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View Full Version : HEDGE'S Starwars the old Republic REVIEW - Beta


Hedge
08-16-2011, 12:50 PM
So, I recently got a a week to play around with the new upcoming Star Wars MMO beta. And I figured I would let you all in on my experience.

Well, where to start..This game is pretty huge, and by huge I mean like memory huge! Like 40 gig download I believe. Of course the explanation for this is the fully voiced character interactions. Load times are a little slow, however, they arn't something that will make you upset or overly annoyed. The game is still being streamlined so I will hold back a bit of wrath on such a problem. The graphics are well done, nothing eye popping quite yet, but again it still has a few layers of detail that they are telling us will be slapped on for release. Now down to the game details.

So, high points of the game? Storyline! I can't tell you how enjoyable questing actually was in the game. First, any and ALL quest lines are fully voiced, so when you go talk to a mob, it sets up a little cut scene of your character and the NPC as well as anyone in your group who is taking place in the conversation(anyone not part of your group is not visible during this scene so its not crowded with morons). You get to have interaction with the quest giver in terms of conversation choices a bit like Mass Effect typically you get three to four choices, sometimes more. Who gets to respond is simply random, if there is 4 people in a group it rolls the dice for each char, who ever rolls highest their conversation choice is used. This is done each time there is a choice to be made.

Those conversation options have a large difference on the quest at times, specially in flashpoints (Instanced quests ) For example the first dungeon we went down into was very different the second time. Infact, half the quest took place on a different part of the ship, the bosses were different, and the quest objectives were very different. Also these conversation choices get you darkside or lightside points as well as social points. Which you will need to equip different items and help you feel out your character.

Also, the quests have a way of drawing you in a bit, enjoying playing your character they way you want, evil or good as you want..these all have effects on how later quests will play out as well, your choices will effect future interactions.

So far the rest of the game is pretty WoW like, which I'm sure is a bit of a necessary evil. It will make you comfortable, knowing how to loot, how to tell what loot is better, and equipping yoru character. Traveling around is a bit less time consuming then wow, as things tend to be laid out in a very time saving way and limit the foot traveling untill you find a means of faster transportation. The lack of "UPS" quests further helps this. The game is pretty solid, it needs a bit more polish and spit to fix a few small bugs, but by and large I feel it really is going to be a great game.

I will admit I wasn't as impressed once I started playing as i thought I would be. But part of that was own personal hype, either way I am rating it a buy for anyone who is interested in such games. I do actually think it will compete with WoW.

Hedge

Juicedturtle
08-16-2011, 10:47 PM
Oh nice, What's the ingame name? I haven't played in awhile. But i've got a 20 BH

Bonemasher
08-17-2011, 12:13 AM
How's the whole good and evil thing? I feel like no game has gotten it right yet, its always black and white, save the orphans or burn down the orphanage type of quests. Fallout New Vegas to me is the closest to getting shades of grey. Like in the above scenario you should be able to save the orphans but exploit them for cheap labor, not quite good, not quite evil. I felt like the original kotor had 3 ways to play, good, evil, and flip floppy, and in the end you had to choose good or evil :/.

Hedge
08-17-2011, 01:41 AM
How's the whole good and evil thing? I feel like no game has gotten it right yet, its always black and white, save the orphans or burn down the orphanage type of quests. Fallout New Vegas to me is the closest to getting shades of grey. Like in the above scenario you should be able to save the orphans but exploit them for cheap labor, not quite good, not quite evil. I felt like the original kotor had 3 ways to play, good, evil, and flip floppy, and in the end you had to choose good or evil :/.

Well, its got all sorts of shade actually. Depending on the situation of course, for instance, I was given a quest were I was asked by another apprentice to help him in a task for his Sith Lord. He wanted me to infiltrate a sect of Sith who follow the teachings of Revan. Find their master then report back so they could expose the leader and kill them all. I agreed, to do this task.

However once into the quest, it became clear I could perhaps benefit from the teachings of these guys. So, I followed their teachings though I took a bit of the dark approach learning more of the dark secrets of the force and hatred from them. (They gave me a few good options at each turn as well) You could play the line and take a more neutral stance of course.

In the end I bring back false evidence to the apprentice so that he thinks his master is infact the leader of the sect. I encourage him to hunt his master down and kill him on his own. This saves my ass as well.....granting me allies on both sides for now he believes i did him a great favor.

There is often plenty of places where you can simply pick options to further your own power or manipulate others. Its quite enjoyable to play that field and see how it will blossom later down the line.

Hedge
08-17-2011, 01:42 AM
Oh nice, What's the ingame name? I haven't played in awhile. But i've got a 20 BH

No longer in access of it man. Perhaps in the future.

Bonemasher
08-17-2011, 02:40 AM
Sounds cool, too bad its pay to play, and I have a moral objection to pay to play. Maybe in a few years it'll be free.

Hedge
08-17-2011, 10:48 AM
Sounds cool, too bad its pay to play, and I have a moral objection to pay to play. Maybe in a few years it'll be free.


You pay for the internet, you donated to the EX server did you not? Not much is free to play online honestly. Someone must maintain servers *shrugs*

Bonemasher
08-17-2011, 02:32 PM
You pay for the internet, you donated to the EX server did you not? Not much is free to play online honestly. Someone must maintain servers *shrugs*

Yeah but its the principal of the game saying "you MUST pay". Heck i've payed valve way more money than I'd like to admit in TF2 but they didn't beg me for it. Honestly I'd rather pay 200$ upfront for an online game if it meant not paying monthly, when I look at a game like diablo 2 for example which I played on and off for a crapload of years, if it was pay to play I'd have spent over 1000$ already.