I think it must be my lucky month. No sooner had I finished wrapping up my review of Gran Tourism 4: The Real Holiday Simulator, which had been kindly supplied to me by Zelandeth, when Rifiri comes by and drops this on my desk, complete with a ready made box shot which you can see on the right of this page. Nice work, Rifiri! But enough of my own fortunes, and on with the review.

Development studios are rarely static. People leave and join them all the time, creating a flow of talent within the industry. Occasionally, though, several people will break off from a development studio all at once, usually in order to start their own development operations together. It's happened a few times before, but just a few months ago, something rather unusual happened. Two very renowned development studios, Bioware and Sonic Team, suffered multiple losses at the same time. Very shortly after, a new developer switched on its development kits for the first time - Sonic Bio Team Ware.

Quite how Sonic Bio Team Ware managed to gain permission to mix the names of the two 'parent' development studios together to create their own name is unknown, and will likely remain a mystery for a long while. However, what is even more puzzling is how they managed to gain permission to crossbreed two of the parents' most popular creations to form their own first game, which is sure to grab many a gaming headline.

Long, Long Ago in a Development Studio Far, Far Away...

Nights of the Old Republic is a mixture of action platformer and role-playing game, set in the old Star Wars universe around the time of the original Bioware game, 4000 years before the movies took place. None of the characters from the original game are present, though. It can only be assumed that, whatever latitude allowed Sonic Bio Team Ware to produce this game at all, it did not extend as far as the locations and characters in the original. Fortunately, the imagination contained within the new development studio has proven sufficient to replace these without any loss of quality.

The premise of Nights of the Old Republic involves the revival of the dark side of the Force and the Sith Lords following their previous defeat at the hands (and lightsabres) of the Jedi Order. But this time, rather than constructing shadowy armies and trying to defeat the light side of the Force through strength, the dark powers have a much more insidious scheme in mind.

Night by night, the dark side of the omni-present Force is infesting the dreams of the Jedi, using its power to corrupt sweet dreams into nightmares. In the dreams of the Jedi, the power of the Sith Lords is being reborn, trapping the Jedi in a place that their friends and fellow Jedi cannot enter to save them. If nothing is done, then the light side of the force will be reduced to nothing as the Jedi are destroyed within their dreams. In desperation, the masters of the Jedi Order use their power to contact the one individual who might be able to save them - the dream-walking creature known as Nights.

In return for helping the Jedi, Nights is gifted with several Force powers, including the ability to wield a lightsabre. Combined with his already impressive powers of flight and agility, Nights becomes a force to be reckoned with, even against the newly resurrected spectre-like Sith Lords. And so the struggle between the dark and light sides of the Force take a new, and completely unexpected turn.

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This

After a lengthy introductory movie explaining the plot thus far, the drops Nights, who remains the leading character throughout the game, into the futuristic city on the planet Corusant, home of the Jedi, and the arena for the first few sections of the game. In Nights of the Old Republic, Nights has the ability to enter the waking world, rather than remaining in the dreams of other people as in his original game.

This first part of the game is essentially a training level, teaching the player how to get around in the RPG half of the game. This involves all the usual features of a standard role-playing game. Nights wanders around the streets of Corusant, initially with a tough Jedi as a secondary character to guard his well being in the waking world. Nights is introduced to various shops and the local hotel, which serves as a rest and save point, as well as given a tour of the various inventory and menu functions accessed within the RPG segment of the game, before he, and the player, is shown the battle system for the game.

As any RPG will have, Nights of the Old Republic has a comprehensive battle system that is used at very regular points in the game, thanks to the regular random encounters. Given the additional Japanese influence on the game, Nights is brought back to a strictly turn-based battle system, with a limited number of characters on both sides. To begin with, Nights fights alongside his Jedi guardian, the latter using the traditional lightsabre, while Nights himself uses both his newly acquired lightsabre, and a series of impressive looking, but rather confusing attacks based around various flowing ribbons that ethereally float around Nights while in battle. There is also a magic-esque system built around the use of various Force powers, which can equally aid friendly characters, or harm enemy characters.

