Obsidian's Urquhart: happy thoughts on KOTOR 3
The Force is very strong with Feargus Urquhart
and his band of merry RPG creators. Obsidian scored a debut hit a year and a half ago with their follow-up to the
original Knights of the Old Republic. Now, CEO Urquhart has revealed to Total Video Games that discussions
have been taking place with LucasArts since August 2004 regarding the development of KOTOR 3. "LucasArts is thinking what they want to do with it and we would happily make KOTOR3, if that's what LucasArts wants to do." The PC is a given, but would the franchise continue to be an Xbox exclusive on the console side?
First things first. Let's enjoy Obsidian's work on Neverwinter Nights 2 before we break out the lightsabers again.
[via GameBanshee]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Paul @ Mar 31st 2006 5:16PM
If they make a KOTOR 3 I hope they actually finish it. KOTOR 2 was such a dissapointment, with dropped plotlines and rushed storylines. The whole thing felt extremely rushed and you could tell the released it before it was done just to get it out in time for holiday season.
kromekoran @ Mar 31st 2006 5:30PM
yeah, KotOR 2 was rushed/unfinished, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it.
and as long as this isn't another April Fools' day prank, it's damn good news, and something I've been waiting to hear since playing through Sith Lords for the 5th time.
now I've got to think of good excuses to take a week off after the release date.
Kaikara @ Mar 31st 2006 6:21PM
I want a remade kotor 2, which includes all missing sequences, dialogue, ENTIRE PLANETS etc before kotor 3.
Mark D. @ Mar 31st 2006 6:36PM
While I definitely think that Kotor II was a let down, I think a lot of the pressue to put it out quickly was from Lucasarts, not Obsidian.
SickNic @ Mar 31st 2006 7:52PM
Yeah, April Fools day should be limited to one day, none of this 2 days prior crap. I believe this article though. They'd be fools not to make a KOTOR III.
Grissom @ Mar 31st 2006 8:04PM
fire Obsidian and hire Bioware again and you will have a TRUE Kotor sequel,not that travesty called Kotor 2.
I've never been so disappointed in a sequel than with that one
Grissom @ Mar 31st 2006 8:06PM
and plus,I'd like to know why my "Do you want us to remember your personal information for next time?" doesnt frikkin' work,forcing me to open my mail everytime I want to reply here
bazald @ Mar 31st 2006 8:12PM
Huzzah! KotOR I and II are two of my favorite games ever. I'm one of those weird people who actually preferred II over I. (Actually, does *anyone* else agree with me on any level? I /did/ play them out of order initially...)
Also, if you are unhappy with II, make sure you download the improved video and music files from the official site (hosted by Nvidia). They are big though - 1.2 GB *before* decompression.
And finally, regarding a remake of II. See the restoration project: http://www.team-gizka.org/ They are doing awesome work. Just don't post bad things about Obsidian on their forums.
Jago @ Mar 31st 2006 8:14PM
"Just don't post bad things about Obsidian on their forums."
Why is that? Are they the kind of people who scorn you if you have a different opinion then them?
DownloadingData @ Mar 31st 2006 8:33PM
To me, Obsidian is Bioware.
and Bioware is Obsidian.
I couldn't care less whoever gets to develope the game.
But this time i hope they actually finish the game before releasing it.
Jago @ Mar 31st 2006 8:37PM
You mean...lets hope LucasArts actually lets them finsih the game before it is released.
bazald @ Mar 31st 2006 10:25PM
"Are they the kind of people who scorn you if you have a different opinion then them?"
An interesting take on that Jago, but no, they are simply trying to keep a positive atmosphere on their forums. They don't particularly want their work to be interpreted as an attack on Obsidian.
Aikiwoce @ Apr 1st 2006 12:14AM
KOTOR was probably the best game I have ever played. It was interactive, fun, and used the star wars universe in a creative new way.
KOTOR II is a different story. The first half the game was better in some ways, and worse in others than KOTOR. The second half of KOTOR II was an unmitigated disaster. Dropped plot lines, missing planets, confusing dialogue, and more bugs than you can shake a can of Raid at.
Obsidian did everyone who played KOTOR II a disservice. They committed the highest developer sin, and they should never be allowed to touch the KOTOR license ever again.
I feel that Obsidian stole something from me, something that I can never get back. What little trust I ever had in them was destroyed by their inability to admit their mistake.
I will never again purchase a KOTOR game if Obsidian is involved.
Jago @ Apr 1st 2006 12:25AM
"An interesting take on that Jago, but no, they are simply trying to keep a positive atmosphere on their forums. They don't particularly want their work to be interpreted as an attack on Obsidian."
