Star Wars: The Old Republic Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on January 6th, 2012

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Is this an MMO worth devoting months of your life to? At its core, this isn't so far, far away from what's already on the market, and not without reason, players tired of the EverQuest model for MMORPGs may find The Old Republic too similar in moment-to-moment gameplay to pull them back in for long. Even so, it mixes in enough elements of single-player RPGs to give it a fresh feel, and its generous treasure trove of content makes it my massively multiplayer game of choice for at least the next several months.

Consider this: a derivative product isn't always a bad product. As George Lucas himself showed almost 35 years ago, you can create a movie that's little more than a flashy concoction of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, Flash Gordon serials, and Frank Herbert's Dune, and millions of people will call it one of the greatest achievements in cinema. Star Wars: The Old Republic doesn't quite reach those heights, but it does represent what may be the last game of its kind to be worthy of a subscription fee. It succeeds as both an MMORPG and a Star Wars game -- and if you're feeling burned by the past 12 years' worth of Lucas' meddling, I leave you with a final bit of reassurance: In all of my travels, I've never once come across a mention of a midichlorian or a Gungan. That's gotta be worth something, right?

In the end though, The Old Republic is a triumph. It's an immersive, life-sapping experience that will swallow up hours like they're seconds. It's also unmistakably Star Wars. From the glorious soundtrack to the distinctive aesthetic, it just oozes Lucas.

When you factor in the replayability, successful merging of MMO and single player elements and sheer scale, it's even more enticing. This is essential for those bitten by the MMO bug, as well as those who've spent more than half an hour wondering how Hutts use the toilet.

Unfortunately, BioWare does fail in a few areas when it comes to The Old Republic's social features. The LFG system leaves much to be desired, for one, leaving most players to spam general chat for a group. It would be nice if BioWare aped WAR's public grouping system and let you seamlessly group up near group content such as heroic quests. There is also a lack of a (dungeon finder,) which is fine to me, but may disappoint some. However, worst of all, is the game's implementation of guilds. It's really as barebones as it gets and I can't stress that enough. Guilds, as currently implemented, are nothing more than rosters with member notes and a couple of custom ranks and permissions. There isn't even a guild bank available yet. In a genre where features such as guild leveling, tabards, guild perks, and such are becoming the norm, TOR's guild feature set is simply woefully deficient.

Every couple of years we get an MMO whose level of hype and expectations are greater than the game could ever aspire to be and the same remains true for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Even so, the game is simply exceptional. If you're a Star Wars fan, a fan of BioWare RPGs, and you don't mind a themepark styled MMO, you will undoubtedly have a great time in the world BioWare has created with Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare has successfully fused the foundation of a solid MMO with their industry-leading story telling capabilities to create a final product that convincingly makes the case that as great as many MMOs have been, we've definitely been missing a significant piece of the puzzle for all these years.

The thing that causes every MMO to either live or die, is the amount of content added to keep players happy, and the support of the dev team to patch bugs and glitches, and a Star Wars MMO is no exception to the rule (even though Galaxies still had some glitches when it closed that it did when it was in beta. To that end, Bioware has already been outstanding putting out patches the day after big bugs have been found and reported, and announcing a ton of new content to start rolling out later this month. It will be really interesting to me to see it Bioware keeps this pace up, but I'm extremely hopeful from what I've seen so far.

This has to be one of (if not THE) best MMO launches I've ever seen the game is sublimely deep and robust, with enough of a dramatic and cinematic presentation to enable it to stand alongside of Bioware's other single player offerings. In my opinion, Bioware has come out and shown again that they are after the title of (Kings of the Western RPG), and they're damn well close to getting it.

But the draw remains the game's deeply authentic Star Wars vibe. Whether there are enough MMORPG-loving Jedi and Sith fans out there to make Electronic Arts' enormous investment some have pegged The Old Republic's development budget north of $300-million, making it the priciest game ever pay off is an open question.

