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. josephene
    Jan 16, 2012
    5
    SWTOR delivers both a watered down MMO experience and single player RPG experience. It seems that where they have stumbled is tying their story content to the world in which it takes place. It is as if your story line takes place in a cocoon rather than in the huge universe that is the Old Republic. Bioware made a nice attempt at the story content ( it can be fun ) however some of the verySWTOR delivers both a watered down MMO experience and single player RPG experience. It seems that where they have stumbled is tying their story content to the world in which it takes place. It is as if your story line takes place in a cocoon rather than in the huge universe that is the Old Republic. Bioware made a nice attempt at the story content ( it can be fun ) however some of the very cool features of the typical Bioware Single player RPGs are not there:
    1. Companions - you can never lose a companion and everyone will end up with the same ones which makes the companion "story-ing" and interactions meaningless.
    2. Your choices have zero impact on the world.

    Now as far as the MMO goes:
    1. there is really ZERO to do outside of questing / battlefronts 2. crafting is not a game within itself, its all done by your companions
    3. Linear questing - swtor gives you no choice of leveling areas it is linear and you have no choice but to follow the line at the theme-park.

    Personally the linear questing did it in for me as I could not get past level 30.    … Expand
  2. Sptiz257
    Dec 28, 2011
    5
    Just wasn't the game I was expecting. I was expecting something to totally blow me away and instead it just reminded me of other MMO's and video games of the past. Very overpriced game Character creation is almost as basic as World of Warcraft. Quests where the same boring stuff we have done in most MMO's for the past 8 years. If your new to games then this will be a hit, but if yourJust wasn't the game I was expecting. I was expecting something to totally blow me away and instead it just reminded me of other MMO's and video games of the past. Very overpriced game Character creation is almost as basic as World of Warcraft. Quests where the same boring stuff we have done in most MMO's for the past 8 years. If your new to games then this will be a hit, but if your a seasoned gamer then you will probably find this game some what boring. Of course this is my own opinion and I would atleast give the game a shot when theres a free trial to see if you like it.… Expand
  3. Shinywalrus
    Jan 4, 2012
    5
    Star Wars: The Old Republic is a bit bi-polar. As with many long-in-development games, it has a terrific amount of polish and plays quite smoothly, but it also feels very specifically engineered to be marketable to a certain market segment: players of World of Warcraft. That is a bit unfair, of course. The truth is that it is two games in one, which is why I don't completely understand theStar Wars: The Old Republic is a bit bi-polar. As with many long-in-development games, it has a terrific amount of polish and plays quite smoothly, but it also feels very specifically engineered to be marketable to a certain market segment: players of World of Warcraft. That is a bit unfair, of course. The truth is that it is two games in one, which is why I don't completely understand the reviews that insist upon giving TOR a "0." One of these games is a slightly slimmed down but generally entertaining third part to the generally well-received Knights of the Old Republic single player games. There are eight reasonably well developed, interesting and thoughtful single player plotlines in TOR to follow with a good bit of foresight, occasional difficulty and all too rare instances of player choice. These alone make this game worthwhile for a good group of Star Wars fans, if not the miracle that everyone was hoping for. The MMO components feel, rather unfortunately, tacked on to the single player component in an unwieldy way. Combat gameplay is simplistic and lacks any inventive mechanics. Player skill as a deciding factor in either difficult PvE or PvP interaction is minimal. Numbers and equipment are back to being the absolute dominating factor. The cartoony graphics, the repackaged magic skills and the marginal class differences between factions make the MMO component of this game feel like little more than World of Warcraft with Lightsabers. Your character will likely not feel different from anyone else's like it would have in EQ. You will likely not become attached to a particular part of the world, a particular city like in SWG. You will not likely feel any faction pride like you would have in DAOC. The strong opinions here give testament to that. Those who enjoy the simple, waypoints-for-everything, slick presentation, easy to step into game with very little differentiation like WoW will likely love this as a bit of change of pace. Those who were hoping for a genre-changer, a game that would take Star Wars Galaxies and expand it, fix its broken mechanics but keep the open feel, the control over the world and the broad fear of exploration that was what made MMOs popular in the first place (EQ)...well, those people are very disappointed indeed. It is average, but that's just the midpoint. If you love WoW and lightsabers, you will adore this game. If you liked KOTOR and aren't expecting anything grandiose here, you'll find it an adequate use of a couple weekends and a worthy purchase. If you were expecting the Next Great Game, you will abhor everything about it.… Expand
  4. rucknrun
    Jan 2, 2012
    5
    I just can't get into this game. I put 30 hours or so into it. I am almost lvl 20 and there is very little to explore. Where is the next area? The space combat feels like an after thought. I really wanted this game to be great. I don't mind that is feels like WoW a little bit. I love WoW. It just isn't good enough to pay 15 a month for, 60 for the client is way too much too. TheyI just can't get into this game. I put 30 hours or so into it. I am almost lvl 20 and there is very little to explore. Where is the next area? The space combat feels like an after thought. I really wanted this game to be great. I don't mind that is feels like WoW a little bit. I love WoW. It just isn't good enough to pay 15 a month for, 60 for the client is way too much too. They need to start giving us the clients if they are going to charge a monthly fee.… Expand
  5. Dominii
    Dec 26, 2011
    7
    In many respects The Old Republic is identical to WoW: its static battle mechanics, the levelling system, uninteresting skill trees, equipment durability, crafting without player customization. In some respects, improved: character alignment, companions, crew skills. Its triumph is the story. Unlike any other MMO, The Old Rebublic, gives players a reason to listen to and follow everyIn many respects The Old Republic is identical to WoW: its static battle mechanics, the levelling system, uninteresting skill trees, equipment durability, crafting without player customization. In some respects, improved: character alignment, companions, crew skills. Its triumph is the story. Unlike any other MMO, The Old Rebublic, gives players a reason to listen to and follow every quest, even the minor quests. The main arcs take you across each world. They branch into other stories, create relationships with NPCs who update you from time to time with their goings on reminding you that had you not done or said something that they'd be in jail, in the dumps, or in a ditch. The dialogue options, albeit a feature familiar to BioWare and its players, force you to choose between being true to yourself, or sucking up for favors. Every choice has the possibility to impact your companions' favor of you and the reward outcome. Suck up and garner favor and fortune. Answer genuinely, and watch all of the other Jedi wave their enhanced sabers at you and your basic training blade. The story is why I play and will continue to play. This game could be great, it could rival WoW in popularity, players, and South Park parodies, but it needs to be the next step in MMOs, and not what WoW should have been when it launched. What could make this game great?

