Star Wars: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen Empire (PC)

Knights of the Fallen Empire is the third plot-driven expansion to EA’s popular MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, coming on the heels of 2013’s Rise of the Hutt Cartel and 2014’s Shadow of Revan. Keep reading to find out what new features you can expect, and whether it’s worth (re-)subscribing or not.

The intro sequence features a series of dramatic battles on land and in space, where both Jedi and Sith are slain in fierce combat. Amid the turmoil you meet two lightsaber-wielding brothers leading troops into battle, attacking the forces of both orders. At the end of the intro they proudly present the trophies gained in battle to their father. The two brothers are obviously involved in a bitter rivalry for their old sire’s favor, and the situation quickly escalates to the point of violence. There’s only one way this is going to end – with the death of the weaker one. A classic Star Wars opening crawl explains the present situation in the galaxy, including who these two brothers are and what they have to do with the deaths of so many Jedi and Sith.

You learn that the galaxy is descending into chaos, and that there is a secret army led by two brothers that is cutting a path of destruction between the Republic and the Sith Empire. But the old emperor, who has been missing since the planet Zios was destroyed, still poses a threat to the galaxy. To bring the situation under control, Sith lord Darth Marr calls to his ship members of his own order as well as supporters of the Republic. His intention is to work together in order to defeat this new enemy and restore the balance of power as it existed before. The actual story in the game begins with your arrival on Darth Marr’s ship, where you are to take part on the discussions being held there.

When you meet Darth Marr, the Sith Lord explains that he’s been searching for the lost emperor and intends to discover the reasons for his sudden disappearance. He hopes to gain the support of the Republic in this endeavor, and to extend the ceasefire between the two factions. When a strange probe appears in the vicinity of the ship, it’s clear to everyone there that they’re being ambushed. Ships appear out of nowhere, opening fire on the Sith Lord’s ship, and it doesn’t take long before Darth Marr’s ship is infiltrated by enemy troops, compelling you to join the fray.

After fighting your way through the entire ship, you’re able to rid it of the enemy soldiers at least to some degree, but it’s taken too much damage, and together with Darth Marr, you search for a way out. But before your team is able to evacuate using the escape capsules, you’re caught in the middle of a huge explosion, and your character loses consciousness.

When you come to, you find yourself aboard the flagship of the “Eternal Empire”, the army of destruction led by the two brothers. A few minutes later, Prince Arcann, the surviving brother, graces you with his presence, claiming that you have entered into enemy territory. Not giving you much of a chance to defend yourself, he decides to bring the hero, along with Darth Marr, also in his captivity, to his father, the “Eternal Emperor”. Where exactly this new empire has come from, and just what the Eternal Emperor expects of you are some of the things you’ll find out in the course of a suspenseful and well crafted storyline in which your decisions will have a major impact on the plot.

Gameplay

If you want to get started with the expansion right away, all subscribers have the opportunity to create a level-60 character for free. Of course, you can also play with an existing character, provided they’ve reached level 60. The new level-60 characters have more options available to start with than the classic variant. After choosing the side of the Force you will serve and your character’s sex, you can choose a sub-class right away – for instance, Jedi Guardian or Jedi Sentinel under the primary class Jedi Knight. Normally, you wouldn’t be able to do this until after playing for a while, but since you’re pretty much skipping past the older chapters in The Old Republic, it makes sense here of course. It also allows players who start with Knights of the Fallen Empire to get acquainted with the backstory and special attributes of each class by exploring the “Equipment”, “Skills”, and “Combat Role” text menus.

There are nine chapters to play to start with, though they’re supposed to be adding more before the story comes to an end. You can play up to level 65 now, and they also let you play the popular Flashpoints alone if you want to, making them an excellent source of experience points. And if you’re planning to level up a regular SWTOR character, you can benefit from the improved mission progress feature, which allows you to complete the main quests more quickly without having to depend on side quests to get ahead. This means you can focus entirely on the main story, and get through it quickly.

If you do decide to play the new story with a brand-new level-60 character, you have just few attacks to start with. In this case, level 60 feels like level 1, further reinforcing the feeling that Knights of the Fallen Empire represents an all-new departure for the Old Republic universe. For long-time fans, the mission at the very beginning, the one that has you fighting your way through the Sith Lord’s ship, will bring you back to the old Knights of the Old Republic games. All in all, this expansion feels like a game within a game, taking up the visual look and the controls of The Old Republic, but leaving behind the MMORPG part of it to significant degree. This should speak to everyone who’s been yearning for a new, story-based Star Wars RPG.

The worlds themselves are also a lot different than the classic SWTOR environments. Locations are a lot more linear and more compact than the huge open worlds Old Republic players are used to. The individual sequences are much smaller and less winding, often laid out in such a way that there’s really only one way to go. This goal-oriented level design is underscored by the fact that objectives in Knights of the Fallen Empire usually come one after another, doing away with the classic Quest Mode that would have you constantly running back to a certain NPC to get your reward and the next objective.

Unlike before, the characters in your party will change depending on the storyline, which means you’ll often be fighting alongside characters you wouldn’t normally be allied with. In other situations, they leave you to your own devices, without the help any party members to fall back on. However, when you do have a companion, they give you free rein to decide which role you want them to play. You can set them as tank, healer, or damage-dealer – whichever fits your style of gameplay. And this new feature retroactively affects your old characters, which makes it that much easier to bring unfinished SWTOR storylines to a close. Since you can pick what role you want your old companions to fill, it leaves you free to play your favorite character, regardless of class.

You also no longer have to worry about supplying your party members with the right gear – the effect of giving them certain items is now purely aesthetic. You still have to make sure that all your active companions are equipped with a weapon, otherwise they won’t be able to attack. And as a nice shout-out to all the players who spent hours playing through the original SWTOR storyline missions, the second chapter takes you to a dream world of sorts where you get to fight enemies you’ve already defeated once before; Jedi Knights, for example, will once again have to face powerful foes like Lord Tarnis or Darth Angral. These enemies will vary according to class and faction, of course.

Graphics

Like the base game itself, the impressive thing about the worlds you encounter in Knights of the Fallen Empire is the authentic Star Wars atmosphere they manage to generate. There are three main planets to explore; from the urban planet of Zakuul with its imposing skyline, the adventure takes to Asylum, a grim smuggler world high in the clouds; then on to Odessen, whose deep forests provide a haunting a mysterious atmosphere. But the expansion also features other worlds, like the ones in chapter 2’s dream sequences, where you’re taken to a ruined planet from your past (depending on class), which could be anything from Coruscant to Dromund Kaas.

Sound

Like in SWTOR and its other expansions, the soundtrack in Knights of the Fallen Empire is entirely instrumental, with perfectly arranged orchestral sounds. The music in this expansion is a bit more “present” and noticeable than in previous SWTOR installments, which makes its use as a stylistic device all the more effective.