Roleplaying in a galaxy far far away

Star Wars has been an ever popular setting for all types of games. From shooters to strategy games we get to blow up droids, eliminate Sith, and choose which side of the force will become our fate. That being said the branch of the franchise devoted to role-playing  has often been one of speculation for me. The entire idea of role-playing involves taking on a role and becoming involved in a world not your own, in a character not yourself, and making decisions for that role. In this particular franchise I have never found the world engaging, the character deep, or the decisions all too important ( *cough* Anakin's acting *cough*).
     When one of my friends suggested jumping into the already-established classic "Knights of the old republic" I looked it up. Produced by Bioware (Yes, of Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Jade Empire fame)  some years ago, it's reputation was epic and it's following large. The price tag, however, was small. I got in on sale from Steam for a meager $2.50.
      Apprehensively I loaded up what was rumored to be a game on the scale of Baldur's Gate 2. I candidly played the first thirty minutes and was able to look past the outdated graphics, silly tutorial-man voice acting, and all too familiar scene of a Star Wars ship under siege. But, what I saw beyond the basic elements didn't impress me. The storyline didn't catch me. I drifted off to more pressing matters, such as another play-through of Psychonauts.
      A series of month's passed and I found myself between worlds at having just finished King's Bounty. I glanced at the large icons on my desktop, all of them representing places and decisions and characters I had explored and there in front of me glared Malak's face--the icon for Knights of the Old Republic. I double clicked and prepared some patience to get me past the introduction once again.
      Since my fateful decision to start playing it, Knights of the Old Republic has often surprised me. The voice acting took a major leap in improvement from the time you leave the stereotypical introduction and now I am enjoying conversations with rich characters. The decisions you make are very Star Wars in their own right; light and underplayed, but the acting does a fine job of keeping your interest as the plot twists and thickens.
      You get to play in a world estranged from the movie as you know it. Four-thousand years in the past the Sith are still wily and the Jedi are still terrible judges of character. Two of their pupils rise as Sith Lords and start taking over the galaxy. Predictably you must rise up and become a Jedi to stop them. Now, don't get me wrong. This is cool. Jedi are cool. Blasters are cool. Spaceships are cool. But, can Bioware wrap it into a cool story driven package? They pull it off.
      As a character in the world of Star Wars you get to do things and meet people only the most die hard of fans would dream of. Planets for the first time can be traversed and scoured, citizens talked to, and those annoying droids blown up if you really don't like them. Ever wanted to hack a C3PO-ish droid to distract enemies? How about actually question of those Twi'lek dancers? Maybe you wanted to get from the nitty-gritty of a planets economy all the way to the ritzy heights. Whatever your intergalactic passion, Bioware expands and elaborates upon the Star Wars world wonderfully, and they manage to do it while retaining the overall feel of the series.
      With only minor swearing, almost no blood or gore, and very little questionable content (romance options are extremely mild, and cantina's feature alien dancers in semi-modest clothing), I can rightly suggest this title to the masses.
      May the force be with you!