    The battle system is likely too large and too complex in code to receive an overhaul. Instead, we should hope and ask for skills that require thinking and tactics; no one likes every battle following the same sequence, no matter who you're fighting, of 3-5-4-1-2. The crafting system needs to allow real player customization. Not recipes, but the ability to take raw ingredients to make whatever you want, with the stats you want in the colors that you want (granted you meet the level requirements). It could also do with more interactive, though please not mindless WoW gathering, crafting missions where player input during a companion's crew mission affects the outcome, your alignment, their affection, and possibly the availability of quests. "Hey, Dominii, I found the treasure, but it's guarded by a local tribe. Should I destroy the village if they get in my way, or should we abandon this one?"    … Expand
  6. Avadon
    Dec 22, 2011
    5
    A few key points from my experience in the beta and at launch: THE GOOD: - Cool voiceovers - Class stories are great for MMO standards (mediocre for single player standards but anyway) - The game is pretty stable and ping times are ok - Some of the planets are very well designed and put a smile on your face. THE BAD: - Terrible engine is as heavy as Witcher 2 but looks like WoW withoutA few key points from my experience in the beta and at launch: THE GOOD: - Cool voiceovers - Class stories are great for MMO standards (mediocre for single player standards but anyway) - The game is pretty stable and ping times are ok - Some of the planets are very well designed and put a smile on your face. THE BAD: - Terrible engine is as heavy as Witcher 2 but looks like WoW without antialiasing. It also dislikes more than a couple players on screen at the same time, which is not great for an MMO - Long queues to play - Heavily instanced and phased, which hurts the MMO part - Laughable "space combat" - Refuses to break the mold that WoW set, instead follows it to the letter - Combat system is disappointing, one would expect action-style combat in a game with lightsabers and rifles, but no, they might as well be shadowbolts - PvP needs a few years of class tweaking before it can be taken even remotely seriously - No endgame content. As Warhammer and AoC showed pretty clearly, any MMO that ships without lots of endgame content under the mentality of "we'll just focus on the leveling for now and add that later" will simply bomb regardless of launch sales, because noone will sub after their month is over. Catastrophic mistake by Bioware. In general, if you have a month with lots of free time, this is a game worth buying, you will get your money's worth, but it is certainly not worth suscribing to. Play your month and check back in a year or two, if it still exists, for some endgame. Shame.… Expand
  7. checktheemails
    Jan 3, 2012
    6
    I'm the type of person that has never played an MMO except one month of WoW the first month it came out then I dropped it for fear of addiction. First of all, Star Wars is way too expensive for what it is; it is worth 50 bucks max considering how buggy and unfinished the game is. I am currently a level 40 imperial agent, and I have to say that the game has a problem when the best way toI'm the type of person that has never played an MMO except one month of WoW the first month it came out then I dropped it for fear of addiction. First of all, Star Wars is way too expensive for what it is; it is worth 50 bucks max considering how buggy and unfinished the game is. I am currently a level 40 imperial agent, and I have to say that the game has a problem when the best way to level up and gain gold is to PvP yet the PvP is terribly constructed. There are three maps that you play in PvP warzones and matchmaking is a joke. You get matched with level 50s and level 14s all in the same queues, so basically you have gods running around the maps while other ppl just get owned and are incapable of any combat. Also, the map designs are buggy and in some cases assanine. For some reason they decided to include two air vents in the center of the Huttball map that randomly decide which way to throw you into the air. This means that your enemy can grab the ball, run into the vent and then get magically placed onto a much greater field advantage while you jump onto the vent chasing them and are launched basically into an acid pool. Maps are not supposed to decide winners and losers they are supposed to be the blank canvas that the game is played on. That is one thing they need to remove. Secondly, sometimes you get thrown into a PvP that is already losing just because the team had a few leavers, (ppl leave because their teammates are level 14s, etc.) It isn't a huge deal considering you still get some xp for doing basically nothing but joining the match, but it makes you realize how much the PvP is just a joke. They really need to make PvP cross-server matchmaking such as in League of Legends (hate to say it) where you have a huge pool of players that can be mixed and matched to the best balance instead of just choosing from what they have on ONE server.

    I have to say that when people bring up the character creation, I didn't even realize how much better it could be but having only humanoid characters is a **** disaster. ITS STAR WARS. WHY CANT YOU BE A TRUE ALIEN? FAIL BIG TIME THERE BUDDIES.

    Also traveling around the planets is a pain in the **** ass you have to go through so many air locks and lobbies and lifts before you get there. Cant you just fly your spaceship onto the planet? I mean WTF? DIDN'T THE MILLENNIUM FALCON DO THAT?

    I wish I could give this game a 6.5, but a 7 is too high for something so buggy. Definitely not renewing for another 15 bucks a month I already got jipped paying 60.    … Expand
  8. Chickensalad
    Dec 31, 2011
    5
    Another mediocre MMORPG. The only thing innovative about this one is the voice acting, which, personally, I don't care about at all. Hearing someone tell me I need to "kill 10 of x" isn't anymore immersive to me than reading it. SWTOR is basically WoW with lightsabers, except with less features. No LFG tool, bad UI (Even FFXIV lets you move around and resize the things on your screen),Another mediocre MMORPG. The only thing innovative about this one is the voice acting, which, personally, I don't care about at all. Hearing someone tell me I need to "kill 10 of x" isn't anymore immersive to me than reading it. SWTOR is basically WoW with lightsabers, except with less features. No LFG tool, bad UI (Even FFXIV lets you move around and resize the things on your screen), no combat log, etc. The planets are sharded so even on a high population server you may see only a handful of people around you at once. As MMOs continue to steadily evolve into glorified lobby games, I have to question why we are still being charged $15 a month for them.

    BioWare played it too safe with this game, choosing stick with the generic WoW-ish formula instead of trying new things. While not a terrible, it is incredibly average and simply feels outdated, as if it should have been released 4-5 years ago. If you have a hard on for Star Wars or Bioware you might like it, but otherwise it's probably best to pass on it until they release a free trial.    … Expand
  9. northwoods21
    Jan 5, 2012
    6
    Graphics 8/10
    Gameplay 6-7/10
    Creative/Original 2/10 PvP 3/10 PvE 7/10 replay value: 5/10 Continued... (accidentally pressed submit on previous one sorry! lol...) Ok here are some very important gripes I think at least some players or ex players can agree with. Since publications like PC gamer and other "non user" reviews are writing nothing but pure gold about this game untarnished in    Graphics 8/10
    Gameplay 6-7/10
    Creative/Original 2/10
    PvP 3/10
    PvE 7/10
    replay value: 5/10



    Continued... (accidentally pressed submit on previous one sorry! lol...)
    Ok here are some very important gripes I think at least some players or ex players can agree with.

