Star Wars: The Old Republic Review – The Galaxy’s Finest

Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) is the revolutionary story-driven MMORPG from BioWare, LucasArts (now LucasFilm Games), and EA. As someone following the game since its initial announcement in Game Informer Magazine in 2008, I couldn't be more excited for its release. After playing the beta, early access, and the finished product, I can proudly say this is one of BioWare's best titles in its long-standing portfolio. Setting and Timeline This game takes place about 3000 years before the rise of Darth Vader in the main film saga and some 300 years after the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), a roleplaying game also made by BioWare in 2003 that served as the direct inspiration for this MMO. BioWare chose this time period so the developers could create a world with a completely open-ended and largely unexplored story in which thousands of Jedi and Sith roam the universe. SWTOR was created as a successor to Star Wars: Galaxies (2003), the preceding MMO which ran up until just days before this game's release. It has stood the test of time and has been an ongoing experience ever since. Taking place in The Old Republic era, SWTOR thrives on many different achievements. Story and Characters To begin with, SWTOR embraces what the developers called the "fourth" pillar of the genre, which has arguably been missing from MMORPGs for so long. Exploration Combat Progression Story (New!) This fourth pillar represents story and characters, with true, immersive, and engaging cinematic experiences with full voiceover that makes you actually care about killing those slimes over in the corner of the so-and-so town. Not only does SWTOR succeed with the fourth pillar, but it also surpasses the presentation of virtually any storyline in other MMOs to date. The writing team has done an absolutely spectacular job of making sure every single quest for every single specific class and regular non-class specific quests in a way that completely delves the player into a memorable and exciting Star Wars story from level 1 to end. It's an ingenious new take on MMOs and sets a new standard for the entire genre to be judged against. But it's BioWare's style and is precisely what made a name for the developer in the industry for well over a decade before the time of this game's release. There are several different types of quests: Story Quests (class specific) Regular Quests (any class) Heroic Quests (designed for groups in the overworld) Flashpoint Quests (designed for groups in dungeons) Warzone Quests (PvP) Arena Quests (PvP) Space Mission Quests (PvE dogfighting) Galactic Starfighter Quests (PvP dogfighting) Bonus Quests (planetary storylines) ...and more! During most of your quests in SWTOR, as in all BioWare games, you will be continuously pressured to make important, radical, difficult decisions that decide the fate of the end goal and character progression. These quests, with dialogue choices for you to pick from as you progress the narrative, allow you to meticulously carve out your unique identity as a player in this ever-expanding galaxy of The Old Republic. Consequently, it creates that emotional connection to your character that isn't present in other MMOs. Classes and Factions There are eight different classes, with four for each of the two opposing factions; The Galactic Republic, fighting for democracy and peace in the universe, and the Sith Empire, fighting for destruction and command of the universe. RepublicEmpireTrooperBounty HunterJedi KnightSith WarriorSmugglerImperial AgentJedi ConsularSith Inquisitor BioWare and LucasArts have remarkably captured all the iconic Star Wars hero roles on both sides of the spectrum. Republic Classes Trooper - Based on the archetype of the elite Clone Troopers. Jedi Knight - Based on the archetype of Obi-Wan Kenobi / Luke Skywalker. Smuggler - Based on the archetype of Han Solo. Jedi Consular - Based on the archetype of Yoda / Qui-Gon Jinn. Empire Classes Bounty Hunter - Based on the archetype of Jango Fett / Boba Fett. Sith Warrior - Based on the archetype of Darth Vader. Imperial Agent - Based on the archetype of Zam Wessel. Sith Inquisitor - Based on the archetype of Emperor Palpatine. Every single class has a unique story that is personal to the player, allowing you to live out your own respective Star Wars trilogy. No one class feels the same, even with the faction equivalents (Trooper/Hunter, Knight/Warrior, Smuggler/Agent, Consular/Inquisitor). For every class, you will be greeted with an entirely original storyline with its unique set of characters that feels like its own BioWare game. Morality and Choices Thanks to the countless decisions that decide the story's fate, two different players can play the same class but experience vastly different outcomes. Choices also affect character morality, which balances between Light and Dark affinity. Morality points can impact your character's appearance, story, and even some types of items they can purchase from vendors. Combat With its highly intuitive controls in traditional MMO fashion, the combat is incredibly satisfying and fun, even from the beginning of your journey. In SWTOR, you will feel right in touch with your character thanks to exciting abilities and animations that are true to the class you play. To create a sense of heroism, most combat encounters are in packs of three or four rather than a single enemy. What's more, you get full customization over the appearance of your gear and items with support for transmogrification. Each of the eight base classes is divided into two primary combat styles (formerly Advanced Classes). Each Combat Style has three different disciplines (talents) to specialize in, allowing