The Batlord

Please tell me you'll somehow include Dark Forces and X-Wing vs. Tie fighter, or I shall destroy your journal with a lighter. It would make me most sad, to do something so unrad, but if so I must, lest your month be a bust, so please heed what I say, or I'll do it I swear, come whatever may.

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Key

I'll try my best. My knowledge on the older games isn't too great.

Key

Throughout the entire Star Wars universe be it in the video games, or in the movies, or even the animated shows or whatever, the concept of "freedom of choice" really has a strong connection to each and every character you get involved in. Since this is a video game focused month, I will focus more on the video games over anything else. (as a side note, this will be mostly text as it's just something I've wanted to write about).

Most of the Star Wars games that i've played have the concept of freedom of choice stuck to it like glue, which is a good thing. To see a concept that is used throughout a movie make it's way into a video game of the same franchise is something really cool to behold. The Knights of the Old Republic series has done that concept really well. Throughout the game you will be given choices that you can either react to positively, leading to someone being your friend or companion, or you can react to it negatively, leading someone innocent or important to their death. I've done a fair share of playthroughs of both KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2, and I am a strong believe of KOTOR 2 really using the concept to it's advantage in a really really good way. KOTOR 2 introduced the usage of influence that you have with your companions. Basically, if you chose to do something bad/dark side, one companion may feel positive toward your choice whereas other companions may feel negatively towards your choice. The same is said about making a decision that is more based towards a light side path. There are exceptions however. In one of my playthrough of KOTOR 2, I remember bringing Visasfrom the dark side to the light side strictly based on certain conversation decisions that I made with her that influenced her to become good. Same is said for the Handmaiden that joins your team earlier in the game, except you can influence her to become a dark jedi with you while you take the path of a sith lord. She's a very interesting character, especially once you really start to gain her trust and she tells you more about her life and childhood etc etc.

SPOILER ALERT

Believe it or not, Force Unleashed was also among those games that had a pretty good grasp on what your final decision can do for your character. However, it isn't done in the same way as it is in the Knights of the Old Republic games, this time it's more of an ending scenario that you can choose from. I can't quite remember which Force Unleashed game it was, but you can choose between fighting against The Emperor or Darth Vader. This results in two separate endings for the game. Like I said, the concept of freedom of choice isn't as evident throughout this game, but you can still finish the story the way you feel it should be finished, albeit very limited decisions.

END SPOILER ALERT

Another great example of the usage of a freedom of choice is obviously in the MMORPG known as Star Wars: The Old Republic, which should be obvious in it's own way considering it is an MMORPG, and y'know...factions and such. But still, it counts. Doesn't it? I don't know, whatever.

My knowledge of the older games such as the Jedi Knight series and the Dark Forces series are sadly limited, however playing through them a little bit at a time, I don't really see as much of a concept of the freedom of choice really evident throughout the games. However, i've been proven wrong before. In my defense, I did really get into the Star Wars video game universe later than most Star Wars geeks would prefer, but I love the games nonetheless, and on this topic specifically regarding the older games, I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

Key

It's time for...a top 10 countdown of what I consider to be the top 10 weapons in Star Wars video games. This will be a two part series, so make sure to read both to get the full experience.

#10

Bao-Dur's guardian droid aka Remote



A bit of a mouth full I know, but I can't tell you how many times I was actually saved in battle with Remote throwing in some shots at the enemy. It's not the strongest or even close to the strongest form of weaponry in the game, but to have something that can lay a few extra shots on an enemy to eventually kill them and save the team is certainly worth mentioning.

#9



Bastila's double bladed lightsaber

You can't tell me that the minute you realized you could control Bastila with her lightsaber, that you didn't automatically decide to use her as your primary character for the rest of the planet. I sure did. Something felt empowering when you were finally able to see what it was like to use a lightsaber in game. I'm actually quite certain that in the KOTOR series, Bastila's lightsaber is the first time you actually get to use a character that wields a lightsaber, at least until you finally get your own.

#8



Ebon Hawk's turret

Yes, yet anothe reason the love the Ebon Hawk, the turret. There are a few times where you get to sit in the seat of the turret and blast the enemy away whether it's ground battle or air. Definitely one of the cooler parts of having the Ebon Hawk to your disposal. I don't know how I feel about the ways you use the turret, but they definitely added a bit of something different to the game.

