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Another review from a longtime closed BETA player
Anubisan
Member UncommonPosts: 1,798
I have tested SWTOR for several months now in the closed beta. In that time, I have leveled multiple characters to high levels on both the Republic and Empire sides and have experienced most aspects of the game.
MY OVERALL RATING IS: 8.3/10 - SWTOR is a great game in my opinion, but it isn't perfect. It has its problems, but it is very fun and I think it will only get better from here. I admit I may be somewhat biased as Bioware has always been one of my very favorite game developers, but I really think they have done a great job with this game.
EDIT: I originally forgot to factor in space combat and PVP in my review. This lowered my overall rating from 8.5 to 8.3 out of 10.
Graphics: 8/10 - In my opinion, the graphics in TOR are very good. I was not initially that wild about the character models, but I grew to love them over time. I have always thought that the look and feel of the zones is extremely good. They nailed the Star Wars universe in my opinion. The one negative I would report about the graphics is that they are not as optimized as I would hope at this stage. I expected that the game would run much better than it does considering the stylized approach Bioware has taken with the game. Certain areas like the Coruscant senate tower lowered my framerate significantly compared to others. Still, it is beta and I have faith this will improve in time. My lower framerate may also have been the result of forcing anti-aliasing. Unfortunately AA is still not implemented in the beta and I have a hard time playing games these days without it.
Character Creation: 7/10 - Character creation definitely gets the job done, but I feel it could have been a lot better. I don't really mind the fact that there aren't that many playable races at launch and I understand why Bioware had to design the game this way. My biggest complaint is that there just aren't enough body types. The available options are basically skinny twirp, less-skinny twirp, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris Farley. I always wanted to create a character somewhere between less-skinny twirp and the Terminator, but unfortunately I did not have that option.
Questing/Story: 10/10 - This is where Bioware really hit home. The game is revolutionary in that questing really does not feel like questing in other MMOs. It feels like you are playing a single-player Bioware game. For some people this might be a negative, but for me it is most definitely a positive. I am the type of gamer who gets seriously bored of grinding mobs or completing wall-of-text quests found in most other themepark games. SWTOR is hugely refreshing to someone such as myself and I found that I never really felt like I was grinding. The one negative I see with this model is that I will be less inclined to play through the same class's storyline a second time as I already know everything that will happen. Still, I know I will enjoy the hell out of it the first time through and I have played through Bioware games multiple times in the past, so this may not actually be much of a problem for me.
Grouping/Flashpoints: 10/10 - This one was really surprising for me. I thought that SWTOR was going to be a very solo-oriented game, but it did not end up that way for me at all. There are so many heroic quests spread around the maps that require multiple players to complete and I found myself grouping far more in this game than I have in other MMOs I have played recently. The addition of the multiplayer conversation rolls and social point rewards all provide further incentive to group up often. The flashpoints are also great and often require real teamwork and strategy to complete. Ultimately I think Bioware did a fantastic job on this element of the game.
Combat: 9/10 - I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth and reactive the combat in SWTOR is. Even though it is not a big change from other themepark MMOs, the fact that there is no auto-attack and the excellent quality of the combat animations really make for a great combat experience. Additionally, the element of multiple opponents in every fight is a great change. I really don't have any complaints about the combat, but I won't give it a 10/10 simply because it doesn't bring anything hugely different to the genre.
Inventory: 9/10 - The inventory system works well and is laid out in functional and intuitive way. You start with a relatively small amount of space, but you can upgrade to additional slots as the game progresses. The prices for these upgrades become a little steep as you go, but it does give you something to save for. Ultimately I don't really have any big complaints about the inventory.
Itemization: 6/10 - This is one aspect of the game that I feel still needs a lot of work. I have been involved in several beta builds now and I get the impression that Bioware still isn't quite sure about how they want their itemization to work. Drastic changes have been made to the system each time a new build comes out and several times I have felt that the changes were a step backward or didn't make sense. Still, I think that the system has a lot of potential and will eventually be very good once Bioware figures out how they want to address it. The item modification system could be extremely cool if they tackle it correctly.
