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. Kharador
    Mar 14, 2012
    9
    This game is amazing! The best MMO out there, period. If you love star wars you will love this game. I've had so much fun with the story, companions, pvp, personal ship, spacebattles and so on... There is not much negative about this game.. I can't wait for future updates and expansion :) May the force be with you!
  2. wightdeath
    Mar 13, 2012
    8
    i thought it was a really good game, yes there was some grind but what would a mmo be without grinding?
    i have played rift and wow and they all have grinding so i just say sit back and enjoy the story and if you don't like it do not play it
  3. Csquared1
    Mar 13, 2012
    4
    1 Story : This game has pretty good story lines that are driven well throughout the journey to max level and all additional questing does a good job of adding flavor, this portion of the game rates very high for me.

    2 Gameplay and character advancement: Not going to sugar coat it...this is WoW reskinned and the space combat portion is Afterburner reskinned, there IS NO denying it, the    1 Story : This game has pretty good story lines that are driven well throughout the journey to max level and all additional questing does a good job of adding flavor, this portion of the game rates very high for me.

    2 Gameplay and character advancement: Not going to sugar coat it...this is WoW reskinned and the space combat portion is Afterburner reskinned, there IS NO denying it, the simularities are so legion, i'd need an entire page to list them. One thing they did do very well with was enabling players to advance with customizable armor peices, instead of requiring the player base to wear that levels' gear drops, but then they inexplicably drop the ball at max level with raid armor and high level pvp armors, making players take off their favorite look instead. I didn't so much mind the WoW cloning..except it's done poorly, which makes me wonder what took them developing this game. Glaring flaws include the clunky text chat system, the lack of any sort of macro system, which has been available in MMO's since Everquest, poor pet control and pathing, no voice chat and errors with exsisting 3rd party voice chat systems that simply shouldn't exsist in this day and age and a failure to make any sort of improvement on the talent tree system that WoW players are very used too. The space combat system? I played a lot of Afterburner in.....1990 i think, you'll have to forgive me it's been a long time. It was a good game, but to say that this could have been done better would be the understatement of the year...FOR GOD'S SAKE that's a 20+ YEAR old game feature!! So much could have been done with space combat....it could practically be it own game, but instead....Afterburner...this makes me want to punch babies. If you like Starwars this game is worth a look....so long as afterburner doens't piss you off. If you wanted a change from WoW this will be a good diversion for a while, but i'll say this, without major fixes this game will not last as long as it's parent. On the upside the development team do seem to be working overtime to make additions, at this point i'd still give this game a 50/50 shot at surviving past it's first year. There are game designers out there that are hungry. It seems as if this team has gotten a bit fat off of past success. A little about me before you assume: I've played Everquest, City of Heros/Villains, World of Warcraft on the MMO front.....and yes....I've played Afterburner...one of the kings of the coin-op generation IMO    … Expand
  4. PLANETX
    Mar 13, 2012
    7
    I have been waiting for this game to come out ever since it was officially acknowledged to the public. I was one of the people who went on the site every Friday looking for the weekly update. When the game finally came out I spent a lot of time leveling my character, moving through the story, and killing other players along the way. Overall the leveling experience is by far the best of anyI have been waiting for this game to come out ever since it was officially acknowledged to the public. I was one of the people who went on the site every Friday looking for the weekly update. When the game finally came out I spent a lot of time leveling my character, moving through the story, and killing other players along the way. Overall the leveling experience is by far the best of any MMO to date. The story is really what makes this game what it is, combing the best aspects of a singleplayer RPG, with an MMO was really mastered in swtor. However, with that all said there are still many problems. Unbalanced classes, an assortment of glitches which seem to never get fixed, and of course lack of good end-game content. Everyone plays an MMO for its end-game content, which is the whole point of leveling. Once you get there the Operations are very enjoyable, but then it gets way to repetitive way to fast, there are many bugs that still haven't been fixed, and of course a very small selection. They spent most of their time focusing on sucking people in early and mid game that they seemed to forget that the end game exists. People need something to do on their max level main character, it's not the point to create new characters, you want to be able to use your first character. Not being able to do that was really the fatal blow that caused me to quit. I enjoyed the game very much, I consider it a masterpiece among MMO's, but they still have a lot to work on if it's going to be worth playing at end game. I don't doubt that the future will cure the problems I faced, but for now it has yet to happen.… Expand
  5. airborne519
    Mar 12, 2012
    10
    IMO, I finally an mmo, that can satisfy. For an mmo in it's infancy, this game is extremely refined. I have been playing since launch, and I was very skeptical. I wasn't expecting this game to be so nicely involved with story, and great pvp. This game won't please everyone, and there are a lot of wow fanbois feeling the pain with their new happy pandas, and don't want to lose theirIMO, I finally an mmo, that can satisfy. For an mmo in it's infancy, this game is extremely refined. I have been playing since launch, and I was very skeptical. I wasn't expecting this game to be so nicely involved with story, and great pvp. This game won't please everyone, and there are a lot of wow fanbois feeling the pain with their new happy pandas, and don't want to lose their game. But if you want an mmo with some grit, and a game that entertains, this is a good one. At least try it and find out for yourself.… Expand
  6. kenny307
    Mar 11, 2012
    10
    The next king of the MMO! Before I play this game, I was determined to never play a game with a monthly subscription . My friend give me a 7 days trial period and i've played 12 hours each day of the week.. This MMO takes the best of WoW with new feature and beautiful environment to make a game almost perfect! The game have a lot of dialogue and quests! I recommend it !
  7. DictatorDobbs
    Mar 11, 2012
    10
    BioWare has succeeded again at making an amazing RPG. Not only does this game offer diverse and in-depth story-lines to all 8 of there characters, but it allows a smooth and enjoyable co-op system between friends and guild members. The instanced phase is very fun even when with friends and allows decision-making like in all BioWare games, forcing you to make strong and compelling choices.BioWare has succeeded again at making an amazing RPG. Not only does this game offer diverse and in-depth story-lines to all 8 of there characters, but it allows a smooth and enjoyable co-op system between friends and guild members. The instanced phase is very fun even when with friends and allows decision-making like in all BioWare games, forcing you to make strong and compelling choices. By far, the best MMORPG I have ever played. The combat is beautiful and smooth, and the graphics are by far the best in the MMORPG genre, in my opinion. It is not flashy and unnecessary, it is smooth and beautiful. All-in-all, if you are looking into a star wars game, an mmo, and RPG, a futuristic game, a co-op game.. Etc! This game succeeds in all categories!… Expand
  8. tunaah
    Mar 11, 2012
    8
    This game is quite similar to WoW in several aspects but there's something about it that makes it the second best MMO around if not as good as WoW. It is still close to its initial release so content is of course limited. Combat feels really responsive and spells feels varied(Sith Sorcerer), however the world seems a little static with a lot of still mobs and little patrols. In WoW simpleThis game is quite similar to WoW in several aspects but there's something about it that makes it the second best MMO around if not as good as WoW. It is still close to its initial release so content is of course limited. Combat feels really responsive and spells feels varied(Sith Sorcerer), however the world seems a little static with a lot of still mobs and little patrols. In WoW simple questing PvE could get tough with many patrolling mobs but in SWTOR it just doesn't feel alive, mobs just stand around and wait for an ambush. The still mobs can get patched though and it's not that big of deal when you experience all the other satisfying aspects. Leveling, gear collecting and the voice-acting are very satisfying. The games current state only holds mechanical mounts which is dull, imo. Organic mounts could very well occur in the future though. I've played WoW since its release in 2004 and overall I think I'll stick with SWTOR with hopes of good content patches, expansions, gameplay tweaks etc etc… Expand
  9. Khalisto
    Mar 10, 2012
    7
    The game is good till you reach top level, then it dies...the game will be better if it had a Looking For Group feature which it doesn't and also I wish it had Dual Spec then I would have given it a 9.
  10. goblue22
    Mar 10, 2012
    8
    This game successfully infuses story into an MMO. I've been craving this. In other MMOs I'd often walk into a raid with little to no back story or motivation as to why I was there aside from getting loot, so I could get more loot. That said the end game is currently a bit lacking because there are only 2 raids, both of which are incredibly easy. The PVP gearing is also incrediblyThis game successfully infuses story into an MMO. I've been craving this. In other MMOs I'd often walk into a raid with little to no back story or motivation as to why I was there aside from getting loot, so I could get more loot. That said the end game is currently a bit lacking because there are only 2 raids, both of which are incredibly easy. The PVP gearing is also incredibly frustrating. However, I'm confident that this game will get better as it grows and develops. A year from now I hope to be able to revise my review to a 9 or 10; but, for now 8/10.… Expand
  11. WJS6495
    Mar 9, 2012
    7
    Pros: SWTOR is a very fun and refreshing look from other MMO's. Huge game for a launch mmo, nice graphics, the largest voice-over in mmo history, space ship missions, refreshingly different PvP zones and LIGHTSABERS!! Cons: feels like a single player mmo, still some bugs that need to be ironed out, needs more social tools like flashpoint finder and heroic mission finder.
  12. Midgen
    Mar 8, 2012
    8
    Love this game. As a former hardcore MMO player, resigned to a casual style due to real life taking precedence, and being a fan of the Sci Fi genre in general, this game really fits the bill for me. Don't get me wrong. There are flaws. The UI is my biggest complain for being non-customizable. The gameplay itself is really great. My main character is a smuggler (sawbones), and I haveLove this game. As a former hardcore MMO player, resigned to a casual style due to real life taking precedence, and being a fan of the Sci Fi genre in general, this game really fits the bill for me. Don't get me wrong. There are flaws. The UI is my biggest complain for being non-customizable. The gameplay itself is really great. My main character is a smuggler (sawbones), and I have to say that this character is the most fun I've had playing an MMO... ever! Very utilitarian and very entertaining. She brings a lot of utility to groups with crowd control, group stealth, interrupts and stuns, not to mention the heals and damage, all of which she is quite adept at. Solo can be a challenge, but it just takes some strategy and good decisions when choosing companions.

