Star Wars The Old Republic Review

Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) is an extremely well-made storytelling MMO that offers an abundance of content to enjoy from the very start of the game. Even though the mechanics that Star Wars The Old Republic consist of, and is similar to World of Warcraft, it’s not just another MMO. Rather, SWTOR is a full-bodied RPG that essentially makes your character important from the early portions of the game as you continuously unfold stories that are worth following. The mechanics of this Star Wars also allows players to enjoy the game itself if they are not really into the multi-player aspects of the game.

Gameplay

SWTOR is all about delivering an engaging storytelling MMO and this permeates virtually every aspect of the game from the graphics, to the gameplay mechanics and voice over. For example, quest boxes are replaced by fully voiced, cinematic cut scenes which come with various moral choices that is typical in BioWare’s wide selection of titles such as ‘BioShock’ for example. Every class features their own unique story which spans over three acts. During the course of their stories, players will have to make important choices which may have serious ramifications on what happens to certain characters. While your class’s story, is mainly a single-player experience, a wide segment of the game’s content is multiplayer based.

Besides the fact that players can partake in multiplayer side quests, as well as to progress through their own class story, players can partake in World Arcs as well. World Arcs are essentially story arcs that generally cover the entire length of a plant. Each planet has it’s own overarching story as to which players can choose to get embroiled in or not. However, most of these stories offer a compelling and invigorating experience that can really help to keep players motivated to complete each planet’s world arc.

Aesthetics

Even though the graphics within this storytelling MMO are not terrible per se, it isn’t a visually stunning game either. As such, players who are looking for Battlefield 4-level graphics and visuals may find themselves disappointed. However, it is worth noting that the game makes up for this drawback by implementing a ‘stylized realism’ visual style that ultimately set the games apart from other games within the genre and allow the visuals to remain pretty consistent across various systems. This stylized realism helps to enhance the game’s environment and characters in the sense that every world within the game itself looks “Star Warsish” from the iconic worlds of Tattoine and Hoth, to the lush, dark jungles of Dromund Kaas, the imperial capital. The point being is that each world is distinctive and has its own theme and personality. Another visual aspect that’s worth noting is that characters do in fact look visually appealing during the cut scene portions of the game. But, the visual quality is significantly reduced as your character roams out and about.

Voiceover

One of the biggest strengths of the game is the voice work. Apparently, BioWare contracted some of the most talented voice over actors to play non-player characters in the game, ranging from Jennifer Hale as FemSheep, David Hayter as the male Jedi Knight who is also the voice of ‘Solid Snake’ from the Metal Gear series and even Doug Bradley who is the narrator behind The Voice of The Emperor. Not only do the voice overs sound incredible, the writing was excellent and the lines were well delivered by even some of the most minor of characters. However, one drawback about the voice work of this game is that some of the same lines are replayed as responses. For example, many players said they heard Sith Marauder proclaim “It’s time for a bloodbath!” so often that they eventually got annoyed.

Combat

The combat system within this storytelling MMO will feel pretty familiar to MMO veterans. However, while it contains your typical MMO hotkey combat system it does not have auto-attack. And as far as combat responsiveness goes, many players firmly believed that it felt a bit delayed. But, overall, the game provides a flashy and visceral combat experience, especially if you choose to utilize a light saber. A prime example of what to expect as far as combat goes would be how our character leaped three stories onto an enemy and proceeding to slice through a whole room that was filled with republic scum as to which he paused momentarily to spin kick another enemy in the face and proceeded to force choke the last combatant.

Game Modes

Besides the fact that players can partake in single player based storyline quests, as well as to partake in various quests with several friends, the game also features player vs player combat as well. In fact, it contains three warzones that delivers instanced PVP scenarios and two types of open-world PVP.

Conclusion

The Old Republic brings a lot of great roleplaying back into the MMORPG genre. You may actually care about your character’s story and not just the number increases new equipment and levels bring you.