User Interface/Map: 8/10 - The UI is very intuitive and easy to use. Most every feature one would expect in a themepark MMO is already present. The map is very handy and shows where you need to head to complete quests. It will also go partially transparent when your character is in motion so that you can continue traveling while watching your progress with the map open. The one negative (for which I dock two points) is that the UI is not very customizable. I guess I got a bit spoiled by games like WoW where every element of the UI can be resized, repositioned or completely altered using 3rd-party mods. SWTOR does not currently allow for this and I personally see that as a negative. However, I can certainly make due with the UI that is offered and will still be having a great time playing the game. Hopefully Bioware will allow further customization in the future.
Crafting: 9/10 - I have always found crafting to be rather boring in other games, so I really enjoyed Bioware's unique take on it in SWTOR. Sending my companions to harvest resources or make items while I continue adventuring is a really nice twist. It means I can be constantly making progress on crafting while never really having to spend much of my precious gaming time on it. I know some crafting-oriented players may not be as wild about this as I am, but I personally think it is a great approach. Way to go Bioware!
Housing: 8/10 - It may not be anything like housing in sandbox games, but at least Bioware is giving us personal ships where we can store goods and house our companions. I think this is a great touch. The only reason I dock any points at the moment is because there really aren't any options for customizing the interior at present. I think this is hugely important to many gamers and I think Bioware needs to add this ASAP.
PVP: 8/10 - The PvP in SWTOR is a lot of fun. The warzones are done really well and remind me a lot of the battlegrounds in WoW or the scanarios in WAR. There are also open PvP zones that seem to be well done, but I honestly never spent much time there. The one major complaint I have with PvP at the present time is that the classes are not as balanced as I would like. This usually takes developers some time to get right and I know they are hard at work at this, so I have faith it will get better over time.
Space Combat: 6/10 - This is one aspect of the game that I felt was pretty disappointing. The space mini-game is just too simple and really isn't all that fun in my opinion. Still, it is only a mini-game and you never HAVE to do it, so I really can't fault them too much for that.
Polish: 9/10 - Even though it is still in beta, the game is already in great shape. Almost everything in the game is working and polished. There are still occasional bugs here and there, but they are so few and far between that they never really bothered me. I have also seen massive improvements from build to build over the beta and I believe the game will be in a very polished state by the time it launches.
Fun factor: 10/10 - Because of Bioware's story-focused questing and the outstanding job I think they did with the combat and the multiplayer/flashpoints in the game, I have to say that I have had more fun playing SWTOR over the last few months than any other MMO in recent years. Plus, this game feels a LOT like my favorite RPG of all time - KOTOR. I really think they have a winner on their hands here.
Comments
Of the two things that you gave the worst scores to - itemization and character creation - do you think that Bioware would be able to fix these concerns or are they going to be chronic problems?
good to hear your experience with grouping. I have been in 1 beta phase and sadly it seemed like no one wanted to group. It really depressed me. One of my biggest fears with this game is that it turns out to be a solo player rpg for me. Seemed like everyone was focused on only doing quests a lone.
Also from the starting zones BW really needs to increase mob/quest item respawn rates. Camping a respawn area fro 15 minutes takes away from the fun.
I got a very similar feeling with my short weekend with the game. But I would probably rate the character creation a 4 or less. It is very basic. No innovations or anything like that from Bioware. Also it would be nice if you got to hear samples of your character's voice in some way before creating.
Great review.
Cant wait till the weekend to try it myself
I think Bioware could fix both of these problems, but I'm not expecting them to do anything with the character creation system any time soon. I honestly doubt anything will change on this until an expansion is released. Even then, they might not consider it a high enough priority to address over other things.
As for itemization, I know that Bioware is working hard on this right now. There have already been variants of the system that have been great fun and have been good starts. I think they will be able to get this right eventually, but I have my doubts that it will be right at release. It will probably take them some tweaking over patches for the first few months to really get this right...
Good review actually!
I'll give your review a 9.5/10
I think I am in the same boat as Anubisan with regards to questing and I am happy to read what he wrote. Thank you.
I forgot to comment on PvP and space combat originally, so I have gone back and added them. It lowered my overall rating from 8.5 to 8.3.