    I haven't been this drawn to a game since the early days of Everquest back in 1999. I've actually stayed up too late, and been tempted to play hooky form work for this, which is something I haven't done in a long long time for a video game.

    The announcment of patch 1.2, coming in early April, which addresses the UI configurability issue lets me bump this up from an 8 to a 9. I'd give it a 10 but there are still some strange things in the game that can occiasionally break the immersion (like my companions staying in the same place on my ship, saying the same stale sayings over and over, while they are supposed to be out doing crew skills!).    … Expand
  13. 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
  14. beelzebram
    Mar 8, 2012
    10
    SWTOR has gone above and beyond with their game. the people that are detractors are foolish in their attempt to destroy something that far surpasses all other MMOS on the market currently.
  15. Nichtswisser
    Mar 8, 2012
    3
    This game teaches a lesson everyone should learn. It's the lesson that **** can be transformed into gold, at least in the minds of man (and women), with enough advertising money. It really is amazing what enough propaganda (advertisement = product propaganda) can accomplish. I mean it's supposed to me a massive multiplayer game, yet uses an outdated engine which can not handle massive atThis game teaches a lesson everyone should learn. It's the lesson that **** can be transformed into gold, at least in the minds of man (and women), with enough advertising money. It really is amazing what enough propaganda (advertisement = product propaganda) can accomplish. I mean it's supposed to me a massive multiplayer game, yet uses an outdated engine which can not handle massive at all. When things get "massive", you can count the fps with the fingers on one hand. And pretty much everything else is somewhere between below average and average in this game with exception of the soundtrack and the star ware license..Oh yeah, and the pvp, that is outright terrible. With input delay from hell and balancing apparently done by the dark lord of the sith himself. Basically all sith abilities with extremely few exceptions are superior to their republican counterpart. Add to that all the other advantages the empire side has and it's pretty clear why the republic side is outnumbered like there is no tomorrow on most servers. Avoid at all costs and wait for Tera or Guild Wars 2.… Expand
  16. btowtow
    Mar 7, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do overall like this game and could come to love it and find while this game has some flaws e.g. the lack of major end game content, some serious bugs, some class imbalances and too many servers being drafted in too quickly that need to be quickly for this game to realise its full potential the game remains true to what bioware said it would be , a mmmorpg with heavily involved story and they have however this may not be to some peoples tastes and that is ok as for some just want to get on levelling the character that they have made with the array of different and interesting companions . However for those that choose to step back and analyse the game fully the story element is very good with 8 differentiating class quests that weave through some famous and not so famous planets. The quests on those planets that everybody has access to are reasonably good with some interesting variations but in some places becoming too grind like however for the overall majority that is not the case. PVP people are very divided about this and once again it comes down to personal preference but if you enjoy being able to go in the wow way with brackets then you will be disappointed the bracket only encompasses level 50's. However in 10-49 this does add a level of competition and there is a reasonable level of fairness which people at higher levels do not like their characters at level 49 being killed by a level 10. Also the pvp maps are similar of that to wow which is not particularly surprising as they came out with videos about it months before launch. Instances when you get in them are very good with some nice star wars music , wit and smooth combat mechanics ( well now smooth with decreased ability delay) and the added story lines making them feel more epic not just like large group quests as well as having some nice graphical features like the asteroid launcher in Hammer station and if you stop and look at it properly you will see they have not just spent all the money on voice acting which seems to be the belief from many low scoring reviews. Graphics are good but again personal taste in the type of graphics you want making a difference with some uncalled for reactions about the stylised realism that relates to the kotor days which I like. The sound features and music are also excellent and really take you into the universe. This immersion aspect has been bashed beyond belief and im not sure why because having been in wow and lotro this is the first time i have been able to want to see what happens to my character and this keeps you playing. Endgame not good but not a game breaker as I can make new chars with the 8 class stories and two factions on different planets and quest lines. The endgame raids are extremely difficult to get people for and loot bugs and boss bugs to provide frustration this then needs to be fixed and hopefully new endgame content in 1.2 will provide more entertainment but people seem to put reviews out based solely on endgame which is only one of the features you need to consider. Guild features are severely lacking and inhibit the feeling of community which you need but is apparent elsewhere throughout with the large numbers of group quests which you can mostly get a group for. I hope that this game realises its full potential and moves from a good game to a great game and with high profile releases such as Tera and GW2 coming out . Also I hope that people will give this game some time and seemingly trying to put off people by over exaggerating and that also goes both ways for those who give it 10's as it is not the best game ever but with time it could be. I just hope the unjustified level of vitriol and praise will dies down with a lot of low + high reviews at this early stage to allow the game to develop… Expand
  17. Wynnyelle
    Mar 7, 2012
    1
    This game promised a lot and didn't deliver. They pushed their voice acting innovation so hard, and it sounds nice until you get into the game and realize that that is literally all that they have going for them. There is a complete lack of competitive PvP, the end-game is just lacking in general. Graphically, it's not terrible, but it is not aesthetically pleasing in any way and bigThis game promised a lot and didn't deliver. They pushed their voice acting innovation so hard, and it sounds nice until you get into the game and realize that that is literally all that they have going for them. There is a complete lack of competitive PvP, the end-game is just lacking in general. Graphically, it's not terrible, but it is not aesthetically pleasing in any way and big cities feel empty and lifeless. If this game were free to play, I would understand, but this is a game that people are expected to pay monthly for. Where is the content?… Expand
  18. Biowarelol
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    Another example of terrible Bioware development. -The worst writing you could imagine, quests, class stories make no sense whatsoever
    -Complete lack of class balance, no combat log to hide that flaw
    -Terrible performance -There's nothing unique about races you can choose from: there's human, human with implants, green human, blue human, red human, bald and pale human, human with horns.    Another example of terrible Bioware development. -The worst writing you could imagine, quests, class stories make no sense whatsoever