you to further customize and fine-tune the experience to your liking as a player. Base ClassCombat StylesTrooperCommando, VanguardSmugglerGunslinger, ScoundrelJedi KnightGuardian, SentinelJedi ConsularSage, ShadowBounty HunterPowertech, MercenarySith WarriorJuggernaut, MarauderImperial AgentOperative, SniperSith InquisitorSorcerer, Assassin Based on which Combat Style you choose, your character's place will be decided in the holy trinity of MMO combat roles (Tank, DPS, Healer). Before the expansions, the level cap sits at 50. Space Exploration Combat is not excluded on-foot, as the developers have included player versus environment (PvE) Space Missions and player versus player (PvP) Galactic Starfighter Missions. You'll get your ship early in your class storyline, allowing you to traverse the galaxy filled with dozens of planets, which act as continents or zones in other MMOs. The space combat missions are a refreshing change of pace in gameplay and another way to improve your character outside of the standard gear progression. Space missions get challenging as more open up to you, so it's nice to be able to invest in Starship upgrades that range from shields to beam charges that allow you to do more damage-per-second (DPS), carry more missiles, withstand more incoming attacks, etc. PvP Generally, player-versus-player content in SWTOR is divided between Warzones (similar to Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft) and Arenas (similar to Arenas in World of Warcraft). Fortunately, the PvP meta has remained quite balanced since launch. This is especially due to the faction mirroring of classes, as previously mentioned. Planets Each of the countless planets offers vastly different experiences thanks to unique storylines, enemies, NPCs, and scenery. You'll be tempted many times to stand in awe of the exquisite beauty of planets like Alderaan or the colorfully lighted skyscrapers on Nar Shaddaa. It's pretty impressive how different each planet feels, and their size is perfectly aligned to come across as significant enough to be a planet but confined enough to be considered a zone. Companion Characters Following your player character on this immersive adventure are Companions, designed to be much more than the generic, expendable pet. Each class storyline offers up to five Companions, who join you as you level up. Your first Companion will join you before hitting level 10, and these Companions will be with you throughout your whole journey in SWTOR. Initially, Companions are exclusive for each class, so you won't see a Jedi running around with the same Companion as a Smuggler or Bounty Hunter. Companions are customizable in their skin tone, facial features, hair, armor, and weapons, to feel unique to your character. They also complement your character's strengths and weaknesses, fulfilling any role from Tank, DPS, or Healer (whichever benefits you more). In addition, Companions have very engaging storylines and dialogue of their own, things you will get the privilege to see and experience once their affection level reaches key thresholds. You may become best friends with your Companion, you may become their romantic partner, or you may become mortal enemies with your Companion. It all depends on how you choose to interact with them. Crew Skills Crew Skills are yet another one of the most innovative features in SWTOR that eliminate the grind of other MMOs' annoying profession systems. That is, having to take yourself out of what you're working on to go and farm materials. With up to three equipable professions per character, send your Companion out on a mission to go do, and wait for them to return with materials. When you get the materials, you can send them back to craft or sell the materials on the Galactic Trade Market (equivalent to the Auction House in World of Warcraft). Flashpoints SWTOR builds and expands upon player dungeons and instances present in today's MMOs with the concept of Flashpoints. These allow up to four people to interact with NPCs via multiplayer dialogue, all while battling trash mobs leading up to bosses that drop fancy loot. When it comes time to make a decision during dialogue, each character in the party gets to roll to have a chance to speak, with the camera focusing exclusively on them for everyone to see. Operations Like any other traditional MMO, SWTOR features 8-man and 16-man raid content in the form of Operations. These offer the highest level of challenge for players to partake in as part of endgame progression and are incredibly fun. The best part is that Operations offer meaningful rewards regardless of when they were released in the game's development timeline. Technical Issues and Bugs Even with the recent update to the 64-Bit client, SWTOR is still chock full of technical issues and bugs. Most of these are not game-breaking, but they tend to interrupt the experience more often than not, mainly when engaged in multiplayer content. What's worse is that many of these bugs have existed since the game was still in beta and still haven't been addressed, graphical and gameplay alike. Conclusion SWTOR is the ultimate Star Wars experience that truly lets you live out any fantasy in the galaxy far, far away to your liking. In addition, every part of SWTOR's single-player and multiplayer content is forever and always relevant. That means regardless of updates, content is scaled to deliver higher quality rewards to match the meta of the current endgame content. New and returning players alike can easily join up to progress and get meaningful rewards, all while enjoying world-class voice acting and engaging cinematic storylines with characters that you will remember long after you're done playing.

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