Good rating.
But I lowered my rating of your rating from 9 to 8.5 / 10 because even though it's aptly concise, you offer little argumentation of your score.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Your score was exactly .1 point off of mine. Well done review.
Nice review OP. Good to see someone who was in beta for that long still enjoy the game. I assume you are playing on release yes?
One comment I would make about the grouping is that it really seemed to pick up for me after the starter worlds. I found that most people kept to themselves until they got to Coruscant or Dromund Kaas and then the grouping for heroics really picked up. The grouping for flashpoints begins as soon as you get to the fleet. By the 20s and 30s, I found that I was grouping with people constantly to finish all the heroics and flashpoints I could.
Very nice review. I'd like to thank you for use of factual statements rather then re-using the words plastic, robotic and on rails over and over and over and... over again.
For most people, character development and personal story ends upon clicking "Log in" if not "Start Game"
Definitely... although I made the decision to stop playing any further in beta so as not to burn myself out or spoil my chosen class's story any more than I already have. It has also been heart-breaking losing multiple characters I have become attached to over the last few months when Bioware wiped them to implement new builds. I don't really want to do that again at this point...
I am really looking forward to the early access though!
I was also a long-term beta tester.
The single-player aspects are amazing (story / questing). Fantastic job. However, it did truly feel that I was playing a single-player game in co-op mode - even when grouped.
My account had several characters 30+. My experience was no mere weekend trial.
I know I've been a harsh critic of SWTOR. It's not because I enjoy it; it's because it upsets me that they are making the same mistakes as AoC / WAR in the rentention department. I mean... it's bad. From the small things like not being able to decorate or use the furniture on your ship to huge end-game problems, e.g., redundant flash points / dungeons / warzones / hutt-ball.
I just wish there was something more grand to look forward to at the end. Perhaps something like creating huge optional planets that are completely player controlled, e.g., player guilds that wage war with each other over the land's resources etc.
The build I participated in was a older. Not too long ago, though. When my account was reactive with the newer build, I didn't even bother installing.
The game is certainly worth buying. However, I'm sure that many players won't resub after the first 2-4 months.
I agree with you that retention could be a problem, but I think Bioware could do things to work on this. We already know that they plan to add more quality of life sandbox-like features to the game over time and I think what they have to begin with is more than enough to keep peoples' attention for a long time. There are also a lot of things on their 'wall of crazy' that sound like they will be extremely cool. Guild capital ships are one feature I am really looking forward to to name one.
Ultimately they might not even need to worry about retention. After all, the game is very similar to other themepark games in many ways and some of them have been able to retain large numbers of players for many years now. I guess only time will tell...
Great review. I still don't know why people are rating a space mini game which is just meant as a time kill. Hopefully you are weighting your scores to those categories that are more serious :-)
There Is Always Hope!
Except those aren't the kind of "mistakes" that killed AoC and WAR. AoC killed itself with a piss-poor launch to to horrendous bugs and game performance. SWTOR won't have that kind of launch. WAR killed itself due to the fact that aside from PvP, there was simply no content at endgame, and only a shell of PvE content during levelling. Again, not an issue for SWTOR. You are listing things YOU didn't like about that game, which is perfectly reasonable, but aren't things that are going to kill this game's retention for two reasons: 1) Some of the smaller stuff will undoubtedly be added in (decorating the ship's interior), and 2) some of the bigger things you mentioned simply are not true. The flashpoints at endgame won't be redundant because there is actually a story element to them, and different grades of flashpoints (normal, story-mode, hard mode). The game will also release with two operations, open world PvP, FFA PvP, and a solo endgame planet at release. Absolutely not a lack of options, and anything but redundant.
Also, and I mean no offense by this, you aren't able to speak on how the endgame will turn out because you didn't experience it when you tested anyway. Only making it to level 30 due to, I'm sure, a few character wipes during your testing time limits your perception on how the endgame will turn out. That's certainly not your fault, but please remember that making a blanket statement about the endgame when you haven't experienced it should be called into question some.
How dare you! I demand a recount!
