As a person who in some aspect a geek for a living (reviewing collectible games counts) I have to say I love Star Wars, not only because I believe that it is a wonderful sci-fi continuity that fans of all age can enjoy, but because it is practically required for me to do my job. I'm not just a casual fan either; I've taken in all aspects of Star Wars from the extended universe to the RPGs to, of course, the miniatures game. However, when I heard that
Star Wars Miniatures released an expansion based on
Knights of theOld Republic, the popular Star Wars PC and Console RPG, I was a bit skeptical. The games are based in individual light/dark side choice and a branching storyline, so I wondered how they would ever make it into an effective miniatures set. When I finally got a chance to play with the KOTOR miniatures set, my reactions were mixed.
Let me start by saying that for one, I absolutely loved the set. I don't think the set is bad; not in any way shape or form. I loved having another chance to collect Luke and Vader miniatures, and every single figurine from the lowliest grunt to Mandalore was expertly crafted both physically and with game mechanics. Everyone who has bought the expansion has had a great time playing it, every game session I went to was filled with enjoyment, and heck even the RPG campaign guide for the set is very interesting. Before I even go further, I want to say that if you enjoy
Star Wars Miniatures, you really should pick up a few packs of KOTOR not only because it will help you flesh out your army, but because it recreates the feeling of surprise you get when you open up an awesome unit that I haven't really experienced in a miniatures expansion for some time. In short, the expansion plays and looks good.
There is only one “but” I want to add to this glowing review, and that is that the set doesn't really feel like KOTOR at all. The set can accurately be described as “Star Wars” because of all the iconic faces you see, like Storm Troopers, and of course the main characters. It can be described as “Star Wars Extended” because the Mandalorians come into play, as do the forces of the old republic. Heck on that not it can even be described as “Star Wars: The Old Republic” because it includes units from a time before Luke or even Anakin. However, “Star Wars:
Knights of the Old Republic” is first and foremost in my mind a Star Wars RPG, and any references to the RPG are totally dwarfed by things such as the new print of Vader and other more generic Star Wars references.
So the game really doesn't play like a “
Knights of the Old Republic” Miniatures set. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. It really depends on how you look at it. As I said before, the KOTOR miniatures set is in fact extremely fun to play, and it includes a sampling of units from all eras of Star Wars. Any Star Wars enthusiast could get behind that. The only thing the game dosen't give you is a recreation of the KOTOR RPGs which honestly, I don't think is needed. Why? Because the RPGs were based on the choices of a singular character and the impact he or she made in the Star Wars universe. However, a Miniatures game is more about strategy and how many characters act when put together in one force. In my opinion, I don't think a deep and personal RPG can be made into a miniatures game effectively.
So let's put KOTOR the RPG aside for a while and examine what else the KOTOR expansion has to offer. Well first of all, as I said before, it has a LOT of content from the Star Wars extended universe. So much so that the set makes a very good starting point for fans of the series that don't know much about the extended universe. A lot of the miniatures elicit a “hey wait who is that” sort of reaction, that instantly prompts a reading of the flavor text, followed by a visit or two to Wikipedia.
However, the set also has plenty of canonical standard universe units too. We previewed Luke Skywalker, and along with him come Vader, Leia, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, Wedge (you know from the original Star Wars), and *sigh* even Jar Jar Binks, and while these characters do detract from some of the other units that the set should be spotlighting, such as Darth Malak or even Mandalore the Ultimate, opening up a classic character accompanied by gungans, wookies, and droids from the plain old original series is still pretty exciting.
It's really somewhat hard to give a final verdict on KOTOR because in all honesty, I'm not sure what criteria to base the review on. When compared to the KOTOR RPGs it just falls short but when compared to other
Star Wars Miniatures sets it excels above many if not all. Honestly, all I have to say is suspend disbelief. If you can forget that this set is themed off of
Knights of the Old Republic, you will have a blast with it, and insofar that I figure most Star Wars fans haven't played KOTOR in the first place, the
Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars Miniatures expansion is most likely a good buy for you.
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Presentation Rating = 6.0
The miniatures and art are pretty much the same as they have always been, but the focus of the set isn't really KOTOR material.
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Gameplay Rating = 7.5
First and foremost the game is fun, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you are a fan of playing Star Wars Miniatures and you just wanna sink your teeth into a new set, then this is totally for you.
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Synnergy Rating = 9.0
The set plays PHENOMINALLY with other Star Wars Miniatures sets, as very much it should. Add all the new Luke Skywalkers to your rebel armies and have a blast!
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Innovation Rating = 8.0
Some mechanics explored are somewhat new, such as Mandlore the Ultimate's ability to make everyone Mandalorian, and then give all Mandalorian's a boost. Nothing is two groundbreaking but there is more than enough stuff to make you go “huh” when you read it.
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