Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire review

    I've fallen behind on my Star Wars: The Old Republic reviews. In large part, this is due to the fact I don't have the same amount of time to game as I used to. I'd very much like to catch up and do reviews of Rise of the Hutt Cartel and the Shadow of Revan. However, due to the release of The Eternal Throne, I figure it's probably a good idea to get the biggest and most important of the expansions reviewed.

    Knights of the Fallen Empire is, in my opinion, a game-changer. I liked all of the class-centric stories as well as the previous two expansions but this is really a step up. The others, bluntly, felt like they leaned a little too heavily on their archetypes so that they didn't have quite the same level of storytelling as the Knights of the Old Republic games.

The Sith Emperor has a new guise.

    While dislike for MMORPGs and the fact The Old Republic isn't on consoles plays some role in the fan grumbling for a "real" Knights of the Old Republic 3, I actually think this goes a long way to settling my desire for one. It's the first story which I think is every bit as good as those two games. I admit, part of the reason for this is due to the fact they also ditch a lot of what was in the main game for something more distinctly Bioware.

    One of the things which never quite gelled in The Old Republic was it's very black and white view of the conflict with the Sith = Evil and the Republic = Good. The stories were never more interesting when you were playing a Light Side Sith or seeing the dark side of the Republic. While Knights of the Old Republic was very much a conflict between good and bad, it's best games blurred the lines like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2.

Lana becomes a major character here and I approve.

    In a very real way, the game also felt stalled because there were literally many quests which were mirrors of one another. The Sith Player Characters would make a lot of inroads in Balmorra, only to have it implied the Republic Players moved it right back. There didn't seem to be the same level of stakes in other games, even when the omnicidal Dark Side god Vititae showed up, due to the fact the players were actively working to counteract each other. You couldn't actually have a "winner" in the Old Republic Galactic Civil War either because then the game would be over. Knights of the Fallen Empire fixes all that.

    The premise for the expansion is the Player Character joins an alliance with Darth Marr and Satele Shan (Jedi and Sith together! Woot!) to hunt down the newly-revived Emperor Vitiate. In true Empire Strikes Back fashion, this alliance is crushed by Vitiate revealing a third faction to the galaxy. The Zakuul Empire, armed with a fleet of super battleships, crushes the fleet sent to destroy Vitiate before revealing that he is worshiped as a god in a powerful new empire.

Arcann is hateful and brutish but he has reason to be. Also, he's surprisingly reasonable about his dad.

    The Sith Emperor offers the Player Character a chance to join them, only to be betrayed by his son Arcann who becomes the expansion's archvillain. The PC is left with the Sith Emperor, known in Zakuul as Emperor Valkorion, as their unwanted Obi-Wan Kenobi. They must join with Lana Beniko, Koth Vortena, and a mysterious woman named Senya to form a galactic rebellion against the Zakuul before they wipe out all opposition to their rule.

    In simple terms, the Zakuul offer the game what it needed from the beginning in a third faction for Player versus Enemy games. A lot of people said The Old Republic was needlessly cribbing off World of Warcraft but the thing about that was WOW possesses The Burning Legion, The Scourge, Deathwing, and other characters to distract from the largely played-out Alliance vs. Horde business. Hell, it was largely played out by Warcraft 3 and there was a reason peace was the ultimate goal in that game.

It's a small thing but there's some epic duels in this game.

    Zakuul is also a surprisingly well-written faction as it's not Light or Dark but a Neutral faction misled by evil rulers. The Zakuul are a utopian Star Trek-esque civilization which just so happens to have a monster of a leader as well as an absolutist monarchy. There's no sign of the Sith's evil or even the Republic's corruption but Arcann has absolute authority due to the fact his treason has a conveinant scapegoat (you). That doesn't mean they aren't crushingly terrifying enemies to the Republic and Sith Empire, who are helpless before its superior technology. After millennium of being the biggest game in town, both the Sith and Republic find themselves as the undeveloped nations exploited by more powerful ones.

    Attempts to move beyond the Empire and Sith as antagonists have always been a mixed bag in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The Yuuzhan Vong, for me, failed because they were too alien. Star Wars is, for me, all about people with the aliens being more "normal" than in Star Trek (and that's a big statement given most ST aliens just have rubber foreheads). Thats because Star Wars is (mostly) a metaphor for all time mooshed together versus being set in the future. Zakuul isn't alien. It's a very believable conquest-minded nation with good, bad, and neutral people. It's akin to setting the British Empire in Star Wars than organic religious Forceless religious fanatics. As such, they feel like they belong and that goes a long way to make them good enemies.

Senya and Vaylin are two great new characters.

    The villains for the game are also extremely well-developed with Arcann, his sister Vaylin, and Valkorion all having three-dimensional personalities. Okay, Vaylin is just Dark Side Drusilla from Buffy but that's not a bad thing. KOTFE goes a long way to redeeming the Sith Emperor from being a flat one-note bad guy as well. The retcon that he was as disgusted with the Sith as the Light Sided Sith players is an interesting one.

    He's still a murderer of billions but he "conquest of the universe for my chosen people" is a more understandable as a motivation than "Dark Side Chaos God." It's doubly so if you assume he only intended to murder his people's enemies. There were a lot of times when Valkorion criticized the Sith Empire and my Light Side Sith Inquisitor couldn't help but nod along.

I think the Knights of Zakuul have the Force right.

    Arcannn, by contrast, has a lot of Kylo Ren in him but instead of going for a scared teenager, the developers went for something more akin to Darth Malak. Driven by the same jealousy which drove Darth Malak to rebel against Darth Revan, Arcann is over his head as Zakuul Emperor but not so much that you don't think he's not a threat. He actually felt like a threat to my character and someone who could be a galaxy-beater even if I didn't think he had the charisma or tactical brilliance to keep the universe once he conquered it.

    The game makes a controversial decision to also make the player character into "The Outlander." All of the other player characters have disappeared in-universe (to die or be disabled in some way) so it's all up to the Player Character to save the universe. I approve of this because it really does amp up the Star Wars feel considerably. For those invested in more than one storyline, though, it feels like a gut punch since you get to see almost all of the Companions devastated by the loss of their heroes. There's no happy ending for the Sith Warrior and Vette unless you're playing the Sith Warrior and if you are then the Jedi Knight and Kira or Smuggler and Corso Riggs are doomed.

