By 2003 a Star Wars game was no longer a safe bet. Edge opened its review of Knights of the Old Republic by recalling LucasArts’ own admission that the name had stopped meaning quality, and Computer Gaming World confessed it had nearly fallen asleep during the game’s demonstration at E3. Then BioWare, the Canadian studio behind Baldur’s Gate, delivered a role-playing game that Edge thought captured “the defining features of the films more than almost any other ‘Star Wars’ title to date”. Its trick was to go back about 4,000 years before the films, where nothing in them could get in the way, and to let the player decide whether their Jedi served the light side of the Force or the dark.
Fast facts
- Developer: BioWare.
- Publisher: LucasArts.
- Released: Xbox, North America, July 2003; Britain, 12 September 2003. PC, late 2003. Later on the Mac (2004), iOS (2013), Android (2014) and Nintendo Switch (2021).
- Director: Casey Hudson.
- Setting: about 4,000 years before the films, during a war between the Jedi and the Sith.
- Rules: based on Wizards of the Coast’s d20 tabletop system, played out in real time with pause.
A Star Wars role-playing game
The partnership was announced in July 2000, when LucasArts’ president Simon Jeffery described a role-playing game set 4,000 years before Episode I. LucasArts was handing its most valuable property to outside developers, and Edge called the result “a stunning vindication” of the policy.
The game begins on the Outer Rim world of Taris and goes on to Tatooine, the Wookiee world of Kashyyyk and other planets, in a war against the Sith Lord Darth Malak, a “mechanically augmented villain”, in Edge’s words, “who prefigures the eventual menace of Darth Vader”. The player travels in a ship called the Ebon Hawk, which serves as a hub between missions and a home for the party, an idea Wireframe traced through later BioWare and Obsidian games. Party members include Carth Onasi, the Jedi Bastila Shan, Juhani and Jolee Bindo, and the droid HK-47.
Light side and dark side
Edge thought the game’s “most significant achievement” was that the choice between the light and dark sides changed what happened, not just a number on the character sheet. Its example: does the player take a bounty on an innocent dancing girl to raise some credits, try to free her from the contract, or leave her alone? A choice like that can make a quest easier or stop a character joining the party, and the ending depends on the path taken. Most problems have more than one answer: a character good with computers can hack a door that another would have to open some other way.
The combat came from Baldur’s Gate. It follows a turn-based ruleset but plays out in real time, and the player can pause at any moment to give orders, or leave the other party members to their own scripted behaviour. For anyone who did not want the arithmetic, levelling up could be left to the game. Between missions there were swoop-bike races and a card game, Pazaak, which Edge likened to pontoon.
The story turns on a twist that both Edge and Computer Gaming World placed around the middle of the game. CGW called it “one of the most brutal and surprising plot twists ever seen in a videogame”.
Reception
The Xbox version sold 250,000 copies in its first four days, and Computer Gaming World reported it as the fastest-selling Xbox game yet. Edge gave it nine out of ten. The PC version followed with higher-resolution graphics and a small new area, and Computer Gaming World named it Game of the Year for 2003: “the RPG for non-RPG fans, the Star Wars game for Star Wars haters”. Edge’s only real criticism was that the game became fairly easy towards the end, as the player’s Force powers and lightsaber skills grew.
Legacy
Obsidian Entertainment made the sequel, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, released in December 2004 on the Xbox and in February 2005 on the PC. Aspyr converted the first game to the Mac in 2004. BioWare’s Austin studio returned to the era with the online game Star Wars: The Old Republic, launched in 2011.
A remake was announced in 2021 with Aspyr as developer. Development later passed to Saber Interactive, and in March 2026 Saber’s chief creative officer, Tim Willits, would say only that “it is still in development”.
Sources
- Edge issue 128, October 2003, pp. 86–88: review (Xbox, PC; LucasArts/Activision; release dates; LucasArts’ outsourcing policy; 4,000 years before the films; Taris, Tatooine, Kashyyyk; d20 rules; realtime with pause and AI scripts; automatic levelling; the light and dark sides; the dancing girl; hacking; Darth Malak; the plot twist; Pazaak and swoop racing; easy towards the end; nine out of ten).
- Computer Gaming World issue 232, November 2003, “Behind the Game”: the July 2000 announcement by Simon Jeffery; the midsummer Xbox debut; 250,000 copies in four days and the fastest-selling Xbox game; the PC version’s resolution and side quests.
- Computer Gaming World issue 236, March 2004, pp. 58–59: Game of the Year 2003 (the E3 demo, the twist, the PC port).
- Computer Gaming World issue 239, June 2004: Knights of the Old Republic II feature, naming Bastila, Juhani and Jolee among the first game’s Jedi.
- Computer Gaming World issue 246, Holiday 2004: Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan and the droid HK-47.
- Chris Farnell, “There’s no space like home”, Wireframe issue 47, January 2021, pp. 70–74: the Ebon Hawk as a hub; Carth and HK-47.
- Wireframe issue 58, December 2021: the remake announced, with Aspyr Media.
- Wireframe issue 64, June 2022, p. 84: Aspyr’s 2004 Mac version.
- Edge issue 238, March 2012, p. 150: Star Wars: The Old Republic launched by BioWare Austin.
- Edge issue 216, July 2010, and Computer Gaming World issue 239, June 2004: Knights of the Old Republic II, as cited in the Obsidian Entertainment entry.
- Wikipedia, “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game)” (accessed October 2026) (web, secondary): release dates for each platform; Casey Hudson as director; the move to Saber Interactive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic_(video_game)
- Hayes Madsen, “Star Wars: KOTOR Remake ‘Still In Development,’ Claims Saber Chief”, CGMagazine, 6 March 2026 (web, secondary): Tim Willits’s statement, the 2021 announcement. https://www.cgmagonline.com/news/star-wars-kotor-remake-development-update