Star Wars: The Old Republic

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2879 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,378 out of 2879
  2. Mixed: 545 out of 2879
  3. Negative: 956 out of 2879
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  1. Fatteh
    Mar 8, 2012
    4
    After the initial wow factor has worn off I would probably say this would be a great game to play co-op but just shy off the mark as a greatly immersive MMO. Its handles great, the story telling is good but towards the mid levels it looses it attention. Fantastic having the story lines voiced so no great walls of text to read through and skip. The missus managed an extra month beforeAfter the initial wow factor has worn off I would probably say this would be a great game to play co-op but just shy off the mark as a greatly immersive MMO. Its handles great, the story telling is good but towards the mid levels it looses it attention. Fantastic having the story lines voiced so no great walls of text to read through and skip. The missus managed an extra month before calling it quiets on this one too. Its no Galaxies but pretty entertaining for a while.… Expand
  2. TwistedComplex
    Dec 31, 2011
    4
    I wish to retract my former review. After reaching max level, my guild cleared all the end game content in one night. Absolutely unacceptable, and coupled with the fact that Ilum is completely broken, this does not bode well for SWTORs future
  3. The-Crow
    Oct 3, 2012
    4
    I forgot to cancell my pre-order in the end but I put a lot of time into the early accessn the better part of 7 days or something.

    In Brief. 1) It really is an unabashed WoW clone and it shows, the gameplay feels dated. 2) Theres nothing specifically bad about the game but there is nothing outstanding either, leaving me indifferent to it. 3) Storylines I tried thus far were    I forgot to cancell my pre-order in the end but I put a lot of time into the early accessn the better part of 7 days or something.

    In Brief.

    1) It really is an unabashed WoW clone and it shows, the gameplay feels dated.

    2) Theres nothing specifically bad about the game but there is nothing outstanding either, leaving me indifferent to it.

    3) Storylines I tried thus far were poorly paced, dull and predictable. Infact the Bounty hunter one is full of cliches which would be tolerable if they were not such poor representations of the cliches in question. The great soundtrack is not even used to good effect building to dramatic or "tragic" events.

    4) Worlds feel dull and lifeless.

    5) Everything is on rails, areas have specific paths to your next goal and there is very little "getting off the beaten track" or exploring.

    6) Game engine is dated & fairly average, graphics only slightly better than KOTOR & KOTOR2 which are quite old games. This would not be such an issue if the gameplay was not so slow and boring.

    7) By level 10 in both Jedi knight & Bounty Hunter I was bored.

    8) pacing of the game is quite slow even for an MMO, they really want you to hang around and subscribe as long as possible.

    9) You could be forgiven for not realising Bioware made this game, it lacks polish particularly in the storytelling which is what Bioware games are famous for. Quite a dissapointing effort from one of my favourite studios. That said ME2 and DA2 were both had a similar lack of polish & care and i guess early signs that the quality control Bioware was once famous for was fading fast.

    10) there are several Free 2 Play MMO's using unknown IP's that I have enjoyed more than this.

    I ended up selling my unopened box copy because the game is just plain boring.

