If you’re new to the Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) series, the main aspect to be aware of is that both the first game and the sequel are far different than the majority of Star Wars licensed titles. These are role-playing games to their very core, and thus won’t appeal to everyone. Being that KotOR II is using the same engine that BioWare developed for KotOR, there is an immediate sense of familiarity for those that played through the original game and you should be able to jump right in without even cracking the game manual. Those that didn’t have the pleasure won’t be left out in the dark, but there are a lot of references to the previous story that tie in quite nicely with the plot of The Sith Lords and you’ll obviously have to learn the nuances of the hybrid real-time/turn-based system.

Is it churlish to think less of Sith Lords because it's called KOTOR II when it shouldn't be? If this had been released solely as a PC game instead of debuting on a console, odds are good that it would have been labeled as an expansion pack rather than a sequel, and simply labeled KOTOR: The Sith Lords. All the hallmarks of an expansion pack are there, after all: new content using the same graphics engine and battle system, created as a side project by another developer while the original creators work on a real follow-up.