    -Complete lack of class balance, no combat log to hide that flaw
    -Terrible performance
    -There's nothing unique about races you can choose from: there's human, human with implants, green human, blue human, red human, bald and pale human, human with horns. Only Twi'leks are somehow unique.
    -There's no point in playing on pvp servers, because each zone is designed in such way that you will almost never meet players from the other faction while questing.
    -The game was supposed to be an innovation, refresing breeze in MMOs. Instead, this is just another WoW clone, with NOTHING new or creative.    … Expand
  19. Mudpuppyuk
    Mar 7, 2012
    2
    This game is a huge let down. The leveling prosess of your first character is fun but you strat to notice the very linear play style, lifeless worlds and the way both factions are kept apart throught out the game. Once at level cap you find the game is nothing more than a lobby game where you look for a dungeon group in ONE laggy social hub through spamming the general chat channel. OrThis game is a huge let down. The leveling prosess of your first character is fun but you strat to notice the very linear play style, lifeless worlds and the way both factions are kept apart throught out the game. Once at level cap you find the game is nothing more than a lobby game where you look for a dungeon group in ONE laggy social hub through spamming the general chat channel. Or queuing up for a boring pvp battleground (there is little to no world pvp) Crafting is all but automated as well as gathering. In all this is the most dumbed down, linear and dull MMORPG I have ever played.… Expand
  20. Dyalad
    Mar 7, 2012
    6
    I don't believe this game should've been a MMO. It feels more of a poorly executed single player game with a co-op option. By poorly executed I mean that there's a lot of good ideas that were brought on the table, but in the end were poorly implemented. For first, the companion concept was a great idea. The inherent problem with companions, however, is that they become mandatory to killI don't believe this game should've been a MMO. It feels more of a poorly executed single player game with a co-op option. By poorly executed I mean that there's a lot of good ideas that were brought on the table, but in the end were poorly implemented. For first, the companion concept was a great idea. The inherent problem with companions, however, is that they become mandatory to kill anything at your level. Also these companions' equipment must be constantly kept on par with your own equipment. If forces you to stick to one to two companions at most, and that's quite unfortunate, because all the companions are worth experiencing. Secondly, the ship. The ship feels like the camp in Dragon Age: Origins. However the way it acts in SWTOR is more of an additional loading screen rather than something genuinely helpful - in DA you have vendors and you could equip your companions there. In SWTOR you can't do either. The ship has space combat, which essentially is a mini-game that's extremely repetitive: the music for space combat is the same for each of the space combat sequence you pick. Also, some space missions are exactly identical to another space mission, with the only difference of enemies being stronger. Concerning performance and quality, the game lags a lot. In PVP the game is not reactive at all - sometimes your keystrokes may occur up to 5 seconds later, this is very infuriating. The interface is rigid and uncomfortable. As a healer, I found that unit frames positioning is not ergonomical, and I had no way to change it to make it better for me. The status effects icons are tiny and can't be rescaled. That makes tracking buffs and debuffs extremely hard and tedious. One of the pride of the game is its story, which I did enjoy, but what I did not enjoy was the pace at which it was delivered. I played a scoundrel to level 50 and an imperial agent to 30. The first character was leveled as a solo experience, and the other character was a 2 player (bounty hunter) coop effort. What I found in both situations was that for a 2 minutes of dialog and action, I sometimes had about 1 hour worth of fighting and/or travelling. One thing that SWTOR suffers from (and that is the case of every Bioware game) Way too many loading screens. The amount of loading screens in this game blows my mind away. Get on the ship, loading screen. Get on the spacedock, loading screen. Get on the planet, loading screen. World of Warcraft does a far better job at pacing the loading screens than this game does. In conclusion: the game should not be subscription-based. You're pretty much paying for a game that you'll be mostly playing by yourself.… Expand
  21. NinjaCrow
    Mar 7, 2012
    7
    I'll keep this short, the story is perhaps the strongest point in this game however it is let down by the MMO aspect. I find that as stand alone stories go this is up there with it's engaging and interesting story lines. For instance the Bounty Hunter is a separate and interesting campaign to say the Sith Inquisitor. While I have found no real overlaps in terms of one classes campaign evenI'll keep this short, the story is perhaps the strongest point in this game however it is let down by the MMO aspect. I find that as stand alone stories go this is up there with it's engaging and interesting story lines. For instance the Bounty Hunter is a separate and interesting campaign to say the Sith Inquisitor. While I have found no real overlaps in terms of one classes campaign even being referenced in the other campaign which is a shame since the stories overlapping would have provided a reason to find out how they got there and what they would be doing after they departed. All in all, it's a solid game with a great story. Shame that the MMO aspect just about ruined the experience because you don't feel as if your getting stronger in the world, just that the world is growing stronger with you. However I suppose you would have to keep some check on the powers as to not to break the game. Graphics are dated, however for a MMO this is expected because of the approach that everyone should be able to play this game and not have their experience diminished as a result of poor frame rate or glitching.… Expand
  22. snoobrouf
    Mar 5, 2012
    3
    not bad until lvl 50 but then...nothing ... the space vaccum :)

    graphics suck, space travelling and fighting are horrible, quests are ok, pvp is resumed by a kind of futur sport game like speedball, craft is useless and too easy,

    well... for a ctrl+c ctrl+v of wow, it's a fake mmo and star wars game... bring us back the swg style !
  23. Barua124
    Mar 4, 2012
    8
    I'm really surprised at how many WoWtards are writing bad reviews out of spite for this game. It's not a bad game at all. Sure there's a few bugs here and there, but for the most part the game is pretty rock solid. Gameplay is similar to WoW and other MMOs in that you kill ten rats, go here, deliver that, and so on. Nothing new with the quests. However ALL quests are voice acted, many ofI'm really surprised at how many WoWtards are writing bad reviews out of spite for this game. It's not a bad game at all. Sure there's a few bugs here and there, but for the most part the game is pretty rock solid. Gameplay is similar to WoW and other MMOs in that you kill ten rats, go here, deliver that, and so on. Nothing new with the quests. However ALL quests are voice acted, many of which are actually interesting. There's real story in this game that players do care about. Character customization is pretty good. Not as good as CoH, but substantially better than other MMOs on the market. Classes seem for the most part balanced in PvP situations. World environments look pretty good as the developers obviously put a lot of attention into that.