The review was meant for the time challenged and reading impaired. Are you lowering MY score because "I" was think about those less fortunate than myself?! I'm aghast!
My review of your review of my review of the original review is nothing but NIT PICKY! While you attempted to make an "argument" for your score, it's clear to ALL readers that you actually just wanted to argue.
2/10 for your review!
I will commend you on the use of the word 'aptly' though - typically that word alone would garner a much higher score, but when coupled with the blatant hate you exhibited towards those with debilitating illnesses like ADD, you lose points for your cruelty.
Now, go...kick a dog or whatever it is people like you do for fun.
Your feelings betray you, your wanting a SWG 2.0 game...
Personally I love the Warfronts especially Huttball... There's a bit of a steep learning curve but once you figure it out it's a ton of fun.... same with the flashpoints.... Operations (dungeons) just became accessible this newest build so i'm not sure why you listed them as huge problems when you haven't even tried them...
As much as some people like having a sandbox (including myself) there just not popular enough with the general gaming public.... decorating your house is only fun for so long, same with exploring big planets where 85% of it is void of any content, just empty space....
SWG Vets who are hardcore RP'ers probably won't like SWTOR due to it giving you a story and not being completely open ended to create your own story... which most people don't want to do anyways..
Well I didn't think the review would be fair if I didn't also mention the aspects that I was disappointed in. As a fan of space fighter games and exploration I couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed with the space combat in SWTOR. It has its moments, but I just think they could have done better. In fact, I'm still hoping they implement something more full-featured in the future. I think there is definitely demand for it from the players.
Ah, looks like you have quite some experience in the game.
Now let me ask you a simple question: Is there anything worthwhile in the game past questing?
With questing I mean raids/quests and similar event triggered things.
Can you leave a mark on the game world other than a name in some ranking list ?
Hahaha, oh dear. I can't counter that. You outclassed me. I shall be forever silent. V_V
On topic though: nice write up. Hoping your gripes will be addressed prior to launch
My brand new bloggity blog.
Things you can do:
PvP. In all senses of the word. You can control points, entire areas, or a chart topper in warzones.
* Crafting as well, which is worthwhile, and to some degree the space game if you would like additional XP for a short diversion.
You can leave a mark on the game world in some forms, but nothing visual apart from occupying territory.
Anything that is a major visual change is player run mostly and not inherent through the game itself.
Current MMO players aer spoiled by LFG tools and dungeon finders, which works well if you want a group but dont want to search for a tank for an hour or so. The LFG tools and dungeonfinders are fire and forget, which allows people to continue their soloing game while wayting on a group.
Somehow people will keep complaining about this untill it is implemented in the game.
Untill that time many people will foolishly pass the grouping part and keep on soloing, because stting down town fro 45 minutes while forming a group gets irritating very fast.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Good review OP. Im just gonna comment on a few things.
You said that quests are like single-player RPG experiences. Although I do think Bioware attempted to mask the typical Themepark quest grind, I still think it's there just like any other. Only now you get full voice overs (which you can either love or hate)....I personally hate it because most of them are useless, of course, only in my opinion. After the voice over you continue to your quest to kill x of y, retrieve z by killing y, kill the boss of y or deliver something to someone else. As I've said in previous posts, this is a Themepark MMO issue that can't be resolved by any developer aiming to make a themepark mmo...it's just what it is.
Flashpoint's were a ton of fun and I agree that it is a 10/10. That's where the voice over really shines and is engaging.
Character Customization is abysmal compared to other games and most of the early to mid-level gear is very bland (I too beta'd for a while) but never made it to end-game so can't comment. I dont mind the races...think there are a good amount....it's the actual pre-builds that frustrate me. Not enough customization.
Although Bioware did an excellent job with combat, I really think the combat suffers when it comes to the mob AI. It just seems as though they are dumb and actually want to be killed. The bosses (from what I took on) seemed similar but with tons of HP and more power to their hits.
I was hoping for a bit less of a linear feel to the game, but Bioware never promised that. I got my hopes up a bit too high for that I think. I think alot of people will REALLY enjoy this game though....Im just burnt out with the Themepark MMO genre...