Following a few battles, while Nights explores Corusant and learns the true scope of the mission ahead, Nights is introduced to his own section of the game, entering the dreams of fallen Jedi and saving them from the Sith Lords infesting their minds.

Dreams of Flight

Once Nights enters the dreams of another person, the game enters the action-based phase of gameplay. Anyone who has played the original Nights game will feel at home here, as the familiar pseudo-three-dimensional flight system comes into play.

To those who are not familiar with the original Nights game, the dreams of the people Nights enters are rendered as large three-dimensional landscapes, varying in theme with the mindset of the person they belong to. The action is viewed side-on, and Nights follows several pre-defined tracks, taking him on a circuit around the landscape, within which Nights is free to manoeuvre up and down, backwards and forwards, and around in circles, trailing ribbons behind him.

As he flies through the landscape, Nights will come across various tokens and power-ups, dreamed up by the owner of the dream. These can add power to Nights' lightsabre, or give him various additional bonuses, such as items or experience, which he can magically transport out of the dream once it is concluded.

The aim of the dream-flight sequences is to power up Nights' lightsabre enough so that he can destroy the evil seal placed somewhere on the track he flies upon around the landscape. Once he has destroyed this seal, the track will shift, and there will be a new path through the landscape of the dream. Again, a seal must be destroyed in the same way, and this pattern will repeat a further time, until the final track of the dream landscape is reached, upon which resides the dreamed up spirit of a Sith Lord.

Once Nights' locates the Sith Lord, each of which will appear in a different, but equally grotesque form, he must devise how to destroy it. Some weaker ones can be beaten merely with the same lightsabre tactics as the seals, while more powerful ones will require Nights to chase them down, and perform any number of acrobatic feats to defeat, such as catching the Sith Lord by the horns on its head and throwing it to its death upon some spiky rocks somewhere on the level.

Upon defeating the dark power within the dream, Nights leaves the dreamscape and is shown a brief rundown of the items and experience gained from the battle. Following this, the game returns to the RPG section, and the search for another stricken Jedi begins.

The Spice of Life is Variety, They Say

As the storyline unfolds in true RPG style, Nights gains possession of a ship, and begins to travel to other worlds, all varied and distinct in their environments, in search of the other troubled Jedi, and with the aim of bringing an end to the power that threatens even the very highest members of the Jedi Order.

Along the way, Nights is joined by a number of other varied characters, from a low life thief, through the obligatory Star Wars robot and protocol droid, to members of the Imperial Guard. Each will offer their allegiance to Nights' cause, and fight alongside him, as his list of enemies grows to include certain powerful individuals whom, it seems, would rather the Jedi did not survive their current problems. At each stage of the game, the stakes are raised higher and higher, until it becomes obvious that the fate of the very universe may hang in the balance.

It is also discovered, just a few hours into the game, that Nights can enter the dreams of any character in the game that he meets, even random strangers wandering in the streets as part of the background colour. Some of these offer side quests and special prizes for chasing away their nightmares, while many offer the opportunity to gain small amounts of experience and minor items. The ability to enter this phase of the game at any time offers a welcome respite from the RPG sections, should they become laborious at any point. It underlines how the developers understand the attraction of the side-on flying stages, allowing the player to enter them simply for fun at virtually any point, rather than keeping them restricted to just the Jedi that are found on the various planets.

Impressive. Most Impressive.

This action-RPG ties together really well, and the various gameplay elements pull together to create a game that isn't as ridiculous as the initial premise would make the average person believe. Production values are high, and a great amount of attention has obviously been paid to the detail, making the game look and sound great. Simply exploring the different locations as they become available is great fun, and the action side of the game holds up well with the spectacular flight sequences fully using the power of the modern consoles to create some stunning environments.

The storyline is of a respectable quality, given the source material, and anyone who enjoys the Star Wars universe should find themselves entertained throughout. It is also highly likely that many players will find themselves loading up the game just to have a couple of blasts around a random dreamscape purely for the enjoyment of it.

All in all, a most enjoyable and entertaining game, and certainly one that won't have anyone turning to the dark side in anger at another license-bearing game turned foul. A must play!

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