    Since publications like PC gamer and other "non user" reviews are writing nothing but pure gold about this game untarnished in any way... I'm just going to focus on the Cons or reasons this game really didn't meet any expectations I had for it.

    1.) character creation does not really let you create a unique character. You set your appearance, pick your race comprised pretty much of human looking people and aliens, pick your class and enter the game. For me, this is the opposite of what any player wants.I want to be able to spend hours thinking how to set up my character template before I even go in the game... and when I enter the game I don't want to be like every other player of my same class/lvl with just a different skin and face appearance. That's what us players call cookie cutter.

    2.) This game does not have a suggestion forums. I'm sorry but I think that's a pretty straightforward sign of how game development is going to go on this game. If your dev team is interested in what the players have to suggest or what their million base community wants from the game, they should have suggestion forums, no excuses.

    3.) The factions empire and republic only vary in storyline and character appearance. Republic fleet/ Empire fleet, the central hub of the game (think stormwind.) look almost exactly identical to eachother. The classes on both the empire and republic are practically mirrored, just like wow's classes.

    4.) There is like 8 sets of endgame pvp gear for any class and its 2 subclasses, aside from some color changes all these endgame pvp sets look the same... So out of 4 classes, and out of 32 endgame PvP armor sets, there is 4 seperate armor models! pure laziness. Endgame pvp'ers should at least have 2 choices of style on their endgame armors... come on.

    5.) the PvP Balancing is laughable. huttball a new pvp gametype for mmos and a lot of fun. the other two consist of a 3 point capture and hold map, and an attack/defend map that plays 2 rounds with teams alternating sides because it is not balanced enough to have attackers/defenders w/ the same advantage play only 1 round without swtiching sides. First off they will put lvl 10's with max level players in PvP matches and boost the lvl 10's stats by a lot... I've noticed leveling characters and playing a lot of PvP that sometimes as you gain levels your character will actually become weaker in a PvP match because you wont get as much as a boost.

    6.) getting your spaceship is exciting, but other than lookin around, exiting ship, and use you nav display/space combat... its kind of like just another zone. Never being able to fully control your spaceship and leisurely fly around and explore is a big letdown. I have very high hopes for space MMO's and they are never met.

    7.) server imbalance on every server. across the board there is about 7-8 empire characters for every 2-3 republic players. So we can throw any decent attempt at world PvP out the window.

    8.) the warzones are limited to 8 vs 8 matches. Truly nobody can call that "Massive Multiplayer"...

    9.) the lightside/darkside character choices do little other than display an imediate cutscene based on your choice. there are only a few items that require darkside/lightside levels and they mirror eachther, so it doesnt really matter which way you go.

    10.) chracter creation, zones, quests, pvp, warzones, flashpoints.... all these things copy wow completely in every way but A lot of the nice features that WoW has developed over the years, such as being able to refund an item you accidentally bought with hours worth of PvP marks, have been questionably left behind.    … Expand
  10. TheangryOne
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    Well, after more than a year of waiting and all the hype Bioware put behind it, here it is, WOW:TOR. This game has truly become a shining example of Bioware's stagnation and ineptitude. To summarize: This game takes all the classic mistakes all gaming companies love to make and thrusts them into one giant $15/mo flop. The most obvious shortcoming is that gameplay is literally the EXACTWell, after more than a year of waiting and all the hype Bioware put behind it, here it is, WOW:TOR. This game has truly become a shining example of Bioware's stagnation and ineptitude. To summarize: This game takes all the classic mistakes all gaming companies love to make and thrusts them into one giant $15/mo flop. The most obvious shortcoming is that gameplay is literally the EXACT same thing as WOW was; it even has the same problems (extreme lack of customization, massive grindfest, limited character creation, specialization issues, bad endgame). Considering how much was spent on this game, there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of laziness; it's 2011, Bioware. WAKE THE F*** UP! Next, is the stories which Bioware was basing all their success on. These stories are hit-and-miss, as are the companions (Some are epic, some just fall flat.). I've been saying for years that Bioware shows extreme favoritism in their character and story design, and if this doesnt prove it, nothing does. The only true saving grace here is that, despite everyone's whining about the voice acting, I actually thought it was pretty good. Still, would it've killed Bioware to make a few selectable voices for your character? They spent 300 million (yes, million) dollars on this. However, all of these things can be ignored, since it is a reliable system, even if it is outdated. I'll probably get alot of flak for that but it's the truth. I won't bother talking about the graphics for the same reason; ultimately, they make little difference in an MMO as long as they work. The one thing, however, that cannot be overlooked, and the one thing that kills this game (and killed WOW) is the monthly subscription. Not cool, Bioware, not cool. There are plenty of free MMOs out there that can more than match this, so close your wallets and open your eyes. Learn from SWG, learn from GW. You are not the powerhouse you once were, and Warhammer 40k's lore more than beats Star Wars'. Learn.… Expand
  11. Scritty
    Feb 19, 2012
    6
    I love it when others tell me why I don't like a game. "You are a hater" - "You know nothing about MMO's" and the best one "Go back to WoW". I don't hate this game at all. It's ok. It has a very solid combat mechanic and decent graphics. I have no problem with lag (and BTW the word "lag" should be reserved for talking about your internet connection not your GFX hardware's inability toI love it when others tell me why I don't like a game. "You are a hater" - "You know nothing about MMO's" and the best one "Go back to WoW". I don't hate this game at all. It's ok. It has a very solid combat mechanic and decent graphics. I have no problem with lag (and BTW the word "lag" should be reserved for talking about your internet connection not your GFX hardware's inability to render at an appropriate speed..that's just "underpowered" hardware).

    Anywho - I had a pleasant gaming experience for the most part. But the issues are rather big when you've played for 100+ hours. Firstly, while accepting it's a theme park MMO (like WoW and many others) it is very "light" in terms of things to do outside combat. Crafting and harvesting has no real depth. YOu don't even need to risk your own neck to harvest "above your level" just press "N" and send your companion out "Bye - see ya later" He or she will pop back (while you are in the middle of combat normally) and without looking up from what you are doing you will likely press "N" then a number from 1-3 then hear said companion mutter something about "Back later" and that's it. Crafting is exactly the same as harvesting "Off you go companion"....."Oh you're back with........ nothing of any value what-so-ever" Yes you can reverse engineer everything you make (and you should do this) but I am still yet to find a single item or mod worth using ( I craft appropriate to my level - if not a little beyond - I always have any spare companions out gathering or crafting, yet still have found nothing worth using) I've read that maybe I picked the wrong profession..Oh well.

