Grey Skies Are Gonna Kreia Up: KOTOR 2 Is Done

Given its original state at release, it's a credit to Knights of the Old Republic 2 that people still look back on it with such fondness. Part epic adventure, part brutal deconstruction of Star Wars and many of its most familiar tropes, and unfortunately, only part finished by the time it hit shelves, it was definitely a ride. Now, that ride can be completed properly, with the Sith Lords Restored Content mod hitting v1.8 and declaring its mission finally over.

The Restored Content mod is a massive overhaul for KOTOR 2, not simply bringing a ton of bug fixes (though it really goes to town on those, from conversation errors to individual items to specific combat glitches), but pulling out all kinds of stuff originally buried in its files and making them playable. There's new dialogue, new cut-scenes, and the final bit of the game should hopefully make some sense now - instead of ending in a load of frustratingly dropped cliffhangers and plot-threads that only a conveniently exploding planet could take care of.

If you've been holding off on replaying KOTOR 2 until it was 'finished', it's time. If you missed it the first time, you really should check it out. It's Planescape: Torment's Chris Avellone and co really going to town on Star Wars, from what happens when life debts aren't a fluffy question of gratitude, to the downsides of trying to be a hero in a womp-rat-eat-womp-rat universe. Your mentor character for the game, Kreia, is easily one of the best characters the series ever produced, and there's some great storytelling amongst the expected lightsaber rattling. It's a phenomenal look at the series, and was all the better for coming out of nowhere - as opposed to say, Spec Ops outright saying "Yo, I'm going to deconstruct the hell out of this."

This marks the end of the Restored Content mod, the goal of which was always to turn KOTOR2 into the game Obsidian was trying to make rather than keep upgrading it. There is one more cool thing on the way though, as project co-leader Zbigniew “zbyl2″ Staniewicz told PC Gamer the other day. Originally, KOTOR 2 featured a droid planet that was cut from the game and barely exists even in the hidden content. Since there's not enough to salvage, the team is creating their own mission to fill the gap. That will be available separately, though of course compatible with the Restored Content mod, to keep the focus here on the original game.