    Star Wars: The old Republic is Star Wars but mediocre, im not sure even going F2P can save it.    … Expand
  4. mikey42782
    May 28, 2012
    4
    Knights of the old republic, was groundbreaking for me..i had never even heard of it, and i will never forget the day i saw it in walmart, looked at the box and said to myself? this looks awesome i must have it..
    ..and the gods smiled on me for it was awesome. Then Kotor 2 came out..which wasn't nearly as good..
    But then years ago i heard a rumor about KOTOR becoming an MMO. I was    Knights of the old republic, was groundbreaking for me..i had never even heard of it, and i will never forget the day i saw it in walmart, looked at the box and said to myself? this looks awesome i must have it..
    ..and the gods smiled on me for it was awesome. Then Kotor 2 came out..which wasn't nearly as good..
    But then years ago i heard a rumor about KOTOR becoming an MMO. I was upset. I didn't want them turning one of my favorite games into a game that all of a sudden now tons of people were going to play who really didnt give a **** nor appreciate the Star Wars universe the way that true fans do. Most of my life people made fun of me for loving Star Wars and being a nerd..and now people play it..anyway so the MMO came out..i was skeptical at first and i purchased it..which brings the first bad point-
    You have to pay for the subscription when you purchase the game..so a 60 dollar game automatically becomes a 75 dollar game..you can't install it unless you agree to those terms and set up a subscription. that was my first beef..but i fought through it.
    I install the game, cut scenes were pretty bad ass i must say, got me into it..i used to play star wars galaxies and loved it, and they got rid of galaxies FOR THIS...i love being a smuggler..so natrually that was my first guy..i wanted to be a half ass han solo, exploring the galaxy, trying to beat the infamous Kessell Run. I'll tell you this much tho..if you want to be a smuggler?? don't expect to do any smuggling what so ever. The second bad point? the graphics..its pretty much DA2. Same sound effects, same animations save for the blasters. Same faces. And Dragon Age 2 compared to the first was just a botched abortion. Game play is the same as any other MMO..While my subsciption is still active, i have not played the game in almost 2 weeks. I am tired of it. i am tired of the repetitive grinding, i am tired of being on a planet with a lotta players because if they are doing the same quest as me, sometimes i will fight through all the **** to get to the objective, then some asshat will come out of stealth, and do it before me, then i have to wait..but that is a common issue with MMOS i guess..what some people have said on here is correct..its a single player game with mmo elements...a star wars wow if you will
    I hate to say this, but i think that EA ruins everything it touches. When Bioware sold out to ea, i ranted and raved and said watch **** bioware is going to go the way of the buffalo. and i seriously think it is going to be. when dragon age 3 comes out i will probly not buy it..i refuse to buy mass effect 3 because of origin. i am going off on a tear...If you have played star wars galaxies, you know that you got your own ship when you started out..which is awesome..you could get into space combat, deliver cargo, you could spend hours flying anywhere in the galaxy..you could also have someone make a new ship for you with a brand new chasis design, upgrade your ship, paint your ship..it was awesome..
    space combat here? sure you can upgrade your ship half ass..but the space combat is on rails and linear, the missions are just variations of the ones you did at earlier levels. it was a very big dissapointment for me because i was expecting something more along the lines of tie fighter..for 60 bucks? i thought it would..
    anyway, the goods to it? the envirornments are pretty cool. Some of the ablities. the voice actings decent, the combat is pretty fluid..
    cons? i have a decent rig and sometimes the lag is atrocious. sometimes when i go to get quest it will take me about 5 minutes for the npc to give it to me due to buffering..another con being a smuggler, killing a high level boss and recieving a light saber with dark side affilation which i cannot use at all..
    i hate to say this but i do believe i will be cancelling my subscription..    … Expand
  5. Esoteric
    Dec 31, 2011
    4
    This is bugged just like Warhammer Online was [same devs] at launch. Apart from completely broken animations and combat responsivity this is just another generic online game with awful graphics. Character customization is even more primitive than in WOW [which is quite an achievement]. Also, this game have very high pc requirements, so if you don't have top RIG then stay away.

    5/10
  6. aadms
    Jul 6, 2014
    4
    I was so excited to be able to play this game with my upgraded computer only to be highly disappointed in its presentation. It plays exactly like WoW, which, to me, is a boring and outdated game experience. The characters and their animations are laughable, as well as the graphics which look pre-2005. And it runs at horrible framerates with lagging and disappearing. If they are runningI was so excited to be able to play this game with my upgraded computer only to be highly disappointed in its presentation. It plays exactly like WoW, which, to me, is a boring and outdated game experience. The characters and their animations are laughable, as well as the graphics which look pre-2005. And it runs at horrible framerates with lagging and disappearing. If they are running this game at such low resolution, I don't understand why they're having this problem. Of all the MMOs out there, this one is the ugliest and plays the worse. This game looks and plays worse than the beloved KOTOR from 2004, so why is it being touted as a game today? Because EA wants to cash in on the MMO market, but like everything they touch, turns to dry dust. No excuse to make this bad of a Star Wars game. Why anyone would pay a subscription to play this is beyond me.… Expand
  7. cmoyano
    Jan 14, 2012
    4
    my god what is this **** Boring Queuing simulator that should never have been made, where is KOTOR 3 bioware? Huh where the **** is it? gamecube graphics; FF14 UI; and about as much fun as have a spear up the ass. I know these results are going to be skewed by people suffering from denial that bioware could ever make a bad game but this is just as bad as DA2. Buy anything else for a bettermy god what is this **** Boring Queuing simulator that should never have been made, where is KOTOR 3 bioware? Huh where the **** is it? gamecube graphics; FF14 UI; and about as much fun as have a spear up the ass. I know these results are going to be skewed by people suffering from denial that bioware could ever make a bad game but this is just as bad as DA2. Buy anything else for a better gaming experience… Expand
  8. Jounar
    Jan 13, 2012
    4
    Sadly after all the hype SWTOR is nothing more than a badly copied WoW clone but missing far to many features to be called a real MMO. Character creation is not only rather basic but seems to share the same graphics with NPC's so expect to see very similar looking throughout the game. The graphics are very dated for a modern MMO and are easily put to shame by the likes of AoC, LOTRO, RiftSadly after all the hype SWTOR is nothing more than a badly copied WoW clone but missing far to many features to be called a real MMO. Character creation is not only rather basic but seems to share the same graphics with NPC's so expect to see very similar looking throughout the game. The graphics are very dated for a modern MMO and are easily put to shame by the likes of AoC, LOTRO, Rift and even WoW. Whats even worse is the promo screenshots and videos Bioware use to advertise the game use a high res texture setting than player can't use no matter how powerful there PC's are. Combat which makes up the majority of a players time in the game is dull, uninspired and fells very unresponsive overall. PvP combat in the PvP arena's is even worse as the game engine just doesn't seem able to handle having lots of players fighting close together.