    I LOVE MMO trading. I DO NOT MEAN I indulge in RMT, never had, never will. But to get any fun out of a trade network it needs to be developed a little. SWTOR's is so basic you'd be better off selling anything of value over the trade channel. Even the filters seem not to work very well, All in all, pretty dull and not much extra. Add to this, no secondary professions, no "side goal" quests to get stuff (like a X faction mount or something decorative) and you have a game that relies far to much on combat and combat alone. And after killing your 4000th group of mobs, going through the same rotation over and over and over again gets VERY dull. I would like to just stop and feel obliged to go somewhere to gather materials to make an item I actually need, or to go "asteroid fishing" or see what the items I have in my pack are fetchin X faction..noe of this (and any of the other things that add a little depth to a theme park MMO) are available.

    Perhaps wore than this is rolling Republic on just about any server. Forget multiplay. You're on your own. Well of course you're not totally on your own, but watching guilds evaporate as even the true blue republicans decide to leave to look for a better served server for th republic (which is guesswork) or give up and roll an Imperial (just so they can do the multiplayer content) or in many places, just give up and do something else instead

    The much vaunted story for my class (Jedi Counsellor) is terrible. Planet one. Rescue (ahem - I won't spoil it) protect (ahem)...then what? Go to planet 2 and do the exact same thing...then what..Oh I know, why not go to planet 3 and do the exact same thing..then what ...... It's more like an episode of "Dora the Explorer" than an epic space quest. Again I'm told other quest lines are better - guess I just picked wrong again. SWTOR is a theme park with one ride...Combat..it's a good one, but it's the only one in town.
    I don't hate the game - I give it a 6, if it was a single player game (which while I'm playing it seems to be) iwould probably give it an 8. It probably does have a future, it needs more "stuff to do" and maybe free character migration for those with Republic characters sitting on their own waiting for a groujp that's never going to come. Please Bio give us more than combat. 6 is fair, it's higher than the average score this game has on this site at time of posting, and that probably sums up my feelings. Could be a great game, but needs a lot more content, not just "depth" (i.e more end game content added) but content width as well. More than just combat ...PERLEAAASE    … Expand
  12. intruder313
    Dec 21, 2011
    7
    They really have played it safe with this one, largely cloning WoW but adding a few nice touches that make things even easier and allows you to focus on the fun rather than the grind (so far it seems). Highlights include Space Combat events, Companions and Crafting by proxy.

    Very much marring the experience though are the horrendous PvP Instances, the blatant dominance of the "Mage" Class    They really have played it safe with this one, largely cloning WoW but adding a few nice touches that make things even easier and allows you to focus on the fun rather than the grind (so far it seems). Highlights include Space Combat events, Companions and Crafting by proxy.

    Very much marring the experience though are the horrendous PvP Instances, the blatant dominance of the "Mage" Class (this was abundantly clear in Beta so no excuses for going live like this) and the gigantic queues (which will subside).

    Treat it as a solo Bioware game and it's great, the MMO aspects needs a bit more work though to escape the WoW-clone badge.    … Expand
  13. Stormie
    Dec 22, 2011
    5
    Competently executed, but completely lacking in innovation, this is really a 2005 MMORPG launched six years too late. Mechanics are largely copied from WoW, which is not uncommon, but really doesn't work to well in a sci-fi/space opera style of game. The unique selling point is the voice-acted storyline, but I didn't find the story to be significantly above other MMOs in quality, and feltCompetently executed, but completely lacking in innovation, this is really a 2005 MMORPG launched six years too late. Mechanics are largely copied from WoW, which is not uncommon, but really doesn't work to well in a sci-fi/space opera style of game. The unique selling point is the voice-acted storyline, but I didn't find the story to be significantly above other MMOs in quality, and felt that the voice acting was rather poor - half of the voice work was stilted and wooden, the other half was "zany" and over the top. And none of the conversations felt anything like conversations, they just felt like two voice actors reading from a script. Hugely disappointing, especially when the game really has nothing else going for it that isn't already provided by WoW, LOTRO, EQ2, Rift, and other such games of this style.… Expand
  14. Publicius
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    There's been a mixed bag of reviews here. Plenty of WoW comparisons, however I've never played WoW, but have played other MMO's such as Swg, Lotro, and Sto. As such I find this game somewhat difficult to judge. The VO is a nice addition to MMO playing, but you also have your typical kill that, kill this quest (which every MMO does). The class story lines are decent, some predictable,There's been a mixed bag of reviews here. Plenty of WoW comparisons, however I've never played WoW, but have played other MMO's such as Swg, Lotro, and Sto. As such I find this game somewhat difficult to judge. The VO is a nice addition to MMO playing, but you also have your typical kill that, kill this quest (which every MMO does). The class story lines are decent, some predictable, others not. The zone design and planetary design is very linear..however there is room for expansion. Having played in beta I've paid attention to the various progressions of the game. There is certainly room for improvement, in many areas of the game. However, if you like the star wars genre, you'll most certainly appreciate the game. The game has a decent ground to build off of, provided it's handled in thecorrect manner, which remains to be seen. For the most part it is your typical MMO, theres nothing surprising or jaw dropping from any other MMO (except maybe the VO), however it can be quite fun if you look past some little flaws. I would encourage to make your own conclusions based on your play, but would recommend the standard edition only, as the game is not worth spending the cash on the collectors edition.… Expand
  15. ravenblade
    Feb 28, 2012
    6
    This is my 2nd review of this game, in my first one I barely touched the game. A second review should be common thing these for MMO reviewers anyways. I will start with what keeps me playing this game for now: Story. Story is the strong point of this game although when talking about story I have to emphasize on class storylines because alot sidequests get lost in the same stereotypical "beThis is my 2nd review of this game, in my first one I barely touched the game. A second review should be common thing these for MMO reviewers anyways. I will start with what keeps me playing this game for now: Story. Story is the strong point of this game although when talking about story I have to emphasize on class storylines because alot sidequests get lost in the same stereotypical "be a hero and save the world." theme not being shy of being hyperbolic in many cases. It is quite common to spend more time listening to the voiceover quest dialogue than for the quest itself. #
    As hinted sidequest content qualities are not exactly an evolution and often backwards, bonus objectives in 99 out of 100 cases start with a kill x of y and if there are stages involved they are often followed up by a x of 5*y type of kill quest. Alot sidequests simply don't go beyond kill x, catch y, click z to destroy/interact. There is no timed challenge, no mini-game which could spice it up and certainly no alternate paths involved which would hint the same level of evolution they offered via their dialogue/voiceover introduction.#
    Speaking of alternate paths it needs to be mentioned that all quest progression follows the same road for every class, the game is heavily guiding you through content while also limiting you in your abilities to explore. Random invisible walls and entire area potential wasted for instancing, some even class-specific are common and a step backwards. If that didn't wreck your immersion already then the fact that despite all the instancing the game does it knows little to nothing of story persistence aka phasing. At least, you could say, you can have world PVP, but unfortunately there is little of that.#
    World PVP is again very limited to a few planets and even then it is better to go your way because on the occasion you have met - which is very difficult with the few Republic players out there - you have almost no incentive to do anything than classical ganking. It is in fact easier to group for instanced PVP.#
    Instanced PVP as well as the only exclusive world PVP zone in this game suffers from the same thing as other games within the genre: It is too much of a treadmill and hindered by mechanical as well as technical limitations. Especially the latter deserves some mentioning.#
    The biggest issue of this game is its lack of fidelity. The reason for that is a blatant neglect of technological standards and a very unpolished client design. It is very common for some players to deal with the lack in case of many players being in the same area. Even then if you can enjoy higher framerates it becomes quite clear that beyond the poor optimization, animation, texture resolution and shadow qualities are one of the worst I have seen in a long time. Adding to that world design qualities are greatly lacking, the amount of sterility and lifelessness, the impression of a paint brush effect, the lack of small details and variations are putting quite a dent into the immersion and cannot be fixed by the sheer existence of voiceover alone anymore.#
    With this said I want to add that I have left out alot of other things especially spoiling ones and things like companions, travelling nightmares and crafting imbalances but these are what I see as biggest outstanding issues. Bioware emphasized too much on voiceover and hoped that it will be the strings that tie the game together. Unfortunately their new pillar of gameplay may break under the burden if they are not beginning to be a little bit more critical of their own design and design choices and start improving. As of now the only saving grace is it being in the Star Wars universe but it will have a hard time to stand up against contenders in this genre who in fact are making and already have made a leap of faith forward.    … Expand
  16. Crimsonking58
    Dec 26, 2011
    6
    It seems impossible for this game to stand on it's own. Angry hardcore players comparing it to WoW, rabid Bioware fans assuming its absolute perfection, the treatment this game is receiving is simply unfair. On it's own, without any comparisons to WoW or the existing MMO genre, this is pretty much a mediocre Bioware game with multiplayer capabilities. Which, in thee end, isn't too shabby,It seems impossible for this game to stand on it's own. Angry hardcore players comparing it to WoW, rabid Bioware fans assuming its absolute perfection, the treatment this game is receiving is simply unfair. On it's own, without any comparisons to WoW or the existing MMO genre, this is pretty much a mediocre Bioware game with multiplayer capabilities. Which, in thee end, isn't too shabby, but nothing that will go down in gaming history.

