Star Wars Retrospective: Episode VII visits the Empire's shadows, the old republic

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 22nd 2008 at 2:30AM }

GameTrailers starts with the galaxy far, far away's near past, and then goes deep into the history books in its latest Star Wars Retrospective episode. This time around the excellent series starts by taking a look at Shadows of the Empire, an action game which fills in a piece of the story between the movies Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The rest of the episode delves deep into the past and covers the Knights of the Old Republic RPG games, which take place millennia before Luke and Leia were even a dirty thought in Darth Vader's mind. And if anybody complains that we should have put a spoiler alert there, we hope the cave you've been living in for the last 25 years has central heat and air. Check out the 24-minute retrospective episode after the break.

[Thanks Andy]

Tags: game-trailers, knights-of-the-old-republic, kotor, retrospective, star-wars, star-wars-retrospective

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Shiaoran @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:08AM

One can think this is info about a seventh main saga movie :P

Too bad George Lucas said he won't do any more episodes, since it's centered in Vader and with him dead there's no story to tell, or something like it...

OMGOMG @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:20AM

I hope to god they don't make an MMO for KOTOR. No story? Screw that.

Charlie_Six @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:38AM

I think Bioware will meet our expectations. In every Bioware game, we have moral decisions to make, and we can be good or evil. Will this work in an MMO format? I think it could, and that it's really something we need to see in MMOs. MMORPGs have long been strong on the MMO, but weak on the RPG. They don't have any roleplaying in the classical sense. The story unfolds the same for everyone.

One of my ideas for multiplayer co-op Neverwinter Nights 2 was that when a dialogue tree showed up, each player could "vote" on what dialogue node to choose. Here, two options could be pursued. One, the party leader is the ultimate decider on what dialogue node to choose, or the majority vote wins (if no majority, a die roll occurs). Either way, the result is that each party member will be able to voice their opinion on what kind of moral decisions to make. "Should we illegally hack into the computer network for the greater good?" "Should we murder this person to save a hundred others?"

The result of this could be a lot of cool arguments between players. "How could you do that?! You monster!" or "Your idealism cost us the mission. You naive fool." And such differences could move players further to the Light or Dark side of the Force spectrum, just like in the previous KOTOR games. Ultimately, players who have radically different philosophies would become bitter enemies. That would be great ;)

Arttemis @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:30AM

That's a very optimistic thought, but Bioware's games have become less and less expansive.

From the previously unseen depth of Baldur's Gate, to KOTOR, to Jade Empire, to Mass Effect, there have been more and more condensed stories and options.

I don't exactly see this is coincidence. Though I don't necessarily blame them either - I'm sure with technological advancements, better graphics require more work and more asset space on discs, and that means shorter length and less options in the story.
Following typical MMO format, I don't particularly see how an enjoyable BioWare experience is possible.

I'd much rather have a proper sequel, but considering how it would have to lead up to the upcoming MMO, the story obviously couldn't have as satisfying an ending and resolution as a player would want. The universe has to be left in turmoil for the MMO concept to fully work.

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:07PM

The whole "moral choice" thing usually comes down to, not so much a compelling moral diallemma each time, but you choosing between doing something over the top good, such as not accepting a reward, or stupidly evil for no reason, like just plain murder. Honestly, when has the answer never been extremely obvious, or when have we had to conciously act against our instincts because we want to adhere to one path of good or evil?

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:47AM

I still love the Dantooine music - so hopeful and mournful at the same time. Thank God both KOTOR games are backwards compatible on the 360.

Arttemis @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:16AM

Unlike Jade Empire, KOTOR has quite a few glitches when running on the 360... particularly noticeable in combat. =(

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:27PM

I never notice it because I'm enjoying myself so much.

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:48AM

I'm looking forward to Part IX, by the way. The story of Star Wars: Galaxies was indeed turbulent.

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:50AM

Oops. Massively did do that:

http://www.massively.com/2008/06/26/a-star-wars-galaxies-history-lesson-from-launch-to-the-nge/

Arkon @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:57AM

All three of these games are the only Star Wars games I own. Shadows of the Empire was a damn good game. I remember playing the Hoth level over and over again.