    The current high graphics setting is just a renamed medium setting due to how awful the Hero engine is and even using low/medium settings the game still performs poorly on high spec PC's. It took Bioware almost a month to admit this on there forums after first claiming it was a UI bug and that the real high res graphics settings are only used in cutscenes with NPCs. For a 2011/2012 AAA MMO with such a huge budget the graphics are a complete disgrace and feel like something that was released in 2006 except game back then had much better visuals.

    The much hyped class story is ok for the most part but nothing that will have single player game developers shaking in their boots and while it makes the normal kill 10 rats type quests all MMOs have less obvious it only makes up about 5-8% of the missions a player needs to do to hit max level. This makes running alts no different than any other MMO and worse than some as you need to do the exact same missions in the exact same order for every character.

    The various planets are very nice and also very instanced so the game world feels very empty for the most part. The planets are not however very open compared to other MMO's and the game through mission hub placement always pushes you in the direction of the next set of missions. There is also no public quest style missions which for a big budget MMO is a huge oversight imho. The dungeons or flashpoints as SWTOR calls them are the exact same deal we have seen in every other MMO since EQ1 with trash mobs to be cleared before reaching a boss. The starter flashpoint for both factions is much more like the standard single player missions due to alot of interaction with NPC's but these are the exception. Crafting is handled well in SWTOR with the players companions doing most of the more boring leg work in gathering crafting materials but to get the best items you still need to raid for recipes and materials and in all cases better items can be gotten from the level 50 daily missions players can run.

    SWTOR is a single player Bioware game with some basic MMO option bolted and I do mean basic. A very poor LFG system, horrid UI, guilds being nothing more than a friends tab, the most basic looting system any MMO has ever had and a class system with less options than those found in EQ1.

    When compared to games like LOTRO, Rift and of course WoW the lack of polish for such a costly to produce game is just shocking with bug that were known about in the July beta of 2011 still being in the released product. What a shame EA didn't allow an extra 6 months worth of development and a more adventurous design team weren't behind the wheel.    … Expand
  9. Tent27
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    I can't stop shaking my head in disbelief. Am I supposed to be impressed with a 300 million dollar game that looks, plays and feels like a game from 2004? So glad I played it on my friends computer and didn't get it myself. Textures in Knights of the Old Republic look better. Don't believe me, put them side by side and compare. The new bioware destroys everything it touches, and Star WarsI can't stop shaking my head in disbelief. Am I supposed to be impressed with a 300 million dollar game that looks, plays and feels like a game from 2004? So glad I played it on my friends computer and didn't get it myself. Textures in Knights of the Old Republic look better. Don't believe me, put them side by side and compare. The new bioware destroys everything it touches, and Star Wars is it's next victim.… Expand
  10. nopistons420
    Feb 7, 2012
    4
    its not an MMO; more like a single player game with a monthly fee. it feels unfinished; unpolished; and just overall lacking completely in features. it makes no difference if you choose light or dark side; the combat is boring, companion system is buggy. the only real reason anyone would play this game is if they are huge star wars fans other than that they got the mmorpg part of the gameits not an MMO; more like a single player game with a monthly fee. it feels unfinished; unpolished; and just overall lacking completely in features. it makes no difference if you choose light or dark side; the combat is boring, companion system is buggy. the only real reason anyone would play this game is if they are huge star wars fans other than that they got the mmorpg part of the game totally wrong… Expand
  11. RecoveryRx
    Jan 3, 2012
    4
    Every review on here that is 0-3 or 9-10 is a complete joke in my opinion, every single one of them. Here's the bottom line on TOR, a game I was insanely excited about and now won't sub past my first month: the story and voice acting is amazing, the rest of the game is either mediocre or a huge back step for the mmo genre as a whole. Listen carefully - this is the biggest disappointmentEvery review on here that is 0-3 or 9-10 is a complete joke in my opinion, every single one of them. Here's the bottom line on TOR, a game I was insanely excited about and now won't sub past my first month: the story and voice acting is amazing, the rest of the game is either mediocre or a huge back step for the mmo genre as a whole. Listen carefully - this is the biggest disappointment I've ever experienced in a video game. EVER. I am 33 years old and have been playing video games my entire life, this is the cake. It is shocking people, SHOOOCKINGGG!!!!!! how uninspired the world is, how mediocre and "just good enough" almost all of the game mechanics / systems are. And it's BAFFLING that a game with this much of a budget could be this bad.… Expand
  12. GhostDog24
    May 3, 2012
    4
    I think for an MMO it's a great game, because it's easy to play with (still a WOW copy) and have some new feature in it, but for a RPG is piece of s**t... I would be much more happier with a KOTOR III instead of this, since this is the KOTOR series next "episode" without the "Commander Shepard" (in this case I mean Revan or the Jedi Exile). Just think about it for a second, What would youI think for an MMO it's a great game, because it's easy to play with (still a WOW copy) and have some new feature in it, but for a RPG is piece of s**t... I would be much more happier with a KOTOR III instead of this, since this is the KOTOR series next "episode" without the "Commander Shepard" (in this case I mean Revan or the Jedi Exile). Just think about it for a second, What would you feel if after the ME2 they came out with a ME MMO and there you play with some "no name" character, where the first thing is to kill Commander Sheppard (the KOTOR series are not about jedi or sith fight, its about Revan and his heroic acts) or what would the star wars series be without Darth Vader? I read the Star Wars The Old Republic: Revan book and I hope one day BioWare or LucasArts or someone else will make a game of it (just like they did with The Wither) SO basically it's a good game but I'm disappointed with the storyline if I think of this as a continuation of the KOTOR 2, but if it's not then the story is acceptable. But since I can't think of the story in any other way I just give a 4.… Expand
  13. Ruzgfpegk
    Apr 15, 2012
    4
    Story (SP content) : 9/10 (at least, if all are as good as the one I played)
    Immersion : 8/10
    Graphics engine : 7/10 Game balance until 1.2 patch : 5/10 (7 PvE, 4 PvP) Pleasure to play until 1.2 patch : 6/10 Game balance since 1.2 patch : 2/10 (4 PvE, 1 PvP) Pleasure to play since 1.2 patch : 2/10 The balance was broken so much in 1.2 that I kept losing in PvP for hours (playing Republic    Story (SP content) : 9/10 (at least, if all are as good as the one I played)
    Immersion : 8/10
    Graphics engine : 7/10
    Game balance until 1.2 patch : 5/10 (7 PvE, 4 PvP)
    Pleasure to play until 1.2 patch : 6/10
    Game balance since 1.2 patch : 2/10 (4 PvE, 1 PvP)
    Pleasure to play since 1.2 patch : 2/10

