PC Gamer Annual - UK (2022)

L

ike many people, I
recently finished
season 2 of The
Mandalorian and was
left with a hunger for
more Star Wars in any form. I
rewatched the original trilogy, read
a selection of graphic novels and
books (including Steve Perry’s
brilliant Shadows of the Empire),
and – and best of all – decided to
replay BioWare’s classic Star Wars
RPG Knights of the Old Republic.

The last time I played KOTOR was
around the time of its UK release in
the autumn of 2003, and it was the
perfect antidote to the disappointing

prequel trilogy. George Lucas was

two films deep by this point. Attack

of the Clones was released the year

before and I was not a fan, to put it

mildly. But here was this videogame,

set 4,000 years before Luke

Skywalker, Darth Vader, and the

Death Star, reminding me of why I

loved Star Wars in the first place. A

rare, thrilling chance to explore the

ancient, unseen history of my

favourite fictional universe.

Today, after years spent drifting in

the pop culture Dune Sea, Star Wars

is in a very different place. A whole

new film trilogy has been and gone,

along with several spin-offs. The

series successfully made the jump to

the small screen, including the

aforementioned Mandalorian, which

is the most I’ve enjoyed a Star Wars

thing in ages. And owner Disney just

recently announced a galaxy’s worth

of new movies, books, and TV shows.

Honestly, it’s a bit much.

The Force Awakens landed so

perfectly because it had been years

since the last good Star Wars film.

Rise of Skywalker, by most accounts,

did not – not only because it was a

cowardly retcon of The Last Jedi and

ultimately just a bad, confused film,

but because people were sick of Star

Wars, at least in its traditional form. I

went to a midnight screening of

Awakens, and I didn’t even bother

seeing Rise on the big screen. They

lost me. So as much as I enjoyed The

Mandalorian, which reignited my

passion for the series in a big way, I

wondered if by installing KOTOR I

was at risk of reaching Star Wars

overload once again.

STAR WARS: KNIGHTS

OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASED

2003

PUBLISHER

LucasArts

DEVELOPER

BioWare

LINK

bit.ly/starwarsknights

Revisiting the RPG in a time when Star Wars is everywhere. By Andy Kelly

OLD GAMES, NEW PERSPECTIVES

REINSTALL

Now that’s dynamic

lightsaber combat.