Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

After their success, many wondered where BioWare’s next game could venture. Few expected Star Wars; even fewer expected perhaps the best story in the franchise to date with Knights of the Old Republic. As an amnesiac Jedi, players explore well-worn and brand-new locations while becoming reacquainted with the Force. With stellar writing and companions, an excellent combat system, and the alignment system dictating one’s bent towards the Light or Dark side, Knights of the Old Republic is an iconic title for any RPG and Star Wars fan.

Halo: Combat Evolved

It’s crazy to believe that Halo: Combat Evolved began as a third-person shooter for the Mac. Developed by Bungie, the original game arguably took console first-person shooters to the next level with giant sandbox levels that facilitated multiple approaches, an incredible soundtrack and massive battles. Sure, the level design and story could have been better, but as many gamers’ first introduction to Master Chief, it was perfect.

The game, originally developed by BioWare in 2003 for the original Xbox, is out now for the Nintendo Switch. Priced at $14.99, it will require about 12 GB of free storage space on your system. Set long, long before the events of the Star Wars movies (though no longer part of the canon, sadly), Knights of the Old Republic is a game that Star Wars fans shouldn’t be missing out on, so this is the perfect chance to jump in if you’ve never experienced this classic.

Of course, Aspyr is busy with more than just ports- the developer is also working on a ground-up remake of KOTOR, which will be a PS5 console exclusive at launch, and will also be bringing back several voice actors from the original (including Jennifer Hale will also be returning as Bastila Shan).

Of course, the original Knights of the Old Republic is available in pretty much any platform you can get your hands now- with the Switch being a very notable exception. That will soon be changing though. It was announced in yesterday’s Nintendo Direct that the 2003 classic will be releasing for the Switch on November 11, courtesy of Aspyr Media (who’re also in charge of the upcoming remake). The game can be pre-ordered on the eShop now for $14.99,and will require 15.6 GB of free storage space.

Meanwhile, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Remake currently has no release date (or even window), but whenever it launches, it will be available exclusively on PS5 and PC.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be bringing the classic RPG, STAR WARS™: Knights of the Old Republic™, to Nintendo Switch this November!https://t.co/0zTgdSeEXK

A huge thank you to @NintendoAmerica for showcasing our next game in today’s #NintendoDirect pic.twitter.com/BSJhTj2gLb

— Aspyr (@AspyrMedia) September 23, 2021

Given that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is not only one of the greatest RPGs ever made, but also one of the best Star Wars releases across all media, it’s understandable that legions of fans want it to come back in some way, shape, or form. Rumours over the last few months have suggested that that is eventually going to happen, with reports earlier this year suggesting that a remake of the original BioWare classic was in the works.

One of the sources for that rumour was journalist Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, who recently doubled down on that. Speaking during a recent MinnMax podcast (which you can view below), Schreier re-iterated that a Knights of the Old Republic remake is indeed in development, and that it’s being made by Aspyr Media (who were acquired by Embracer Group earlier this year). Meanwhile, a separate report by Eurogamer also corroborates the same, stating the their own sources have mentioned Aspyr’s involvement in the remake as well.

Aspyr Media has been working with the Star Wars IP for some time now, but they’ve generally only handled ports of recent games. Over the last few years, they’ve worked on ports of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Knights of the Old Republic 2, Star Wars: Jedi Knight – Jedi Academy, Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2 – Jedi Outcast, Star Wars: Episode I – Racer, Star Wars: Republic Commando, and more.

BioWare’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its Obsidian-developed sequel are among the most highly regarded Star Wars games of all time (the former is widely considered among the best RPGs ever made, in fact), and there’s ben no shortage of wishes and requests of a third game in the series over the years. According to several sources, it seems a new KOTOR game might actually be in the works. 

Star Wars insider Bespin Bulletin, who has credibly leaked information on Star Wars in the past, recently claimed in a podcast that a new Knights of the Old Republic game is in development (via VGC). Interestingly enough, the game is in development at a studio outside of EA. This follows the recent announcement by Lucasfilm Games that the Star Wars license will no longer be held exclusively by EA, with Ubisoft also working on an open world game based on the property (though EA is still working on a number of Star Wars games as well).

Meanwhile, other reputable sources have also chimed in on the rumour of late. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier suggested on ResetEra that nobody would be able to guess the studio that’s developing the game. Insider shinobi602 also said on the forum that the studio is “not as mysterious as you think”, adding that it’s “just not a household name most people are aware of.”