    The balance was broken so much in 1.2 that I kept losing in PvP for hours (playing Republic healer).
    I'm part of a guild with more than 100 members and since a few weeks if we get more than 3 people online at the same time it's a celebration, and since 1.2 I'm often alone.
    Quoting the Ancient Aliens narrator, "where did they go?". Now I know.

    Healers (I play one) are useless since 1.2, both for themselves and the other players, even with a massive amount of endurance and with a full heal skill tree.
    What do experienced players say to the healers now? "If you see one of these enemy classes, RUN". Are you SERIOUS? Playing PvP to RUN? Is that how BioWare sees a balanced game?

    I wanted to love this game but BioWare disgusted me from playing.
    As it is, I wouldn't want to touch it again even if it was Free to Play.
    I hope it will get better in the future, but in the meantime I'll just stop playing AND paying.
    Did you already feel like you wasted your time playing for months hoping it would get better? I did.

    I just hope they'll release a patch to let us play in single-player mode with more bots, and with pre-1.2 skill trees, as the game seems to have been designed for this.    … Expand
  14. OhRly
    Sep 26, 2012
    4
    The cut scenes, acting, and dialogue are amazing but that's not what a game is, the game play is what the game is, and the game play is flat, it's WoW with a Star Wars setting, massively disappointing.
  15. tzedan
    Dec 29, 2011
    4
    I beta tested this game and found that it is a single player RPG with MMO bolt-ons. This is not a bad thing, but if I am going to play a single player RPG then I want awesome rocking graphics! It is true that the graphics are better than World of Warcraft, but WoW is seven years old and SWTOR looks only marginally better. If Rift can manage near photo-realistic graphics then so can SWTOR.I beta tested this game and found that it is a single player RPG with MMO bolt-ons. This is not a bad thing, but if I am going to play a single player RPG then I want awesome rocking graphics! It is true that the graphics are better than World of Warcraft, but WoW is seven years old and SWTOR looks only marginally better. If Rift can manage near photo-realistic graphics then so can SWTOR. I had high hopes for this game and IMHO it tries to be an RPG and an MMO and it fails at both… Expand
  16. Todayshero
    Apr 2, 2012
    4
    I'm a huge PVP player and was looking forward to some epic battles in the middle of city districts and getting caught off guard while trying to shop at the local droid station. Unfortunately the warning that SWTOR gives before entering a pvp server is far from the truth. It states you will be in constant battles between players, I was in 4 pvp fights before level cap outside the warzone,I'm a huge PVP player and was looking forward to some epic battles in the middle of city districts and getting caught off guard while trying to shop at the local droid station. Unfortunately the warning that SWTOR gives before entering a pvp server is far from the truth. It states you will be in constant battles between players, I was in 4 pvp fights before level cap outside the warzone, and 1 of those was because we got people to tell us where anyone was. The game is far to controlled, has no end game worth mentioning, the only thing that is even remotely different and worthwhile in the game is the main story line of each class, which will send you playing warzone over and over again trying to level up just so you can get to the next part without dealing with side missions you've done plenty times before. This is a single player game smashed into an mmo which then goes by mmo rules, and if you've ever played an mmo you know what I'm talking about. Less than stellar NPC (standing around waiting for you to come kill them), same skill to button type combat. In my opinion, an mmo isn't worth playing if it has no pvp and the end game wasn't well thought out. Whats the point in maxing your level if there are neither of these. It wouldn't take a lot of changes to make this game great, but it's highly unlikely those changes are coming.… Expand
  17. garland_spqr
    Jan 15, 2012
    4
    Up until now I have liked every Bioware game and some of them are my all time favorites. This game however, is a gigantic disappointment.
    I played a Jedi sage to level 30 when I stopped as every second spent felt like a waste of time. I expected a game with a good story and rich lore in a vivid star wars world. Sadly, I found nothing of it.
    In my opinion, Jedi sage until level 30 has no    Up until now I have liked every Bioware game and some of them are my all time favorites. This game however, is a gigantic disappointment.
    I played a Jedi sage to level 30 when I stopped as every second spent felt like a waste of time. I expected a game with a good story and rich lore in a vivid star wars world. Sadly, I found nothing of it.
    In my opinion, Jedi sage until level 30 has no story. The quests consist of: disable an array there, hack a terminal there, loot quest items from dead bodies etc. The quests do not feel connected to each other or embedded in a story, everything feels very random and pointless. There are no memorable characters throughout the journey and the companions are annoyingly flat placeholders with no story.
    I expected living, breathing city worlds full of life. They are nothing more than tunnels filled with lifeless mobs. I expected varied crafting professions that let you explore the world. They are nothing more than a "click and wait" game. I would have liked to see flashpoints connected to the planets you travel through, but they are just random missions on the fleet. A starwars game should be filled with passion, but this game is passionless. The dialogue and codex writing is very mediocre and not anywhere near the quality of Mass Effect or Dragon Age.
    Its possible that things look different with other classes, but from a jedi sage perspective, this is a poor game.
    The only things I liked are the music and the voice-actors, which are both brilliant. The rest is forgettable.    … Expand
  18. Sula
    Dec 21, 2011
    4
    Polished game BUT very limited gameplay, WoW-like clone with VO slapped over and more instancing.
    End-game is about running instances over and over and not much aside of that.
    Insane amount of money spent on Voice Over and cutscenes shows with this game lacking in other departments. Though if you like a game to concentrate on nothing else than on grinding instances and battlegrounds once    Polished game BUT very limited gameplay, WoW-like clone with VO slapped over and more instancing.
    End-game is about running instances over and over and not much aside of that.
    Insane amount of money spent on Voice Over and cutscenes shows with this game lacking in other departments.

