Note: The following shouldn’t be treated as a review. Outside of this past beta weekend, I’ve never had a chance to run around the SWTOR universe – so take that as you will.
I don’t have the highest expectations for SWTOR. It isn’t that I hate BioWare – not at all – it’s just that I’m leery about how Star Wars will translate into an MMO after seeing the whole Star Wars Galaxies debacle. That and I’m not a huge fan of the KotoR universe. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the games, it’s just that I prefer the more “modern” Star Wars setting. Call me a classicist, I guess.
Either way, this past weekend I hopped into the Star Wars: The Old Republic beta for two days to see what all the fuss was about. Admittedly, I went into it as blind as possible, not having the slightest clue about what direction I planned to go in.
My experience started fresh at the character creator – or at least it did after a few cut scenes. While I’ve seen them before, it was neat to see them as part of the whole game experience. They certainly set the mood for the drama that’s at work in the background of the game, making you quite aware that you’re about to jump right into a massive conflict.
Of course, after the cinematics end, you’re presented with the character creator. It’s worth talking about this for a bit simply because of how fantastic it is. It isn’t the best or most customizable system out there, but I’d rank it in the top tier of what exists on the market right now. You’re not going to be able to screw with your facial features and bone structure to the level of EVE Online, but you are going to be able to make a character that you’ll probably be able to relate to, which is nice.
Something of special note is just how much you can customize the physical size of your character. Considering that most MMOs on the market limit your body type to whatever “fits” with your race, it was nice to see that I could make my character as overweight or as underweight as I pleased. After playing a he-man sized human in World of Warcraft for seven years, it was nice to have some choice.
One disappointment, though, is the lack of variety in race choices. The armor/clothing system that BioWare currently has in place seems to support scaling very well, so it’s somewhat disheartening that there isn’t a bigger selection, especially considering the scope of the Star Wars universe.
The classes you can pick from depend on which side you choose. The Galactic Republic get the Jedi Consular, Jedi Knight, Smuggler, and Trooper. The Sith Empire gets the Bounty Hunter, Imperial Agent, Sith Inquisitor, and the Sith Warrior. Like many of the modern MMOs that have come out over the years, most classes have the ability to slot into many traditional roles. Smugglers can DPS from range, or they can get in close – not to mention heal. Jedi Knights can tank or DPS, and so on. As you can also expect, all of the classes can be further customized using skill points and specializations. Unfortunately, as I only played up to level 11, I didn’t get to truly experience any of the game’s depth.
I, of course, picked Smuggler and went on my merry way. If there is one thing that SWTOR does incredibly well, it’s dropping you right into a role. All of the classes have their own starting quests and story, setting you up in the mindset of the job that you’ve selected. I can’t comment on the other classes, but the quests for my mini-Harrison Ford were fantastic. From the very moment you load in, you are treated to an experience that feels authentic – and a tad corny, in just the perfect Star Wars way.
Also fantastic was the voice acting. Considering how many lines were recorded for the game, I was thoroughly surprised at the quality. Speaking of which, all of the sound in the game is great. The aural experience was worth noting throughout my short time with the game. Tiny ambient noises popped up wherever I went, from buzzing doors to strange animal-boar-cow things, making it feel like a legitimate Star Wars experience.
SWTOR’s writing also deserves praise, as I found myself hooked to the Smuggler’s intro quest line from the moment I loaded in. While not exactly high literature, the story itself feels perfectly tailored to your character. Likewise, the dialogue choices you get to make don’t feel quite as thin as prior BioWare games. Sure, you occasionally get very vague choices that lead to awkward results, but you generally have a pretty good idea of what’s going on.
Most of the UI, including the quest system, map, and skill bars are all pretty standard. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and I never found myself struggling to figure anything out. If you’ve played a single-player BioWare RPG before, or any MMO released in the last decade, you’ll feel right at home. This does mean that comparisons will be made to a certain other MMO – but that really isn’t a bad thing. If there is one complaint, it would be that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the map. It wasn’t bad, per-se, but it wasn’t really fantastic. While it was functional, I felt like it was cluttered. It would also benefit from more customization options.
Speaking of aesthetics, I’m not really a fan of how the game looks. To me, it seems like they were going for a general theme of style over graphical power, a philosophy that typically works very well, as it leads to “timeless” art instead of graphics that looks mediocre in a few years. Unfortunately, even with solid art, I never found myself in awe of the scenery.
Playing on max settings, I felt like the game already looked dated. I could’ve been playing a three year old game and I really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. While this isn’t something that would keep me from playing, after seeing cinematic after cinematic… well, it’s a bit of a letdown. If I’m going to be moving into a new MMO universe, I want it to feel completely fresh, and that includes the technology behind the game.
SWTOR does make up for this with fantastic animations, however. Characters string together moves effortlessly, without looking like they are switching between cycles awkwardly. Considering how poorly most MMOs these days do the whole animation thing, it’s a relief to see that BioWare has managed to do it right. It’s also notable that even during the stress test weekend, I never experienced any lag – nor did any of the other players warp or have any sort of animation break.
But what of the questing? The combat? The base experience?
Well, there’s a reason I’ve saved that for last.
In short, I wasn’t a fan. Don’t get me wrong, the combat isn’t bad – in fact, it’s actually quite good. It flows smoothly, it’s logical, and I instantly picked up what was going on as far as movement and taking advantage of situational mechanics. The problem was that the combat felt very numb to me, as if I wasn’t a part of it. Strange – especially considering there isn’t an auto-attack. I knew I was pressing buttons, and I could see what they were doing, but it didn’t matter. I felt no connection to the action on the screen.
