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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Star Wars: The Old Republic

I recently installed this MMO, since it's been out for almost 8 months. I figured the bugs would be mostly fixed, though my hopes weren't all that high.

I am very pleasantly surprised. I like Star Wars, so that really helps, but this game is very well done. I have a Jedi Sage, and the character is a blast to play. I've also done the starting areas for every class. I suspect the Bounty Hunter is going to be my next main, once I max out my Jedi.

Things I like:

Sound effects = outstanding. Lots of voice actors, and little crossover. Some pretty famous people were involved in this, once you see the credits.

Various aliens from movies = all over the place. Hutts running a starting planet!

Graphics are fantastic, as well.

The storylines were all good, up until I stopped playing each character (I stopped once they finished each starting area. I expect the quality to continue till level 50). For example, while you play both types of Jedi in the same starting area, their main quests are drastically different from each other. Same with all of the other class options.

Customizable gear (orange). You can keep the same item your entire career, you just have to update it's modifications.

Combat is fun. Kind of clicky, since it's an MMO, but I like it. The whole atmosphere of Star Wars helps this.


Things I think could be better:


Too many cut-scenes. Every time you get or finish a quest, you have to go through a scene. It's not bad, but it can be tedious.

I don't like Jedi and Sith wearing heavy plate armor. It doesn't jive with any of the movies.

Not enough customizable gear. I really wish they'd just made all armor and weapons customizable. I think this was a missed opportunity.

Too many powers. Why can't MMOs figure out that I really only want to keep track of maybe 10 or 12 buttons during a fight? How about just improving them over time and not adding a new power every few levels? Powers do improve, but they quickly get lost in multiple rows of buttons.

Not enough player races. There are a number of popular ones, but many are not available. In addition, a bunch of races are only available to certain classes, until you get them to level 50 in a class they can take.


Summary


If you like Star Wars, you should play this game. You can go all of the way to level 15 on every class for free.

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