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Star Wars the Old Republic Unbiased Review
Epicent
Member UncommonPosts: 648
As a veteran MMO gamer who has been around the block, I have seen my fair share of game releases. I was there for Everquest 1, Wow, Warhammer, Rift.............lets just say to list them all would take half my afternoon. I feel it is important to get a good, unbiases NON FANBOY or HATER review out there so that the general public who may still be on the fence will have something to sink there teeth into. Okay, so enough talk, onto the review.
I'm going to take you through my personal experience so far, and rate the things I came across along the way.
So after a relatively easy sign up process (props there because square enix was a nightmare :P) I found myself logging into the game. I went ahead and chose a Jedi Knight due to the seemingly familiarality of the class from other games I've played and..........well, lets face it, who doesn't want to be a jedi. The games character creation, to say the least, seems to be a bit lacking. I really wasn't able to make my character look suit the in game character that I wanted to play, which, for me, is a big downer. I'm not saying it's the worst I've seen by any means, but this is Bioware, and it would have been nice to have a little more customability.
Character creation= 7/10
After making my character on any mmo the first thing I do is tweak my user interface, which was sadly pretty uncustomiable. I was able to add hotbars and keybind my keys however. Which was a small plus. The familiarity of the UI will help redeem this, but overall I was a little displeases.
UI= 6.5/10
After figuring out the mechanics of the UI I see the all to familar quest hub above an npcs head. I talk to him and am pleased that instead of a line of text I actually can now put a voice to my character and other characters in game. It was still dissappointing however that I was still killing 10 of this and gathering 5 of this item. The class quest were fun at times, but overall, I felt like I wasn't doing anything to actually impact the game world. That my actions didn't matter to the community around me. There were quite a bit of quest that did, however, require multiple people to complete. These were fun because of the story element. Every time a descision needed to be made when you talked to an npc, you would roll against your friends and the highest roll would determine the next part of the story. This makes for some pretty entertaining chat in party chat, but did seem to lose its shine within a few days.
Story=9/10
Quest diversity= 6/10
multiplayer questing 7.5/10
Now, onto the flashpoints. My first flashpoint I was BLOWN AWAY. This was easily the funnest dungeon/flashpoint instance I had ever done. What made it so fun was the different decisions that you and your party made would actually effect the outcome of the dungeon. It was also nice that I could use my force powers to blow up different destructible parts of the environment to kill my enemies. The icing on the cake was that different events would happen as you made your way through the flashpoint. I was running along at one point and a ship crashed into the ship I was on and some enemies jumped out. Pretty nice touch. The downside is that some of the flashpoints do seem to be a bit bland. Its almost as if Bioware put extra effort into some and completely gave up on others. The inconsistancy of the quality of the flashpoints was a bit of a bummer. But overall a good experience
Flashpoint/dungeon= 8/10
Warzones/battlegrounds
My first warzone was huttball. It was pretty cool to hear different announcers actually play by play what was happening. The place was boobie trapped all over the place. I "stood in the fire" at least twice on my first game :P. I thought this particular warzone was the best because the mechanic was a tad bit different from other mmos that I have played at least. I never had an objective that I could actually toss to another player if I was dying. My biggest gripe about this is that Bioware made the game without brackets. Your character could be level 10 fighting a level 50 character. Now, Bioware does try and even out everyones stats but the fact of the matter is if this guy has a better skillset than you and knows how to use it, your done for. I have heard that this is being fixed but till then, it put a taste in my mouth that was hard to swallow.
Warzones/battlegrounds= 5/10
That brings me to world pvp...........if I could find it. The lack of ability to world pvp as a lower level character is pretty bad in my opinion. Not quite lvl 50 yet so I may update this later. But for now, I haven't really gotten to sink my teeth in it to the degreee that I actually want to. So for now my score will be
Lower level world pvp=0/10 due to non existance
Higher level world pvp=?/10
Now onto crafting. The crafting system in this game is pretty bland. You have your companions do the crafting for you as well as gather the items. You pay a fee for this. It is essentially the EXACT SAME THING as buying from an Auction House but you get your gathering skills leveled up in the process, although you do have to wait for your companion to complete the task. You do have the option to farm your own nodes, but for the most part it is all done through this system and it seems like it was kind of rushed and for me took away from one of my favorite parts of mmos.
crafting/gathering= 4/10
That brings me to the companion system. I thought this was a nice touch as you can actually develop a relationship with your companions by giving them gifts and making choices they either like or dislike via story elements. The downside is that you don't get to choose your companions. The game chooses them for you. If you can see past this however, the companion system is put together quite nicely. The AI is good and there is a good variety of roles the companions can fill. You can also equip different types of armor to them, which in turn changes the look of your companion. Overall pleased with it.
companion system= 8/10
Onto space combat. There really isn't much to say. I feel it should have been a main focus of a Star Wars game but seems to be on the back burner. You can upgrade your ship, which is nice, but as far as I know it is single player and seems to shine out as a mini game at best. A really good mini game mind you, but a minigame nevertheless.
6.5/10
Raids
I cannot really comment on the end game raid material because...........well because I'm not at end game yet. I will update this part of the review in the future.
Raids=?/10
In conclusion I'd say that Star Wars is a good buy for any Star Wars fanatic. It may even be good if you are looking for a break from your current mmo. Just don't expect to see anything groundbreaking or next generation here. The story is nice, but this is an mmo and that will only get you so far as time progresses.
Overall I give Star Wars the Old Republic a 7/10.
It is a solid game, but lacks the innovation to really differentiate itself from its competitors.
Comments
nice to see an unbiased review for a change.
