kotor 1, i was mad hooked on it and its the first xbox game that did that to me.
xbox has very few games that can do that, i must admit riddick kinda did it, and maybe a couple others.. but kotor 2 i just never got into.. still at the beginning. maybe i should give it a shot>?

I feel the same way about Kotor 1. Before playing it, I didn't want to have anything to do with RPG's. But now, that's where majority of my playing time goes. Just a thought...don't place too much high expectations on the 2nd Kotor. It's not the revolutionary game Kotor 1 is, but in all respects, still very fun and keeps the same mechanics and over-all game feel as the first.