If there's anyone who knows the importance of sequels, it's George Lucas. The guy has made more money from Star Wars sequels than most of our families will earn in several generations of toil. Sequels are funny things, and are always a double-edged sword (or Lightsaber in this case!). On the one hand you have a willing consumer chomping at the bit to continue their adventure, while on the other you have all the desires, demands, and expectations of experience that an audience will require to be in line with, and then exceed, the original. So when demi-gods Bioware announced that the sequel to their brilliant Knights of the Old Republic was going to be developed elsewhere, many fans felt a huge disturbance in the Force...

Knights of the Old Republic 2 (KOTOR2), subtitled The Sith Lords, has an almost divine lineage, born as it was from Lucasarts and Bioware, and it is also beholden to those aforementioned high expectations. Developed by the newly formed Obsidian Entertainment, The Sith Lords tells a darker tale of an ex-Jedi stripped of their connection to the Force after their participation in the Mandalorian Wars and subsequent misdeeds with Revan. The story ties in quite nicely with the original KOTOR without actually requiring previous experience, but those who played through the first game will get a lot more from the sequel.

However, they will also be the players most disappointed with The Sith Lords experience. While the sequel does build on the original and make some improvements, on the whole KOTOR 2 feels more like a step backwards than forwards. The problem is that the enhancements are minor and sporadic, while the shortcomings are much more glaring and significant. For example, you can now configure two weapon groups for each character, allowing you to choose a ranged and melee weapon and switch between the two on the fly, rather than having to delve into the menu system. It's a solid, laudable improvement that diminishes one of KOTOR's more annoying quirks, but when you consider that the game has even *more* items and useless junk in the inventory, it sort of feels like they've missed half the point.

Perhaps we have been spoiled by the streamlined experiences that were Fable and Sudeki, both of which arrived in the time between KOTOR and its sequel, or perhaps having lapped up every drop of Jade Empire media and articles has left us, well, jaded towards anything else. Ultimately, the problem is that just like the Bush family, the sequel son is very much a chip off dad's old block. There's nothing wrong with a dialogue-heavy, intelligent role-playing experience, but it doesn't have to be cumbersome and awkward, which The Sith Lords sadly is.

Pacing is a huge problem for this sequel, even moreseo than the original, which was also criticised by fans and press for its slow start. The Sith Lords manages to replicate this sluggish beginning, and for most players the first 10 hours will crawl by until you eventually get your Lightsaber. Holding back the uber-weapon of the game makes sense from a design point of view, but as a player, you can't help but feel this is a deliberate act to exacerbate the sense of tension the opening act tries to create. Once that Lightsaber is in your hands, you are pretty much an unstoppable force, and like the original game, it makes the rest of the weaponry in the game virtually redundant.

Even the acquisition of the famous energy sword doesn't do much to liven up the action outside of combat, and the very act of wandering the galaxy looking for hiding Jedi feels like a fool's errand. Essentially, The Sith Lords lacks the sense of purpose that KOTOR created effortlessly, even though the sequel goes at great length to give you context. With that said, if the philosophy of the Star Wars universe interests you at all, there is a wealth of dialogue and material for you to explore and discuss with the various characters you meet in the course of your ponderous adventure. It's obscure and arcane enough to not provide any concrete answers and explanations (and thank the Force there's no mention of those damn Midichlorians!), but it will get you thinking about the mythos of Star Wars unlike any other game or movie will- if you're interested. If you aren't, then it's just more and more pages of murky conversations to sift through.

At this point we have to mention Bioware's aptly named Odyssey engine, which feels much like Ulysses' ill-fated, decade long journey, but without the seduction by sirens. The load-times feel like they've somehow gotten longer *and* more frequent, which further undermines the pacing of the story by causing interminable delays. After looking at the load-screen for a minute out of every twenty you spend playing, you will have moments where you wonder why you're bothering at all.

Additionally, the engine seems even less able to handle combat than before, with some truly horrific slowdown during larger battles, that would make you embarrassed to show the game to your friends. Most of the time though it's just a minor drop in framerate that, while noticeable, isn't a deal-breaker, especially since the turn-based combat still does an admirable job of maintaining the illusion of fluidity. The animations are great, particularly the Lightsaber duels, and the character design is fantastic. Your new antagonists ooze menace, and the NPCs are a more diverse bunch in both appearance and behaviour. Overall the graphics are still good, but again, exposure to the likes of Fable and Sudeki have taken the shine off the initial wow-factor that the original possessed.