Best Smuggler Ever! Especially since the other Best Smuggler Ever is missing.

    On the plus side, I love the new cast of Companions with my favorite Sith and CGI object of adoration Lana Beniko being your first companion. She does an excellent job balancing the scales being a Dark Sider and the fact she's loyal, noble, idealistic, and (possibly) in love with you. Theron Shan doesn't make an appearance until near the middle of the story so there's a bit of a downside but I still think of those two as the strongest characters in the game so I'm not too upset. I absolutely love the Specialists you recruit for the Rebellion with ascended extras like Hylo Visz and being especially welcome.

    In a very real way, Knights of the Fallen Empire is pretty much what I wanted from Knights of the Old Republic 3. It's a high stakes, dramatic, well-written space opera with a hugely important position for your Player Character while also giving us new developments to the universe. The Empire of Zakuul could have been named better (Archduchy of Zakuul, Star Kingdom of Zakuul, Federation of Zakuul?) but it works well. I also felt the stakes were high as well and never really lowered. Congratulations, Bioware, you've earned back the trust you lost with Dragon Age: Inquisition.

10/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Jedi Knight storyline review

 Warning: Some spoilers for the Jedi Knight storyline.

    I’m way behind on my reviews for this but I figured I might as well finish them up so I can get around to reviewing Knights of a Fallen Empire. Better late than never, am I right? Ironically, I managed to complete the Sith storylines without ever stopping to do the Republic ones and that was probably a mistake on my part as they’ve proven to be far more interesting than I gave them credit for. I suppose after thirty-years about reading about the good guys trouncing the bad guys, I was interested in seeing things from the Dark Side.

    Even if I always played Light Side.

A true Jedi never uses the Force for attack.

    The first place to start with my journey across the Republic side of things was, of course, the Jedi Knight. It's the obvious starting point for anyone who wants to begin in the Old Republic setting and a great deal of effort has obviously been spent to make it feel like the Original Trilogy. It's a series of fighting super-weapons, saving the day, redeeming Dark Siders, and going directly against the Ultimate EvilTM.

    Indeed, if there was any single character class which can be said to be the "hero" of the Old Republic game then it would be the Jedi Knight. Which is a bit troubling when you think about it since there shouldn't be any main hero of the game. Still, it's entertaining and has a lot going for it even if it sometimes verges on being a trifle "been there, done that."

    The premise of the Jedi Knight storyline is you are the strongest padawan the Jedi Academy on Tython has produced in centuries. Recruited by your master, who might as well have a 'Dead Master Walking' sign around his neck, you soon find yourself promoted to Jedi Knight before stopping the destruction of Coruscant. Accidentally ticking off a powerful Sith Lord, they stop their campaign of revenge before discovering something terrible about one of their companions. This results in them being set on a direct campaign against the Sith Emperor.

Oh Kira, you are my teenage Mara Jade crush brought to life.

    As mentioned, the biggest flaw of the storyline is it's designed to make you the biggest and baddest thing in the Old Republic setting. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since a lot of people definitely want to play the role of Luke Skywalker or Anakin Skywalker but it seems very specifically designed to be played a Light Side male in a romance with companion Kira Carsen. This isn't, necessarily, a bad thing but Knights of the Old Republic had interesting variations from the standard LS male playthrough with Carth Onasi and a Female Protagonist as well as an appeal to the Dark Side.

    About the only real part of the storyline which was surprising was when your character is defeated during a Second Act confrontation with the Sith Emperor and brainwashed into being their puppet. Unfortunately, we don't really get a sense of what happened during this time and I think they could have done something more with this section. For example, a playable assault on the Jedi Temple or an assassination attempt on Satele Shan. Instead, it seems like you're hanging around the Emperor's Palace for a month sorting through his mail and torturing the occasional prisoner.

Poor Lord Scourge and the LS Jedi Knight.

    I will say that I think Kira Carsen is an incredibly likable character and her romance with the Jedi Knight is probably the best in the baseline game. She's witty, entertaining, and if you like redheads then she's one of the most attractive companion characters.

    I also love how they handle the issue of Jedi romance and it does add a little spice to an otherwise perfectly arranged relationship. I would have liked more insight into the issue of Kira being a Sith by birth but I suppose there's only so much you can do with that.

    Instead, the character I most enjoy from the Jedi Knight storyline is Lord Scourge. The former Emperor's Wrath, he's decided the Sith Emperor is too crazy to serve even though he remains loyal to both to both the Empire as well as Sith. I really enjoyed the conversations the Jedi Knight had with him on subjects like love as well as the hypocrisy of the Jedi. He's an honorable opponent and it's interesting to see a Sith Lord who can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time without being a goody-two-shoes.

     I can't say I felt much more for the other companions. T7 is a cute character, it's true but it's not like you're going to get much interaction out of an astromech droid programmed to like you. Doc is entertaining but I wasn't exactly blown away by him either (and he seems like a far less interesting love interest than Kira Carsen). Sergeant Rusk bringing his gung-ho warmongering mentality to the crew keeps things from being a little too sacharine but I would have liked for them to go further.

The Sith Emperor being defeated by the power of lightsaber is kind of underwhelming.

    I quite liked the depiction of the Jedi Order in the storyline. Rather than portraying them as hopelessly flawed and corrupt or perfect, the Jedi Order is depicted as a well-meaning organization with severe dogma issues which haven't quite blinded them the same way they have the Prequel Jedi. The Jedi of this time have a sanctimonious self-certainty which makes them unable to relate to most people even as they try to do their best. You meet plenty of Jedi who want to love and be open with affection but risk censure or disbarment for that most human of emotions (whether they're human or not). Likewise, the Jedi have issues with hubris as none of them seriously entertain the idea the Sith Emperor is batting in a different weight class than them.

    The villains of the storyline are something of a disappointment as all of them are variants on the "evil" Sith Lord with the sole exception of a renegade padawan. It would have been nice to shake up things with a Grand Moff or crime lord. The Sith Emperor is also at his most one-note-ness with a plan to wipe out the entire universe in order to ascend to become a god. Really, I found it more interesting to see Sith interested in supporting him due to their belief they would ascend to a kind of Sith Lord heaven in reward for it.