    You can easily get to max level in this game without interacting with a single other player, if that's your sort of thing. After dealing with the typical MMO role-shortages (no heals, no tank, no DPS), I gave up on group quests and flashpoints (dungeons) around level 20, and never interacted with anyone until I got to max level. Did it hinder my experience? Not really. However, upon playing the game solo, I couldn't help but think that the game could've been so much better if they had simply made it a single player game and released it as KOTOR 3. I believe that result could've been the best game of the decade so far. The problem that I faced around level 35 was a lack of memorable characters or situations. I thought hard one night of everything that had happened in the game so far, what characters I had met, the situations I had been in, the plot twists, the character development, all standard Bioware fare. I was disappointed to find that I couldn't remember anything spectacular. Memories of all the fantastic scenarios from Mass Effect 2 and KOTOR came back to me then, and all I could feel was disappointment. Thankfully, the plot picks up quite nicely again around level 40, but never gets fully up to speed. As far as a single player experience goes, it feels long and not that spectacular, but much more entertaining and cinematic than a faceless kill-em-all MMO.

    But what separates an MMO from a standard RPG is one thing: The endgame. I have yet to experience operations (raids) or any heroic flashpoints, but from what I can see they seem cinematic yet standard, like the rest of the game. I don't see where people are coming up with the statement that "there is no endgame", for there are 15 heroic flashpoints, 2 operations, an entire PvP planet, a higher replay value than standard MMOs, crafting, and more. There is certainly plenty to do, but an MMO veteran might not get the same rush as a new player would. It certainly brings back feelings of Burning Crusade WoW if I have to compare it to anything else.

    In conclusion, I believe Bioware has created their most mediocre single player experience to date. But given Bioware's standard of quality, that doesn't mean it's bad. The hours of voice acting and thousands of quests to complete will either bore or immerse you, depending on your Star Wars enjoyment and previous MMO experience. For new players trying to decide between this or WoW, I would go with this, for it will feel much more like the plot-driven games that many are used to as opposed to a faceless trek through 85 levels that WoW feels like nowadays. For veterans, I would steer clear for now. If plot doesn't interest you, and you've already gone through the raiding motions in other MMOs, this will just feel like an elongated single player game with nothing at the end. For now, a 6 for slightly above average. If the end game proves to be as engaging as Burning Crusade was, and Bioware manages to keep content flowing nicely with patches on a regular basis, I'll bump it up to an 8 or a 9. Here's to hoping.    … Expand
  17. requiamer
    Dec 21, 2011
    5
    Medium quality game. The Bioware touch is nice, but not to the point they could avoid a better work on the gameplay. The polish is nice, but only because usually mmo are buggy mess, some people praise the polish of this game, but i found it pretty medium. Finally i never felt as playing a star war game, but as playing a mmo with a star war skin, this alone deserve a negative review, butMedium quality game. The Bioware touch is nice, but not to the point they could avoid a better work on the gameplay. The polish is nice, but only because usually mmo are buggy mess, some people praise the polish of this game, but i found it pretty medium. Finally i never felt as playing a star war game, but as playing a mmo with a star war skin, this alone deserve a negative review, but i'll keep my rating at 5.… Expand
  18. kamryu
    Dec 23, 2011
    7
    2 out of 3 story (at times generic and predictable but the addition of voice acting makes you care unless your one of those people looking for a grind fest where you can just pick up a quest go do it level up and get your gear soon as possible,plenty of choice quest wise also)
    1 out of 3 game play (yes its a wow clone)
    2 out of 3 Social/Multiplayer (people calling it a solo game full of    2 out of 3 story (at times generic and predictable but the addition of voice acting makes you care unless your one of those people looking for a grind fest where you can just pick up a quest go do it level up and get your gear soon as possible,plenty of choice quest wise also)
    1 out of 3 game play (yes its a wow clone)
    2 out of 3 Social/Multiplayer (people calling it a solo game full of **** they are not gonna do a flashpoint solo or a heroic unless they are over leveled for them same as any other MMO also the addition of social conversation choices adds a good little mix to it never know if your party member wins the role you might be about to kill a ton of innocents or end up having to go the long way round).
    1 out of 2 for graphics (cartoony one or two bugs)
    1 out of 2 customization very limited character image choice races seem to similar only 4 body types user interface not very customizable, on the plus the advance class system means not all consular are going to be the same you ll become a sage or a shadow knight becomes guardian or sentinel and this is before you start deciding on a talent tree to advance through.
    total 7 out of 10.

