Great assignment for Micro Mart issue 1386 – my top ten Star Wars games for PC. The winner was Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, if you were wondering.

Here’s what I wrote about Knights Of The Old Republic…

From the company that went on to make Mass Effect and Dragon Age, Knights Of The Old Republic (KotOR) is the perfect Star Wars gaming experience. You begin the game as a force sensitive amnesiac (their gender and appearance are your choice), awakened on a ship that is under attack from Sith forces, centuries before the familiar events of the films.

This distance from the established canon makes KotOR wonderfully unpredictable. As for story, a string of interlinked missions sees you searching for information regarding the Star Forge – a mysterious source of power at the disposal of the big bad, Darth Malak.

Along the way you pick up the finest selection of playable side characters ever seen in Star Wars gaming. These include sarcastic pilot Carth Onasi, sassy Jedi Bastila Shan, loyal Wookiee Zaalbar, battle-thirsty Mandalorian Canderous Ordo and – best of all – human-hating assassin droid HK-47, who wields a massive gun and an arsenal of hilarious dialogue.

With this team, you’ve got to find your way to the Star Forge and try to stop the nefarious schemes of Malak. Gang leaders, bounty hunters and Dark Jedi will get in your way, while the addictive mini-game Pazaak (essentially blackjack for the Star Wars universe) will attempt to distract you from the story.

Speaking of which, for all the cool characters and fun force powers (there are loads, by the way), the narrative of KotOR is its greatest strength – full of twists, turns and changes of allegiance, this one will keep you on your toes until the end. It’s like playing through your own personal Star Wars movie.