    Though if you like a game to concentrate on nothing else than on grinding instances and battlegrounds once you finish questing, then you'll find good game here.

    If you want more diverse experience and more mmorpg, social and "world-like" feeling avoid it.    … Expand
  19. TixyLix
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    What they've done is created WoW seven years later, only this time the quests are linked up by chat wheel cutscenes. I was hoping that Bioware would change things up, nope.....

    The worlds feel sterile, the NPCs all stand in one place, barely animated at all. The sound effects are very poor, they just seem missing as all I hear is footsteps and music. The planets are small questing hubs    What they've done is created WoW seven years later, only this time the quests are linked up by chat wheel cutscenes. I was hoping that Bioware would change things up, nope.....

    The worlds feel sterile, the NPCs all stand in one place, barely animated at all. The sound effects are very poor, they just seem missing as all I hear is footsteps and music. The planets are small questing hubs and then you travel between them via a main lobby and everything is either instanced or phased. You barely see anyone as there never seems to be more than 100 people per zone and world PVP is pointless so everyone is in battlegrounds.

    They had the perfect opportunity to fix what is wrong with todays MMOs and instead they just made a worse version of WoW, like every MMO has done since...

    I'm only giving it 4 because it isn't a total train wreck and is polished, I just wont be playing it any longer.    … Expand
  20. QuakerOfDoom
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    I'll be honest here, I only got to Level 33 before quitting out of boredom, so if there is something to make up for the poor post-endgame, consider this a 6 instead of a 4. It's just that I just can't support Bioware anymore for what they've done to the SW:TOR games, with the retcons to Revan and the boring quests. I've always been a huge fan of Bioware ever since the SW:TOR 1, but everI'll be honest here, I only got to Level 33 before quitting out of boredom, so if there is something to make up for the poor post-endgame, consider this a 6 instead of a 4. It's just that I just can't support Bioware anymore for what they've done to the SW:TOR games, with the retcons to Revan and the boring quests. I've always been a huge fan of Bioware ever since the SW:TOR 1, but ever since they were bought out by EA, the quality of their games has noticeably dropped. TOR, being, in a nutshell, WoW with lightsabers, has done little to change my opinion of this. I really hope Bioware manages to buck the trend with the upcoming ME3, but I can't help but feel doubt about Bioware's ability to continue making quality games after this.
    Anyway, if you're into WoW, you might like this game. If you're not, then TOR won't do anything to change your opinion.
    P.S. I know that I will be called a troll for expressing my honest opinion, but I don't give a ****    … Expand
  21. RampantAndroid
    Dec 26, 2011
    4
    Zones are instanced, gameplay is otherwise identical to WoW, pretty much. The game pretty much bores me to tears. I gave it chance because it was Bioware, but after Dragon Age 2 and now SWTOR, I honestly wish Bioware would go under so I remember them in a somewhat positive light.
  22. Mema
    Dec 30, 2011
    4
    Gameplay: The same as World of Warcraft.... seven years ago. The space combat is a poor reskin of Star Fox. The quests are just rehashed kill x amount of y and fetch/deliver quests.
    Graphics: Absolutely appalling for a game released in 2011, even for an mmo.
    Story: An insult to Star Wars fans. Hopefully it isnt canon. The voice acting is on and off. Some characters have better stories    Gameplay: The same as World of Warcraft.... seven years ago. The space combat is a poor reskin of Star Fox. The quests are just rehashed kill x amount of y and fetch/deliver quests.
    Graphics: Absolutely appalling for a game released in 2011, even for an mmo.
    Story: An insult to Star Wars fans. Hopefully it isnt canon. The voice acting is on and off. Some characters have better stories then others. Disappointment of the year.    … Expand
  23. liabilityman
    Jan 13, 2015
    4
    TLDR: "I couldn't be the character I wanted to be....and this is a MMORPG!"

