Star Wars: The Old Republic
Preview
A Galaxy not so far away
by Ryan Cope
previewed on PC
Freedom to Choose (cntd)
After players reach a certain level or point in the game they can choose to focus on one of two areas only. For example, a Jedi Knight can either become a Guardian or a Sentinel. The Guardians are great swordsmen, with smooth and acrobatic movements that allow them to move fast and remain powerful; they are also great leaders and symbols to others. The Sentinels focus on duel weapons and are a bit more tactical, looking for an enemy’s weak spot and exploiting it with their elegant strikes. The advanced classes system is an expected aspect in most MMOs. Bioware has added its own Star Wars twist to it in order to make it feel much more authentic to the universe. Familiar profession titles from the Knights of The Old Republic series return but in different forms, for example the Guardian, Sentinel and Consular, which brings back some of lore that fans loved from the originals.
A Wookie is a Man’s Best Friend
Companions have always been a big part of Bioware’s games, including classic ones such as Carth Onasi, HK-47, Alistair, Morrigan, Garrus and Wrex. The Old Republic is no different, and in fact brings a completely new idea to an MMO. Everyone needs a companion to stick by them and help them out when times get hard, but MMOs have never really had companion characters to the same degree that an RPG do.
Although The Old Republic is an online game where you can play with other people, you will still gain your own group of colorful characters unique to each class. They will interact with you, fight beside you, defend you, become friends with you, fall in love with you or even turn on you. Players will interact with these companion characters in the same way that they would in any other game. They will accompany players on missions, help out in battles, and voice their opinions in conversations and chat with you on your ship during down time. They can also be equipped and upgraded as you become more powerful. The inclusion of companions in a MMO is a bold move and one that will hopefully work well.
“It’s The Ship That Made The Kessel Run In Under Twelve Parsecs!”
Spaceships and space combat are a large part of the Star Wars universe and have been since the epic opening of A New Hope. It seemed only right that space combat and exploration were included in The Old Republic. Bioware has been working hard on all aspects of the game and the space combat has had its share of labor. Straight off the bat it was decided that every player should be given a ship. This ship will act as the player’s base of operations as they blast around the galaxy doing missions for their chosen side. Not only does this give players a “home,” but it also reflects that theme from the original games of having the Ebon Hawk as a base. For those of you not familiar, the Ebon Hawk was a ship in both Knights of The Old Republic I and II that you used in order to get from planet to planet, but more importantly, was the place that players could chill and chat with their companions in their down time. It functioned the same way that the Normandy does in Mass Effect or the camp in Dragon Age: Origins.
Bioware has yet to announce how the ship system will fully work, whether or not customization is possible, or if you can get a new ship or upgrade the old one. So far, only three ships have been released: the sleek and smooth Defender - a Jedi light corvette, the Millennium Falcon/Ebon Hawke-alike the XS Stock Light (most likely a smuggler ship) and the doom bringing Fury, a Sith interceptor. By the looks of it there seem to be three more ships yet to be unveiled, but whether or not a specific class gets a certain ship is hard to tell at this stage. What has been confirmed, however, is that although the ships will transport players from one planet to the next, it will also allow them to drop into “hotspots” in space and planetary atmospheres where missions take place. These missions vary from traversing a dangerous asteroid field to destroying enemy fighters or taking part in large fleet-scale battles like the ones seen in the films.
A Galaxy Not So Far Away
Overall, Star Wars: The Old Republic looks to be shaping up to become the most ambitious Star Wars and MMO project ever. Bioware seem to be playing every card that it can in order to make this game a truly wonderful experience, one that will allow players to immerse themselves in a well loved era in the Star Wars universe that, unlike the previous games, will never truly end. Every class can be played again and again, each time in different ways so there will be countless hours of story, light saber slashing and blaster firing fun to be had. This should hopefully be the ultimate Star Wars experience for fans of the franchise and MMOs alike. It certainly looks to be shaping up extremely well and it would be wise to guess that the force is with Bioware on this one.