    There's quite a few fun supporting characters in the storyline despite its generic-ness. I also love the plotline regarding trying to help Kira Carsen overcome her status as one of the Sith Emperor's children. As mentioned, it works best for a male Jedi Knight romancing her but a good plotline is a good plotline. Indeed, it is the good characters and sidequests of the Jedi Knight which elevate their storyline more than the actual main quest. Indeed, I had a lot more fun with General Var Suthra and Leeha Narezz than I ever did worrying about the Emperor destroying everything.

A Dark Side Jedi Knight plot would have elevated the material considerably.

    In conclusion, I recommend the Jedi Knight questline with some reservations. There's a lot of good moments even if the whole is kind of eh. It tries so hard to be big and awesome it misses the little beats the other sections succeed in. I think it would have been better if they'd taken more risks like the revelation of Darth Revan's identity in the original Knights of the Old Republic. For example, instead of Kira Carsen being one of the Emperor's Children, it would have been better to have the Jedi Knight be one.

9/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Bounty Hunter storyline review

    No disintegations.

    Okay, maybe some disintegrations.

    These guys are jerks, after all.

    Boba Fett remains one of the most popular characters in the history of cinema for his relatively tiny appearance in the Empire Strikes Back and later Return of the Jedi (where he was utterly humiliated). The idea of an independent mercenary Darth Vader respected enough to take seriously and capable enough to capture Han Solo captured the imagination of young boys (and some girls) everywhere. So, really, it's no surprise there's a campaign for them on the side of the Empire.

    So what is it like?

Mako is one of the best companions in the game.

    Quite good, actually! It manages to take a concept which I wasn't really all that interested in and play it to the hilt. A Bounty Hunter, by nature, is not going to be someone necessarily interested in the Republic vs. Sith Empire Cold War so it was good they chose to treat it as an independent storyline which occasionally ties into the larger conflict.

    The bounty hunter begins his journey as a gifted newcomer to the world of hunting who wants to win the Great Hunt. The Great Hunt is hosted by Mandalore every year to seek out the greatest bounty-hunters in the universe and offer them a place at the big boy's table, so to speak. Whoever wins it will receive everlasting fame and fortune.

    This is my favorite part of the Bounty Hunter's story as your rival in the Great Hunter, Tarro Blood, is a delightfully hateable scumbag. A cowardly Mandalorian with the right connections, pedigree, and an inexhaustible supply of credits--he is going to buy his way to victory in the Great Hunt. It may seem strange that your initial archenemy is basically Draco Malfoy but I had a great deal of fun fighting him.

Being a bounty hunter is, in a word, fun. That's all there is to it.

    The final mission of the Great Hunt results in a satisfying ending for Tarro Blood but also creates all the problems which will hound the Bounty Hunter for the rest of the series. You are given a mission to bring down a Jedi Master for the "crime" of killing dozens of Mandalorians during a battle.

    This event goes horribly wrong thanks to Tarro Blood with the Jedi Master killed and a Republic cruiser destroyed. If you had Sith sympathies before, this is the crowning moment of your early career, but if you had plans of staying off the Jedi and Republic's radar--well, that's out the window now. Subsequent missions follow your attempts to deal with the Republic's frame-up job, the resulting scrutiny, and how a Sith Lord has become "impressed" with their abilities. My favorite part of the game is the Alderaan mission where you have to deal with a noble family's spoiled heirs who all want to use you to become head of their house.

Tarro Blood is a deliciously hateable villain. The perfect foil for the Bounty Hunter.

    The Light and Dark choices of the Bounty Hunter are better than most as they seem to be coming from the same sort of person. A Dark Side Bounty Hunter is a hired killer, nothing more or less, and is only in it for the money. A Light Side Bounty Hunter has scruples and dislikes it when he's treated as a monster rather than a professional lawman with flexible ethics. The ending is one of the best choices in the game as you can choose to become a Sith Lord's personal hatchet-man or show why no one, not even a Darth, should mess with you.

    The Bounty Hunter's companions are some of my favorite in the group. Most of this is due to Mako, who is just plain awesome. She reminds me strongly of Tali from Mass Effect, basically being your plucky Girl Friday. Sadly, the Bounty Hunter is also stuck with the character of Skadge who is, hands-down, the WORST companion in the whole of The Old Republic. This is made up for, though, by the fact you have a Jawa with a flame-thrower.

    Jawa.with.a.flame.thrower.

Blizz is awesome. BOOM!

    *thumbs up*

    The storyline gives player characters the opportunity to become Mandalorians but I always choose to turn down the opportunity. I'm not a big fan of the Mandalorians and I felt the Bounty Hunter was a more interesting character when he chose to handle things his way rather than through the codex of an ancient warrior race. Plus, turning down Mandalore's offer to join their society to his face at your initiation banquet is HILARIOUS.

    In conclusion, I heartily recommend the Bounty Hunter storyline as it feels very much like Star Wars. Which is hard to get from the "bad guy." Whereas the Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, and Imperial Agents all gave you perspectives on being the villain (even when you're a Lightsider), the Bounty Hunter is a grayer character and I appreciated that. The fact you can choose to play a complete good guy at the end or a heinous villain also gives the storyline a satisfying emotional climax.

10/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Imperial Agent Storyline review

   I short of fell off of these and I'm sorry for that since I intended to review all of the main character quests but ended up only doing the Sith Inquisitor and Sith Warrior. I actually finished the Imperial Agent awhile back but didn't find time to review it until now.

   I need to get around to playing the Republic side sometime but I'm troubled by the fact I seem to be on the side of evil in this MMORPG.

    Which is weird because I play Light Side Sith.

    It's like I'm not satisfied being a rebel against tradition, I have to be a double-sized rebel  

    Anywho, is the Imperial Agent storyline worth completing?

    You betcha. 

    The Imperial Agent storyline is a strong contrast to the Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor's because you're not one of the Sith's ruling class but one of the Empire's citizens. Unlike the Bounty Hunter plotline, where you're wholly out of the power structure, this means you often have to deal with arrogant Dark Side wizards. Thankfully, you're allowed to behave more like Grand Moff Tarkin than Admiral Motti.

For those of you reading this who are not Star Wars trivia nerds, Admiral Motti is the guy Vader force choked in the first movie for disrespecting the Force.

    The premise of the Imperial Agent is you're James Bond (or Jane Bond if you prefer). The smooth-talking, elegant, and hyper-dangerous Cipher Nine is in the employ of one of the few civilian-controlled branches of the Empire's military left. 

