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yawn, another review of the first few hours
mahierl2005
Member UncommonPosts: 94
OK, I know this is probably a waste of time, as people will just flame one way or the other. Thats ok I suppose. Let me preface this by saying that although this game has been on my radar for quite some time, I wouldnt consider myself a fan or non-fan of the game. You wont see me posting ridiculous stuff in the threads supporting it or disliking it. However what has bothered me are reviews of 5 hours of gameplay representing a game that could take hundreds of hours to get to end game (if you take your time, I suppose). With that, this is my "review" on the first 5 hours or so. A review from someone who is still indifferent on the game. I will say that I am a fan of BioWare, but when it comes to the Star Wars universe.. meh. I could take it or leave it. In my eyes its no better of an IP than any other, I play for the GAME, not the NAME.
OK, so I download beta, login blah blah. Seems to be a lot of people complaining about characer creation. I did not experience their woes. I thought there were plenty enough options to get a unique looking character that I was satisfied with. What I DO agree with are the textures. NOTE that I did not say "graphics" or the world as a whole. Just the textures. They do seem pretty blocky to me. They definitely dont look like something I had initially expected. I played on the highest possible settings. Thats not to say they were bad, just maybe not what I expected. So I create a trooper, log into the game world, boom.
I had NO performance issues. Saturday night testing, not one crash, close, screen tear, or anything else. Maybe I was lucky, maybe not. I dont know. But I can attest that I had no problems. After logging in I got the standard fare quests.. go here and turn this beacon off (which when you think about it is just a gather quest, I mean you walk to it and click on it... ) People can call it something else, but thats essentially what it is. I didnt get a lot of kill x of y quests, which made me pretty happy. The voice acting was superb, and added to the immersion somewhat. Though Im not sure if it had the effect on me that they had intended. Sometimes , after playing these mmo's for 10 years, I felt the need to just hit the space bar because I was tired of standing there doing nothing. Did anyone else experience this?
The game world seemed large enough. Now, it was obviously the starter area so things being closed off to me etc, I was ok with. Its supposed to function somewhat like a tutorial and in that regard, it worked flawlessly. I didnt feel like my options were so closed off that I had no freedom whatsoever. I felt guided, yes, but guided much in the same way that a parent would guide a child, not in the sense of "on rails" like so many people seem to claim.
The world didnt feel empty to me either, as it did to some. I think thats all personal preference though. The in game graphics certainly arent next gen, but they are what I expect out of an MMO. I'm not extremely well versed on the Star Wars Universe, but my only gripe is that the colors are damn bland... everywhere I go, grey walls.. grey floor... I like a little more color in my world.. but again, thats not a knock on the game, its personal preference. I will say however that the AI inside the world was kind of stupid. I mean I get its the beginning of the game.. but I regularly would tackle 6 enemies my own level and absolutely obliterate them with whatever skill I had that looked like a grenade launcher. 1 shot, they die. lol. They make such a big deal about "using cover" and yet at the same time, doing so is auto win (right now at least) because when I did, it never seemed that the enemies AI would maneuver them into a different position or angle to get a better shot, which made no sense to me. Now admittadly, I'm not certain if this is more of an AI problem, or a balancing problem. Either way, it shouldn't feel like that at release. And yes, all you fanbois, this is release. the game comes out in just a few weeks, trust me they arent reworking the AI system or the classes.
It seems to me that I have read a lot about it being a "singleplayer" game. I just dont buy that. Sorry guys who feel like it is but most ALL mmo's are until end game. And I have played them all so dont bother giving me your viewpoint.. 90% of the ppl I know who play wow solo to end game with the exception of a few group quests and some instancing. And they chose to do that, its certainly not required. Its the first few hours of the game guys, I'm sure you wont be running instances solo at launch. If you chose to not run them, or chose to not group, that is your problem, not the developers. I've also heard that people felt compelled to solo because of the story lines.. OK, fair enough, I could see how some would think having others involved would be an immersion breaker. Good! Again, its the first 11 levels.. get over it. I wont comment on whether or not I feel its more single or grouping friendly, because I didnt reach the meat of the game. Then I hear" it needs to be fun out of the box" True. So does a movie. But, it still takes time to develope a plot and start moving through it. You cant just login, create a toon, and poof! your killing a giant dragon with a shiny blue sword and proclaiming yourself king. Your a newbie.. your weak, etc.. thats called progression. Dont like it? then your in the wrong genre. Go play Madden.
Overall, I enjoyed my time logged in. The graphics arent a killer for me, any moreso than the voice overs are a real grabber for me. Neither really bothered me, but neither really were make or break either. AI seemed poorly done, but questing was ablast and I felt like I had real choices to make. Single or group play? We will see. It looks to open up later, but it still looks like run of the mill gameplay, so its nothing dramatically new. Theres some polish on the features, certainly, but not anything really new. I have a collectors edition pre orered. Based on my experience thus far, what I think will end up happening is I will cancel my collectors edition and get a standard edition instead. I liked my time in game enough to support future development of the title, but it certainly was missing some elements I thought were pretty basic at this point and time in a AAA mmo. I didnt go into the lack of guild controls, but lets just say WoW and Rift had more at launch then this game will, and I think thats somewhat odd in a game that is hugely roleplay centric.
I hope you found this helpful. It truely is unbiased. I dont love nor hate the game, the IP, or the developers. I never played SWG. Some of the stuff here may bother some more or less than it would me.. thats why it is an opinion. I am not passing it as fact. That being said those of you who plan to play I hope its everything your looking for. For everyone else looking for something outside the norm? Hopefully something comes along for you as well!
In the interest of fair disclosure, or for people who may wonder, my system setup was:
ASUS g74SX Gaming laptop, Win 7, 12 GB ram, core-I7 2.2, 3GB nVidia 560 nothing overclocked.
Comments
Unbiasedness confirmed. Well done. An impression that reads like an impression instead of a review. +1
You went slightly overboard with your justifications of your general point of views though. But that's nit-picking for nit-picking sake (which we all excel in 'round here).
Thanks for the write up!
My brand new bloggity blog.
I don't mean to be offensive.. but judging by what you said about the game you OBVIOUSLY haven't played many succesful MMOs.... or mediocrity is sufficient for you.
..Cake..
I am pretty sure that MMOS that you consider best and high quality are medicore to someone else. It is a matter of prespetive and taste.
That's a cheap shot.
p.s. Most succesful MMO's have been mediocre. You obviously didn't play them yourself.
SeewhatIdidthere?
My brand new bloggity blog.
He has played the mmo with the most successful launch from a sales point of view and given a review of his first impressions.
Anyway, back on topic. Pretty similar experiences, and point of view, here.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
aha another' im not meaning to be rude..but im going to be rude post. You need to judge him because?
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Thank you, I tried the best I could! I go overboard sometime, especially things I am excited about , like mmo's
It is unfortunate that you feel this way. I am a 32 year old player who has played literally every single mainstream mmo thats out except SWG. I've played UO, ffxi, WoW, Lineage, TR, LOTRO, Rift, AoC, WAR... Oh , also I did not play star trek.. just didnt like what people were saying about it so never gave it a go. It saddens me to think that you would be rude, when I am simply trying to help. Which is why I rarely post here, because people complain and are rude for the sake of complaining and being rude. Its so unfortunate for those of us who really are trying to help and be part of the community.