    Having loved SWTOR, this game excited me initially. After about a day of play, the gameplay for which was quite fun, all I wanted to do was tweak my characters appearance. Change hairstyle for example. When I eventually found out that the only way to do so is to spend real-life money, all my enthusiasm for this    TLDR: "I couldn't be the character I wanted to be....and this is a MMORPG!"

    Having loved SWTOR, this game excited me initially. After about a day of play, the gameplay for which was quite fun, all I wanted to do was tweak my characters appearance. Change hairstyle for example. When I eventually found out that the only way to do so is to spend real-life money, all my enthusiasm for this game disappeared. Yes it might be a minor reason, but to me it broke all immersion and attachment to the game. I couldn't be the character I wanted to be....and this is a MMORPG!

    I severely dislike the FTP model used in SWTOR, with free players having ridiculous restrictions.

    I have played other FTP games such as DCUO, which were a lot of fun, and ultimately let you play how you wanted. Paying for things was optional if you wanted the extra stuff. In SWTOR however, I feel like they only give you access to half the game.

    Very, very disappointed. Bioware/EA, whoever is responsible, needs to sort stuff out.

    I should know better with an EA game.    … Expand
  24. Astralis
    Mar 17, 2012
    4
    I was offered the seven-day free trial and played for four days. I really enjoyed the ambiance and the universe of the game. It feels like a Star Wars world. But the quests are boring and repetitive. There really is little difference between Wolfenstein and this, besides better graphics and music. Running through miles and miles of sewers shooting the same creatures and people over andI was offered the seven-day free trial and played for four days. I really enjoyed the ambiance and the universe of the game. It feels like a Star Wars world. But the quests are boring and repetitive. There really is little difference between Wolfenstein and this, besides better graphics and music. Running through miles and miles of sewers shooting the same creatures and people over and over and over and over is not a good time. Doing the same thing in a building and then reaching a "boss" character that you can't kill and then have to realize you need to play the whole quest again because you forgot to get a weapon that was hidden under rock is tedious, not fun. Then when I saw the price to buy the game ($59 at the time of writing this), I realized I wouldn't spend that much to play this game, but the world is worth exploring a little bit. But you have to participate in every single little bit of fighting -- by smashing all the buttons -- and gets so repetitive that it really only goes so far for me. Then I saw it costs $20 for a limited amount of time to play per month! That's when I stopped playing altogether. It's not worth spending $59 one time, certainly not an additional $240 to play it for a year. As of this review, many people are leaving it and playing Massive Effect 3 instead, so the servers are not really full these days. I'm not so sure they'll be coming back, either. I won't.… Expand
  25. BXBlodia
    Dec 25, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SWTOR is a strange case. Was it a single player RPG, It'd be a very, veery good game. Most class storylines are very good (except for smuggler, jedi knight and sith warrior unfortunately), and the game has good flow and quite a lot of content. However, it's all single-player content, and there is literally no reason to subscribe for longer than the free month at the moment.
    Unfortunately, someone decided to make it into an MMO. Which lead to simplifcation and a huge amount of time sinks. So much for the Next-gen experience here, sadly.
    Another thing I do not understand is why would anyone create an MMO in which one of the factions will suffer an utter defeat, and it's clear from the very start. Every quest line on both Empire and Republic side leads to the inevitable end: Empire loses. Everyone important dies. You cannot even save anyone. Your decisions are meaningless.
    Another issue I have with the game is that SWTOR's Sith are... dumb. There's no other word for it. They are written to be superpowered angsty teens who know NOTHING about ruling an empire. If you look at the (TABOO!) EU stories, comic books and even Palpatine himself, the Sith are cunning (both in new hope era and old republic, so there), and they'd never act like idiots. Which is what SWTOR's Sith turn out to be. Infighting, petty conflicts, impulsiveness. They screw up everything they touch, and apparently all the want is to CAUSE TERROR AND FEAR. You cannot rule an empire that way. Sith have no way to go other than lose here.
    Multiplayer part of the game is horrid. The netcode stutters, animations fail to play (tested on my brand new i7 aswell as my brother's older machine) and there is no class balance. I wouldn't expect class balance so soon after release, but it's strikingly apparent that some developers loved their classes more than others. Instances are boring too, we seriously have seen this kind of gameplay and over what, 7 years? it grew pretty stale. There's no reason to even socialise in this MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER game, because your sidekick can get the job done. At worst he/she/it will die.
    Was SWTOR a single player RPG, it'd be a very solid title, a strong 8/10 (4/10 if smuggler. yes, it is THAT bad). BioWare decided to make it into a MMO though. Therefore, 4/10. Because the single player part receives a 7 overall from me (i just can't forgive the smuggler. sorry), and the multiplayer is a strong 3.    … Expand
  26. Thorn14
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    My experience in this game has been a level 40 something imperial agent and just a myriad of other lower level everything