   As expected of a group living in a police-state controlled by evil wizards, they're ridiculously paranoid and don't use their real names even when dealing with each other. Morale is low in Imperial Intelligence, as to be expected when you're under the command of people who can execute you at will. 

   Despite this, the agent of Imperial Intelligence believe the Empire is worth defending and even if most of them don't like the Sith (not that they'd ever admit to it in public). They carry on in hopes of protecting the Empire's citizenry. I appreciated this viewpoint because it's entirely rationale and reflects a lot of RL dictatorships. The folk at Imperial Intelligence aren't even villains per se but people determined to keep the casualties on their side at a minimum.
 
    Which is hard when so many Sith are so ****ing STUPID (a fact backed up by the Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor storylines--those two are, quite possibly, the only two capable Sith Lords in the entire Empire). The Imperial Inquisitor spends a great deal of time cleaning up after the Dark Lords, to the point it becomes an incredible relief when you're finally in a position to start showing the spoon-benders that Muggles can do it better.

 

The SNARK of the Imperial Inquisitor almost rivals the Sith Inquisitor.

    Interestingly, while the Imperial Agent is quite capable of killing lesser Sith and even Sith Masters, the game makes it clear this is a very rare skill. Likewise, the Sith Inquisitor is required to make use of puzzle elements in order to face against more powerful Dark Lords. I liked this as it helped demonstrate the most dangerous element of the Imperial Agent is their mind. By the end of the main quest, the Imperial Agent will have left a high enough body count that any Sith Lord who doesn't respect them as an equal is a fool

    The romance options for the Imperial Agent are some of the best in the entire game, at least the parts I've played, giving you numerous opportunities to seduce or befriend NPCs in the game. I actually liked my characters flirtatious romance with Watcher-2 (pretty Imperial professional) more than I did with my Companion romance options. Admittedly, one of them is a bit creepy as the "Voss" romance can end horrifically, but otherwise it's easy to say the Imperial Agent is the sexiest guy/girl in the galaxy.

I'm a sucker for a girl in uniform.

     I think the part I liked most about the Imperial Agent story was the Voss infiltration mission, where you are forced to impersonate a member of an alien species. The fact you have to get close to a family of reasonably nice sentients (who one of your colleagues murdered the father of in order to impersonate) gives a real sense of spy-work absent from most espionage media let alone video games.

    Villains for the Imperial agent include the delightfully hateable Darth Jadus, a figure you can choose to ally with if you're feeling particularly psychotic. Darth Jadus is a great little bit of War on Terror satire as he's a figure who thinks terrorism is a great way of galvanizing the populace for military action against the Republic. I'm also fond of his daughter who is a completely incompetent Sith Lord as well as utterly crazy. The conspiracy at the end is something I'm iffier about as they don't have nearly the same level of presence as Darth Jadus, but serve as decent-enough antagonists to oppose our anti-hero.

    In conclusion, I think the Imperial Agent is one of the more fun storylines I've played in Star Wars: The Old Republic. I think fans aching for something different will find there's a lot to enjoy about being the Sith Empire's clean-up crew. I didn't much care for a plotline involving brainwashing in middle but the ending more than makes up for it.

9/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns review

    I am of two minds about Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns. On one hand, it is a perfectly serviceable Star Wars story. There's the Sith, they've built a nasty superweapon, and we have a hero with an interesting problem out to stop it. Unfortunately, the story is so dreadfully conventional I'm not sure I can rate it highly.

    What do I mean about conventional? Part of the appeal of The Old Republic is the fact the lines are a bit blurrier than normal. The Sith Empire has individuals who are motivated by the fact the Republic attempted to commit genocide against them millennia ago and believe they would do the same again given half the chance (they're right).

    The Republic includes people who believe there's no method too horrible for opposing the Sith. Yet, at the end of the day, the Sith are a "might makes right" dictatorship while the Republic is a democracy. It's genuine moral ambiguity without being contrived.

    Unfortunately, that moral ambiguity is completely absent from The Lost Suns. Jedi and Republic=Good. Sith and Empire=Evil. The Sith are building a bunch of superweapons and our heroes have to stop them. This isn't a bad story, really, but it is such a well-trod story that I find myself disappointed. Both The Threat of Peace and Blood of the Empire managed to nicely display the moral ambiguity of the setting without diluting either the Jedi and Sith's well-established roles.

    I perhaps am being too harsh on this particular point but even if the Sith and Imperials are evil, the least they could be is interesting evil. Darth Mekhis is a wicked Sith who wants to build a bunch of evil stuff and that's the extent of her characterization. Oh and she's a member of the Dark Council. I love the fact there's a Sith female main villain, I do. It's part of why I liked Kreia. However, that is not a substitute for personality.

    The only real meat to the story lies in the character of Theron Shan. The son of Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan, he was raised as a Jedi Knight from birth only to discover as an adult he was insensitive to the Force. In short, his entire childhood was essentially wasted.

    We get a sense of Theron's determination in the fact he decided to become a Republic SIS (their CIA-equivalent) instead but that's about the extent of Theron's characterization. It's not so much that Theron is a flat-character but he keeps to himself enough that we never really bond with him the way we've done with other characters.

    Oddly, my favorite character in the book is Jedi Master Ngani Zho. I enjoyed him consistently throughout the book and wished he would appear in other stories. Even then, there was a disconnect as the book depicted a Jedi Master living as a homeless person bumming rides from one side of the galaxy to the next as something we're supposed to find disturbing. Except, well, Jedi Masters do that sort of stuff all the time. Up until the halfway point of the novel I wasn't aware there was a problem with Master Zho's behavior.

    My least favorite character from the book, however, was undoubtedly Teff'ith. I can't point to anything specific about her but I have never wanted a Star Wars character to die in a manner as horribly as I did her. Everything about her set my teeth on edge and while I have disliked characters before, her sheer unnecessary-ness to the narrative made me despise her. These feelings were not improved by a likable character being removed in favor of her. In a very real way, Teff'ith is my Jar Jar or Ken Palpatine.

    Even the ending felt emotionally unsatisfying. We have a chance to have Theron confront the person who set him on his life's path, the person who shaped his entire existence, and devoted about ninety-percent of his existence to a cause which wasn't his own. He has absolutely nothing to say to this person. This is meant to be meaningful and profound but, frankly, isn't very good drama.

