Star Wars: The Old Republic
I first went in with low expectations but excited to play a Star Ward based mmo. One thing I learned about mmo's is if you believe the hype, you are in for one big let down no matter what genre it is you love.
So when a new Star Wars mmo was announced, I was both excited and skeptical. There was after all Star Wars Galaxies, which started well in my opinion but went down a distorted path which didn't pan out.
Having played World of Warcraft, which was rich in lore, was easy to play and get used to, and at the time had great graphics, it was hard not to compare other mmo's to it. I tried out LOTRO, EQ2, Asheron's Call 2, SW Galaxies of course, D&D online, Lineage 2, Star Trek online, and most recently DC Universe. The only one different is DCU as it has the style of a console game as opposed to the traditional mmo gui and play style.
None of them, and I realize this is my opinion, had the same feel that WOW had/has: your character looks and feels like its a part of the world. What I mean is most of the time a character wasn't floating, or feel like it was in a bubble, giving an odd disconnectedness from the land, scenery. In WOW, you walked touching the ground with the feel of the ground, of being in the world.
Enter Star Wars: The Old Republic, or SWTOR. I set my expectations low but was still excited as it was a fresh start after the failure of Galaxies. The first brilliant move was to not base it in the time period if the movies. Where Galaxies was based between (originally) A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, SWTOR is based on the BioWare games Knights of the Old Republic, 3000 years before the movies! During that time, if you know the lore, there were many Jedi and even a Sith Empire. Brilliant!
Having been used to the ease of WOW and it's fluidity, I was pleasantly surprised SWTOR had the same basic feel of being in the world, not floating and feeling a disconnect with the ground, a feeling of separateness. The GUI is fine, traditional in the mmo sense but might still need some tweaking, maybe. I may just be used to the WOW GUI is all.
Now WOW is great in that there is a lot of lore and you feel you are playing in the whole storyline, so it's wonderful in that way which the other mmo's failed in imho. SWTOR takes it to a WHOLE new level! The npc's you talk to for missions, your character TALKS to them and they TALK back to you! And not a simple short go do this or that, but a conversation! That video I posted on Facebook is how it plays out everywhere you get missions! The voice work is excellent!
In WOW, I mentioned how you get involved in the story arcs and you feel like you accomplished something that affects the world, and it was great. In SWTOR, not only does it do that, it goes further! Your choices affect who you talk to, you get a reputation for how you treat npc's! And it grows as time passes! So when you decide as a Jedi you're not going to be the most forgiving and patient Jedi, the noc's will talk to you knowing that, as far as the programmers have allowed of course. This is probably the greatest idea an mmo has ever done! Talk about feeling as if you are in the story!
I can tell you how great the graphics and sound are in detail, but I won't as it'll take too long. Trust me when I say they are awesome! And the music! Oh man, it's like being in Star Wars!
All in all, you really get pulled into the game because you really feel as if you are a part of what's going on in the world as an individual. The game as a whole is excellent and I look forward to playing it when I get the chance! I haven't gone into a lot of detail of course, but I can tell you guys about it later! it is very well made and worth playing if you have the time and don't mind spending $15 a month. I don't mind the monthly fee as I don't have the money to go out every week, so it's a good compromise as far as entertainment value is concerned.
I'm glad I got it and know I will have lots of fun!
So when a new Star Wars mmo was announced, I was both excited and skeptical. There was after all Star Wars Galaxies, which started well in my opinion but went down a distorted path which didn't pan out.
Having played World of Warcraft, which was rich in lore, was easy to play and get used to, and at the time had great graphics, it was hard not to compare other mmo's to it. I tried out LOTRO, EQ2, Asheron's Call 2, SW Galaxies of course, D&D online, Lineage 2, Star Trek online, and most recently DC Universe. The only one different is DCU as it has the style of a console game as opposed to the traditional mmo gui and play style.
None of them, and I realize this is my opinion, had the same feel that WOW had/has: your character looks and feels like its a part of the world. What I mean is most of the time a character wasn't floating, or feel like it was in a bubble, giving an odd disconnectedness from the land, scenery. In WOW, you walked touching the ground with the feel of the ground, of being in the world.
Enter Star Wars: The Old Republic, or SWTOR. I set my expectations low but was still excited as it was a fresh start after the failure of Galaxies. The first brilliant move was to not base it in the time period if the movies. Where Galaxies was based between (originally) A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, SWTOR is based on the BioWare games Knights of the Old Republic, 3000 years before the movies! During that time, if you know the lore, there were many Jedi and even a Sith Empire. Brilliant!
Having been used to the ease of WOW and it's fluidity, I was pleasantly surprised SWTOR had the same basic feel of being in the world, not floating and feeling a disconnect with the ground, a feeling of separateness. The GUI is fine, traditional in the mmo sense but might still need some tweaking, maybe. I may just be used to the WOW GUI is all.
Now WOW is great in that there is a lot of lore and you feel you are playing in the whole storyline, so it's wonderful in that way which the other mmo's failed in imho. SWTOR takes it to a WHOLE new level! The npc's you talk to for missions, your character TALKS to them and they TALK back to you! And not a simple short go do this or that, but a conversation! That video I posted on Facebook is how it plays out everywhere you get missions! The voice work is excellent!
In WOW, I mentioned how you get involved in the story arcs and you feel like you accomplished something that affects the world, and it was great. In SWTOR, not only does it do that, it goes further! Your choices affect who you talk to, you get a reputation for how you treat npc's! And it grows as time passes! So when you decide as a Jedi you're not going to be the most forgiving and patient Jedi, the noc's will talk to you knowing that, as far as the programmers have allowed of course. This is probably the greatest idea an mmo has ever done! Talk about feeling as if you are in the story!
I can tell you how great the graphics and sound are in detail, but I won't as it'll take too long. Trust me when I say they are awesome! And the music! Oh man, it's like being in Star Wars!
All in all, you really get pulled into the game because you really feel as if you are a part of what's going on in the world as an individual. The game as a whole is excellent and I look forward to playing it when I get the chance! I haven't gone into a lot of detail of course, but I can tell you guys about it later! it is very well made and worth playing if you have the time and don't mind spending $15 a month. I don't mind the monthly fee as I don't have the money to go out every week, so it's a good compromise as far as entertainment value is concerned.
I'm glad I got it and know I will have lots of fun!
posted by kruddler at December 21, 2011
1 comments