Your group of NPC followers plays a much more important role in the game this time, which is both a blessing and a curse. Several segments of the game require you to play as only the NPCs, and these segments can be a little off-putting, especially if your strategy builds them up as bantha fodder rather than actual brothers (and sisters) in arms. They're a mixed bag too, with some really interesting additions thrown in with some truly uninspired choices. These jarring jumps to other characters feels a little weak in places, particularly in contrast to how enjoyable the actual scenarios are. These tangents involve co-ordinating a pincer attack, infiltrating a droid-only warehouse and getting drunk at the cantina, to name but a few. It's just a shame some of your partners are so uninteresting

What is inspired however is the new system that allows you to influence your companion's alignment based on your own. Influence is gained with NPC's by performing deeds that impress them or that they agree with, which opens up new dialogue options and reveals backstory much like simple level advancement did in the first game. This time however, how far gone towards the dark or the light side of the Force you are can have a direct impact on your NPCs, and their actions, appearance and responses can change as a result. Having a higher charisma skill will accelerate this process too, so unlike the original KOTOR, it's a statistic with some actual merit this time around.

In fact most of the changes in The Sith Lords are attempts to correct quibbles with its predecessor. Charisma has been made more useful as mentioned in regards to NPCs, and additionally it grants a bonus to your companions during battle. Intelligence and skill-points have also been given an enhanced role thanks to the item-creation system that draws from every skill except persuade. Now, Workbenches (and the new Lab Stations) can be used to craft anything from a medpac to a lightsaber focusing beam. Sadly this has the side-affect of exacerbating the inventory superfluity, but it makes investing points and planning into the skills system a bit more rewarding.

Obsidian have also added a few new Force powers and feats, but the powers in particular feel weak and undercooked. Things like Beast Control, which allows you to go Croc Dundee on alien animals, you may never use while other powers have so little impact they aren't even worth listing as abilities, like being able to hold your breath for a really long time. The feats and abilities fare better, with some interesting additions that allow you to further specialise or generalise your protagonist.

As with most Star Wars games, The Sith Lords excels in the audio department. All the dialogue in the game is spoken aloud, which does a great job of immersing you in the story, and makes the slew of dialogue a little easier to stomach. Even some dodgy voice acting doesn't break the illusion- after all, Mark Hamil was hardly Oscar material in the films! The usual trademark sound effects are present as well, and the whole lot is rendered in Dolby Digital for 5.1 surround sound, increasing the cinematic flair of the game. The music is a mixture of original Star Wars tracks, Jeremy Soule's compositions from the first KOTOR, and a few new tracks scored for The Sith Lords. As you would expect, the music is all exceptionally high quality, and the game provides the option to listen to a specific track from the menu if you enjoy it that much.

The Sith Lords suffers from a rash of bugs and glitches that will mar the overall experience of the game. These range from minor things like graphical glitches when NPCs are in conversations, to important things like unwinnable quests. At the end of our first play through the game, we had three broken missions, and while none were essential (or even particularly interesting), they are perpetually stuck on your journal screen taking up space, and serve as a constant 'what if' that begs the question of whether they opened up other new avenues for exploration. There are also a few rare incidences of game-breaking quest problems, as well as black-screen crashing in certain places. This can easily induce a swing to the dark side and much violence towards controllers and game-discs when you lose a chunk of your progress. The autosave is a problem here too, as it only kicks in every 15 minutes or so when transitioning to a new major area.

Yet despite all the problems, The Sith Lords is still an excellent RPG. There's a lot to see and do, and Pazaak is still addictive. It's a solid adventure too, and should take most players 35-45 hours to complete, meaning it is not a small investment. Whether it pays dividends of course depends on the individual, but the sheer range of responses in terms of light and dark make it an entertaining and enjoyable experience. The game does re-hash quite a few locations from the first game, which seems kind of cheap at first, but it is handled intelligently enough to not come off as tacky. Every locale is changed in some way- in a few places it's subtle, in others quite dramatic. This creates a compelling sense of continuity, and breathes far more life into the KOTOR game-world that the clunky Odyssey engine ever could. Sadly, Xbox Live support has vanished in the sequel, so don't expect Live Awareness or Downloadable Content goodies down the track.