    The Lost Suns isn't bad but it sure as hell isn't good. It's quite possibly the most generic Star Wars story ever told. Even the relatively original idea of being the non-Force Sensitive son of an extremely powerful Jedi gets glossed over. Any angst Theron might have experienced about the subject he's outgrown years ago. It's just not very dramatic and everyone feels like they're characters in a paint-by-the-numbers Star Wars story. The only thing we're missing is some droid comic relief and that would have actually made the story better.

5/10

The Nature of the Sith - Can They Be Good?

Where it all began.

    In The Empire Strikes Back, we're introduced to the Sith. Before, A New Hope implied that Darth Vader was nothing more than a fallen Jedi Knight. While the order is never changed, Darth Vader's master clearly practices some form of religion different from the Jedi Knighthood as the prospect of luring Young Skywalker to the Dark Side trumps the danger a renewed Jedi Knighthood might pose.

        EMPEROR: We have a new enemy -- Luke Skywalker.
        VADER: Yes, my master.
        EMPEROR: He could destroy us.
        VADER: He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.
        EMPEROR: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not
        become a Jedi.
        VADER: If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.
        EMPEROR: Yes. Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?
        VADER: He will join us or die, my master.

     Supplemental materials published by West End Games and other sources identified Darth Vader as a "Dark Lord of the Sith" but no one knew what a Sith was. Timothy Zahn, for example, originally intended the Noghri race to be the Sith. George Lucas, undoubtedly having an idea of what he wanted to do with the race, wisely nixed these ideas.

    The Sith remained a mystery for years thereafter, finally being revealed when Kevin J. Anderson was given a set of notes for his Jedi Academy novels. Originally intending the character of Exar Kun to be a Dark Jedi, George Lucas suggested he would be better as a Sith Lord and gave him a short outline of their order. This would further be expanded in Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith where we discovered the Sith were an ancient civilization of Darksiders destroyed by the Jedi Order.

Exar Kun - 3rd Lord of the Sith.

    Ultimately, we'd get a full knowledge of the Sith race with the comic book series Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith which would expand on their back story further. The Sith were once a race of force-sensitives until Dark Jedi conquered them and turned them to the ways of evil. Since that time, there have been many expansions on the Sith. Different orders of darksiders claiming the name, getting wiped out by the Jedi, and the cycle of vengeance continuing.

Naga Sadow - a member of the original Sith race and a practitioner of their debased Dark Jedi-influenced religion.

    Despite the Sith's integral role in the Star Wars' mythos, it took a long time to learn anything about their beliefs. As stock villains in a franchise known for its monochromatic depictions of good and evil, no one was in a hurry to detail what the Sith stood for. This changed with the first Knights of the Old Republic video game. One of the missions lead the player to infiltrating the Sith Academy on Korriban and finding out just what the Sith believed.

        Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
        Through passion, I gain strength.
        Through strength, I gain power.
        Through power, I gain victory.
        Through victory, my chains are broken.
        The Force shall free me.

    To those familiar with Star Wars lore, this is a near complete inversion of the Jedi Code first presented in West End Games materials.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.

    This nicely sets up what was always a thematic element of the Sith. They are the literal polar opposites of the Jedi, chromatic inversions of their philosophy and practices. A Jedi is stoic, a Sith is passionate. A Jedi seeks peace, a Sith exploits violence. A Jedi serves, a Sith serves no one. But is the Sith Way evil?

Darkness vs. Light. The eternal struggle of the Jedi and Sith. Or is it?

    The Sith Code extolls the virtues of emotion, strength, and freedom. None of these qualities are innately evil. It's called Star Wars, after all, and violence is a tool of our heroes. The Jedi Knights always seek peace but they rarely find it. Indeed, Star Wars is a story of the overthrow of an oppressive government so our heroes can live in a free galaxy.

    There's nothing at odds with the Sith Code and being a plucky freedom fighter trying to liberate the galaxy. Well, nothing other than the fact the Sith are usually the ones enslaving the galaxy. The Galactic Empire, Revan's Sith Empire, and the Sith of the Old Republic are all based on the same Space Nazi stereotypes meant to indicate the Dark Lords are bad news. Even non-fascist Sith Empires tend towards extremes with the Ancient Sith practicing slavery and ritual sacrifice.

The Triumph of the Will homage here doesn't say much about the Sith's governing skills, does it?

    In short, the Sith tend to be the oppressor rather than the liberator for all their code's talk of freedom. I believe this is because the Sith Code exalts strength and passion. It's all too easy for those practicing the Sith Way to hold the weak in contempt. A Sith would not submit to slavery so anyone who does deserves it, right? Admittedly, this is just an extrapolation but it fits with what we know about the Sith. They're monstrously selfish.

     But do they have to be?

    The idea of a redeemed Dark Lord of the Sith is nothing new. The number of Sith Lords redeemed to the light side include: Darth Vader, Ulic Qel-Dromel, Darth Revan, and Ajunta Pall if you choose the right options during Knights of the Old Republic. However, is it possible to reject the Dark Side of the Force and continue to embrace the way of the Sith?

    I say yes.

    Star Wars: The Old Republic offers the opportunity to be a Light Side Sith Warrior and Inquisitor. The choices for being a Lightsider aren't always moral: one mission gives you the opportunity to mercy kill a bunch of slaves or torture them but not free them. However, the game says that a Sith Warrior can glow with light to Force Precognitive Jaesa Williams while the Sith Inquisitor can speak of reforming the Empire to his Gray Jedi apprentice.

He has Jedi friends and wants to be one but, really, he's horrible at the Jedi Way.

    The Force Unleashed and its sequel offer the opportunity to play Darth Vader's apprentice. Ultimately, the story is one of redemption but our hero never gets the opportunity to claim the mantle of Jedi. Indeed, he opposes the Emperor and Darth Vader purely with the skills he learned from the latter. With the Star Wars franchise changing hands, it occurs to me this is the perfect time to explore the nuances of the opposition's philosophy.

    This has already been done with the Galactic Empire. Timothy Zahn, in particular, has expanded on the Empire to the point they're actually able to serve as co-protagonists in several books. If we can lend the dignity of a valid point to a group known for blowing up planets of pacifists, shouldn't we consider doing the same to the Jedi's mortal enemies?

