We put the Jedi consular through his early-game paces
From the moment Star Wars: The Old Republic was announced, the shorthand prediction many gamers made could be represented by the formula KOTOR+(ME/DAO)*WOW=SWTOR. To a certain extent, it’s true. But despite the elements SWTOR shares with games that preceded it, my preview time reveals BioWare has tweaked the formula to create an MMO greater than the sum of its parts.
I chose the Jedi consular class for my preview, eventually specializing as a stealthy Jedi shadow, complete with double-bladed lightsaber. Though squishier than the heavily armored Jedi knight, it’s still a capable melee class and offers access to devastating Force powers. Both classes start on the planet Tython, the birthplace of the Jedi Order, where work is underway to reclaim lost Jedi knowledge.
I felt powerful from the start and further skill growth comes quickly; I was telekinetically hurling unearthed junk at my foes in short order. Combat mechanics and talent progression are standard MMO fare, but advancement never felt like a grind. Granted, most modern MMOs offer fast leveling in the starter zones, but BioWare’s trademark story-focused questing had me more concerned with plot progression than skill advancement.
Both the main storyline and side quests are fully-voiced with branching dialog options which I found made me feel more invested in the tasks than the typical Accept/Decline boxes we’ve all grown accustomed to facing in MMOs, even though many missions could be boiled down to fetch quests or talk-to-this-contact activities. You’ll still find kill X number of Y goals in the game, but they’re presented as bonus XP opportunities and are pretty easily achieved through the natural course of completing missions.
Dialog also gives you the chance to put the RP back in MMORPG. In addition to influencing how NPCs react and storylines get resolved, your selections sometimes affect your Light and Dark Side affinity with the Force. You can accumulate both Light and Dark Side points, with your overall alignment determined by the net value.
How much your Force alignment really matters in the long run remains to be seen, but it’s refreshing to be able to play for the “good guys” using bad behavior or a willingness to get down and dirty in the name of results. I mostly stuck to Light Side responses, but couldn’t resist the allure of a powerful lightsaber crystal in exchange for keeping quiet about an illicit Jedi love affair. What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic (and extortionist).
Although it makes sense strategically to stick to one side of the Force, your actions have another impact to consider. An NPC companion will join your adventure around level seven and your actions can change your companion’s opinion of you, for better or worse. The more your party members like you, the better they perform. The consular companion is a Transdoshan hunter who values loyalty and bravery, so selfish responses that placed my Jedi Master’s well-being ahead of the greater good garnered a positive reaction. And if you really mess up your companion relationships, you can buy their affection with gifts.
In addition to helping with combat (and doing a pretty good job at it), your companions perform useful tasks like selling you trash loot, gathering resources, and crafting, in the form of absentee missions. Before dispatching them to their duties, you can see how much real-world time is needed to complete it and the odds of success. I tend to get bored or overwhelmed pretty easily with MMO crafting, but found SWTOR’s twist of offloading it to NPCs a cool twist.
Another welcome twist from the norm is the way instances are integrated into the game. On my way from Tython to the sprawling capital city planet of Coruscant, I faced a choice: Take a shuttle directly to my destination or get there by way of a group-focused “flashpoint” instance. It’s nice to see group-phobic players have a choice in how they play, particularly in a title likely to attract players with no prior MMO experience.
Taking the flashpoint is worth the effort. Aside from offering a loot bonus, it highlights how grouping and story can be integrated to feel epic. During conversation breaks in the story, group members pick how they want to respond. A random roll determines who wins and that person’s character speaks, shaping the story’s outcome. Each person then receives Social Points, with the winner getting a bonus amount. Advancing your Social level subsequently grants you access to cosmetic and vanity items. In a weird way, I found that ceding control to the random dialog shifts made the experience feel like a real adventure, unlike instance runs you find in other MMOs which are either the same every time or dictated by the group leader.
So, bottom line: Does SWTOR live up to its hype? I think it does. Although I only got to play a little beyond the starter area, I feel like I experienced the basics of most systems and want to see more – and that’s always a good sign.
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