Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II (pre-release thoughts)

For the past few weeks I haven’t been very excited about the December 6 release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II (KotOR II), until I went back to the site today and saw the new stuff they put on there–trailers for Telos and Korriban, a number of weapons–only 4! Why only 4? The coolest looking one is the Charric, supposedly produced in the Unknown Regions, which is a disruptor rifle. I like disruptor rifles, though I don’t remember there being any in KotOR. The Rodians had them in JA, but it wasn’t called a Charric.

Every so often a swirling circle pops up at the center of the screen. Click on it to reveal a question. Depending on your answer, it will indicate whether you’re headed toward ds or ls. It’s pretty easy to figure out the answer, so I’m hoping the choices will be more difficult in the actual game. I’m hoping, too, that the ds choices won’t be the thuggish, gimme-your-credits-or-die type, like in KotOR.

***KotOR (not KotOR II) spoilers below***

Apparently, there’s work going on in Telos to restore the planet to the beauty it once held before stupid old Malak had to go and mess things up. Then again, if he hadn’t–heh heh–my playable character (PC), Sora Veq-Riin, wouldn’t have been able to hook up with Carth. The Ithorians are in charge of the restoration, and according to the rumors, KotOR characters will make cameos. My guess is that it’ll be Dustil or, I hope, Carth. Because, yeah…omg omg omg I still lllluuurrrvvveee Carth!

Speaking of Ithorians, I hope to God that Obsidian does a better job with the aliens’ language, in terms of speeding them up. My God, it took forever to listen to an Ithorian speak in KotOR. The Twi’leks spoke for way too long as well, but I like the way their language sounds, and the way the Rodian language sounds, too.

The trailer on Korriban starts in the Valley of the Dark Lords, which looks similar to the way it did in KotOR but much more deserted. The camera leads you up the incline back towards the Academy, but when you walk through the door, it looks very different from the way it did in KotOR. It isn’t because the “good guys” completely destroyed it–the structure itself looks different. I suppose it could have been an entrance to another tomb, but the path leading up to the door looks just like the one leading to the Academy.

By the way, I believe that “Bobby DeNiro” from the BioWare boards was right–Trask lives! That is, him, isn’t it (left)? He isn’t holding a lightsaber–he’s using some kind of sword with an electrical current running through it. Maybe it’s made out of that cortosis fiber stuff. This is just a crop from the screenshot, so you can see the whole thing on the Web site.

Also, I’m very glad to know that my PC–er, Sora–will be in KotOR II, red hair ribbon and all. Or her face, anyway. This time it looks like she’s favoring 2 lightsabers instead of the double-bladed one. I wonder if green still stands for Consular and yellow for Sentinel.

Anyway, now I’m pretty excited.