    Sure, it might seem gimmicky but we've seen plenty of corrupt Jedi over the years. Not just Jedi fallen prey to the Dark Side but arrogant and ossified Force-Users who misunderstand basic human reaction. Why not show the opposite? Sith who are not fully committed to the ways of evil and might, just possibly, have a point.

     I think the Star Wars EU can only benefit from this.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Sith Inquisitor Storyline review

    Warning: Some possible minor spoilers for the Sith Inquisitor storyline.

    I am Darth Imperius.

    Born a Chiss slave, the future Darth Imperius was rescued from a life of back-breaking labor by the discovery of his force-sensitivity. Never forgetting his roots, the future Dark Lord vowed to not abuse the lesser beings of the galaxy while carrying his revenge upon those who had made his life miserable. Through a mixture of the Dark Side and the Light Side, he eventually claimed the power he'd been so long denied.

    Much like his counterpart, Darth Tremor, Darth Imperius is not the sort of Sith Lord who causally kills underlings. Indeed, many in the Republic and Empire both find it ridiculous how pleasant he can be. That doesn't mean Darth Imperius is weak, however. Countless Sith and Jedi have underestimated the self-educated darksider to their peril.

   The Sith Inquisitor was the first class I played in Star Wars: The Old Republic but my last to finish. It has fun NPCs, a coherent story, and plenty of opportunities to use force-lightning on unsuspecting fools but it never quite jells together quite the same way other character class stories do. You expect to be Darth Sidious when you're the Sith Inquisitor but you actually come off as an evil wizard Indiana Jones.

One of my favorite characters is Khen Val, your "pet monster" which you gain during a tomb raid.

    The essence of the Sith Inquisitor's story is the pursuit of power. Not born to one of the amazingly powerful force-sensitive bloodlines which litter the galaxy, the Sith Inquisitor has to cheat in order to achieve perfection. This isn't completely true, as later events in the storyline will prove, but it's close enough to be accurate summation.

    The storyline is one long series of archaeology digs and tomb raiding puzzles after another. There are, occasionally, stories to break this up but a large part of the Sith Inquisitor's tale is seeking forbidden Sith lore lost to modern darksiders. This is rather silly when you're playing a Light Side Inquisitor like me.

    That doesn't mean the storyline isn't good. It's just not really what I normally associate with Star Wars. The rivalry between the Sith Inquisitor and Darth Thanaton makes a lot of sense when you take into account both are former slaves. Likewise, I loved the character of Lord Zash. It's nice to have a friendly Sith Lord for a change. No points for guessing this only makes her more dangerous.

     The Sith Inquisitor's companions are hit and miss. While some, like Khem Val, are awesome--others are just sort of there or outright irritating. I'm not terribly fond of Xalek or Ashara Zavros, for example. Despite being a Lightside Inquisitor, Ashara Zavros annoyed me with her constant prattling about combining the Jedi and Sith way. Xalek, on the other hand, just wasn't all that interesting. Thankfully, one of my companions was a pirate and that makes everything better.

Would you believe she's one of the most dangerous darksiders alive?

    Romance fans will be a trifle disappointed, too, as the Sith Inquisitor romance options aren't really all that great. Female Inquisitors get a handsome Imperial officer to romance but the male Sith Inquisitor is stuck with the aforementioned Ashara Davos, who is basically an adult Ahsoka Tano. On my end, I can't say that I really was aching for that sort of connection to a character. NPC romances aren't much better with my favorite of the possibilities being a tech on Nar Shaddaa. Despite the truth of her appearance, I think I would have preferred a romance with Darth Zash since she proved to be one of my favorite Sith Lords in a very short amount of time.

     The best moments in the Sith Inquisitor's storyline actually come from when the tale diverges from its tomb-raiding format. When the Sith Inquisitor is trying to deal with a cult on Nar Shaddaa, when he's trying to convince a Republic scientist they're not going to kill them out of hand, and retrieving an ancient lightsaber from a gang of toughs are all questlines I enjoyed immensely.

     My favorite part of the story is on the Sith Tombworld of Korriban. Not the archaeology and exploration of ruins, but the politicking back at the Academy. They really do a great job of making you hate your rival. Yes, he's basically Draco Malfoy, a snobby pure-blooded Sith who looks down upon you for your slave heritage but that doesn't mean he's not a fun guy to show up. Unlike Draco, he's the kind of character who can kill you easily. The final culmination of your plotline with him is dramatic as well as well-written.

Not exactly the most colorful villain in the game.

    Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Sith Inquisitor's archenemy of Darth Thanaton. Darth Thanaton is a character who was established in the Old Republic comics as a slave who rose through the ranks of the Sith through cunning and guile. None of that get's touched on, though, as your relationship and similarities are never expounded upon in-game.

    Instead, Darth Thanaton's just a bossy traditionalist who wants to get rid of you before you become a threat. I felt this was a missed opportunity and think Thanaton was a weak villain as a result. The fact he's not an especially powerful member of the Dark Council also undermines your accomplishment versus the defeat of Darth Baras over in the Sith Warrior storyline.

    In conclusion, those looking to play a badass Sith Lord would probably do better to check out the Sith Warrior. Those looking to play a manipulative political mover and shaker would, again, probably do better to check out the Sith Warrior. Those interested in playing a dark side sorcerer seeking to probe the limits of the supernatural should find the Sith Inquisitor a worthy class to play.

8/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation review

    Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation chronicles the adventures of Theron Shan, spy and son of Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan. Born without sensitivity to the Force, Theron Shan was still trained in Jedi techniques and uses them as a Republic spy. I didn't read the comic book mini-series which introduced him but was eager to get acquainted with the character in the novels. I'm a huge fan of Drew Karpyshyn's work and was interested in his take on the character.

    Honestly, I can't say it was all that impressive.

    If I could summarize Annihilation, I suppose I'd choose the word generic. It is very recognizably Star Wars, unfortunately it's lacking in anything which really distinguishes it from the hundreds of other works based on the franchise. There's a Big-Bad Evil Sith (double points for being a fallen Jedi and cyborg) who has a Big-Bad Evil Starship the heroes want to blow up. Theron is a scoundrel who doesn't pay much heed to the Force, he's got a Jedi Master mentor who does (double points for being the Big-Bad Evil Sith's mentor), and an even more scoundrel-like alien girl who can't speak English (or "Basic" if we're to be accurate to the setting) very well.