All I know is that once I set foot on the Defender and calculated the jump to light speed, EA had locked onto my $15 monthly subscription like a ship caught in a tractor beam.

Graphics and bugs aside, there's really something special under all this hype, legacy IP and anticipation. Bioware have put an enormous amount of work into creating a truly epic galaxy, full of intrigue, heroics, treachery, courage and cowardice. Everything feels (Star Wars), and the active story elements that surround almost everything you do (even the crafting missions have a blurb) provide a defined sense of purpose. Questing doesn't feel like work, and crafting doesn't feel like a chore.

There are bugs, there are faults, and there are obvious issues relating to balance and UI in particular. But these don't detract from the experience as much as they only temporarily hinder it. I have full confidence that Bioware, based on their record and their work so far, will support this game and provide the extra elements it needs to be perfect. But even in its current form, it's hands down the most polished and complete MMO experience since World of Warcraft.

The gameplay visuals themselves are highly polished, and virtually unhampered by the bugs and glitches you might expect to find in a newly launched MMO. Couple this with a score that does justice to the John Williams original and we have an authentic Star Wars experience on our hands.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a viable alternative to the mighty World of Warcraft and a seamless marriage of reliable MMO mechanics and components from BioWare RPGs. While there are a few issues to iron out, the character-driven story focus ensures that the game offers something different than its genre counterparts. Needless to say, if you're a Star Wars fan or enjoy MMOs in general, it might just be worth investing in a subscription.

Still, for any complaints let's not lose sight of what's really important: this is an impressive start to a new MMO and as compulsive an example of the genre as we've yet encountered. Only time will tell how the game will pan out and how rewarding later content will be. After all, it's the support that Blizzard has given WoW since its inception that has kept it running so strong for so long. For the moment, what we have is a Star Wars MMO that might do little to revolutionise the genre, but that has plenty to please fans of Star Wars, Bioware and WoW. For most of us, that's more than enough.

The Old Republic is not the MMO to sign up for if you're looking for revolutionary gameplay or a new approach to the genre. There are still irritations and sections that drag, and at times group play feels like a secondary priority. Yet it's hard to ignore the appeal of the Star Wars atmosphere, high production values and Bioware's storytelling expertise, and the gameplay is as rich and compulsive as any MMO out there. Of all World of Warcraft's would-be rivals, the force is strongest in this one.

Further forgiveness is granted because the game is a blast to play. I haven't even touched on the cool powers which trainers will teach your character, the AI driven companion characters who actually help instead of hinder, the genuinely interesting cutscenes, the manner in which early choices can come back to haunt you and the various PvP arenas in fact I'd go as far as to say you're best discovering all that for yourself.

I'm not even going to give the game a grade, I'm simply going to give it the thumbs up and say .ive it a go', it's well worth the scant outlay, particularly if you happen to have hundreds of hours to burn.

While the cinematic cut scenes for the game are mesmerizing, the graphic quality of actual gameplay is surprisingly good. The physical dynamics of characters movements seem to be a little more polished and fluid than other MMOs. But the best part is that you don't need a high powered PC to run the game. Even on its lowest graphic settings, the SWTOR looks really good. The only complaint would be that for those gamers who do have a high performance PC, there aren't a lot of options. Even with all the settings cranked up to max, it still just looks really good instead of amazing.

If you are on the fence about buying this game, there are hundreds of hours of gameplay with more downloadable content on the way. If the monthly fee to play is making you second guess a purchase, every game comes with a 30 day time card. Bioware has successfully taken a timeless cultural fantasy world and turned it into an MMO that even the most casual gamer can enjoy. Whether you are a hard-core Star Wars fan or not, this is a game worth checking out.

The Old Republic is, in many respects, World Of Warcraft re-skinned as Star Wars. For many, that will be enough, with BioWare's solid storytelling and the superb gameplay foundation laid down by WOW doing the trick.

Tired Warcraft veterans, however, may find it's not quite what they were looking for. The Force is indeed strong here, even if its future is uncertain.

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