STAR WARS games during the Xbox/PS2/GC era were for the most part very mediocre, and were starting to have a bit of a stigma attached to them. Having been disappointed previously with Obi Wan, Bounty Hunter, Clone Wars, and Racer Revenge I was still slightly skeptical that even Kotor would live up to the hype surrounding it, a great STAR WARS video game was just too good to be true. After picking the game up on release I played the first 3 hours, wondering why all the reviews were so good being somewhat bored with the first planet. The second day I had the game that all changed as I played it from 9am to 1am the next morning, totaling 16 straight hours…to this day still my longest gaming marathon, doubling the 8 straight hours I had played of MGS2.
Ultimately I credit the game’s pacing, for whatever reason it just worked for me quite well, for the most part Kotor is a calm game, where you always feel your next objective is within reach, and just enough combat to break the calm at regular intervals to keep you on your toes and in the game. The sequel deserves honorable mention for being a nice addon (despite minimal improvements), it still serves as a nice extension to a great game.