Good review, I gave the game an 8 as I like the pvp, crafting and space a bit more than it sounds like you did but all in all pretty close to how I look at the game. Far from perfect but a very enjoyable game none the less.
thank you. Just calling it like I see it.
If you're looking to buy the game this review hits the strengths and weaknesses well.
Cool beans.
That score seems fair IMO.
I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.
I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.
P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)
Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.
I would have to agree.
Well done.
While I may see some things different, I for one am sold on the idea of an ever evolving Bioware game set in the Old Republic Star Wars universe.
I can't even type the sentence out without giggling with joy.
But you can't objectively review anything on future promises and hopes, so as it stands at this date I'd say your review is both honest and fair.
One of the major turnoffs to me was the FPs. While the dialogue decisions are geat I found that regular mobs were very meh at best and bosses were so-so, there is no dungeon crawl or sense of "we need to stick together or die." Too much of the mobs could have been duoed and a full grp was not needed at all... only for bosses. There was no challenge what-so-ever and tactics on regular mobs were non-existant.
Mandalonian Raiders was the highest FP I did, while I understand that hardmodes are a lot harder but all that is is buffed up stats on mobs I assume. The early FPs set the tone for later on and I just found it incredibely bland.
The fact that there is only a 4 man party cap coupled with you can duo FPs w/ companions pretty much tells a tale all in itself.
I may start writing more reviews depending on how this thread turns out.
Play with the verbiage and formatting a bit, you could do well.
Certainly have an eye for objectivity.
However, the hardest thing for a reviewer to do is take themselves out of the piece.
You did a good job and although I disagree with you and give the game a higher score I think you did a good review here.
I agree with your review except for 2 areas.
1- Character Creation. Id give this a 4 at most. Compaired to other MMOs is severly lacking.
2- Space Combat. Again Id give this a 4. There is just no thought put into this by BW. Its a sidemini-game and it shows.
Tried: EQ2 - AC - EU - HZ - TR - MxO - TTO - WURM - SL - VG:SoH - PotBS - PS - AoC - WAR - DDO - SWTOR
Played: UO - EQ1 - AO - DAoC - NC - CoH/CoV - SWG - WoW - EVE - AA - LotRO - DFO - STO - FE - MO - RIFT
Playing: Skyrim
Following: The Repopulation
I want a Virtual World, not just a Game.
ITS TOO HARD! - Matt Firor (ZeniMax)
Fair enough review, but I have to disagree about your comment regarding levels. The difference in primary stat / endurance between my level 20 bounty hunter when bolstered (the game puts you up to level 50 and boosts your stats) and my level 50 sorceror in full champion gear is about 10%.
On my level 20 bounty hunter, in a tank spec, I often top the damage, kills and objectives... and this isnt one of the overpowered builds (operative or mercenary bounty hunter). I would argue that low level players do poorly because they simply arent playing as well as someone familiar with the game. You get a few more skills (less than 5 for most classes) going from 20-50. By the time you are level 20 you have all the skills youll need to be useful in PvP.
The only real advantage 50s have is expertise, which is starting to be a problem now 50s are geared up. In the next patch they are seperating 50s and this issue is solved. For the first month this was mostly fine though. If they had a seperate bracket for 50s, the few 50s that made it to max level in the first month wouldnt get many warzones. Now the majority have caught up, they can seperate them.
Fair review in most points.
It all sounds pretty fair to me. I only beta tested the game so I can't really comment on the body of text. But when you find yourself in between the lovers and the haters, you know you're probably spot on.
I agree and I disagree... some classes get oodles of abilities to use in pvp and some don't. Operative in the melee spec doesn't use 2/3 of their abilities in that spec (unless they do a little of everything because they feel like being a special agent....)
Other classes have 25 abilities to use.
I agree though that the bolstering does work... my brother on a jedi shadow got 2nd in the wf in damage and the most medals and died once.... He was lvl 13. Is he a good player? Maybe.... maybe he's a hidden savant.... but he mostly kills hookers in grand theft auto for hours.
I also have an IA sniper and SW juggernaut in the mid-teens and didnt feel underpowered or useless on those either, and my flatmate got top healing on a mid-20s sorceror. I really do believe its just bad players using excuses.
Everyone expects to be a superstar and destroy whole groups by themselves, but the reality is that you need teamwork at level 20 and at level 50. I have come across some low level players that are a pain in the butt, and also had level 50s that I have steamrolled.
I am glad they are seperating the 50 bracket now, it gets rid of the expertise imbalance. But I bet you will still see players whinging that they are going up against 40s, even though its pretty easy to kill a level 40 as a 10-20 if you know what you are doing.
I believe this review.
I believe this Neo.
Kind of in line with this review,it seems not all gaming sites have been paid.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/%5Bprimary-term%5D/star_wars_old_republic_review
Funny thing is PC Gamer which is their sister company gave swtor way over bloated scores.
haters gonna hate.
Fantastic game if you like Bioware games. Not to be missed
if you don't like bioware games, then you shouldn't be playing anything with the letters "RPG" in them, thus you shouldn't even be on this website.
Having pretty NPCs talk to you does not an RPG make.
Aside from the levelling experience (which is like the tip of the iceberg when it comes to MMOs), SWTOR is rather lacking in the roleplaying department.
"Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
I need to take this advice more.
Fact: There is no such thing as an Unbiased Review.
I keep an open mind and try every mmo that comes to the pay to play market. As well as the free to plays. I was as unbiased as possible and think I have a pretty strong ground to stand on when it comes to diverse mmo experiences.
Character creation= 7/10
You lost me already here, bud.