And - would you believe it - things are very much as they are in the 'contemporary' Star Wars universe. It feels more like Star Wars than anything else has in living memory, and does so by moving the focus back four thousand years. In short, Knights of the Old Republic takes something that's been merchandised, franchised and branded to death over the last twenty-five years and makes it magical again. I care about the Mandaloreans, the Twi'lek and the Mon Calamari, and can even tell the difference between their funny shaped bodies (And thanks to KOTOR, I even know what real Star Wars fans are going to nit-pick about in the previous sentence).

I care about Wookiees who've submitted to their rage. I care about the plight of the Sand People.

However, Knights of the Old Republic goes further into entirely unprecedented terrain. Because I love videogames, I love the great Star Wars games that came from this period, because they’re great videogames - not because they're from that Galaxy a Long, Long way away. The irony is before LucasArts lost anyone with a designer's brain in the company, they made some frankly astonishing videogames (It's probably difficult to recall post-Force-Commander et al, but in that early nineties period literally no other developer/publisher put out as many genuine classic games). And you grit your teeth as reviewer after reviewer adds twenty percent to a game's score because it’s got Stormtroopers and the real Lightsabre sound effects.

You scratch your head at the AintItFatFacedAmericansInTheirBasements somehow claiming the original trilogy were the high points of cinematic history, when only Empire stands up as anything more than campy high adventure and Jedi is covered in a frankly embarrassing Ewokitis. I sit in horror, watching otherwise sane-minded individuals wander out of the latest cinematic monstrosity cursing George Lucas' name only to - a handful of months later - go out and buy the DVD anyway 'for the extras'. Star Wars is enough to drive any fair-minded observer of popular culture insane.

Now shoo! We've got things to talk about. Along with Halo, it's the reason to invite Bill Gates into your house'. If the remaining major players fumble even slightly, it's game of the year. Unless something entirely unbelievable descends from the heavens, it's the RPG of the year. 'Knights of the Old Republic is the best Star Wars game since X-Wing and/or Tie Fighter, if not ever. We're going on a little historical diversion in a second, so if you're just here for an opinion take this one and run.

Kieron gillen star wars