Star Wars: The Old Republic Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on January 10th, 2012

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Massively-multiplayer online games are always a work-in-progress, so it's not surprising that Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch wasn't flawless. What matters is that it's an extremely satisfying experience that sets the stage for a bright future, so long as BioWare continues to support the game for the coming years with constant updates.

Despite my having written a chunk of negativity that's longer than some whole articles I've written, it's important to point out that The Old Republic is still a fantastic game with many great ideas for implementing a solo-style RPG experience into a much larger framework. Having spaceships, lightsabers, companions, and a plot you can dig into really does wonders for keeping up that motivation in moving towards level 50, and the playerbase also seems just a tiny bit more mature than what you might expect coming from a Blizzard game. If you're sick of WoW but don't mind a game that doesn't fully reinvent the grinding wheel, this is most definitely worth a shot. If you're a KOTOR fan who doesn't care for MMOs but wants to see a continuation of the story, you'll find quite a bit of it here with plenty of references to the original game's plot and characters - but be aware that it's not nearly as easy to play this game solo-only as you might like. Finally, if you just want to enjoy the latest Star Wars spectacle, then by all means pick this up, because you'll get a big dose of the Force, starships, bounty hunters, and the Empire versus Rebels (er, Republic) action that you surely crave.

There's plenty more for me to see and experience yet in The Old Republic and the vast majority of everything so far has been fun and engrossing. The dialogue with NPCs and companion characters is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in terms of making us feel actually connected and not just passing through as we grind on by. The central narrative for each class is genuinely enthralling and has left me always wanting the next piece of the puzzle. As long as BioWare keeps up this formula moving forward into expansions with additional worlds and story threads then The Old Republic is going to keep a sharp edge in its arsenal. Sure there are problems but this is an MMO and it comes with the territory for any new launch, but I have confidence thanks to the studio's stellar reputation for amazing fans and always delivering some of the most exciting stories.

The core class storylines, as well as the larger planetary quests, have much more personality than the generic, one-off quests each world is riddled with. And the (Flashpoints) dungeons detached from the rest of the game world occasionally show the potential of the connection of narrative to the game form. And of course, it's impossible to fully judge an ever-changing MMRPG in an early review. It is entirely possible that BioWare will add new content, and improve existing content, so that the best parts of the game are accented. But right now, The Old Republic is a slick and competent example of its genre, but not an evolution of that genre or gaming overall.

Star Wars: The Old Republic proves itself to be a competent MMO, one that, unlike so many of its ill-fated contemporaries, is sure to find significant popularity.

But as with all newly-birthed MMO titles, there is work to be done.

These impressions are far from complete, so it's difficult to say "Hey! Go and get this, it's awesome!" At only 20 hours of gameplay I have much, much more to discover, learn and experience. You know, things like space combat. My ship was stolen at the start of my Smuggler story, and I'm still trying to get it back. My Jedi Knight just doesn't seem to mind not having a ship yet. I'm thinking space combat is right around the corner, though...

Each class has its own deep storyline to follow all the way to a level cap. That element means leveling up alternate characters has far more value than just providing the chance to try a new class' mechanics. But it also seems likely to create problems for BioWare moving forward. Blizzard has dominated the market by constantly adding new content to World Of Warcraft, but Old Republic is so story-driven that those regular updates could easily feel tacked-on. Old Republic already has an enthusiastic player base. The real test will be keeping players excited enough to keep their subscriptions going.

If BioWare can complement the game's excellent single-player experience with more of the MMO genre's successful staples (including a stronger implementation of the features we enjoyed in, say, Star Wars: Galaxies), then The Old Republic could very well be the (prequel) that beats out some of the MMO landscape's big original titles. How many times do you get to say that about anything Star Wars?

Once again, don't come running towards the game just because it's from highly acclaimed studio BioWare or you're a huge fan of Star Wars series, the game is not everyone's cup of tea and requires intense focus and a lot of time to finish completely. And, it's not the state of the art MMO out there, but still the game is a great experience, offering tons of exploration and leveling up, that will keep you occupied for months.

Star Wars: The Old Republic has ignited my imagination and made me feel a part of something within the narrative of the game not just within the mindless leveling curve.

That's why it's massively important. That's why, despite its flaws and borrowed elements, it is still inarguably a great game. It's why, for the first time in the history of the genre, spoilers matter.

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