It's off to Planet Sexy! A review of the Jedi Consular Story Part 5

Nar Shaddaa is one of the more memorable worlds of Star Wars' expanded universe. Deliciously Noir, the environment combines bright neon colours with dark shadowy  depths. That juxtaposition of the fun exciting nightlife with sinister sleaze makes Nar Shadda stand out from most other planets you'll see in the Old Republic.

Neither Republic nor Imperial, the "smugglers' moon" is controlled by the Hutts. That's right, the same species that gave us Jabba the Hutt in the movies. I guess there's a certain amount of hand-waving here as to the basis of their power and I'm sure there's some obscure bit of lore somewhere explaining it all away that's not even cannon. For the purposes of SWTOR, we're going to just go with the Hutt Cartel being a neutral power in the cold war between the Republic and the Empire.

The significance of Nar Shaddaa in story terms for the consular is that you meet your second companion character!  Tharan Cedrax is a flirtatious scientist with an almost too healthy self-esteem. He's actually an old friend of your quest-giver, Mater Syo Bakarn.  In game terms, Tharan is a healing companion with some ranged damage and crowd control ability (in the form of his holographic girlfriend Holiday dancing in front of a target to stun it). Unlike Qyzen Fess, he doesn't need subtitles.  Despite his associations with the Jedi, he's just not that into the Force. He loves knowledge for its own sake even if it's ethically so-so and he's not self-conscious about  avoiding danger.  Your character has a lot of options when it comes to dealing with Tharan as part of your crew. I certainly enjoying having him tag along.

The Jedi Master you're looking for is  messing with Nar Shaddaa's status quo. He's formed a gang out of a variety of misfits, controlling their minds through the Force. You need to stop what he's doing because if the Hutts get wind of the gang's ties to the Jedi, they might ally with the Empire. Luckily your new friend Tharan can help you out with his inventions.  One personal highlight for me is when you have to go into a section of the moon controlled by the Empire. You have to impersonate a Sith Lord. Nolan North does a great job with the Sith 'accent'. If you're playing Dark side like I did, the scene provides some pleasant irony for your fallen Jedi!

Again, I played this Dark side so instead of using the healing ritual I just killed the Jedi Master. It's sort of justified by how dangerous he was and how he could easily have upset the Galactic balance of power in the Empire's favour.

Now that we're done with Planet Sexy, it's off to Tunisia... I mean, Tatooine.