    The only drawback to this game is that it can get a little repetitive. Anyone who gives this game a rating of 6 or less obviously has never played the game before.    … Expand
  24. Mysk
    Mar 2, 2012
    10
    Some of the negative reviews are quite frankly outright lies. Most likely fanboys of That Other Game. Anyways, this is the MMO we gamers have been waiting for. The graphics are quite good, far better than WoW without hindering performance. The voice acting is top notch, so I actually stop to listen to the quest, unlike other games where I ignore the wall of text and just click "accept".Some of the negative reviews are quite frankly outright lies. Most likely fanboys of That Other Game. Anyways, this is the MMO we gamers have been waiting for. The graphics are quite good, far better than WoW without hindering performance. The voice acting is top notch, so I actually stop to listen to the quest, unlike other games where I ignore the wall of text and just click "accept". Story is the key, bread and butter, whatever you want to call it for SWTOR. Every class as a storyline consisting of a prologue and 3 chapters, starting at level 1 and ending at 50. Each planet has a main storyline with many having a Bonus Series for when you gain higher levels. These Bonus Series are not rehashing existing areas or quests, but takes you to new areas on the planet you visited at a previous time. Once you get your ship, you have optional Space Missions (with dailies) you can do if you want a change of pace from questing. The companions are more than just "pets" as they can fill various roles and each have their own personalities (with quest lines). Example of this is we lost our healer to a disconnect during a flashpoint, but we used a healer companion and finished the flashpoint (instance). Boss fights are more than just "don't stand in the fire, Tank n Spank". One flashpoint actually doesn't have bosses (cept 1 at the end). The game is rich in lore for those that played Knights of the Old Republic, but for those that didn't you still can enjoy all the lore regardless. Explorer types can be rewarded by finding datacrons scattered on every planet, each granting a permanent bonus. Whenever you find a key location, datacron or kill a new beast for the 1st time you unlock a codex entry granting you xp and a lore entry.

    PvP'ers will be happy with the warzones as they offer experience, credits and bonus depending on how you perform. Do better in PvP you get more rewards at the end of the match. Plus PvP items can be acquired as early as 20 and can be vendored if you no longer want them. No more outgrown items gathering dust in your banks! A lot of the gear is customazable, so that the days of wearing some ugly item just because of the stats are gone. As you level up just put in higher modifications and the armor/damage of the items scales up. Yes this also includes lightsaber and blaster bolt colors as well.

    Crafting does not require you stand in front of a table making X bracers for an hour to skill up. Simply send out companions on crew skill tasks to gather mats or craft for you while you continue... whatever you want to continue. You can gather in the field if you run across mats, but it's a nice option that if you are missing a specific mat, you can simply send a crewman out and (after a time delay) you get your mats.

    A fantastic game that you must play to believe. One of the rare times that a game has actually lived up to the hype.    … Expand
  25. haydensterling
    Mar 1, 2012
    3
    Are. You. Kidding. Me? This score just proves how bought and paid for gaming journos are. I played for the first month. Everything is instanced. Everything. Skillsets are...underwhelming and reaction time on casts is poor. How on earth can you release an MMO in 2011 and not have endgame? Have they learned nothing from the speed at which WoW players are able to blow through content?Are. You. Kidding. Me? This score just proves how bought and paid for gaming journos are. I played for the first month. Everything is instanced. Everything. Skillsets are...underwhelming and reaction time on casts is poor. How on earth can you release an MMO in 2011 and not have endgame? Have they learned nothing from the speed at which WoW players are able to blow through content? More excuses from EA/Bioware. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

    And as for the vaunted voiced dialogue? Better left unsaid, pun intended.    … Expand
  26. SpecialKris
    Feb 29, 2012
    4
    My experience with the game is that of 2 level 50 characters and another in the mid 20's. This said this is a difficult game to review as it does some things very right but there are other glaring deficiencies that certainly drag it down. Starting with a positive, The game looks quite good, and if you are a star wars fan the story modes for each class is generally excellent and whileMy experience with the game is that of 2 level 50 characters and another in the mid 20's. This said this is a difficult game to review as it does some things very right but there are other glaring deficiencies that certainly drag it down. Starting with a positive, The game looks quite good, and if you are a star wars fan the story modes for each class is generally excellent and while very linear does draw you in and will keep you interested. The game also has heroic objectives on each planet, which encourage you to join groups of 2-4 to complete for good rewards, though at this stage they are becoming difficult to complete as they aren't necessary to progress and the numbers in the leveling portion of the game playing are certainly decreasing. Upon reaching the level cap you do remember unfortunately that the game is a MMO and at this it fails at this quite badly quite badly. The PvP is horrible, both unbalanced and very unrewarding. With only 3 battlegrounds and an inability to queue for the ones you enjoy (if there magically is one you can enjoy) you are simply stuck playing what the game gives you. The battlegrounds are server specific too, and you will find yourself coming up against the same squads time and time again. Great if you're winning not so great if your losing. The world PvP is mostly set in one zone, and at this point in time is not doing well either. You are stuck in an instanced environment with generally extremely unbalanced numbers on either side that is suffering from a plethora of bugs. Most people playing are also suffering from extreme frame-rate chopping which make this style of combat even more un-enjoyable. As for Instances (flash points) , they are very story based, which I admit first time through felt quite good, but upon multiple - which in any mmo you can be expected to have to do - runs they get long, drawn and boring. You can skip the multiple cut-scenes and text which is good, but only if the other members of you group do as well. That said some of the bosses are well designed with quite good mechanics, though the trash to get to them can be quite extensive and from my experience I've found the dungeon completion time a bit on the long side. One last complaint in this regard is that all the dungeons are based in the general area of your main faction base. In theory this should be great, but actually finding the dungeon you are after can become a bit of a chore, and the game would benefit immensely from a flashpoint finder/or teleport to the instance function.

    For the diehard MMO fan too the loot is a bit of a letdown. Most slots of armor in the game are 'socketed'. This means that the item graphic you love at the start of the game could theoretically be with you until the end if you just keep changing the items that are inside. A good mechanic, though it takes something from the joy in getting a new item drop as it is often just the same as what you had, particularly if you've been keeping on top of modding your items.