    Now into some nitty gritty. As I said sometimes the quests can be predictable for instance training a militia you know is going to be a case of go out kill some things and return (boring and predictable) but at the same time you ll get some quests which will make you have to decide for instance recover some medical supplies for the army only to find out refugees are the ones who stole it and they need them you ll be presented with a social choice leave them with the refugees or take them back for the army this in turn has an effect on whether your light side or dark side points go up (some grey would be nice like splitting the supplies between the two). The voice acting is good and if your someone who actually CARES about story and reasons why your doing things you ll enjoy it if however your one of those people who plays games like wow and never even reads the quest because all that matters to you is what is the reward for doing it then it will be nothing more than annoying to you.
    Gameplay is such a clone of all other previous MMO's its almost an insult the few features such as cover (limited to smuggler and imperial agent) add some interest but otherwise be prepared to be playing as you always have (oh yeah no auto attack which personally I feel is actually a good thing) I would have gave 0 out of 3 for this but truth is the system does work it might be boring but reality is the click buttons feature works (just as point and click works for fps I are not going to give an fps review 0 because its point and click why should I give tor 0 because its the same as the others).
    Social would be 3 if not for the simple fact planets are instanced so you don't see lots of people sure you can chat with them and if you want you can chance the instance your on to another version of it very easily just bring up world map and click the pull down menu for it down the bottom right. Flashpoints are pretty good again the addition of rolling on decisions within them adds a nice element never forget how annoyed my first group was when I passed on the free money at the end of our first instance and won the roll meaning no one got the money to you this may seem annoying the point is it adds a new layer of social interaction your going to care about who you group with and such. Heroics also add to social interaction since your not going to solo these quests yourself they are designed for group each planet has around a minimum 3 or 4 of these and they each tell a story its not just a case of go kill this elite mob because well its an elite mob sure your going to be killing an elite mob but before your killing it your going to run around sabotaging his ship because he is using it to smuggle slaves.
    Graphics are cartoony and have a few glitches I would not say it doe snot work the thing is its an MMO it needs a wide audience so of course its not going to be the best graphically and people who expect it are the same people who have blown thousands on their PC not everyone can afford to graphics score for me is out of 2 cause I don't prioritize them.

    People saying not a WoW killer and scoring 0 saying just a WoW clone your not reviewing the game your comparing it to WoW there thats not a review.    … Expand
  19. Sov
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    If it wasn't for the IP or developer name attached to it this would have garnered very little attention. It is incredibly stale and formulaic while missing out on many opportunities to do something fresh. In many ways it feels like a lobby with many tacked on mini-games and instances to try and keep you riding the theme park or "break things up" as they say. It really offers nothing to aIf it wasn't for the IP or developer name attached to it this would have garnered very little attention. It is incredibly stale and formulaic while missing out on many opportunities to do something fresh. In many ways it feels like a lobby with many tacked on mini-games and instances to try and keep you riding the theme park or "break things up" as they say. It really offers nothing to a seasoned MMO gamer and while playing you might find yourself asking, "Where did all the money go?"… Expand
  20. Littlebomb
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    The best word to describe this game is mediocre. They straight copied WOW and spent way too much money on boring Voice Overs. I wasn't interested in why Timmy the NPC needed 6 bundles of wood and I most certainly don't want to listen to 5 minutes of why he needs bundles of wood.

    Also the corridor's are crazy. I spend so much time running. The game is mostly empty space. Even the mobs    The best word to describe this game is mediocre. They straight copied WOW and spent way too much money on boring Voice Overs. I wasn't interested in why Timmy the NPC needed 6 bundles of wood and I most certainly don't want to listen to 5 minutes of why he needs bundles of wood.

    Also the corridor's are crazy. I spend so much time running. The game is mostly empty space. Even the mobs hardly move at all. The wolrd feels very dead. The cities are even phased so you don't have the feeling of a mmo.

    Really it bums me out because I want ot like this game.

    I do enjoy the pvp though and the class design though they need duel spec ASAP. (tons of features missing that are very basic like chat bubbles)    … Expand
  21. Necrotaur
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    Don't think of Star Wars: The Old Republic as an MMO. It's closer to a single-player game where you have the option of playing alongside others, sort of a Knights of the Old Republic with co-op and pvp. It's very story and dialogue driven, which is refreshing, but also somewhat amusing when you spend a couple minutes talking to someone only to get a quest to kill 10 droids. In that respectDon't think of Star Wars: The Old Republic as an MMO. It's closer to a single-player game where you have the option of playing alongside others, sort of a Knights of the Old Republic with co-op and pvp. It's very story and dialogue driven, which is refreshing, but also somewhat amusing when you spend a couple minutes talking to someone only to get a quest to kill 10 droids. In that respect TOR is like most every other MMO out there - kill quests, fetch quests, 'go here, activate terminal' quests etc. etc. It's been done to death so badly even WoW is trying to avoid it, so why isn't Bioware? Graphics are bland, particularly the character models/equipment - it feels like they were pulled straight from 2003. Animations and character faces are awkward and wooden, and there is a distinct lack of racial choices. Who seriously thought 8 flavors of near-humans were a good idea? The voice acting is decent enough, but nothing particularly stellar. Gameplay is heavily instanced and jarring at times when you run into a huge red barrier that says you can't enter because you're not the appropriate class .Combat is the typical MMO button mashing affair, with a couple added twists such as actual companions with interaction (good) and the occasional starship piloting sequence (on rails - could have been better). I can't really speak about PvP in any serious depth, so perhaps that might interest you. In conclusion, SW:TOR *might* be worth a try solely for the story, but it's very doubtful it will have anything to draw you back once you finish it, which is absolutely essential for an MMO.… Expand
  22. Uachet
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    SWTOR is a very mediocre offering that who's only claim to fame is a voice overs. The mechanics of the game are dated, the graphics are dated and glitchy, and the world itself seems to be tomb-like. Let me explain more on why the world seems like a tomb. Though you may see an indicator stating there are over 100 people in your particular area, for some amazing reason you only really everSWTOR is a very mediocre offering that who's only claim to fame is a voice overs. The mechanics of the game are dated, the graphics are dated and glitchy, and the world itself seems to be tomb-like. Let me explain more on why the world seems like a tomb. Though you may see an indicator stating there are over 100 people in your particular area, for some amazing reason you only really ever see about 5 to 10 other people. Also the worlds lack any fauna and talkative npcs outside of quest givers. It also lacks a day and night cycle, so depending on the planet you are on it is always day or always night (I felt no feeling of a passage of time).

