GameSpy’s Resident Cynic on Star Wars: KotOR II

GameSpy’s Christopher Buecheler offers his personal opinions on why he feels Star Wars: KotOR II was rushed, citing several of the game’s flaws and shortcomings as proof. Blaming LucasArts for the short development cycle, I felt that their “resident cynic” makes several valid points. Here’s a taste:

So we know, then, that Obsidian was planning a much more robust ending for the game. We know that the guys who work at Obsidian are responsible for some of the greatest stories in video-game history. We know that developers, in general, are aware when they’re releasing something that’s not done, and would largely prefer not to.

Oh, and we know that LucasArts is notorious for handing developers ridiculously short development timetables, and forcing them to shove things out the door before the holiday rush. It’s the reason why most of the company’s titles suffer in one massive way or the other. Jedi Knight II was relatively bug-free, for example — Raven Software knows how to make its games work — but the level design was abysmal, filled with look-the-same hallways and hidden doors. Why? Because they had twelve months to create the game from scratch.