Star Wars: The Old Republic Review
- Thread starter Steve Butts
- Start date
I've been playing since Early Game Access and have been having a blast. I even rolled my second character due to getting my Legacy some time ago
Actually no I didn't see it, nor was I aware he was even in the game.Agente L said:
Thanks for that.
Seriously, put some thought into what you do before you do it. Maybe think that people who go to this site don't go to different sites, or that they've been specifically avoiding those sites as to not ruin the game for themselves by finding things out before they were supposed to.
I keep hearing reviewers say the same things about the game, and there is still one question left completely unanswered by any reviewer that I've read/heard:Steve Butts said:
I understand it presents a very engaging story. This is a Bioware staple. And I agree that the gameplay, while pretty standard, was comfortable and generally good (aside from the tragedy that is space combat). And I understand that this game, taken as it is now, can accurately be described as "good."
But can it be described as "Pay Monthly" Good?
I find that this question hasn't been addressed directly by any reviewer. And for your normal single-serving game, it's not relevant. But for MMOs, that question is essential. Otherwise, a review could be seen as a recommendation for a game that is basically a 30-day rental at full purchase price.
My feeling? No, not worth a subscription. It feels like a very good BioWare single-player game. But the word certainly doesn't feel massive (and I'm still bothered by how many times I saw the same companions). It feels like a single-player game that BioWare is expecting people to pay for more than once.
"Tor have actual story"Radoh said:
Don't use that lame excuse on me, I don't buy it. ALL MMOs ALWAYS had story. And some have really fleshed out stories. The difference is that, in SWTOR, the story is sold as one of the "mainpoints" of the game, and it's apresented in a different, maybe even more pleasant way. But it still shoved down your throat.
RIFT has story, WAR has story, WoW has story. The difference is that in other RPGs you simply click "accept quest" instead of going a conversation to click "accept quest". In WoW you can ignore the story completely by just pressing "accept quest" whenever a pop up comes up. But you can read them, learn the lore of the area, read the HUGE amount of books that are all over azeroth. It may not be a shakespearean-worth play, but it's there. And it's good.
wait wait wait, you're criticizing the spaceship fighting segments for not being engaging for the player? that's like saying the awesome tie fighter fight in episode 4 ("that's great kid, don't get cocky!" that one) was distracting/confused the audience and didn't move the plot along.
i'm glad to hear nice things about the rest of the game, makes me more inclined to get it, but i think the idea of getting to do rail shooter fighter segments is pretty cool, it'd be just like in the original movies. it's not supposed to be story oriented, the reason you're in space and shooting things is probably because of a quest that sent you there in the first place so the need for a story here isn't necessary. on top of that, i'd be having way more fun shooting stuff in a dog fight with my buddies online that if there was a story going on, i'd probably miss it.
i'm glad to hear nice things about the rest of the game, makes me more inclined to get it, but i think the idea of getting to do rail shooter fighter segments is pretty cool, it'd be just like in the original movies. it's not supposed to be story oriented, the reason you're in space and shooting things is probably because of a quest that sent you there in the first place so the need for a story here isn't necessary. on top of that, i'd be having way more fun shooting stuff in a dog fight with my buddies online that if there was a story going on, i'd probably miss it.
So... why did you question me saying that you spoiled something then? I don't know if it's the language barrier or not, but it sounds like you are straight up saying that TOR has story which kinda kneecaps your original assertion about me being silly.Agente L said:
Honestly, what? I'm a level Thirty something Republic player, and today is the first time I heard anything about The Foundry since The Empire and The Republic are completely separate story affairs.
I would highly suggest at least trying it. I played WoW since release and this game feels significantly different than just the button mash fest that wow was.Zhukov said:
Not to mention that the legacy system has the potential for awesome. Basically once you get to a certain level, you choose a surname that carries over to all your alts. So you can make full names for your character that you normally wouldn't fit in the initial name creation. For example, I'm an Imperial Sniper named Leeharvey Oswald. No joke.
OT: I agree with just about everything Steve said. By far I have to say that the worst part of Swtor is the space missions. On rails and auto aim make it dreadfully boring and I haven't done it in weeks.
Just having a story does not make it suffer from "spoilers". What can you spoiler in a mmo game? Which item drops from who? Arthas dies in the end of WotLK? Fandral went insane and gone corrupt, joining Twilight Cult? MMOs are open ended, they don't have a official "line" to follow. You can very much learns that Super Super Master Sergeant Killer Person dies before knowing his advisor Super Super Specialist Person betrayed him.Radoh said:
Killing or not killing him does not make a difference in the end of the game. What truly happens, happens in Revan Novel.
I will tell you that Revan story plays differently for Empire and Republic, and as far as we are aware, neither got the Canon seal of approval, and probably neither won't, atleast on this subject.
'Cept that all of those are plot points.Agente L said:
This being another confusing point you throw out there. That's a game mechanic, not a story point.
It wouldn't be a spoiler if I said Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 was a shooter, but it would be if I said this or that character bites the bullet by the end. Relevance to in-game points is moot when it has far-reaching in the franchise universe.
I'm sorry Steve,
I really do respect your opinion as a reviewer,
but i feel that a review of Swtor can only be complete after reaching end game on a few characters and i honestly feel that once you do,you will like myself be massively(multiplayer
disappointed,
this is how badly i was let down by Swtor,I played through the full time beta,quite diligently reporting bugs as I went,bough the Digital deluxe edition(a huge letdown in itself as the "deluxe" extra's were laughable) got into the early release program,played like mad for a few more weeks then just...ran out of steam...at first i figured it was my own fault for overplaying it,but even after taking breaks and going back the huge design faults hidden beneath the shiny star wars exterior became ever more glaring...
