KOTOR 2 Will Now Be On Mobile Devices On December 18th

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is one of the most popular RPGs of all time, and definitely one of the greatest Star Wars games. Developed by Bioware and published by LucasArts, the game was critically acclaimed on launch and has since reached legendary status, being hailed as one of the greatest video games ever made. Directed by Casey Hudson and written by Drew Karpyshyn, both of Mass Effect fame, the game boasted a soundtrack by master video games composer Jeremy Soule and the supremely amazing voice talent of Fem Shep herself, Jennifer Hale. The game's sequel, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, was developed by a different studio Obsidian Entertainment, but is of similar high quality, and is also set 4000 years before the events of the Star Wars prequels.

Aspyr have now announced that The Sith Lords will be given a new lease of life on mobile platforms, launching on December 18th. Coming to iPhone, iPad and Android, the game has been reimagined and optimized for mobile devices with touch screen controls, and the same thrilling storyline. Vice President of publishing at Aspyr Elizabeth Howard had this to say: “Fans have been asking for a mobile version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II for so long, and we're thrilled to finally bring it to them. We're proud to continue working with Lucasfilm to bring classic titles like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II to modern platforms.”

The story of The Sith Lords is set just five years after the events of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, and the Sith Lords have hunted down the Jedi, almost extinguishing the entire Jedi Order. The only chance the Republic has now is The Exile, a Jedi Knight who was exiled from the Jedi Order and who must set out to find other surviving Jedi and rally them against the Sith threat.

Similar to the gameplay mechanics of the previous game, in The Sith Lords the player can choose to align themselves with the light side or the dark side and choosing different dialogue options results in either light side or dark side points. Decisions made not only affect the character but also influence party members – who may support the hero or turn against them. Combat is identical to that of the predecessor, with the addition of several new lightsaber forms and a variety of ranged and melee weapons are available to use in battle. The player can also travel with up to two party members at a time – it wouldn't surprise me if this was inspiration for the party composition of the Mass Effect series.

The main villains of The Sith Lords are Darth Traya, a mysterious Sith Lord who remains in shadow for the majority of the game, Darth Sion, an undead Sith Lord who is encompassed by an all-consuming hate for Jedi, and who holds his body together using the dark side of the Force, and the iconic Darth Nihilus, the Lord of Hunger, whose intimidating skull mask has been made famous (or infamous) by The Sith Lords' classic cover artwork. Darth Nihilus in particular is one of the most interesting and evil Sith Lords to date, being a far superior character than the cliché and boring Darth Sidious. He is depicted as a wraith-like creature, whose consciousness is bound to his robes and mask and who feeds off Force energy from planets' lifeforms. Artist Brian Menze was asked to give Nihilus a mask based on No-Face, a character from Hayao Miyazaki's much loved animated film Spirited Away. As a result Menze didn't feel like his work on Nihilus was very creative, as the mask was derivative, but regardless Nihilus remains his favourite character that he worked on for the game.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords will be available for purchase in the AppStore and Google Play from December 18th.

Written By Andy Bain

Syndicated From Culture Slate