I’ve had some friends tell me that the combat felt quick to them, but I disagree. To me, while it felt reactive, I never felt engaged. I never felt like my choices really made much of a difference. Sure, I would move differently or roll up into a new position, but I never actually felt connected to the action (nor did I feel the need to keep moving). Perhaps that was just the class I was playing, or maybe it was just that combat isn’t very interesting at low levels.
Of course, I’m willing to bet the game just takes a bit to get going – which is fine – but it doesn’t exactly encourage me in SWTOR’s capabilities to break genre conventions.
Speaking of which, the leveling is slow. Not agonizingly so, but slow enough that you’re conscious of trying to make it to the next ding – even before you’re level five. From what I’ve read into about the later stages of the game, it doesn’t get much better. Once again, that doesn’t exactly give me high hopes for SWTOR’s ability to truly stand as an evolution of the genre.
Which brings me to my final point – an uneasy worry. Maybe it’s the longstanding fear of Star Wars MMOs, or maybe it is just EA looming in the distance, but something just wasn’t right during my time playing SWTOR. If I had to try and put a finger on it, I’d have to say it’s a feeling that SWTOR just isn’t different enough to guarantee its longevity in the market. In fact, it reminds me very much of Lord of the Rings Online – a solid game with a lot of neat features built on a wildly popular IP – but not enough oomph to push it to become the next big thing. Considering how much has been invested into this title… I have to wonder what anything but massive success will mean for the future of the game.
This is especially relevant considering the kind of company BioWare is. One of SWTOR’s shining features is the amount of polish they’ve slapped all over it. The voice acting, the story, the animation, the tiny details that make your character feel very personal – that sort of quality is hard to keep up, especially in an MMO market that expects new content last month. I also can’t imagine it’s cheap.
An MMO is a long term investment that requires a steady hand. You can’t respond to dips in subscriber numbers with overarching changes (I’m looking at you, SOE), nor can you just toss a game into the abyss and hope it works out. Considering EA’s prior MMO projects… well, I’m a tad worried.
Still, that aside, SWTOR is shaping up to be a solid title, and while I’m not sure it’ll be a massive success, I do think it could be a big win for BioWare – if EA doesn’t get too greedy, that is.
I have to disagree with a number of your points.
First, I’d have to say you didn’t play enough to get a good feel of the game. As someone who also has only played in the recent beta weekend, I leveled my main interest classes to 16 and 11 and spent a bit of time on the others out of curiosity as well, getting them to 6 and 4 I believe. if you only got one character to 11 then you didn’t see enough of the game.
Regarding the graphics style, there are essentially two options when designing a game: either go as realistic as possible or choose a stylized approach. As a veteran of many MMOs I can tell you that those who shoot for realism usually fail and the result is creepy and annoying. Also, those who take this approach are asking their players to upgrade their systems to handle the increased requirements, so they’re limiting their sales and ongoing subscriptions to those who are willing to make that additional investment. Games that go with a stylized approach avoid the glaring pitfalls of failing to achieve realism and also avoid the need for all of their players to have cutting edge systems. Look at WoW – people laughed at the cartoony feel of it, but man did it sell. It was able to play on just about any computer that wasn’t a complete relic, which broadened its potential player base considerably.
Lack of racial choices? Maybe the class you picked only had a few choices, but each class has different racial options. At launch there will be 9 playable races in total. How many do you want?
As far as your not feeling connected to the combat, I’d say spend some more time with it. Again, you only got to level 11 and barely got into your Advanced Class. A lot of the big skills that define your AC come in the mid teens. Get a bit more into your AC and maybe you’ll like it more. If not, maybe you picked the wrong class or AC for your play style. Try some other classes, but play at least to the mid to late teens to really get a feel for where the class is going.
On the speed of leveling, how fast do you want to get to end game and will you be one of the ones that, when you get there, complains that there’s nothing to do? Most new games start out with a slow leveling system and then build in systems to speed the leveling when they’re older and have a few expansions out and they want new players to be able to catch up to veterans without the leveling process feeling like an obstacle. This is a new MMO, there’s no need for players to reach 50 in a matter of days. Hell, I read an article by a guy that stated he reached level 30 in the last beta weekend by playing 18 hours a day. You can get there that fast if you want to, but why miss the story along the way? This game is story focused and really connects you to what is going on. I never felt connected to the quests in WoW. At first I read them, but soon it became a process of scanning them for their goals and then burning through them as fast as possible. In SWTOR I enjoy slowing down and enjoying the story, as well as all the options of how I move through it as each quest provides you with choices as to how you complete it.
And one final note, you sound way too worried about the game’s future already. Maybe that’s part of why you’re not connecting to the game, you’re already assuming that EA’s going to mess it up and it’s going to repeat the history of SWG. Forget that. This is a new game – a Bioware game. Let it stand on its own merits. If it fails so be it, that’s a risk we take when investing in any new MMO, but I don’t think that’s going to be an issue in this case. Bioware has built a quality product and has the team to keep it going. Add to that the fact that pre-order sales have already broken records, with estimates putting total pre-order sales over 3.25 million. I’m pretty sure this game will be around for a long time and will only get better over the years.
Excellent rebuttal, and I agree full-heartedly.