E3 2010: Star Wars: The Old Republic Hands-off

Steve Butts

New member
Jun 1, 2010
1,003
0
0
E3 2010: Star Wars: The Old Republic Hands-off



A short time ago, in a convention center far, far away...

Star Wars: The Old Republic's "Sacking of Coruscant" trailer was one of the best E3 trailers I'd ever seen, so expectations were pretty high for this year's trailer. I'm happy to say that this year's trailer, "Hope," is even more amazing than I, well, hoped. It opens with the Empire's attack on Alderaan and focuses on a thrilling battle between the resistance forces and the Imperial invaders. The whole thing is just amazing and nicely sets the mood for the game.

As an Imperial column marches through the wooded mountains of Alderaan, a group of Republic soldiers waits in ambush. The soldiers launch their attack, sending blaster fire through the column. Things seem to go well for a while, until the presence of a Sith turns the tide against the brave resistance fighters. Then, just when all hope seems lost and the leader of the Republic's forces is finally dragged to stand in front of the victorious Sith, a Jedi knight appears and, well, the climactic resolution is best seen for yourself.


After the trailer, BioWare quickly covered the same ground we've been over so many times before. Yes, this is a fully-voiced MMOG. Yes, it has heroic combat with lightsabers and a cover system. Yes, your choices drive the story and the action. But we'd heard all that before and were anxious for something new. Though we didn't get quite as much as we'd hoped (particularly following the recent companion character announcement), we did learn a few things that we wanted to know.

First, every character will have their own personal starship. Serving as a base of operations like the ships in Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect, these starships will allow players to interact with their companion characters and, presumably, tie in to the game's economy and crafting systems. The ships we saw, a Corellian light corvette for the Jedi and an Imperial transport for the Sith, were actually very impressive and bound to serve the aspirations of every Star Wars fan.

Next, the team revealed a bit of the visual progression we can expect from the Bounty Hunter class. We'd seen some of this progression before with other classes, but this was the first chance I'd had to view the whole range of options, from the blaster-armed, kneepad-wearing level 1 all the way up to the armor-clad, rocket-punching master bounty hunter at the top of the level cap.

We also heard just a bit about the PVP system. The game will focus PVP action in war zones, which encourage players to engage in team-based combat between factions. The only war zone announced today we Alderaan, but there will be more.

The demo closed with a look at group combat. While the game is designed to be very solo friendly, BioWare definitely wants to encourage group play. The example that we saw included four Republic characters fighting off a Sith invasion of their Republic starship. The trooper is the heavy fighter of the group and focuses his attacks on the enemy's largest and most deadly fighter, in this case, a large battle droid. The Jedi Consular's role is to hang out along the fringes of the battle, making sure to keep the trooper healed up. The two other characters, the Jedi Knight and the Smuggler, are there to handle the lesser enemies and keep them off the trooper's back. It was interesting to see how the different roles interacted in the fight, particularly the way that different class types broke off from their main roles from time to time to tackle new challenges.

As satisfying as the demo was, we still have some significant questions about several key features. No, the team is still not talking about space combat. No, they're still not talking about the mechanics of multiplayer conversations. No, they're not talking about crafting or player economies. No, they're still not giving any more details on the companion characters that were recently revealed. But I was happy that I keep getting at least enough new details to keep me hungry for more.

Keep track of all our E3 2010 coverage here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/conferences/e32010].

Permalink
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
5,630
0
0
Still alot of questions hanging in the air on this one...and ones I will want answering before I really commit to another Star Wars game...
 

Flamezdudes

New member
Aug 27, 2009
3,696
0
0
DrunkDonut said:
Man I really really hope my laptop can run this
Graphics don't seem too straining on a computer. Sort of like WoW graphics, so i guess my new Laptop i'l be getting soon will be able to run this in Spring 2011 :D
 

DividedUnity

New member
Oct 19, 2009
1,849
0
0
God damn I want this game so much now. It was a maybe before E3 but now. Day one release baby.
 