    There's also the fact we meet Theron's father during this book. Is he a nameless trooper that Satele Shan once loved? Some guy she shared a moment with? A fellow Jedi? An almost-as-generic Sith Lord? No, actually, he's another hero every bit as big as Satele Shan. Theron Shan is the Jacen Solo of the Old Republic era, the child of two legendary heroes. I love Star Wars to death but the 'bloodlines of awesome' thing needs to go die in a fire. I hated it in Star Wars: Legacy and I'm not too big of a fan here.

    I think part of my disappointment stems from the fact the Old Republic era promised something new to the Star Wars era. Not moral ambiguity, we got enough of that in the NJO, but nuance to the character. The Sith are fully three-dimensional characters in the Old Republic Era and the Jedi Knights are at their most flawed. The conflict is a great deal more touch and go because, as stated during the Clone Wars, there's heroes on both sides. This is a book about plucky heroes and mindlessly evil Sith which feels distinctly paint-by-the-numbers.

    Part of my problem is Theron's character irritated me. I don't mind heroes who break the rules but the easy way he coasts over his superior's orders and does whatever he wants makes him somewhat boring. There's also his stalker-like relationship with Teff'ith the Twilek. Teff'ith repeatedly makes it clear she doesn't want anything to do with Theron, only for him to ignore her wishes and stalk her around the galaxy. It's not romantic or paternal, it's just plain creepy.

    I think a big mistake of the writers and developers was to begin the Sith Empire and Old Republic war again. The Cold War was an interesting promise, forcing both Jedi and Sith to treat each other as friends or rivals rather than enemies. Breaking it out into a war again give us any new stories and just continues the cycle of murder between the two sides we've seen literally dozens of times before. A curse on Darth Baras (and the writers) for destroying an interesting premise.

    My irritation is doubled because the book hints at nuance while not really bearing it out. There's a Sith Lord on the Dark Council (whose membership now resembles a game of musical chairs) who wants to stop the in-fighting and focus on fighting the Republic. There's questions of sacrificing thousands of lives to save billions. Theron is forced into a desk job at one point, lightly punished for nearly getting a bunch of his fellow soldiers enslaved. All of this is swept under the rug for the "destroy the superweapon" plot people were tired of by the time Kevin J. Anderson created the Sun Crusher.

    Despite all this, I can't say Star Wars: Annihilation is bad. It's just disappointing. Perhaps I've read one too many books with sympathetic Imperial protagonists and was hoping for something better from the author of the Darth Bane trilogy. Darth Bane was pure evil and his Sith philosophy was too, yet you got into the head of the Dark Lord. You understood his rationale, insane as it was. Here, the Sith are just mustache-twirling bad guys who I half-expected Captain America to show up and punch. That would have made the book better. Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance wasn't perfect but gave a much more interesting look into the Sith and Imperial mindset.

    I recommend fans of the Old Republic MMORPG give it a once over but everyone else should give it a pass.

    5/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Sith Warrior Storyline review

Warning: Some possible minor spoilers for the Sith Warrior storyline.

    I am Darth Tremor.

    Darth Tremor is the cyborg son of an Imperial noble bloodline. He never had much use for the Force or the Empire's aristocracy. Instead, he went on to be a loyal soldier of the Empire only to find himself drafted to the Sith Academy when it was discovered he had high force-potential. Darth Tremor was a surprisingly nice fellow for a Sith Lord. Well, not really, but if you don't randomly kill subordinates and only inflict pain on the deserving you're considered to be a saint in the Empire.

     Darth Tremor was a brainiac who always felt under-appreciated by the Sith and ultimately decided that the Dark Council had to go. Later, he became fascinated by the Light Side and Darth Revan, which made his confrontation with the latter idol all the more painful.

     Ahem.

    Okay, that was pretentious.

What's surprising is this guy is actually almost reasonable for much of the game.

     To be a Sith Warrior is to be able to be Darth Vader, not dinky Prequel Anakin Skywalker but a Dark Lord with all the potential power that implies. The Sith Warrior isn't just a mindless brute, much like his movie namesake, he spends most of his time involving himself in the politics of the Galactic Empire. It's even thematically appropriate for the budding Dark Lord of the Sith to take the Gordian Knot approach to the majority of his problems. Your Sith master has a number of enemies, what do you do with them?

    Well, you go out and kill them, obviously.

Dark Side Jaesa was tempting despite my Lightsidedness. Why? She's feisty like my wife.

    The best part of the Sith Warrior's journey is the characters he deals with. They are vibrant and nuanced in ways you wouldn't expect in Star Wars. You have the option to either corrupt a Jedi Knight into a full-blown monster or turn them into a Light Side Sith like yourself. You can keep a Twilek slave as your abused chew toy or you can free her and develop an unusual friendship.

     You can even have your own version of Admiral Piett in Quinn, the poor dutiful Imperial who just happens to be saddled next to a juggernaut of destruction. The other characters didn't make as much an impression on me but I deeply enjoyed them anyway.

     I was especially fond of your Sith Lord mentor, Darth Baras, who is what would happened if Darth Sidious was played by Marlon Brando. Some of the best moments in the game are when he's calling your character out for growing up with a silver-spoon in his mouth. The game makes it clear you and Baras are going to eventually face each other, as Sith and student inevitably do, but it is a conflict which is evenly paced. You get to know Darth Baras better than anyone in the galaxy and when you finally face him, it is after a long and hard road.

The final confrontation with your mentor is both epic as well as satisfying.

    The Sith Warrior is definitely of above-average story and I enjoy the sense of being born into the Sith nobility. It made my role-playing of a Light Side Sith all the more poignant as I had to deal with a system designed to personally benefit me but which was obviously dysfunctional with anyone with half a brain. The fact you have no choice but to climb to the very top of the ladder, eventually becoming the Emperor's second-in-command.

    Unlike the Sith Inquisitor's storyline, the infighting amongst the Sith didn't feel gratuitous. Treachery is the way of the Sith but as a Sith Warrior, I felt like I was mostly dealing with normal levels of infighting in a monarchical society (which is to say, still a lot) and primarily concerned with the Republic. There were some good missions setting me against the Jedi Order and their government. Plus, you don't have to just kill your enemies in this game. One mission had the option of assassinating a powerful Sith Lord only to have an agent of yours impersonate him after death.