    In conclusion this is a good game if you are a star wars fan wanting to play through a long an extensive story mode. If you are just an MMO fan looking for great combat, well designed encounters and phat lewt I would probably give it a miss.    … Expand
  27. boomer0901
    Feb 28, 2012
    0
    The scores you see from the users vs critics should tell you all you need to know about this game.

    First off I'm a star wars fans, have been for a long time since the originals came out originally. Now I must say I was a bioware fan until they joined with EA, I just started playing Mass effect, coulnd't stomach Dragon Age, and I've only played a few minutes of Kotor. As soon as I    The scores you see from the users vs critics should tell you all you need to know about this game.

    First off I'm a star wars fans, have been for a long time since the originals came out originally. Now I must say I was a bioware fan until they joined with EA, I just started playing Mass effect, coulnd't stomach Dragon Age, and I've only played a few minutes of Kotor. As soon as I started playing Mass Effect, I'm like ohhhh this is where SWTOR got all their crap from. So bioware really took no iniative in anything in this game, it's a slice and patch job and it shows in so many ways in this game. I could care less about graphics and character creature, so I won't give my opinions on those, but I will say I'm running a high end system and this game set on the lowest overall setting possible is trying to burn out my video card with 70+ C temps. The rest of my box and CPU run well below 40C but for some reason this game is very GPU heavy. Bugs and stuff like that are pretty common on release so I have no problems with bugs on a new release, they are fixing the bugs which is nice, but while they are doing that, they've left the game and things like balancing toons in pvp, and open world pvp or lack there of kicked it to the curb with small fixes that literally have done nothing to improve the game. What I do have a problem with in this game is the overall direction they took with it, instances single player RPG that you are paying for. At least GW was free for the same cocept and sadly I'd put GW1 ahead of this game still and problem still is innovation wise.

    Boy do I have to shake my head at the ppl who give this a 10 saying this is the best MMO out there and how much better than wow it is, it is wow with companions, blasters=bows, lightsabers=axes/swords. Other thans putting a new face on something, giving you ships, with lack luster space missions that are all completely and totally linear. And being able to travel to different planets, which if they really wanted too, could have just put them all on one planet anyway, they did a lot to try and do the "hey look shiny objective" But came up very, very short. This game is a huge grind, I've 10 total toons on 2 servers and I've done the same missions 10 times on about 5 different planets, what happened to playing all these different toons with different experiences, about the only difference is your unique quest, and playing light or dark, which on the imperial side is a joke btw, since half the fricking companions hate light side choices, republic side I'm finding is a cake walk, light side choices equals instant win with companion.

    I can't believe bioware had the balls to make ppl pay for this game, don't be fooled by the 10's ppl, if you hated wow, I don't care how much you like starwars this game will not satisfy you. After disappointing runs by Mortal online, xyson and now Swtor, hears hoping Guild wars 2 can actually pull of some of that innovation they are talking about. Keeping my fingers crossed for something that isn't a wow clone    … Expand
  28. 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
  29. Honest_Review
    Feb 27, 2012
    4
    I was pretty excited about the release of this game; and I got it knowing that it was going to be "just another MMORPG". The character editing tools are limited, but no more than any other MMORPG. I feel the class quests are where the game shines. I only poked around the Imperial Agent and Inquisitor's storyline, but I was impressed with the development of their stories. PVP is similar toI was pretty excited about the release of this game; and I got it knowing that it was going to be "just another MMORPG". The character editing tools are limited, but no more than any other MMORPG. I feel the class quests are where the game shines. I only poked around the Imperial Agent and Inquisitor's storyline, but I was impressed with the development of their stories. PVP is similar to WOW, with fewer maps. As for the space battles, I was disappointed to find out that they were scripted, similar to a Star Fox level; but I feel it's better to have scripted space battles than none at all. This game could have easily received a 7 or 8, but SWTOR has more bugs than a pay-by-the-hour motel room's mattress. The bugs in this game break the game. The company is doing a good job at fixing these bugs, but at their current rate SWTOR won't be worth your money for another 4-6 months.… Expand
  30. darkcerb
    Feb 27, 2012
    2
    I can forgive the lack of content, it is after all a brand new game.

    What I can't forgive is a game engine that would be outdated 4-5 years ago that struggles desperatly and in vein on a decent rig, a complete lack of innovative features we've come to expect from the genre i.e a decent auction interface, decent grouping tool and cross server pvp. The full voiced questing system will WOW    I can forgive the lack of content, it is after all a brand new game.

    What I can't forgive is a game engine that would be outdated 4-5 years ago that struggles desperatly and in vein on a decent rig, a complete lack of innovative features we've come to expect from the genre i.e a decent auction interface, decent grouping tool and cross server pvp. The full voiced questing system will WOW you until you realize that there are only three quests, destroy objects, kill dudes, loot dudes no escorts bombing runs or vehicle sections to be seen and to top it all off your actions have no effect on the world whatsoever so all that wonderful fluff every npc vomits into your ears is wasted.

    To say the gameplay borrows from wow implies any work beyond cutting and pasting was involved right down to the trees of each class being re-written tooltips.

    If you want kotor 3 then this is your game, if you want a star wars mmo with a beautifully and handcrafted story for your class and easy to jump into group play then tough cookies because this isn't it.