    Anyhow, the developers seemed to have squandered there budget on voice talent (which is pretty good in some instances and poor in others). It is unfortunate for me that the most expensive online game created yet, is also the most shallow one I've experienced. This offering truly feels like a quick cash grab, instead of an attempt to make a game that is lasting.    … Expand
  23. EndOfRine
    Dec 22, 2011
    5
    I miss the days when reviews weren't paid for by the publisher of the game being reviewed. This game has some good points, to be sure, but any knucklehead giving it an 8-10 is deluding themselves, or flat out trolling. Personally, I didn't enjoy the game, as it was way, way, way too similar to WoW, but if that's your thing, more power to ya, but PLEASE don't try and obfuscate the factI miss the days when reviews weren't paid for by the publisher of the game being reviewed. This game has some good points, to be sure, but any knucklehead giving it an 8-10 is deluding themselves, or flat out trolling. Personally, I didn't enjoy the game, as it was way, way, way too similar to WoW, but if that's your thing, more power to ya, but PLEASE don't try and obfuscate the fact that it IS a WoW clone, and they STATED that straying from the WoW formula was bad business.… Expand
  24. ref
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    A modest attempt from BioWare. Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't an awful game -- but it is a game we have all played before. This is basically every other MMORPG with voice overs. Quests are what you expect -- fetch 10 of this, kill 20 of these. It is one of these MMO's. The thing people like to bring up is how it is voiced -- the voice work for these fetch quests for the most part isA modest attempt from BioWare. Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't an awful game -- but it is a game we have all played before. This is basically every other MMORPG with voice overs. Quests are what you expect -- fetch 10 of this, kill 20 of these. It is one of these MMO's. The thing people like to bring up is how it is voiced -- the voice work for these fetch quests for the most part is average and not inspiring. Where this voice acting does immerse you is in the class stories. Most of the class stories are interesting, while others are predictable and subpar. A step above Dragon Age 2 writing quality, in my opinion. The classes themselves, are alright. All of these abilities you will be using should be familiar as they mechanically similar to every other MMO out there. This game has dungeons, raids, standard run of the mill features in an MMORPG. Basically, SWTOR is "meh". The voice acting and story does not make up for this reused and worse done game play that we have all seen before.… Expand
  25. Sevvy88
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    For years many gamers have watched and waited for a game that would pique their interest in the same way WoW did (and for many continues to) did years ago. The MMO market has been a dreadful one, and Bioware promised alot with this game. Did they deliver? Early signs are pointing, for the most part, yes. The game is extremely well put together. The zones flow well, the story clicks along,For years many gamers have watched and waited for a game that would pique their interest in the same way WoW did (and for many continues to) did years ago. The MMO market has been a dreadful one, and Bioware promised alot with this game. Did they deliver? Early signs are pointing, for the most part, yes. The game is extremely well put together. The zones flow well, the story clicks along, and the combat is solid, albeit traditional. If WoW expanded upon Everquest in all the right ways, then I believe SW:TOR continues this trend. MMO veterans will feel comfortable immediately with the UI and combat, but before you walk out, give it a chance. The story is what Bioware has been pushing HARD for this game, and at first I was skeptical. Let me tell you, the story in WoW never interested me, and I am an AVID reader to boot. Not the case with SW:TOR. I find myself "stepping into my character's shoes" quite constantly. The voice overs add immersion and, get this, Bioware did a FANTASTIC job of making sure that even if you are grouped, voice overs can be seamless. The voice acting is not Hollywood level, but for a video game, it is certainly above standard. Bioware is famous for their storytelling in games, and SW:TOR absolutely shines here. Gameplay wise the game strikes a fair balance between fairly easy and challenging. The game will require you to group at times to complete certain missions, many of which your companion will not be enough to make up the difference of lacking another player's help. I welcome this return of group questing. Fear not though, group quests are not overdone. There are far more solo quests than group quests, and while the solo quests are fairly easy, they are not insulting to the player's intelligence. That may be because I am still learning my class. :) Those who claimed this would be a "single player MMO" are only imposing that on themselves at this point. The most fun I have had in game has been in groups, and I find FREQUENT opportunities to play with others.

    The instances are fun and click along at a nice pace, here again, the story does wonders. Watching your group members gasp at you when, despite all of their choices, you win the conversation roll and choose a dark side option will never get old. It creates alot of opportunity for discussion and friendly banter. Great stuff. The instances are very do-able, but again, I didn't feel like my intelligence was insulted.

    Crafting feels traditional in some respects, but contains a twist: you can send your companion to gather materials and run "crew skill missions" for you while you quest, group in an instance, or just chill out in a city socializing. This is a GREAT addition. I've never met someone who enjoyed farming. There are still many nodes in the open game world for players to collect for materials as they quest as well. Again, Bioware striking a great balance. That really is the name of the game here: balance. Bioware didn't re-invent the wheel by any means, they kept it simple and traditional in many ways, but the spins they have put on it are refreshing and fun. If you are looking for a game that is unlike any MMO ever, then sadly, you will probably be disappointed, the game is by no means a "WoW clone" anymore than WoW was an "EQ clone." Good ideas build off of one another, they don't exist in vacuums. So why the 7 and not a 10 or a 9? Well, because the game can improve in many ways. There are still many bugs afflicting players, and Bioware's support team has been less than transparent about them. The UI cannot be customized, not even resized, and quite frankly, I find it maddening and unacceptable. The game could use better group forming tools, as right now you simply much spam a chat channel for a group. High res textures are also not working. The game still needs alot of love, and I don't think anyone will deny that if they take an honest look at the state of things.

