Combat has been tarted up a little bit this time round. The fights are a real joy to behold with the cinematic portrayal of the taking the expected leap in visual arrestivenss once the lightsabers come out to play. Controlling characters during the fight seemed less cumbersome than before. Once you have familiarised yourself with the controls it's possible to keep a party going in the middle of a big fight without having to rely on the pause function. KOTOR 2 is the first game where I have felt that the white (pause) and black (character select) buttons were in the right place on the controller. If things do get too hectic you can easily pause the game and set up a string of commands for each character using the X button. After a while with the game I came to the conclusion that many of the design decisions made for the control system were spot on and that going back to point and click on a will seem like a retrograde step.

It's a shame that the AI and pathfinding is not up to the same exacting standards. While the directness of the enclosed environments reduces the scope for your players to get stuck, in the middle of a fight they can often give up in confusion if an enemy is an awkward position. Party members also don't always make the smartest targeting choices although idiots running across the map to attack an inconsequential threat are a blessedly rare occurrence. Opening containers can also lead to an instant IQ drop in your characters, although it must be said that coding to make the model try different options if the first path is blocked is readily apparent and usually works quite well. The AI also does a good job of utilising a character's particular strengths during the well animated battles. So while it's unwise to just leave the machine to do all the fighting for you, the AI will liberally use Force powers and health packs along with special moves to ensure that the characters which are not under the player's direct control still provide useful support.

Obsidian have also done nothing to improve the underlying game engine, so occasional slowdowns and restrictive and bland environments are more prevalent than they should be. Once again much of the exploring is all about running down long corridors, whether they are indoors or out. There are some impressive locations to admire and the visual style is undeniably yet you can almost hear the complaints of the game designers as they tried to match their vision to the technical capabilities of the Xbox. Loading times are lengthy and overly frequent, with the prospect of a trek across five or six loading screens enough to nix thoughts of tying up minor side quests. There are also a few minor bugs and glitches which could have no doubt been excised if the game wasn't pushed out the door in time for its release.

KOTOR 2 is in my mind a superior sequel. And while it follows a recent trend of open endings designed to compel you to buy the third instalment, it offers many, many hours of fun. The quality of the characters, story and writing is the biggest draw as far as I was concerned and is certainly the game's greatest strength. The characters are full of quirks, idiosyncrasies and flaws, making them seem like realistic individuals rather than the tool of a games designer. KOTOR 2 shows that to make a truly impressive RPG you really only need two things: a workable and fluid engine, and some seriously talented writers. KOTOR 2 also has superb settings, great sound and and a combat system that strikes the right balance between action and considered confrontation. Even if you haven't touched or were left underwhelmed by the first KOTOR, if you have an affinity for either Star Wars or RPGs it's very unlikely that you won't find yourself quickly getting sucked into the sumptuous atmosphere and intrigue that is KOTOR 2.

90%

By Sam Gibson