    This will of course come across as harsh but to have my expectations raised so high only to be shattered into a thousand poorly copied world of warcraft pieces feels like a betrayal and a waste of my money.    … Expand
  31. JediL1c1ous
    Feb 26, 2012
    3
    I feel somehow disconnected with the world after reading "critic" reviews and playing this game for myself. Are these people getting paid or something? Are the reviewers new to the MMORPG genre? I was so underwhelmed with this game that I stopped playing after hitting level 12. Now I feel that I'm missing something that everyone else is supposedly seeing. Maybe I'm just tired of thisI feel somehow disconnected with the world after reading "critic" reviews and playing this game for myself. Are these people getting paid or something? Are the reviewers new to the MMORPG genre? I was so underwhelmed with this game that I stopped playing after hitting level 12. Now I feel that I'm missing something that everyone else is supposedly seeing. Maybe I'm just tired of this genre. Someone needs to change it up from the same old formula. Games like Tera and Guild Wars 2 appear to be on the right track.… Expand
  32. Ukrutor
    Feb 26, 2012
    10
    Finally a good RPG with story and moral choices. I don't care it's MMO, i want a decent single player game with character i can roleplay and with companions i can talk to. This game has both. Star wars unvierse feels very real in this game. Dungeons are funny, because they contain dialogues and epic stories.
  33. usslaver
    Feb 24, 2012
    10
    Absolutely amazing game. Stunning visuals and graphics. Best story-line out of any MMO ever! The raids started out a little buggy but are constantly being fixed. New content comes out quickly. Extremely fun and well worth your time and money. 10/10
  34. Duderoth
    Feb 24, 2012
    8
    This game has its share of disappointments, but overall I think Star Wars: The Old Republic is an extraordinarily strong foundation to be built upon. After taking a 3-week break for midterm exams, I finally finished my Bounty Hunter's story line, and I feel I have experienced enough of the game to write a realistic review (although I can't really discuss PVP if that's what you're into,This game has its share of disappointments, but overall I think Star Wars: The Old Republic is an extraordinarily strong foundation to be built upon. After taking a 3-week break for midterm exams, I finally finished my Bounty Hunter's story line, and I feel I have experienced enough of the game to write a realistic review (although I can't really discuss PVP if that's what you're into, since my computer isn't good enough to handle it). That point actually brings my to my first gripe in that I think Bioware hyped the low graphics requirements, as compared to WoW, a little too much. This game barely works on my computer. I can do flashpoints but that's about the extent to which I can go. Other than that there are fairly frequent graphics bugs to be encountered, as well as some gameplay glitches that are in a very speedy ironing-out process at the moment. That at least is appreciated. Now that I've got my bigger gripes out of the way, let me just state this point-blank. I love this game. It is fantastic. Looking past the bugs, if you are a gamer who appreciates good story, good character development, and a fleshed-out world, this game delivers like no other ever has. It scratched both my open-world Bethesda and my MMO itches simultaneously. How did it do this? This game, if you are into PVE stuff, is essentially 8 single-player games with streamlined and infused multiplayer functionality. You can go through all you adventures solo easily if you want to, and have a great time doing it. Or at any point you can group up with people for questing, flashpoints, PvP, you name it. Bioware has also taken a lot of the grind out of the MMO experience. I felt like I was playing for the story, and that I actually cared about the questing between the beginning and level cap, instead of racing to get to 85 as I have done so often in WoW. Crafting is also much more fun, and much faster than WoW's. Again, very much appreciated. Once you do finish the main questline, however, there isn't yet a whole lot to do, but Bioware is working on that and what they do have in terms of endgame PVE material is at least solid. Overall, what I just can't get over is how much more mature the stories feel in this game compared to, in fact, *any* of the Star Wars movies. So that said, if you are interested in a incredibly well fleshed-out Star Wars adventure and story experience with MMO integration, than I cannot recommend this game highly enough. For those of you who are just interested in PvPing and racing your way to the end, perhaps not so much. I do feel this game is better than the 5.8 it currently has however, it just might not be for everybody.… Expand
  35. Gratson
    Feb 23, 2012
    6
    Decent game with lots of potential but so many things missing that could make it go from OK to great.

    The graphics are good. Crafting is fun but horribly unbalanced. But the server population is dead on some servers (massive pain for my Republic character to form groups, esp during offhours). There are no server transfers to fix this. There are no cross-server queues, so you're stuck    Decent game with lots of potential but so many things missing that could make it go from OK to great.

    The graphics are good. Crafting is fun but horribly unbalanced. But the server population is dead on some servers (massive pain for my Republic character to form groups, esp during offhours). There are no server transfers to fix this. There are no cross-server queues, so you're stuck pvping the same people over and over and over (since each server is rather small). Ilum is a joke. Warzones are fun, but they get boring after a while (Ilum could save that, but it needs a lot of work). Raiding is ok. The storyline is good but it gets repetative after you've leveled one character up in the same faction. MMOs are all about raiding and pvp, storyline won't keep you interested for more than a month or two. And MMO storyline is never that great, no matter how you sugar coat it, you just can't make it as truly epic as a great single player game since you have 1000s of players who are all "saving the galaxy" 50 times a day and killing the same mobs over and over.

    What it needs:

    Cross server queues.
    Server transfers
    More interesting and dynamic world pvp (see guild wars 2 or DaoC)
    Ranking system for pvp
    Balanced crafting system (horribly unbalanced right now)    … Expand
  36. zenzu
    Feb 23, 2012
    4
    Character creation is a let down. Graphics and overall art direction is a complete let down, I was hoping for gritty shadows of the empire and got bright and colorful jar jar. The stories are wonderful... if I wasn't always distracted by how silly and cartoonish the NPC's are. I'm a huge star wars fun, and I think this game has tonnes of potential... almost exactly how age of conan hadCharacter creation is a let down. Graphics and overall art direction is a complete let down, I was hoping for gritty shadows of the empire and got bright and colorful jar jar. The stories are wonderful... if I wasn't always distracted by how silly and cartoonish the NPC's are. I'm a huge star wars fun, and I think this game has tonnes of potential... almost exactly how age of conan had tonnes of potential. Age of Conan failed due to horrendous bugs, swtor might because it was made like a carebears episode.… Expand
  37. kronosiii
    Feb 23, 2012
    3
    The game itself is not a full completed mmo. Leveling areas are instanced not allowing over 5 people on YOUR same planet at a time. No end game exist at all, once you played the single player story you are basically done with the game. It seemed like it tried to enter new grounds but it was not the correct way to do so. Majoring in story and not paying attention to gameplay and end game isThe game itself is not a full completed mmo. Leveling areas are instanced not allowing over 5 people on YOUR same planet at a time. No end game exist at all, once you played the single player story you are basically done with the game. It seemed like it tried to enter new grounds but it was not the correct way to do so. Majoring in story and not paying attention to gameplay and end game is the true killer to this game. I won't even say it is worth a try, the game should be free to play with so many problems with it. The game might of been great if it focused on single player aspects with co-up added but it is anything but an mmo.

    I myself am A big star Wars fan and found myself disappointed with how this game played out. Normally I will eat up anything star wars related, but this game is all levels of embarrassing.    … Expand
  38. Jinzouningen
    Feb 19, 2012
    5
    If this game came out as a single player game (which it is) with a co-op option my score would be different. I actually played one character to level 50. People who review should play to the max level. I had to force myself to just to say that i had. Story is a plus, voice acting is a plus but this isnt an MMO. Team fortress 2 is more of an MMO than this. If I only had to pay $60 for theIf this game came out as a single player game (which it is) with a co-op option my score would be different. I actually played one character to level 50. People who review should play to the max level. I had to force myself to just to say that i had. Story is a plus, voice acting is a plus but this isnt an MMO. Team fortress 2 is more of an MMO than this. If I only had to pay $60 for the game and no monthly I would have played all the class story lines. Nothing in this game atm and i mean nothing is worth paying a $15 monthly. If you buy it, dont worry about upgrading your hardware. It wont help anything or add any benefits visually. Heres a warning i wish i had before hand. The game is heavily instanced not going to guess why but it is. You'll be able to run around a whole planet and see no one else. Background (mountains, buildling etc) are just that backgrounds. You cant explore them or even get close to them. Its like a painting back there for decoration. if you buy this choose a server that has a heavy / very heavy population. Even if it has a queue youll be glad you did. As empty as the game will seem atleast maybe with a H VH server youll have a chance to group with someone for flashpoints. Servers with Low or so called standard pops make it almost impossible to get a group without a hours worth of spamming for one. It says Star Wars on the box which hooked alot of people, but be ready to be extremely disappointed or pleasantly pleased.… Expand
  39. 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
  40. Euangelion3o9
    Feb 19, 2012
    8
    Great AAA MMO, there are two reasons I give it an 8 instead of 10. The first is character customization and gear styles, there are not many gear variations for each armor class and the armor all looks extremely similar. Character creation is extremely basic for today's MMO standards, every race is basically a human with some dye or horns on the face, a big part of Star Wars are the aliens.Great AAA MMO, there are two reasons I give it an 8 instead of 10. The first is character customization and gear styles, there are not many gear variations for each armor class and the armor all looks extremely similar. Character creation is extremely basic for today's MMO standards, every race is basically a human with some dye or horns on the face, a big part of Star Wars are the aliens. The second issue is the combat is slow and very repetitive. There are not enough skills and characters do not hit hard enough for my taste.

