I've narrowed down three factors that I think are pretty significant game design points and say a lot about what kind of game Star Wars: The Old Republic is.
3 Reasons to play Star Wars: The Old Republic:
1) This is the most well crafted MMO since World of Warcraft
Since World of Warcraft launched in November 2004 there have been many challengers, but they have all lacked the quality of polish that Blizzard puts into their products. There were many bugs and issues with WoW at launch, but the overall experience was incredibly smooth and well executed.
Many other MMO's provided some interesting ideas, but most of them felt like they had been taken out of the oven before they were done, or that whoever was making them simply forgot to add several important ingredients before it even got into the oven (I'm looking at you; Age of Conan and Warhammer Online).
In SWTOR I have found a game that really feels incredibly well crafted right out of the gate. I've only had a couple of disconnects in all my play time and only run into a single quest that was bugged. Now again, like WoW there are still plenty of bugs to be found, but overall you really get a sense that a ton of work and love was poured into the game, and that really helps establish an inviting gaming atmosphere.
2) The story is better than anything you've ever seen in an MMO
There has been story in other MMO's before SWTOR, but there has never been story like what you find in SWTOR in MMO's before. Obviously the class story lines are the main set pieces for SWTOR and that is where you'll find the most interesting stories.
I have genuinely found myself pushing for just a few extra hours just to see the next part of my class quest.
It wasn't the promise of loot, a cool new ability or the draw of a new shiny mount that made me keep playing until 3:30AM. It was the lure of seeing how my Sith Inquisitor would get out of the tight spot that he found himself in, and that is a kind of motivation that I have never experienced before in a MMO.
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| Besides an interesting side quest story, Alderaan is also incredibly pretty |
3) Flashpoints offer a truly new "dungeon running" experience from what we're used to
Flashpoints are the dungeons of SWTOR. They can take the form of anything from boarding an enemy capital ship, to seizing weapon stockpiles or capturing a long lost battle station.
What is special about the Flashpoints is that they contain story elements that set them apart from the normal "kill everything in front of us until we get to the end boss" dungeons that you normally find in a MMO.
The very first Flashpoint that I played through, The Black Talon, saw me executing an Imperial captain that failed to follow orders, board a Republic capital ship and fight my way through a Jedi to get my hands on an important political prisoner.
Throughout the Flashpoint there were several conversations taking place that allowed me and my group members to influence the events of the run or just add a little flavor to the proceedings.
Black Talon really felt like a Star Wars adventure, filled with drama, action, big explosions and a soaring musical sound track to accompany it all. It made me feel like I really was a part of a Star Wars movie.
3 Reasons not to play Star Wars: The Old Republic:
1) There is very little innovation compared to World of Warcraft
Yes, this is the most polished MMO since WoW. Pretty much every button and knob works, and just about everything functions like you would expect it to, which might be something of a turn off for some people.
SWTOR does very little to push MMO's forward in terms of game mechanics. I've already mentioned the Pièce de résistance, the story, but other than that you'll find the usual quick bar combat and "collect x of y" quests that you'll find in almost any other modern MMO.
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| Fight through to the end of this cave to face the end boss? How new and original! |
2) The story is smeared on very thin across the leveling experience
The story is quite good for the most part, but this is an MMO and that means that the content has to be spread out across hundreds of hours of play. I've played around 40 hours and I'm still only a little over half way through the levels.
Most single player games would be long over after 40 hours of play, even a fairly large RPG.
The result is that while the story is interesting, you'll only be given a few morsels of interesting content at a time and then left with far less interesting side quests for hours at a time, just grinding your way through the boring stuff until things pick up again.
I can't help but feel that the pacing of the story would feel a lot better if it proceeded at 3-4 times the speed, but obviously that would be impossible as that would make you run out of story content before you even hit level 30.
3) Most of the Flashpoints are not nearly as well put together as you would hope
After having played through Black Talon I was really excited about the Flashpoints in SWTOR.
It was one of the greatest dungeon running experiences I have ever had in a MMO and I couldn't wait until I could get to the next Flashpoint in the game.
Unfortunately it seems like BioWare has simply focused all of their efforts onto that initial Flashpoint and then just quickly thrown together the rest, or at least all the ones that unlock from level 15-30.
I've played through four other Flashpoints since Black Talon and they have all been a pretty standard affair of murdering trash mobs and bosses with very little narrative justification or any conversations to mix up the experience.
This has left me quite disappointed and feeling a little cheated, though I hear that there are some "quality" Flashpoints later in the game that have the same amount of story content in them that Black Talon has.
Regardless of that, it really does leave a poor taste in my mouth to introduce the player to such a great dungeon experience, only to then deliver several really boring and uninteresting servings for the next 20 levels.
These are some of the things that have stuck out the most at me as I have been playing SWTOR. Rest assured that I'll continue to follow up with my impressions and thoughts as I sink more time into the game and see more of what it has to offer.
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