And then of course KOTOR, my favorite game of all time. I had never before played an RPG that was so in depth with the lore and style of a story. The plot twist that happened well into the story was completely unexpected and caught me entirely off guard. Plus the soundtrack of KOTOR has to be one of the best soundtracks for any game. Seriously, listen to some of the tracks (especially the ones on the planets Manaan and Dantooine). Watching this retrospective gave me a great feeling of nostalgia. Brings back loads of memories.

Then of course came KOTOR 2, which brought the KOTOR series into a brand new, in-depth sequel. Although not quite as good as the first, it was a well made and well executed sequel. I definitely loved the darker tone that went with KOTOR 2.

I usually don't comment on here (been a daily reader for three years) but I had to express my thoughts on my favorite game of all time!

And one last thing. I hope KOTOR 3 is in development and if there is an KOTOR MMO, I hope that Bioware is also working on a single player campaign either in the MMO or as a separate game.

Churchy @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:06AM

KOTOR going all MMO on me makes me sad :'(

Michcool125 @ Jul 22nd 2008 9:39AM

Funny that most of the same guys jumping to conclusions are the same ones who dogged on Nintendo without knowing the full story... just saying.

Michcool125 @ Jul 22nd 2008 9:41AM

Funny that most of the same guys that are jumping to conclusions already about KOTOR are the same ones who jumped to conclusions with Nintendo without knowing the full story. Just saying...

turkeybaster @ Jul 22nd 2008 10:21AM

The thing I never understood about KOTOR was that it was set 4,000 (or maybe just 400) years before the events of the movies. So why the hell was the technology all the same? Do the people in the Star Wars galaxy just use hand-me-down tech for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years?

Cornelius @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:05AM

Yeah I've wondered the same thing... it's set 4,000 years prior to A New Hope, but doesn't really feel like 4,000 years in the past. Then again, what would a Star Wars game be if they took lightsabers, blasters and spaceships and replaced them with traditional swords, arrows, and horses? Needless to say, technology in the Star Wars universe has been maxed out long before ANH, or even KOTOR for that matter. And it seems everyone is too busy trying to become Jedi, fighting Jedi, or herding nerfs to be inventing/innovating new technology any further.

Or it could be a case of Idiocracy, where people rely so much on technology that they get dumber generation after generation, and they've ultimately become incapable of improving on the tech that their smarter ancestors created.

Arttemis @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:23AM

You could just watch to the end of the retrospective where they mentioned that the unique and primitive style in the comics that KOTOR was based upon was dropped....

The comic showed skeletal ships and much different character designs, where the game (set only 40 years after the comic) simply ignored that fact and went with a more similar style to the movies.

Just as the narrator in the retrospective said, if that's to be believed as cannon, then there was more technological advancement in those 40 years before KOTOR than the almost 4,000 after it...

Now knowing this, I hope the next installment of KOTOR (hopefully an actual sequel, not just the confirmed MMO...) takes advantage of more sophisticated modeling to actually make those skeletal ships.

turkeybaster @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:47AM

Yeah, didn't KOTOR 1 and 2 do some humongous Dune-style foreshadowing on some great evil that was lurking on the edge of the galaxy waiting to wipe everyone out?

I want to know what the heck it was. Come on KOTOR 3!

Noka @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:17PM

Wasn't the "great evil" you're talking about destroyed in the game? I thought it was either Darth Nihlus' ship or Kreia and Malachor V. Maybe there was something else but I don't recall.

David @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:06PM

I never get tired of these retrospectives.

OhSoDelish @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:31PM

Why does the narrator (producer?) insist on such a lifeless deadpan style devoid of all personality? And I'm baffled by the bad writing throughout the series. Mixed metaphor: "The levee broke, and the universe expanded exponentially." Misuse of buzzy words: "[...] paved the way for the vanguard"-- the vanguard IS what paves the way! Also Super Empire Strikes Back had a great snow speeder / Hoth battle stage. It was pseudo 3D, it used mode 7 scaling effects.

Shadows of the Empire was a heck of a game though. It's a shame they haven't made more like it.