    However, every thing else is spot on. The music is excellent and never gets old, the graphics and art are not my style but they are very well done. The grouped instances are fun and some can be a challenge. The voice acting can be cheesy but otherwise very well done and keeps you in the story. The UI is works smoothly and is very functional. The classes are interesting and have a nice amount of customization via skill trees. Having a continuing story theme from planet to planet is also great. Leveling just doesn't feel like a chore in this game as it does in most MMOs, I just wish there was more character and armor variation.    … Expand
  41. ExceptionThrown
    Feb 18, 2012
    0
    I decided to play this game because I am a long term fan of Bioware. When I think back to neverwinter nights and Mass Effect 1 and Dragon age 1, I can say I am an avid Bioware fan. However, this game disappointed me to the point that I occasionally wonder why I like Bioware games. What is absolutely unacceptable is the customer service. When I asked for help regarding having lost myI decided to play this game because I am a long term fan of Bioware. When I think back to neverwinter nights and Mass Effect 1 and Dragon age 1, I can say I am an avid Bioware fan. However, this game disappointed me to the point that I occasionally wonder why I like Bioware games. What is absolutely unacceptable is the customer service. When I asked for help regarding having lost my security and therefore being unable to enter the game, they did not do anything. In fact, there is a fairly well known pattern that the customer service tickets are neither closed nor kept open but rather simply deleted without even so much professionalism as a form letter.

    This would not be such a big problem if there were not so many bugs and balance issues. In terms of balance issues, the players on the sith side in the game tend to be so devoted to the game that in most pvp fights there is no chance for republic to win unless you outnumber the sith. Unfortunately, since republic players seem to quit the game when they get to level 50, this does not happen much, making the Level 50 planet pretty much a dead zone, while the Sith wait around to kill any republic players who come. This provides no enjoyable experience for either side.

    It may be a lesser problem is the servers are populated well, but the player numbers has substantially dwindled since opening and you would be lucky to find 20 people on your entire PLANET.
    There is a pvp warzone area that automatically gathers people to play pvp, but you'll find that there are so many hackers and speed boosters that the games are plainly unfair. Any of my customer service tickets regarding hacking in the game have, or course, simply been deleted without result. I would say that you can even things out by hacking and boosting yourself and using exploits (such as the /stuck exploit that returns full health to you in pvp) also, but what I want from the game is not to see who can hack better.

    Remaining to do in the game is the standard item farming grindfest at level 50, where drops have recently been decreased in frequency so that your daily grinding quests require more time.

    The one redeeming quality is that the beautiful graphics are absolutely stunning, and the sound is gorgeous. But I'm definitely a gameplay person, and I would rather play something that gives me a sense of accomplishment and fun as opposed to play a beautifully rendered variant of complicated game of pong.    … Expand
  42. Mofoso
    Feb 17, 2012
    8
    Coming from the point of view of a man who has played many MMO's (Dota, WoW, EVE, Star Trek Online...), this game comes off as vastly superior. Extremely well designed game play, amazing story line (Yes, an MMO with a well brought on story line!).The Old Republic has a Mass Effect / MMO feel to the story line/quests that has the gamer constantly wanting more. The conversation mode is wellComing from the point of view of a man who has played many MMO's (Dota, WoW, EVE, Star Trek Online...), this game comes off as vastly superior. Extremely well designed game play, amazing story line (Yes, an MMO with a well brought on story line!).The Old Republic has a Mass Effect / MMO feel to the story line/quests that has the gamer constantly wanting more. The conversation mode is well done and incorporates the party system of questing very nicely. The combat is similar to that of other MMOs, but there is not much wiggle room when it comes to combat and MMOs. The quests are your typical, kill x amount of enemies, or collect x amount of ______, but again, not a lot of wiggle room in a MMO. The game is moderately buggy, but com'on, it's a 2 month old MMO, give it some time. The Old Republic develops great, and accurate, Star Wars lore, further grasping the feel of "awesome". Deffiently a game worth trying.… Expand
  43. Harower
    Feb 17, 2012
    0
    If you are reading these review you will note that people who dislike the game discuss exactly what is wrong with the game. Why they feel the way they do about the game and all the aspects involved and the experience they had with it.

    While on the other hand Reviewers who give the game a good score tend to spend a majority attacking the character of those giving it a bad score and very    If you are reading these review you will note that people who dislike the game discuss exactly what is wrong with the game. Why they feel the way they do about the game and all the aspects involved and the experience they had with it.

    While on the other hand

    Reviewers who give the game a good score tend to spend a majority attacking the character of those giving it a bad score and very little time actually discussing the game beyond "omg this game is amazing"


    Really says it all about which kind of person you should be listening too.

    It is to be expected, starwars fans are pretty fanatical. Fanatical mentality leads to zealtry which leads to blind love. But good for them though, they get to enjoy something long-term otherwise impossible.    … Expand
  44. EasilyAnnoyed
    Feb 16, 2012
    0
    When I started playing this game, I loved it. The stories were great and entertaining. Nice visuals, interesting classes and such. That didn't last long. The bugs started in soon after the starting areas. Broken quests and performance problems galore. I have a pretty decent system and this game runs like a turtle taking a dump. Each patch has made the problem even worse. It's now to theWhen I started playing this game, I loved it. The stories were great and entertaining. Nice visuals, interesting classes and such. That didn't last long. The bugs started in soon after the starting areas. Broken quests and performance problems galore. I have a pretty decent system and this game runs like a turtle taking a dump. Each patch has made the problem even worse. It's now to the point that it's just no fun. Support is atrocious. They blame their users instead of communicating and addressing these flaws. It's all spelled out in this thread. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=249030

    Over 70,000 views, a userbase doing their jobs for them to figure the problems out, and not one reply from a CM. What happened, Bioware? I used to love everything you did. Now I'm not sure I'll ever buy another one of your products again.    … Expand
  45. Pinchy
    Feb 16, 2012
    5
    Most of the budget went into voiceovers.

    Deadbeat gameplay at 50 that copies a 7 year old game design, with most of what made it good missing or broken.

    Overflowing with fanboys trying to convince you the game is only about reroling new characters over and over - but the game can only add content after 50, FAIL.
  46. Ponderer
    Feb 16, 2012
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Responding to common slams on SW:TOR.

    "It's a lobby game/too heavily instanced": The planets go in by every 4-6 level hops. That is also the comfortable spread for grouping. Only seeing 20-150 people per world, depending on time of day, is by design. Those the ones you can group with immediately with no fuss, no worrying about people being too high or too low for anyone.

