Star Wars: The Old Republic Review

Let me start off by saying that I am a huge Star Wars fan. This game is an MMO or Massive Multiplayer Online game. The game is made by Bioware and published by EA games. The Old Republic is set 1000 or so years before the first movie. It several races: Zabrak, Sith Pureblood, Human, Cyborg, Twi'lek, and several others. Already I can tell you what I don't like. Several races can only be played by a certain class. So, if you want your Twi'lek to be an Imperial Agent, Bounty Hunter, or Sith Warrior you are out of luck.

The features that I didn't like in the game were plenty. The story which is touted as a great feature not seen in most MMO's is pretty bland. Most of the story I can already tell what will happen or what may happen. The story does not keep me involved in the game much. Several times I had to skip dialogue because it just was not that interesting.

Companion system was another of the features touted in this game. It is no Mass Effect or Dragon Age. It is less than both of those games' companion system. Most of the companions you earn throughout the game have specific dialogue that they will not like. I often found myself losing a ton of points just because the companion did not like what I had to say.

The Old Republic also has a good/evil system in place for the decisions you make in game. There are a lot of those instances but I found myself not really caring about the decisions. The decisions you make don't really affect the game much if at all. Besides a few dark side or light side points. The system in place for dark side and light side is lacking. To gain one tier you need 1000 total points for the side you will be. The only problem here is if you gain any lightside points than you will have to earn that back. An example: Darkside 900, Lightside 100. This does not mean you will have the first tier in 100 points, but in 200 points. Because it is the difference between light or dark side. This I think was something that Bioware should have thought about more thoroughly.

I have only played Sith Warrior class and then my advanced class, Sith Marauder. I can tell you that there is extreme unbalance between classes. Force users have a quicker bar to use their abilities. Sith Warrior/Marauder need to build a "rage" meter. All abilities are locked until a certain amount of rage has been collected. I didn't like this combat system because it severely slows down the gameplay and it isn't dynamic enough. When playing a Sith Marauder I looked at the end game armor from vendors and low and behold no Medium Armor whatsoever. So, not only do you have an unbalanced class but also a class that does not receive their class specific gear at all!

The graphics in this game are not something to write home about. My old computer of 10+ years is close to meeting the required specs. That tells you that this game will not be graphically intensive. The animations are also slower than Knight of The Old Republic, also a Bioware game.

Overall the game won't be the best MMO out there. Guild Wars 2 is looking to implement a lot more than Star Wars The Old Republic. In actuality, if you've played any other MMO you've played The Old Republic.

Graphics: 5/10
Sound: 9/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Fun Factor: 6/10
Presentation: 9/10

38/50 Final Score Average Game.