    Okay, first thing we see in the game and this is a major bleh for me. The Character Creation. It is absolutely dreadful. Obviously its not on the level of suckiness that you see in your average F 2 P Korean Grindfest, but not by alot, especially if you've played any    My experience in this game has been a level 40 something imperial agent and just a myriad of other lower level everything

    Okay, first thing we see in the game and this is a major bleh for me. The Character Creation. It is absolutely dreadful. Obviously its not on the level of suckiness that you see in your average F 2 P Korean Grindfest, but not by alot, especially if you've played any Bioware game in the past. There are only 4 body types for men, and they are each varying degrees of awful to meh. Theres Shape 1, which is Justin Beiber (and what is used for "kids") Shape 2 which is your average Bruce Lee build, theres Shape 3 which is Big Mc Large Huge and Shape 4 which is Lord Lard Ass. Shape 4 is absolutely awful, and for Sith Warriors, is the shape of your Master, which, if you look at his Wiki, is not how he should look at all. It makes no sense.The races are...well...everything is just "Human but" Obviously this was done for cutscenes and voices (No wookie would talk like your character) but there are still races like Togruta or Nautolan that would be fine but are not in. Chiss are pretty sweet however. There is no long hair, at best you have hair that goes down to your chin. I guess this is because it would be too graphics intensive? Complexions and Scars aren't so bad, shame you can't stack them. And yes, no sliders still, you choose predetermined faces. For a game where you spend alot of time looking at your character in cutscenes, the amount of corner cutting in CC is disappointing. It should have been one of the top five priorities. The number of unique models in this game, NPC wise is also staggeringly low.

    The graphics were no doubt simplified to accommodate as many systems as possible, like World of Warcraft, I understand that. But if that is the case, why does the game, for me and so many others run like absolute crap?

    It took me about 10 minutes AT LEAST to go from start up to getting my character in play. All my options are on low too. Yet I can play Skyrim and The Witcher 2 on Medium no problem. I understand its an MMO but this is just inexcusable Okay, gameplay. Know World of Warcraft? Good news! You already know how to play 85% of the game! Played KOTOR only? Bad news! Theres nothing from KOTOR in this! Its your standard MMO affair. Tanks, Heals, DPS, Burst Damage, DOT, Taunts, Rotations, ETC. If you're used to MM Os then you're in luck. It does that pretty well, although tanking as my Jedi Guardian has been a fittingly in character practice in patience. You dont get your first taunt until 15, and it has a long cool down. Your robot companion tanks better than you. The gameplay is the same tired WoW gameplay, and the game suffers big time for it.

    The missions are the biggest flaw in this game. Every quest is a variation of "Go here, kill stuff along the way for bonus maybe, kill boss or interact with object" or "Collect 5 blah blah blah" with varying degrees of logic in their drops,.

    All the flavor in the world, which does help a little, doesn't change the fact that is every quest. But maybe that is nit picking. Your choices in quests rarely matter as well.

    Story is this game's real saving grace, and why it goes from "Mediocre MMO" to "has potential." Imperial Agent's story was a freaking blast. But after you finish all the storylines, if you even do that, what next? Endgame in this game is pretty much non existant. one mediocre raid...

    And yes, Bioware continues the proud tradition of Dark Side = Stupid Evil Jerk Ass . I was hoping DS Jedi Knight would mean "Emotional and prideful" but nope, just "AHAHA LOOK HOW EVIL I AM FOR NO REASON"

    One issue isevery faction goes through the same planet order. Your Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior's planets after the first one will be the exact same, as will the quests, save for your personal quests. This will make replay value for someone like me who can't stand doing the same thing again very difficult. Also this makes the whole "KOTOR 3-11" claim bull crap. Class storylines are only 20% of the game. Everyone shares about 80%

    And one of the best features I would list was removed.. Your armor could be matched to the color of whatever your chest piece was, avoiding clown armor. They removed that... All in all ,the story of this game is pretty decent, and had me hooked for the first 2 weeks. Sadly, the gameplay made it where it was a chore. I was FORCING MYSELF THROUGH GAMEPLAY for the story. Thats unacceptable for an MMO, where gameplay should always be important.