A report in early 2020 said that a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic reimagining was in development, and that it would pull in elements from both previous games to bring them into the new Star Wars canon. Read more on that through here.

As with any leak and unverified rumour, take this with a grain of salt for now. Definitely keep your fingers crossed though- I sure do.

EA had been stumbling around with their exclusive Star Wars license for years, making one major mistake after another, but recently, it seems like they’ve finally figured things out, with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order proving to be incredibly successful, and even Star Wars: Battlefront 2 having steered itself firmly back on course. And it now seems EA has even bigger plans for Star Wars in the coming years- which might even entail a new Knights of the Old Republic game.

Though both BioWare and Obsidian have tried to make a Knights of the Old Republic 3 over the years, it seems that part of the Star Wars universe might be coming back alive very soon- at least as per a recent report by Cinelinx. Cinelinx – who claim to have leaked info last year on the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series starring Ewan McGregor – are reporting that EA is currently working on a new Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game.

Their sources are allegedly informing them that it will be a semi-sequel/semi-remake, full re-imagining of the series, and will pull in elements from both previous games and bring those elements into the new Star Wars canon. As per the report, a Knights of the Old Republic remake was in development in early 2015 but was put on hold a year later, but the project has now been rebooted.

The report also makes mention of a few other Star Wars games that are supposedly in development at EA. One of these is a sequel to Fallen Order, which we’ve heard about before (and isn’t all that surprising), while another is a game based in a new setting that will tie into the next era of the series and the films- which is something else that we’ve reported on earlier. More interestingly though, the report also mentions a separate Star Wars game being developed on the Switch as well- which is probably the most far-fetched thing the report mentions, given how poorly EA has supported the Switch.

As always, take this report with a grain of salt, especially given its nature as an unverified insider story. There are some things in here that are easy to believe (the Fallen Order sequel), some that seem probable and we’re hoping will be true (a new Knights of the Old Republic game), and some that just seem impossible (a new Star Wars game on the Switch by EA).

There’s also the question of who – if this report is accurate – is working on the new KOTOR title. With BioWare seemingly having their hands full with the rumoured 2.0 update for Anthem, their support for Star Wars: The Old Republic, development of Dragon Age 4, and early pre-production on the next Mass Effect (reportedly), it seems unlikely that they’ll be the ones taking the reigns.

Meanwhile, rumours aside, EA Motive have confirmed they’re working on a new “very unique” Star Wars title, while EA says a new game based on the property will be out before the end of fiscal year 2022.

Kill Your Friends – Far Cry 3

Forget for a second that Far Cry 3 had an utterly idiotic storyline with an unlikeable protagonist. By the end of the game, Jason Brody is given a simple choice – kill his friends and ally with Citra, leader of the Rakyat, or release them. Now keep in mind at this point that Jason’s friends have only really needed rescuing from all kinds of insane enemies and he’s the one de-sensitized by all the drugs and killing. By the end, if Jason decides to kill his friends, Citra ends up killing him for some Rakyat glory or something like that.

METROID PRIME

Nintendo’s seminal Metroid series has always seen us explore wondrous and unearthly alien vistas, and Metroid Prime was no exception to that rule. As the game that took the series to 3D, in fact, it presented us with more starkly realized alien landscapes than any game in the series has before. Tallon IV is a beautiful, desolate planet haunted by the remnants of the Chozo, and as you dig deeper into its secrets, you find threats hitherto undreamt of. There are many reasons to play a game as stellar as Metroid Prime, but the star of the show is the world it has you explore – few outer space games have achieved a setting as rich or as well realized as Metroid Prime did.

In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at all the games that BioWare has ever made (barring a couple that were on mobile devices or made for web browsers), and ranking every single one of them, starting with the worst one, and counting down right to the very best.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

#17. SHATTERED STEEL

Though BioWare is a studio associated with RPGs and storytelling, the first game they ever made was something completely different. Shattered Steel was a mech action title, which took cues from the MechWarrior series, but went for a more accessible and action-oriented style of gameplay (which you can translate to “it had more mindless explosions).

Shattered Steel was a decent enough game, with enjoyable action and a story that, for its time, was at least mildly entertaining. It was, however, a far cry from the kind of games BioWare would build its reputation on and go on to be associated with, and is, as a result, often altogether forgotten.