The game is now up and running – it has been for 3 full days now – and things are going very smoothly. Little has changed since the video preview we did and the changes which have occurred are all for the better so I can comfortably review this game as I had done in my mind before the release, but with more conviction.
The early game access program created many hurt feelings, almost all with people who felt they were entitled to play on day 1 when they’d only pre-ordered a week before EGA began but all in all went very smoothly.
Don’t listen to the people who are screaming “worst launch ever” because they don’t even seem to realize that “launch” hasn’t occurred yet and they’re just mad because their friends / enemies got in before they did.
The tiered roll-out of the EGA was well handled and well executed, with good communication from staff as to what was happening and when. I have no complaints and can find no fault.
As one would expect from a game which had 1.21 jigga-pre-orders, there are some server queues but those are being overstated. I waited longer to get in during beta than I have since EGA began, with my longest wait during EGA being under 5 minutes. I know some people who have reported waits as long as 15 minutes but come on…it’s EGA week…everybody and their sister is playing all at once. Also, it should be said that BioWare is opening new servers on a regular basis.
Even with full servers and heavy traffic, there is very little in the way of perceptible lag. I think I got some mob-position lag for about 10 seconds last night and that was barely even worth mentioning. After that, things were smooth as silk.
At this time, the worlds are all instanced, meaning that when a zone hits a certain number of players, it will spawn a new instance and anyone entering that zone will be placed there. This helps keep area traffic down to reduce competition for quest items and mobs and also reduce graphics lag due to overcrowding. Some people hate this, some think it it a good idea. I, for one, think it is a great idea but I am not the type who needs the entire server to see what gear I have in order to feel validated so I don’t care how many people are in my zone as long as I can play without getting kills stolen and getting laggy from having 15,000 people on-screen at once.
My understanding is that BioWare will be removing instancing once the server populations stabilize. Again, I don’t care.
The graphics are smooth and sharp, not cartoony as some people have alluded to…at least they’re not as cartoony as some OTHER big name mmo’s…and the combat and environmental animations are crisp, well though out and nicely implemented. The voice overs are top notch and the conversation options are standard BioWare brand…smooth as a top-shelf vodka and the sound effects are nothing short of amazing.
The story lines and class quests are also well done with good writing and good structure, clear cut goals and create good immersion into the character’s progression and the crafting and resource gathering systems are pure joy. You don’t have to farm mats endlessly, you can just send your crew off to do it for you, which means less time farming and more time slaughtering everything that breathes.
So let’s break this down into the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good
Just about everything.
The story, sounds, graphics voice overs character progression and conversation systems are top notch.
Gameplay is smooth and sharp with good animations and a high level of immersion.
A wide range of UI and gameplay customization options makes the game tailorable to your personal tastes.
The crafting and gathering system is, in a word, sex.
Huttball. What else can possibly be said
The Bad
Space combat feels limited due to the fact that you are basically on rails, with no option to choose where YOU want to fly, basically making it a mini-game. This is ok but it has some people disappointed. Here’s hoping BW will open that up.
There seems to be a broken side quest in the very early stages of the game…either it is broken or I’m too blind to see chests full of items which are supposed to be collected. Either way, they should sort that out.
The Ugly
My companion – Khem Val. Seriously…he’s UGLY.
And that’s it.
So to sum up: Star Wars : The Old Republic is a damned solid addition to the MMO genre and should definitely not be passed over, by anyone. Solid gameplay, good graphics and great sound make this an artfully stunning piece of work that’s also a lot of fun to play. Lots of exploration and crafting options means the game has a lot of replayability and I don’t see anyone not making an alt or 9 for just those purposes.
There are a couple of small snags in the fabric, which keep this title from earning the top score but, as they say, nothing is perfect.
That having been said, I have no problem enthusiastically recommending this title to any fan of RPG games and especially not to my friends, who look to me for advice but will lynch me if the advice turns out to be bad.
So what are you waiting for?
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