I actually meant people criticizing Obsidian and not the that team modifying KOTOR 2...but I can see how you could misunderstand what I said. :-)
@ Aikiwoce:
The problem was not with Obsidian doing a half-assed job...the problem (like everyone else has stated) was with LucasArts RUSHING them to get it done. I know 4-5 people who work there (and on that project) and they all acknowledge that they had to rush is b/c of LucasArts..hell I work less then 2 minutes away from them.
Kevin Cartier @ Apr 1st 2006 1:37PM
Marketing = the devil, I'm sure Obsidian had NOTHING to do with release time, and had a content lock before they were ready. I'd say 3-4 more months on KOTOR II to finish all the plot lines and it would have been better than the first.
Kevin @ Apr 1st 2006 1:42PM
You've got to realize that there are TWO sides to each game - if not more - and those two sides are DEVELOPMENT and PUBLISHING. Obsidian is a DEVELOPER. They make the game, and the PUBLISHER tells them WHEN they MUST do things. This means that even if Obsidian - even with all of the clout - in their first title had HALF the game done, the PUBLISHER would still have shipped it, no if's an's or but's this was the PUBLISHER'S fault, not Obsidians.
Versidious @ Apr 3rd 2006 11:36AM
I actually enjoyed KOTOR II more than KOTOR I. I think. I *did* replay the first just a few too many times, though... :$ Yes it was unfinished, but the Characters and levels were just as good as the first. I *was* disappointed by the unfinished nature of the game however, so I like the sound of the 'restoration project'. KOTOR II in its full glory. MmmmmMMMmmmm....
*drools*
Daniel Mays @ Apr 5th 2006 11:12PM
Well the 1st one had a better story,the second would have been better if they would have had the HK story finished with the factory producing the new units,and the old lady was a easy kill compared to the ending battle in kotor1,It is a easy thing to see though if it had of been completed with all the hints of a greater story it would have been better than the first.They could use the hints in the next KOTOR3.But I hope they also come up with a new, even older generation of jedi and sith, a whole new story that can be taken further for the development of new sequals and a whole different possibilty for new movies.
Ben @ Apr 6th 2006 4:36PM
Please 'o' please make a KOTOR 3 the first two were great.
The Ebon hawk is getting a little old so maybe you should have a new ship.
The KOTOR series has been the best series i have played so far in my life, a number 3 would be great to finish it off.
You could use some brighter atmosphered planets, Nar shadaa was very dark and dirty, in korriban there was no city! What gives?
JOEY @ Apr 9th 2006 1:22AM
I ALSO LOVED KOTOR 1 BUT I DID LIKE KOTOR 2 BUT I AM VERY DISAPOINTED IN HOW THE FINAL GAME WAS COMPLETED THEY REALLY NEEDED TO FINISH GAMES BEFORE THEY PUT IT ON SHELVES I THINK THEY SHOULD RELEASE A FINISHED GAME OR AN EXPANSION PACK FOR KOTOR 2 BEFORE THEY RELEASE KOTOR 3.KOTOR 2 HAS THE ABILITY TO BE A REALLY GREAT GAME.
jimi @ Apr 10th 2006 5:02PM
pease make kotor 3 i like the first 2 and i want to see what else happened to reven and bastila. mabey in the 3rd there could be a planet were there are cave man type people and all the prehistoric animals found on earth thousands of years before christ. but the cave man people are like the slaves to the alens. so that planet would be how earth was like back then. and it could show how czerca corp. gets out of bussiness and you might be able to help them on each planet and all that stuff. any whay what i thought about kotor1 i have played the second and i got somthing emabaresing to say... i couldnt get off telos lol im a n00b sometimes. the first kotor kicked a** it is most definetly better than the second.
i heard how the 2nd ened though so i think that the 1st explained itself more. the one thing i dislikr is that you almost never hear the charecters voice.
Jedi Lee @ Apr 25th 2006 6:22PM
I don't care how long we have to wait as long as they finish it completely with heart pumping story lines, i want to be on the edge of my seat, but make sure everything comes together in the end.
P.s. some new light sabers, colors, and powers wouldnt hurt. THANK U
Ruzha Dotsina @ Jan 28th 2007 10:02AM
KOTOR 2 is darker, sadder, brooding as it is over battles that did not turn out as expected. The matricidal story which overwrites the patricidal bravura of Star Wars is deeply disturbing. With the mother so irretrievably dead, there is nothing left to screen the emptiness of the universe: this might be the true source of complaints about the game rather than bugs and flaws in the plot. The Byronic arch-rebel Kreia is a magnificent creation in its own right, the confrontation with Malak in Shyrack cave (Now that you know how things turned out, would you do it again?) is uncanny, the language (of Visas, Kreia) has moments of genuine poetic power. Whatever its flaws, the game stretches towards new potentialities for the genre (will the new technology be able to rival the past glory of literature and the cinema?) and towards an audience that may not yet have come into existence. Will the market allow for this potential to be realized? I doubt it.