#7



Mines

I think some of the most fun that I had in the KOTOR games was figuring out how to strategically place mines and luring the enemy into them. The best part about it is the enemy that you were luring toward you really had no clue there were mines in front of them, and suddenly you see the mines explode, and the enemy falls over and dies. Instant satisfaction.

#6



Grenades

Grenades are simply awesome. Especially when you have a lot of them. I can't say I would rely on them too much mostly because it seems like in certain situations, they're either completely useless because the enemy keeps healing themselves, or they're ridiculously OP because the enemy doesn't realize you're trying to fight them. I will say that in difficult situations, i've found myself just throwing grenade after grenade and the enemy didn't even think to look around to see someone throwing them.

The Batlord

**** a double-bladed lightsaber. Dual-wielding regular lightsabers it's where it's at. I think it might even be more effective in combat, but it's been too long for me to remember.

Oh, and are you talking about grenades in general? Or are you being a n00b and calling them grenades when you're really talking about thermal detonators? Don't be that guy.

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Key

^ I know the difference. I'm just talking about grenades in general.

Key

From here until the end of the month, the updates won't be daily, there'll probably still be close to 5 or 6 updates per week until the end of the month, but the amount of content I have doesn't fill the rest of the days. Plus, sometimes I just don't have the motivation to write anything.

Key

Yeah yeah yeah, "there is no excuse for this amount of atrocity!". I know, I know. But believe it or not, I do in fact have these games at my disposal. To be fair, between both KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2, i've put in a total of 29 hours. "That's nothin!" you say? Well...yeah, it is nothin'. I'll explain to you why these actually aren't installed on my computer, and trust me, I have a good reason. no i don't.

So, let's start off with the older games, like Dark Forces, Dark Forces II and the like. It's really simple....really. When I played those games back when I bought them, I basically bought them because I thought it'd be cool to have them as a part of my library, that and they were all on sale as a pack of sorts, so I just had to have them. I read reviews, I saw that people rating these games fairly well, and they were apparently "must haves" in anyones collection. Unfortunately, I can't really say I felt that during my time of playing them, which wasn't long to be fair. Probably the only one that got a significant amount of play time from me was Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. The game is great. It's simple, it's fun, and it's a good game overall, however...i'm just not a fan of playing games that feel aged when playing them from the get go. I know, that's a stupid thing to say, and I realize that I could be having a lot of fun playing them if I could just get past the fact that they feel aged. But, playing video games is all about getting enjoyment out of the game you play, and I really don't feel like I get very much enjoyment out of these games. However, in the long run, I really don't regret buying them, because I know that down the line, i'll install them again and play them all for hours and enjoy the heck out of them. So, don't lose hope in me yet, i've got time to correct my error ways.

Now, moving on to the last two on the list that have some significant play time. KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2. "But Ki, you talk about these games a lot, yet they're no longer installed on your PC?" Yep, you're right anonymous voice in the back of my head, they aren't installed on my PC, and for one reason,

THEY ARE NOT OPTIMIZED FOR PLAYING ON A WIDESCREEN MONITOR ETC ETC ETC

Yes, I know, yet again I come up with a stupid reason to not play a game, but seriously, I bought the monitors I have for a reason, to get the full experience out of the games I play. However, with these two games being as aged as they are, the creators didn't really plan for the future with them to allow them to be "full screen playable" on a 1920x1080 res monitor. Honestly, it was disappointing to finally get the games on my PC, only to find that they can only really be playable on an old fashioned box monitor like this:


inb4 hipsters says "but, you should have one of these monitors, screw your widescreen".

How bout no, anonymous hipster in the back of my head.

Anyway, it's really a shame that I can't really talk about these older games as much as I'd like, because really...I didn't grow up playing them as much as others did. I played more of the N64 / Xbox era of Star Wars games. If that's disappointing to you, i'll be outside tomorrow at 4pm, so feel free to come egg me, and my apartment for my errors. Don't hit my cat though.

/rant-ish thing.

The Batlord

Dude, you get to play as a Jedi in first-person and in real time (i.e. not in a turn-based RPG). Don't be a ****.

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Key

I totally get that. And I understand the appeal of it. I just can't get into it for whatever reason.