A fan effort calling themselves Apeiron is attempting to re-make the belovedStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, using Unreal Engine 4 to improve the game’s graphics.
Attempting to remake one of thebestStar Warsgames of all timeis no small feat, but the fan collective known as Apeiron is going to do its best to doStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicsome current-gen justice. The team’s goal is to not just recreate the originalKnights of the Old Republicgame within Unreal Engine 4, but to actually improve on the original effort from BioWare that debuted all the way back in 2003. The project is described on Apeiron’s website:
“Apeiron is a reboot of theKnights of the Old Republicthat was released in 2003. Apeiron is a remake and remastering of the original game with added content, new worlds, missions, HUD, inventory, items, and companions.”
While making such dramatic changes to one of the mostfrequently discussed games in remake discussionsis ambitious, the team seems quite confident that they will be able to make their remake a reality - that is, so long as everybody else lets them try.Star Warsis still the intellectual property of Disney, and the multimedia giant has been known to issue cease-and-desist orders for smaller efforts than Apeiron’s. In an effort to circumvent this, Apeiron is offering their remake for free, and isn’t accepting donations at this time, but it’s still difficult to guess what Disney’s response to the effort will be if it becomes aware of the remake.
For the time being, however, Apeiron’s project fills the void left by therumors that aStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremakewas in the works that first surfaced six months ago and have since all but disappeared. While the group doesn’t have much to show for their efforts so far, they have released several screenshots that represent a big improvement on the original’s dated graphics, showing just how drastically visual technology has advanced in the decade plus sinceKnights of the Old Republic’s original release.
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Even if the remake effort is shut down - and we hope it isn’t, but these things often happen - that isn’t to say that there will never be a modernKnights of the Old Republicgame. Reports surfaced last year that theBioWare team wants to make anotherStar WarsRPG, and while nothing has come of it just yet, the tweets and the passionate fan response that emerged after them would certainly have caught the attention of EA, who currently owns the video game license forStar Wars.
For now, it appears that Apeiron will proceed with the remake unhindered, which will hopefully continue until the remake’s release, which is so far unannounced. Those interested in the project can check out the team’s official website or their frequent Twitch streams to learn more.
What do you think of a potentialStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake? Do you think Apeiron’s effort will make it to the final stages, or will Disney intervene? Let us know in the comments below.