    Maybe this game will improve in the future, but for now, this game is just another WoW clone, in space, with kinda cool cut scenes, and with less content. Cant search the AH, no dual speccing and respecing is EXPENSIVE. There are just so many features you should expect missing. It attempts to be like WoW, without the things that made WoW popular. It just has neat storylines. But that is all it brings to the table.    … Expand
  27. Fappachino
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    I really feel betrayed by Bioware.When they announced this game a few years ago i was over the moon knowing that my favorite things were being combined, Star wars and MMOs.Knowing it was Bioware i had great hope for this game ever since i played KOTOR which still-is one of my favorite Rpgs to this very day.Fast forward to now and what i got was:
    >Repetitive quest
    >Hours of Grinding >Lack    I really feel betrayed by Bioware.When they announced this game a few years ago i was over the moon knowing that my favorite things were being combined, Star wars and MMOs.Knowing it was Bioware i had great hope for this game ever since i played KOTOR which still-is one of my favorite Rpgs to this very day.Fast forward to now and what i got was:
    >Repetitive quest
    >Hours of Grinding
    >Lack of immersion

    I could go on.They claimed it was something 'new' but it was just vanilla WoW.They claimed they went all out on voice acting which is mostly true but the fact that it's only used to tell you to go kill 10 x and report back kills the whole feel. Ok game if you're just looking to play it for a month but i really can't see myself or anyone of my friends playing this more than a month.    … Expand
  28. PretentiousCat
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    When I first heard about this game, many moons ago, I was instantly hyped. I loved KotOR and the atmosphere. I was de-based on Bioware after the DA2 fiasco but I said I'd give them a second chance.

    After playing the early release, getting into the mid 40's in the first day of playing, I realized something. The rumors of a copy-pasted WoW were true. The skills were the same, the combat was    When I first heard about this game, many moons ago, I was instantly hyped. I loved KotOR and the atmosphere. I was de-based on Bioware after the DA2 fiasco but I said I'd give them a second chance.

    After playing the early release, getting into the mid 40's in the first day of playing, I realized something.
    The rumors of a copy-pasted WoW were true. The skills were the same, the combat was the same. Heck, even the quests were the same.

    What they didn't copy was the sense of accomplishment you get from attaining a high level and good gear.

    And don't get me started on the gear in ToR. Terrible textures, nothing that sets you apart from other classes and the clown syndrome is everywhere with mismatching gear.

    This game is nothing more than a mix of social networking and a glorified Facebook game.
    Avoid it at all costs.    … Expand
  29. amateurdude
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    What can you say about this game which hasn't been said about every other MMO out there. Everything this game does.. There's other (you know what ones) that do it better.

    It's.. Just the same old regular crap that every other MMO to exist has already spewed out. When you have a terrible developer such as Bioware of Dragon Age 2 infamy and the pants on head retarded EA publishing this was    What can you say about this game which hasn't been said about every other MMO out there. Everything this game does.. There's other (you know what ones) that do it better.

    It's.. Just the same old regular crap that every other MMO to exist has already spewed out. When you have a terrible developer such as Bioware of Dragon Age 2 infamy and the pants on head retarded EA publishing this was doomed from the get go.

    And they didn't disappoint.

    If you're looking to play an MMO either stick with WoW, check out Rift, or give DCUO a go. Other than that avoid this if at all possible.    … Expand
  30. Quickfire
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    What can I say about this MMO.
    The positives would be the limited physics in the game, reasonably well written storyline, conversation wheel system (unique), fantastic environment modeling and choreographed combat moves.
    The negatives would be lack of multiplayer support features, closed areas, lack of sandboxy content for casual players, poor NPC models and textures, poor space combat    What can I say about this MMO.
    The positives would be the limited physics in the game, reasonably well written storyline, conversation wheel system (unique), fantastic environment modeling and choreographed combat moves.

    The negatives would be lack of multiplayer support features, closed areas, lack of sandboxy content for casual players, poor NPC models and textures, poor space combat (no multiplayer), clunky combat flow and animations, lack of appearance/weapon/race/class choices and a poorly implemented UI and communication system.

    This game lacks many features considered standard for modern MMOs. It might be best to wait a few months for game improvements before purchasing this product, as you are really funding an extended beta after launch.

    A poor quality release with major potential down the road.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best PC Game of 2011
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
9
#9 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 73
  3. Negative: 0 out of 73
  1. RPGamer
    Apr 23, 2012
    80
    LucasArts generally exercised greater quality control of Star Wars games than most licensed properties receive, though that didn't necessarily translate into titles that were actually good. I've played a few other Star Wars games in the past, and while the SNES platformers were pretty good, this one is even better. Knights of the Old Republic may just be the best game in the franchise, and succeeds at being a top-tier RPG even if one has no interest in Star Wars. BioWare did the license proud.
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  2. GameCritics
    Mar 31, 2012
    70
    I wound up bailing out on Star Wars: The Old Republic well before hitting the level cap, but not before digging into it more so than any other MMO I've played. Even if it is an unhappy marriage between two wildly different game types, the fact that it kept me hooked for so long at least counts for something.
    Read full review
  3. NZGamer
    Mar 5, 2012
    83
    A good game. It pays excellent homage to the film series (even though it's set before the movies), and is a really solid MMO.
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