Character customization is quite good. I admit, though, I generally let Vette and Jaesa wear something more modest.

    My favorite character interactions in the game are a toss-up between Jaesa Wilsaam and Vette. Jaesa Wilsaam is a Jedi Knight fed up with the hypocrisy of the order, only to find herself surrounded by the sharks of the Sith. Vette, on the other hand, is a spunky adult-version of KOTOR's Mission Vao, who may or may not be stuck with the nicest Sith in the galaxy. Both of them are awesome. It was genuinely difficult for me to choose which of the two of to romance. Ultimately, I chose Jaesa but I like to think Vette stuck around anyway.

    What really worked for me in the Sith Warrior's quest storyline, however, was the genuine poignancy some of the missions had. I would never have expected this from the Sith Warrior of all things but there were some genuine touching moments in the story. Perhaps my favorite was when poor Jaesa wanted to meet with some fellow Light-Side Sith only to have it go horribly wrong. If I had to replay any of the games I'd played so far, it'd be the Sith Warrior.

    There's a few moments in the Sith Warrior storyline I'm not entirely fond of. For example, Darth Baras asks you what the Sith Code is but you can't recite it. Which, given you were raised in the Sith culture seems ridiculous. The road to becoming the Emperor's Wrath, however, is something I felt was quite impressive.

The Dark Side is your ally.

    One of the early missions I liked has you given a choice between killing a Sith Lord's son or making a deal with his wife to kill him so the son can take his place as her puppet. The fact you can go the additional mile and seduce the wife as a male Sith Warrior made it surprisingly Game of Thrones-esque. Having played both the Sith Acolyte and Sith Warrior storylines, I'm surprised to say it is the latter which has most of the Palpatine-esque politicking.

    However, how does it play? I think it does extremely well has a great ease of utility. It's easy to simply slice your way through literally thousands of monsters and I found it superior to the Sith Inquisitor. My only regret was there was more focus on shocking Vette than executing idiots with force choke.

    Though I could do that too.

10/10

Star Wars: The Old Republic review

    I beta-tested the game before it came out but haven't been able to play the game enough to give a full-fledged review until now. I've completed the Sith Inquisitor story (Light Side), the Imperial Agent story (Light Side), and am currently doing the Sith Warrior (Light Side) version.

    Can you sense a pattern?

    I admit, the biggest thing I enjoy about Star Wars: The Old Republic is playing a Light-Side Sith. It's virtually unprecedented in the whole of Star Wars lore. Usually, if someone comes over to the Light Side they switch over to being a Jedi. You can have Dark Jedi but Light Side Sith is something new.

    Really, I enjoy playing the Light Side of the "evil" faction because it's more narratively appealing to me than simply playing the good guy. I also don't see nearly as much potential in playing a Darksider on the "good" side. I'm not alone in this but from what I can tell, most people who play the Imperial side actually enjoy being the bad guy.

    So, different strokes for different folks.

The joys of killing things with lightsabers never gets old.

    Star Wars: The Old Republic has many things going for it, not the least bit being its excellent voice-acting and story. The stories are so rich and so deep, I'm actually going to individually review all of them separately from my main blog. There's really eight different stories here, sixteen if you're interested in playing Light Side and Dark Side variations on everything. They all deserve individual consideration.

    Which is part of the problem.

    Having played Star Wars: The Old Republic for awhile, I'll say the biggest issue it has is the fact it seems to be the MMORPG for people who don't like MMORPGs. No, seriously, if you just like solo-games then this is a bit like buying Knights of the Old Republic 3-10. With slight adjustment, all of these could have been released as individual games.

    That's really not what an MMORPG is about.

I'm totally lightside. Honest.

    Seriously, even the Flashpoints kind of reduce the desire to do team exercises. You gather together in relatively small groups of people and proceed to do all of the missions. It's even possible, though unwise from what I gather, to do missions alone. There's not exactly any real incentive to gather into a massive Guild since there's no raids or large-scale team-content to speak of.

    One of the silliest World of Warcraft gatherings I ever saw was when a bunch of players gathered together forty or so pink-haired gnomes for the explicit purpose of assaulting Sylvanas' stronghold in order to give her a hug. It was a ridiculous, surreal, and absolutely awesome way to spend the day for a lot of players.

    I don't see anyone getting together to go assault the Emperor's fortress or kill Satele Shan. Indeed, the only way to battle the Emperor is to do it with the Jedi Knight as the climax of his story. This seems patently ridiculous as Luke Skywalker did the first Sith Emperor in Star Wars with Darth Vader's help. The death of the Emperor should have been a Flashpoint for both sides like with Darth Malgus or a certain character whose return is still one of the biggest spoilers of the game.

    I can understand why Bioware didn't want Tython overwhelmed with hundreds of Sith Warriors and Sith Acolytes trying to cap the leader of the Jedi but that's part of the fun. That's not even getting into what is the weakest element of the game: the Player vs. Player element. It's not bad and there's an awesome idea called Huttball but I think they could have emphasized the community element more.

    Indeed, the very nature of Bioware's companion system may work against the players forming communities. There's no need to travel around the galaxy with an intrepid band of heroes when your campaign story comes pre-equipped with an intrepid (computer-controlled) band of heroes.

     I won't bring up the piloting missions of the game, which I think could have been improved on by slightly updating TIE fighter and X-wing with better graphics before setting our heroes loose on each other. Of course, if I were the guy designing it, I would have made the option to be aliens and so many other things which would be impractical for the story-based MMO they were clearly interested in making.

The characters are, really, the heart of what makes this game awesome.

    Really, I shouldn't talk about the way I think they should have made the game but instead how it actually is. I loved Knights of the Old Republic and this is like an extraordinarily long series of games set in the style. The characters are extraordinarily well-written, the adventures are fun, and the expansion on the Star Wars universe is amazing.

    Is the MMORPG as good as a single-player console game would be? I'm not so sure about that. There's parts that seem a bit unpolished like the over-focus on tomb-raiding in the Sith Inquisitor or the fact the Sith Warrior has a questionable position at the end due to the Emperor's death. Still, that doesn't mean it's not more enjoyable than 90% of the games out there.

9/10