Star Wars: The Old Republic review part one

In my time reviewing games I have never really been tasked with reviewing one that will be a completely different title a year, possibly even mere months after my review is posted. That is what I have been tasked with doing in reviewing Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic. It is the RPG veterans first MMO and one that has had considerable expectations attached to it, not to mention a whole big pile of cash. A lot depends on it and while I can’t tell the future I can tell you that I have really enjoyed the journey from level 1-15 (ish) for my character and am eager to play more. So this review will serve as a “living” document that will progress with me. What I can say is that based on the twenty or so hours of content I have played I would recommend this game to anyone interested in the genre or Star Wars.

I have had a fair amount of experience with MMO’s in anticipation of playing this game and have constantly found that the “massively” nature really ruins the main focus of why I come to RPG games: the story. Having to wait for events in the world to reset or see a queue of characters waiting to be told that they are the unique hero just completely took me out of the world, not to mention that most of these people were horrible and had no bones about letting you know it. TOR goes to massive lengths to solve this issue and is at once it’s strongest suite and one of the most annoying things about the game.

In The Old Republic your character will have a story based on their class. For instance I chose to play as a Sith Inquisitor, a dark Jedi with a deadly combination of force and lightsaber skills. Your story begins on Corriban and will focus on the cut-throat world of becoming a fully fledged Sith. In a normal MMO the quest givers specific to you would still be swarmed by other people playing your class by Bioware solved this issue by smart use of instances. These are areas of the game world that are specific to you and you alone and alongside the massive quantity of voice work and conversation options does much to make your care about the story.

The Sith Inquisitor Assassin is the only class that gets the double-bladed lightsaber.

Conversely this heavier than normal instancing of the game world can make some of the cavernous game environments seem quite empty at times but you are never far from a hub swarming with player characters sitting around or jumping in the air like any other MMO. If the player base does not remain stable (which I think it will) having every area of the game looking so empty and huge will be a real detriment to the game.

And this very definitely is an MMO. The combat is of the same “healer/tank/dps” model popularised by World of Warcraft. You activate powers by pressing hotkeys and combat is done by addressing an enemy and trading blows with them until they die. Thankfully, the “collect ten of X item” quests are almost always optional or simply involve killing a certain enemy rather than killing scores of enemies while waiting on a random item to drop out. That said, if you have played an MMO before much here will be familiar to you.

Quests are arranged in levels with some being labelled as “heroic” and requiring you to get in a group while Flashpoints function as raids. If you, like me, aren’t into the idea of partying up with strangers then the game will provide you with a ready made companion who can also handle your crafting. You do this by training them in the appropriate skills for what you want and then send them out on missions to gather materials and level up in the skill. It certainly beats having your own character grabbing a pick and chipping away at rocks while you should be having fun.

Before I got a droid this guy was going off and negotiating for "fine underworld silk", amazingly, he wasn't great at it.

If those two paragraphs confused you then the way these concepts are initially introduced to you in game will make your head swim. Tutorial text could remain on screen longer but you will get the jist of everything with a quick visit to the in-game Mass Effect-esque codex. By the time I had left the first planet I had grasped everything an was ready to specialise my class and really get stuck into the games first city.

For me this was Dromund Kaas, capital of the Sith empire and graphically very pretty. The city itself is all massive spires stretching upwards while outside a deadly jungle is patrolled by wild animals, Mandalorian mercenaries and rogue Sith. The city is alive both with players and rambling groups of NPCs and there is usually plenty to do. While it lacks the character of the city hubs in other Bioware titles (Ilium this ain’t) it is superior to any hub I’ve seen in any other MMO. This saying can pretty much be applied to everything I have seen so far in the game. I looks amazing but amazing for an MMO, the story is fantastic but fantastic for an MMO. There is enough Bioware in here to keep fans happy but please don’t expect KOTOR 3 (and definitely don’t expect the KOTOR 4,5,6 stuff that was trotted out pre-release) or Mass Effect. The MMO aspect of this game just can’t allow that level of detail for each player. Still, once you go in fully aware of just how much of an MMO this is you are going to have a good time.

The story elements of the game also apply to planets. Your quest log will contain entries for class quests, which will move on your story, and planet quests which are just the ambient things happening on a given world. On Dromund Kaas this includes a slave rebellion, a crazed Sith conducting dangerous weapon experiments and even some ties to Revan. Your class quests will generally bring you into the same area the planet quests are taking place so you will never miss out on anything unless you want to. These quests will also offer opportunities to gain light and dark points which are just starting to make a difference to my character now. The writing for these moments has generally been well done so far with the dark side choices offering some deliciously evil pieces of dialogue.

Come to scenic Dromund Kaas!

I am really enjoying my time so far in TOR and have just done my first few space battles. They are more Star Fox than Tie Fighter but really provide a nice break in between planets, not to mention giving you the feeling early on that the Republic are out there and a full-scale war is ready to happen. As of writing I have no problem recommending The Old Republic. Try it for a month, you will at least get the fifteen to twenty hours out of it I already have. If you do join up to the server Peragus Mining Facility because I now feel ready to start doing things with people, the focus of the next part of this review which should be up soon.

Verdict: 8/10