In short,in no particular order,
No endgame,no reason to group,dreadful PvP(not that pvp is ever my main focus but needs to be mentioned)Loadscreens,loadscreens LOADSCREENS a good example is heading from a non core world to the GTN to put some stuff up for auction,then back...thats EIGHT loadscreens!,worst Auction house ive ever seen in a mmorpg(seriously this will kill the game,well this and a few other choice "features")the absolute WORST UI,I mean really,its diabolically bad immovable,unresizable,unmoddable,terrible.lousy 8 year old graphics that still conspire to suck the life out of even a quite ballsy gaming rig...gawd you know what? there are many more reasons,but I've had the life sucked out of me like the attack of the vampire whores talking about this game lately,I just cant do it any more!....but I think you get my drift.
I really do respect your opinion as a reviewer,
but i feel that a review of Swtor can only be complete after reaching end game on a few characters and i honestly feel that once you do,you will like myself be massively(multiplayer
disappointed,this is how badly i was let down by Swtor,I played through the full time beta,quite diligently reporting bugs as I went,bough the Digital deluxe edition(a huge letdown in itself as the "deluxe" extra's were laughable) got into the early release program,played like mad for a few more weeks then just...ran out of steam...at first i figured it was my own fault for overplaying it,but even after taking breaks and going back the huge design faults hidden beneath the shiny star wars exterior became ever more glaring...
In short,in no particular order,
No endgame,no reason to group,dreadful PvP(not that pvp is ever my main focus but needs to be mentioned)Loadscreens,loadscreens LOADSCREENS a good example is heading from a non core world to the GTN to put some stuff up for auction,then back...thats EIGHT loadscreens!,worst Auction house ive ever seen in a mmorpg(seriously this will kill the game,well this and a few other choice "features")the absolute WORST UI,I mean really,its diabolically bad immovable,unresizable,unmoddable,terrible.lousy 8 year old graphics that still conspire to suck the life out of even a quite ballsy gaming rig...gawd you know what? there are many more reasons,but I've had the life sucked out of me like the attack of the vampire whores talking about this game lately,I just cant do it any more!....but I think you get my drift.
Jesus, an MMORPG that actually makes story and your character's PERSONALITY and the MORAL WEIGHT OF YOUR ACTIONS as important as silly little things like your character's level and equipment, that's fixing what has been the problem in MMORPGs since their beginning and kept them little more than a graphical MUD without any MUSH/MUCK influence making them an actual role playing game. You can always join a roleplayers guild, but roleplaying still holds no weight on the game mechanics. People complain that most jRPGs don't give you enough choices, but at least in jRPGs your character has a personality without you only pretending they do.
I'm not really a bit fan of Bioware's or Arenanet's character designs, and prefer the character designs of Asian MMORPGs. But my goodness, these two companies know how to innovate right now. I hope that they set trends in the industry that infest Korea, Japan, and China's development decisions.
I wasn't excited at all for this game in terms of MMORPGS before when people were talking about it. After being disappointed in Final Fantasy XIV and Tera looking like every other MMORPG with the exception of an Action combat mechanic and a strip joint aesthetic, new MMORPGs weren't looking exciting. But now, I think I'm on board a little bit. If only I was more fond of Bioware's aesthetics.
I'm not really a bit fan of Bioware's or Arenanet's character designs, and prefer the character designs of Asian MMORPGs. But my goodness, these two companies know how to innovate right now. I hope that they set trends in the industry that infest Korea, Japan, and China's development decisions.
I wasn't excited at all for this game in terms of MMORPGS before when people were talking about it. After being disappointed in Final Fantasy XIV and Tera looking like every other MMORPG with the exception of an Action combat mechanic and a strip joint aesthetic, new MMORPGs weren't looking exciting. But now, I think I'm on board a little bit. If only I was more fond of Bioware's aesthetics.
Erm no. I disagree.
SWTOR seriously is WoW with a story attached for 1-50. Everything else is exactly a carbon copy of WoW, and not just good things from WoW, really bad things.
Play the classes to 50 and then quit, there's nothing else innovative or enticing about SWTOR after that, you're essentially just playing WoW in a different format. A grindfest that is made to waste your time.
Also the cop-out argument that BW make that they didn't want to "reinvent" the genre is bs, they clearly made this game with the intent of slapping the KOTOR and Star Wars brands onto WoW to make a lot of money. Hopefully people see through it after a few months.
edit: People also need to stop praising the "moral" system, it's awful, just like they are in all BW games. BW cannot design a moral system that is not black and white, it just feels wrong, it doesn't feel how you'd really react in a situation, even if you're evil or pure or whatever. The lack of shades of gray hurts the game.
SWTOR seriously is WoW with a story attached for 1-50. Everything else is exactly a carbon copy of WoW, and not just good things from WoW, really bad things.
Play the classes to 50 and then quit, there's nothing else innovative or enticing about SWTOR after that, you're essentially just playing WoW in a different format. A grindfest that is made to waste your time.
Also the cop-out argument that BW make that they didn't want to "reinvent" the genre is bs, they clearly made this game with the intent of slapping the KOTOR and Star Wars brands onto WoW to make a lot of money. Hopefully people see through it after a few months.
edit: People also need to stop praising the "moral" system, it's awful, just like they are in all BW games. BW cannot design a moral system that is not black and white, it just feels wrong, it doesn't feel how you'd really react in a situation, even if you're evil or pure or whatever. The lack of shades of gray hurts the game.