Console: PC
Players: MMORPG
Release Date: 20th December 2011
Developers: BioWare
Publishers: Electronic Arts / LucasArts
Genre: MMORPG
Price: TBC
Way back in 1983 the world got its first taste of pixelated Star Wars with the release of Star Wars into arcade all around the world and eventually ported onto popular home consoles such as the Atari and Commodore 64. Players took on the role of the daring young Jedi Luke Skywalker as he piloted a TIE-fighter through the defences of the Death Star (Episode IV: A New Hope) and ever since then the world of video games has seen its fair share of Star Wars games – some good, some bad and some just plain annoying (Star Wars: Jedi Arena).
However all of these games are now being cast in the huge shadow of the release date of one of the most highly anticipated games for the last few years, the MMORPG (Most folk probably know what that means but in the off chance you’ve been living under a rock with Dial-Up for Internet, MMORPG = Massively multiplayer online role-playing game). Star Wars: The Old Republic has been looming over our heads since it was first announced back in 2008 and since then information has trickled from developers but eager Sith Lords and Jedi Knights were for the most part kept in the dark. This is not the first SW MMORPG (some research online brought our attention to Star Wars: Galaxies but after an initial surge in subscription the game has almost drifted into the realm of the Forgotten Games) but it is the first MMORPG by BioWare, (that would be the same people behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series) who had been looking to expand into the world of the MMO.
Enough background information now it’s time for the good stuff!
The Old Republic throws you straight into the game; at the start you will decide what faction you would like to align your character with; Republic or Empire. From here you pick your class with classes altering depend on your faction:
|
Republic |
Empire |
|
Smuggler |
Bounty Hunter |
|
Trooper |
Imperial Agent |
|
Jedi Knight |
Sith Warrior |
|
Jedi Consular |
Sith Inquisitor |
These classes are then split once more when your character reaches level 10 allowing you to choose a specialization within your class. After that you can customise your character to your heart’s content with a few more options in the changing your physical appearance than we’ve found in other MMORPGs.
After you’ve created and named your character (oh and for reference we created Maerla’Wa, a female Twi’Lek Jedi Consular with aims of specialising as a Jedi Sage) prepare yourself for the traditional Star Wars rolling credits but this time they are a little more personalised as they reflect your presence in the game!
As with any MMORPG your character will begin in the starting area and with some previous experience (World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy) we didn’t find anything too difficult or taxing with the style of play and control similar to others. To get you into the game you’re tasked with some simple quests at first which not only immerse you in the world (Jedi Padwans begin on Tython) but also offer some handy advice.
We were however impressed with the questing system, interacting with our Jedi Master NPC we were greeted with a full voiced dialog cut scene and even more impressively but hardly surprising given BioWares previous games, you’re given different options in how you interact with that character. At first we thought this might have been a once off cutscene but that isn’t the case as interacting with any character who offers a quests will give you these cutscenes.
Combat mechanics aren’t too different to the standard method employed by other MMOs, your character starts with some basic strikes and abilities. The taxing area won’t prove too much of challenge even for someone new to this world of gaming. Unfortunately we didn’t get into a PVP battle nor did we get a chance to delve into the world of dungeons but from all accounts online these two areas are not lacking with plenty of hype bubbling about light sabre battles and expansive dungeon areas!
Through you actions and interaction with the world and inhabitants you will earn either Dark or Light side points which will affect your alignment, accumulating these points will open up new equipment and weapons.
This is where Star Wars: The Old Republic begins to shine, while we were avid players of World of Warcraft we quickly lost interest in the game, what we hoped would be an adventure, questing and unravelling the mysteries of Azeroth turned out to several hours dungeon crawling for gear, skipping quest dialogue and losing complete interest in the lore. The Old Republic engages you right from the very start, your choices affect not only your development but also how the NPCs react to you – as Maerla’Wa was our first character we decided that she should be respectful but maintain an inquisitive nature something which we found was easy to do given the three choices of dialogue you’re presented with when interacting with a character but while we were concerned about developing the personality of our Twi’Lek Padwan we also found that this system meant that not only were we engaging more with the world we were also learning about the culture and history something that we would have skipped over in WoW.
Visually the game for us wasn’t too stunning because we’re playing on a PC made of cinderblocks and sellotape but it still managed to tantalise our optical nerves but the real treat was in the soundtrack with original scores from the films featuring throughout.
The Old Republic seems to focus heavily (and we’re rather happy about this) on the development of your character and your story within the confines of the Star Wars Universe and with dozens of worlds to explore and hundreds of NPCs to harass you can be sure that this is definitely an MMORPG that we will be getting! Our experience was cut short however as the Beta closed at 6am and now we’re left wanting more (and a sudden desire to upgrade the hunk of crap we call a PC). Star Wars: The Old Republic is due for release December 20th of this year and you can bet that we’ll be eagerly awaiting a certain fat guy in a red suit to drop one down our chimneys and not just because we love messing with the force but also because we’ve been really good all year and we deserve it!
