Star Wars: The Old Republic
Mega | 28 Nov 2011 | tl;drSince my brother Dante runs this community and I have been a part of it since its formation, I thought it was high time I gave back a little bit with a game review.
And what better way to do it with than by giving my thoughts on the newest game to the Star Wars franchise!
Now if you’re a hard KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) fan like Dante and I, you will have gladly signed up and hoped for a chance at beta testing and would gladly download twenty gigabytes worth of game files (even though you cap is twenty gigabytes for the month) to play such a worthy game, right?
Wrong. Well sort of…
What I mean to say is KOTOR was a series that defined how RPG games played, it became a buggy legend in the gaming hall of fame. It was also highly detailed for its time with effects such as grass waving in the wind through to puffs of sand rising as the player walks across the seabed, this may not sound fantastic today but KOTOR was made 8 years ago and pushed the barriers for the current gen graphics.
So from TOR I expected orgasmic graphics exceeding all current MMOs and star fleets of a size that would make the Death Star look like a holiday resort.
And yet the question remains, why did I play it all day and want to continue playing it tonight?
The Graphics
First of all, we start with the beginning of the disappointments – the visuals.
Considering this game is coming out at a time where we have Skyrim and Battlefield 3, the graphics do not push the boundaries as they once did in the originals.
Yes you have sparks flying off your sword, and yes the lightning is cool as always but I just don’t feel like there has been enough emphasis put into giving any of these little subtleties, you know the ones that make your blood rush when you zap your enemies…I want to zap my enemies while keeping them above ground until they turn black and eventually turn into DUST.
I guess in terms of the overall graphics though I am not disappointed, the environment is what you’d expect from a game in today’s MMO market, but as I say it’s the little things that makes games like this change from an average game to a bbq-your-enemies-into-dust-fiesta… or maybe I’ve just played too many GTA games – I’ll leave that for you to decide.
The Sound
One thing that you’ll immediately notice when you play this game is there is what you expect to hear when someone talks and what is ultimately delivered in a game. In other words, when a Sith speaks you can hear the evil and the hatred that has consumed their life.
I almost laughed when I entered the game for the first time and was mocked by an NPC you can guess which option I chose:
Having said that, the original KOTOR contained three hundred different characters and fifteen thousand lines of speech, the creators said “One complete copy of the Knights of the Old Republic script fills up ten 5-inch binders,” – God knows how many characters and lines of script this game has.
As for the audio track, it’s well…Star Wars. It sounds like Star Wars and that’s exactly what we want.
Seriously though, the music is fantastic and whenever you enter different types of battles such as bosses you will feel as though the victory for the empire rests on your shoulders so you will win, or you’ll die and just respawn and bring three more friends next time… which leads on to a very important point – the gameplay.
The Gameplay
Just like any modern RPG and classic KOTOR game, you have the option of choosing your words to get the desired outcome, Read: flirting with NPCs to get certain cut scenes after all that’s what makes these games so enjoyable. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!
It’s not an RPG anymore, it’s an MMORPG.
And yet strangely, even though I despise WOW and got tired of Guild Wars after a couple of weeks. This one took me in for ten hours and I enjoyed almost every moment of it.
Why? Well I think first of all on a side note, I think what you play is largely to do with your preferences – I like Star Wars, I love lightsabers and I love electrocuting enemies/friends.
So if you’re not a super Star Wars fan boy who cares about being true to the original storyline, yet love the idea of having a lightsaber combined with the powers of the force, this might be the MMORPG for you.
This is because you can choose from a variety of characters including non-Force based characters and every level you can upgrade your powers or gain new skills that keep you enjoying the combat as you see your enemies fall in different ways before your eyes.
The Story
Finally, the story.
Your superiors in the game will judge you based on the class you choose, i.e. Jedi Knight, Sith Inquisitor etc.
But who cares what people think, your just gonna tell them to go stick it, and carry on your merry way right?
Well, be careful when you do that. Because both the NPCs and your companions will react to your conversations and actions and question why you would simply kill someone even when you’re a Sith.
This happened to me when I had three prisoners to interrogate, instead I just killed them all for the Dark side points (Oh did I mention you could get Dark and Light Side points? But of course that is expected…right?) . My trainer was like “WTF DARTH TROGDOR WHY DID YOU BURNINATE ALL THE PEASANTS WITH LIGHTNING… Oh because you were bored…. Yeahhhhhhh… that makes sense, I guess.”
But that’s pretty much it; the story will depend on what you decide to do.
Overall Thoughts
Though the beginning of this game had me worried that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, I ended up having a really good time playing it. This was mostly because the storyline was solid, which I believe makes the Old Republic line so much fun to play – Or any game for that matter, I’m so tired of games which look great but are boring to play, I’d choose a fun game over a game with amazing graphics always.
So, if you aren’t too set on any current MMORPGs and can look past the average voice acting and graphics just so you can once again be a Jedi or Sith, then this is the game for you.
Final word: It’s good, but not great.