E-Hybrid

New member
Jan 25, 2010
125
0
0
I can't wait to play this game. Never before has an MMO interested me but this seems perfect. I guess the only problem is that when people use 'MMO speak' I have no idea what they mean.
 

mad825

New member
Mar 28, 2010
3,379
0
0
I looked at the trailer and I thought "were those clone troopers? surely not, even though they look awfully similar"

besides what will be point of this never ending war?

I suppose one should not play it for the story. :(
 

Razavn

New member
Jun 2, 2009
417
0
0
El Poncho said:
Razavn said:
Hmm..is the trailer up on Youtube?

Edit: Yes it is never mind.
Link please?
Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwLy4IVX6B0

I found the other one too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpJX7hgRjJo&feature=PlayList&p=DFC3A8EA6A4889C1&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=10

By the way, the trailers are really, really amazing..I like RPGs but my computer is crap (I can't run Company of Heroes on the lowest settings) so will I be able to run this?
 

El Poncho

Techno Hippy will eat your soul!
May 21, 2009
5,890
0
0
Razavn said:
El Poncho said:
Razavn said:
Hmm..is the trailer up on Youtube?

Edit: Yes it is never mind.
Link please?
Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwLy4IVX6B0

I found the other one too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpJX7hgRjJo&feature=PlayList&p=DFC3A8EA6A4889C1&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=10

By the way, the trailers are really, really amazing..I like RPGs but my computer is crap (I can't run Company of Heroes on the lowest settings) so will I be able to run this?
Thank you ;D
 

Bat Vader

New member
Mar 11, 2009
4,996
0
0
DividedUnity said:
God damn I want this game so much now. It was a maybe before E3 but now. Day one release baby.
It is a day one release for me as well. Although, I am making sure I get it on day one because I already pre-ordered it about a week ago. Yes, pre-ordering a game one year in advance does sound kind of crazy but I really want this game. I also signed up for the beta too.
 

DividedUnity

New member
Oct 19, 2009
1,849
0
0
gof22 said:
DividedUnity said:
God damn I want this game so much now. It was a maybe before E3 but now. Day one release baby.
It is a day one release for me as well. Although, I am making sure I get it on day one because I already pre-ordered it about a week ago. Yes, pre-ordering a game one year in advance does sound kind of crazy but I really want this game. I also signed up for the beta too.
I havent preordered it yet but I signed up for beta testing too. Cant wait :D
 

Kungfu_Teddybear

Member
Legacy
Jan 17, 2010
2,714
0
1
Country
United Kingdom
Gender
Male
DividedUnity said:
gof22 said:
DividedUnity said:
God damn I want this game so much now. It was a maybe before E3 but now. Day one release baby.
It is a day one release for me as well. Although, I am making sure I get it on day one because I already pre-ordered it about a week ago. Yes, pre-ordering a game one year in advance does sound kind of crazy but I really want this game. I also signed up for the beta too.
I havent preordered it yet but I signed up for beta testing too. Cant wait :D
When does the Beta testing start?
 

DividedUnity

New member
Oct 19, 2009
1,849
0
0
Kungfu_Teddybear said:
DividedUnity said:
gof22 said:
DividedUnity said:
God damn I want this game so much now. It was a maybe before E3 but now. Day one release baby.
It is a day one release for me as well. Although, I am making sure I get it on day one because I already pre-ordered it about a week ago. Yes, pre-ordering a game one year in advance does sound kind of crazy but I really want this game. I also signed up for the beta too.
I havent preordered it yet but I signed up for beta testing too. Cant wait :D
When does the Beta testing start?
In a few months I think. It doesnt say. If you sign up though they give you the option to beta test so I'm assuming they will send you an email
 

Kungfu_Teddybear

Member
Legacy
Jan 17, 2010
2,714
0
1
Country
United Kingdom
Gender
Male
DividedUnity said:
In a few months I think. It doesnt say. If you sign up though they give you the option to beta test so I'm assuming they will send you an email
Awesome might have my new PC by time the Beta starts then :D
 

digotw

New member
Nov 10, 2009
52
0
0
mad825 said:
I looked at the trailer and I thought "were those clone troopers? surely not, even though they look awfully similar"

besides what will be point of this never ending war?

I suppose one should not play it for the story. :(
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?? Bioware have the best reputation in the videogame industry for creating storylines in games. They are tying to create this MMO based almost solely on storyline