    Overall, the game is solid, and I truly believe it has great potential to see success. Personally I am having a BLAST, and haven't enjoyed an MMO this much since my first journeys in WoW back in 2006. Great jobs Bioware, now just keep up the good work. That's going to be the hardest part... and the true test.    … Expand
  26. ufte34
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    hold on a sec, i see where this is going those people who are calming to reach max level, gave the game a rating of 0 on the first day, is that even possible (not even possible if you got access to the game before 5 days of release)?. those people who compares the game with XXX gave a rating of 1 or 2. those people who reached level 32 gave the game rating of 0(it's been 6 hours since thehold on a sec, i see where this is going those people who are calming to reach max level, gave the game a rating of 0 on the first day, is that even possible (not even possible if you got access to the game before 5 days of release)?. those people who compares the game with XXX gave a rating of 1 or 2. those people who reached level 32 gave the game rating of 0(it's been 6 hours since the game has been released). those people who are complain about a game being a grind gave the rating of 0-2, note to self if you are going to play an MMO it's a grind. those people who say it's a clone of another XXX mmo, every MMO has been an clone of others, get your brains examined. any one who compares this game to WOW gave a rating of 0. and most of those people never even played SWTOR.… Expand
  27. Superfly3176
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    Personally I like this game, it doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary but does some good things for the genre. Questing feels immersive, as a sith sorcerer every quest feels like I'm doing something to help win a war. The voice acting is above average, but it's new for the MMO genre. I can't count how many times I've accepted a quest in wow, and went right to the bottom where itPersonally I like this game, it doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary but does some good things for the genre. Questing feels immersive, as a sith sorcerer every quest feels like I'm doing something to help win a war. The voice acting is above average, but it's new for the MMO genre. I can't count how many times I've accepted a quest in wow, and went right to the bottom where it said "Collect x number of y". SW:TOR doesn't leave you feeling detached.

    The main quest for a sith seems to be pretty good so far, I'm level 20 on the 3rd planet. Combat is smooth, but not as smooth as wow's is. It seems to have a little bit of delay and just lacks that polished fluidity.

    Crafting/Collecting skills are half great, half a major pain. You can set your companions to do crafting or collecting missions, which really streamlines your leveling. The problem is it take forever for them to do it. One minute to craft a belt? Come on now. It also doesn't seem easy to find materials for things you need to craft.

    The game has more faults, while there's a lot of group quests, there doesn't feel like there's a lot of bosses or instances thus far up to level 20. Feels like there's less opportunity to group up in instances. It leads me to wonder if I decide to play Jedi 3 months down the road if there will be anyone around to do the group quests.

    The worlds don't seem very big during the first 2 planets, although I'm on the 3rd one and it feels much larger then the previous two. But even still for an entire plant to feel like it's the size of one zone in wow (think duskwood is just about korriban). The difference is SWTOR puts you in a lot of tunnels and "sub zones" for quests.

    Overall I'd give it a 6.5/10, it has potential but unless they come up with some endgame this is just going to be a leveling ordeal, in which case they should have just made it single player.    … Expand
  28. shadus
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    This game is a disappointment. That being said It's not a bad game. First the good points... The sound is one place the game really shined, but sound alone doesn't make a great game... and when I say sound I mean ALL of the sound. The music is very good, the voice acting and cut scene sounds are top notch productions as far as I've played in the game. If top end sound is a priority forThis game is a disappointment. That being said It's not a bad game. First the good points... The sound is one place the game really shined, but sound alone doesn't make a great game... and when I say sound I mean ALL of the sound. The music is very good, the voice acting and cut scene sounds are top notch productions as far as I've played in the game. If top end sound is a priority for you give this a try, it really does show where the future is headed and what can be done with a good budget and being willing to put forth some budget on the sound. The crafting system is also an improvement over the sit for 15m and watch a bar repeatedly zip to the top 400 times system that has become common place in many games. The downside is the combat and feel of the game is pretty much carbon copied from another large aaa game with a sci-fi skin pasted on it. The choices you have with your character feel contrived and limited as far as real skills go. The instancing level the game exhibits with 300 carbon copies running around doing exactly what I am doing being "the one" is a complete disappointment and is highly immersion breaking. The problem is, in my aspects it copied from another aaa game, but failed to innovate on the same formula. After the previous attempt with making a mmo with this ip it's easy to understand Bioware wanted to be more conservative, but they exceeded the bounds of reasonable in the degree of conservatism they are exhibiting. People have been playing games using roughly the same formula and style since the mid/late 90s and many are beginning to tire of the exact same formula. The biggest issue is that the game lacks the innovation you would hope to see in such a big aaa title. The game also lacks the polish you feel in the older games in the genre that it is similar to. The game already feels dated because of the many choices they made with regards to combat and core game play with many of the free to play games showing better feature sets even. However, if you're looking for a very well designed game that is largely a sci-fi re-skin or you're looking to be a part of the star wars universe as your primary concern, look no further-- this is the game for you. If you're looking for something different, something unique, and a change in functional way a game plays, this is not the game for you it fails completely on that front.… Expand
  29. Mozu
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    Rethinking my earlier review somewhat, I think a two is a bit harsh. A five is more in line with what you should expect from TOR. Mediocrity. It is simply a clunky WoW clone (in space!), with instanced zones, "romances", and tons of voice acting. I genuinely wanted to like this game, and for it to actually be the "WoW-killer". Instead we got a mediocre single-player game with MMORethinking my earlier review somewhat, I think a two is a bit harsh. A five is more in line with what you should expect from TOR. Mediocrity. It is simply a clunky WoW clone (in space!), with instanced zones, "romances", and tons of voice acting. I genuinely wanted to like this game, and for it to actually be the "WoW-killer". Instead we got a mediocre single-player game with MMO features that feel tacked on somehow. There's not much I can say that other reviewers haven't pointed out already. Bioware and EA took an IP with a ton of weight behind it, and a rabid fan base, and instead of making something that could've been huge and game-changing, as far as the MMO genre goes, they played it safe and lazy, frittering away time and absurd amounts of money, deciding that a WoW clone would be the easiest way to cash in on both the IP and the sense of familiarity that comes with being yet another WoW-wannabe. The only reason that I'm giving the game a 2 and and not a 1 is that the music really is excellent. My suspicion is that many of the 10s on here are either blind followers of all things Bioware, trolls, or shills for Bioware hiding behind false identities (which has happened before).… Expand
  30. JoeCool
    Dec 25, 2011
    6
    This game is not an MMO, the hole world is instanced, creating a rather empty feel when you play it. You'll run into other players but not a whole lot. Once too many players enter a zone another instance is created and you'll always have the same feel. While that may be good for immersion, it is blasphemy in MMO country. The game revolves around the story. While that story is often quiteThis game is not an MMO, the hole world is instanced, creating a rather empty feel when you play it. You'll run into other players but not a whole lot. Once too many players enter a zone another instance is created and you'll always have the same feel. While that may be good for immersion, it is blasphemy in MMO country. The game revolves around the story. While that story is often quite good, and as a single player game it would certainly have disappointed a whole lot less. However as an MMO you just have to label it the failure it is. If you're look for a Star Wars game, then this is one. If you're looking for an MMO, let alone a good one, better pass on this one.… 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

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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.
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  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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