    "Everyone looks the same/I see clones everywhere(right)/everyone wears the same gear in the end": The character customization options are quite robust, many options for skin tone, cybernetics (depending on race) hair, beards, scars, eye color, facial features, complexion, and tattoo's. There is more diversity than in WoW, but there are some (City of Heroes) with more. That said, this ignores the equipment system. Higher tier gear of any level can be given modifications, enhancements, and (for armor types) armoring to turn it into higher level items, all the way to 50. If you like your level 10 recruit gear and want it to be level 50, add new innards (even the rarest kinds) and you can look the way you want to, and still have all the viability you'd like. Add this to the fact that glasses, goggles, etc. are options to compliment facial features, the lack of sliders is not something I miss. And to those who insist they've seen clones of themselves everywhere, I've never seen a clone of my character on the fleet. The fleet is the main stop-off area where there are many people together, well over 100 consistently on my and most servers)

    "The graphics are bad", the world design and diversity in artistic direction from world to world is amazing, for image detail there's videos of gameplay so I won't go there. But there are many moments throughout gameplay where simply looking up is enough to make you go wide eyed. "Hey, look up." was something you'd hear among my friends, and "that is so amazing." or something like it was very often the response. Because of the detail in the textures though, you will get 'texture pop' if you have less than 2 gigabytes on your card or 4 gigabytes or less in your ram, because the textures do take spac. When you're moving quickly, you will see textures spring from low res to high as you move, that is true. However, A> 8 gigs of ram also fixes that and B> That problem is very specific, and not common to standard play when you're out fighting for your cause.

    "No Endgame/Poor PVP/No Replay Value": I think this is less of a sucker punch, because mileage does vary. First of all, I've seen often is that there's almost nothing. Many (10) of the previous 'flashpoints' (dungeons) have a hard mode, which is a level 50, high challenge version of the previous experience with enhanced challenges and level 50 rewards. Secondly, there are two operations (raids) available now in normal and hard mode if you want a larger scale challenge involving 8-16 people. There are 4 pvp modes including ilum overworld pvp. Each have different goals and methods for winning, and I find them each quite fun.

    "Your choices don't matter": I can't actually choose to kill a quest giver because he needs to give other people quests, therefore they don't give you that choice. However, in a flashpoint called "Black Talon" I can choose whether to spare a captain that disobeyed an order to charge a battle cruiser with a small transport, or to let him live. If I kill or imprison him, his first officer takes command and, due to inexperience, she lets a boarding party slip into our engine room and we have scramble to keep them from shutting our engines down. If he stays in command, our engine room remains safe. If we kill him and then terrorize his crew, when we return they will have mutinied, afraid we would kill them all regardless, and we return to a bridge full of corpses. If we inspired more than terrified, we return to a bridge crew congratulating our success. "That doesn't matter" seems a bit selective, because the plot plays out very differently. No, you may not be able to destroy planets other players could use, but the choices you make can, and do, affect what happens.

    "Combat is mashing hotkeys/boring": Beyond 'force' (a resource like mana) there is 'heat' (Stronger attacks generate more, you must keep it down, which is harder when you've got more heat) and rage/focus (you must build them to use more powerful attacks), as well as a charge attack/interrupt feature and more. Add to that companion system to add strategy to your encounters, and very compelling combat animations, you have a truly engaging system.

    There are other points, but I just wanted to set the record on a few major ones. I strongly recommend you take feedback that breathlessly repeats 'don't leave WoW, it's not a WoW killer!' much like you would take someone screaming 'Simpsons movie sucks!'. Some people legitimately don't like it, but the wave of vitriol? That's unwarranted.    … Expand
  47. DarthZedd
    Feb 15, 2012
    9
    Pretty satisfied with this game. Definitely a few "young game" hiccups, but BioWare has been johnny on the spot getting things adjusted. They're also great at implementing user-driven changes, such as the UI cooldown visualization options. There's already been a content update and there's more on the horizon.

    The game works well for both new MMORPG players and veterans, with plenty of PvE    Pretty satisfied with this game. Definitely a few "young game" hiccups, but BioWare has been johnny on the spot getting things adjusted. They're also great at implementing user-driven changes, such as the UI cooldown visualization options. There's already been a content update and there's more on the horizon.

    The game works well for both new MMORPG players and veterans, with plenty of PvE and PvP content. Players will find their experience enriched if they have Guild membership, but the game offers plenty to those who wish to have fewer ingame associations.    … Expand
  48. diesbildnis
    Feb 14, 2012
    6
    Cliffnotes: deeply flawed, incredibly addictive game. The story is great, but game mechanics, pvp and endgame are a deal-killer. Cautiously recommend.

    This is my first MMO. I was drawn to this game by a close friend and also because I am a huge KOTOR fan and love Bioware. Over the last few months, I have spent about 250 hours playing SWTOR. My accomplishments: I finished the Empire    Cliffnotes: deeply flawed, incredibly addictive game. The story is great, but game mechanics, pvp and endgame are a deal-killer. Cautiously recommend.


    This is my first MMO. I was drawn to this game by a close friend and also because I am a huge KOTOR fan and love Bioware. Over the last few months, I have spent about 250 hours playing SWTOR. My accomplishments: I finished the Empire sniper campaign, leveled to 50, joined a guild, sampled PVP and raids and have leveled a Jedi Sage to 37 so I have a good feel for both sides of the campaign and for endgame. Overall, this game has brilliant moments and is quite addictive. However, it is a massive grind, especially at the endgame. I came for the KOTOR and Bioware story and elements of KOTOR are definitely there in every story. The choices, the plot twists, the great music, and the fascinating character development. For instance, the Sniper story itself is one of the most incredible storylines of any rpg game I have played and really shines. However, to get through the 12 or so hours of story content you have to log about 80 hours of quests that are all exactly the same. It's one of three possibilities: kill 10 grunts, smash 5 things, touch 5 things with a thing from your inventory. There is slight variation on some quests, such as Heroics or bonus quests, but generally even these are more of the same. Even in these special quests though, sometimes the stage 1 of a quest will be 'kill 10 imperial grunts' and stage 2 will be 'kill 20 imperial grunts'. Glad these were separated so I really feel I accomplished something! After a few hours of this, the quests, no matter how beautifully done, feel like a complete chore. It doesn't help that most of the mobs are the same across almost every planet. For instance, there must be 100 types of mobs that are humans with blasters or swords, with the name 'Imperial' crossed out and the word 'Cartel' or 'Thug' written in. The combat is also extremely formulaic. With hot keys I would just press '4,5,6,4,5,6,1,4,5,6' and by the time I had finished that sequence my companion and I had killed off all the mobs. It's very rare that a mob is actually challenging in that you need to change your repetitive hotkey strategy, and not just "A REALLY BIG THUG WITH LOTS OF HP'. Even the endgame raids, individual strategy is quite simple.


    If PVE combat is dull, PVP combat is even duller and extremely frustrating. It is mostly an exercise in button spamming and whoever has best gear. The champion bag complaint is beaten to death so I will leave that be and focus on the mechanics themselves. For your first 30 hours or so of PVP after you get to 50, expect to lose 60-70% of your matches and get absolutely soul-crushed. As Republic you could easily lose 9 matches in a row and they won't even be close. You will be 3-shot by some classes. If you can get through this frustrating period, even once you start winning it is not even really enjoyable with the exception of the occasional close game.


    All that being said, I still play this game and cautiously recommend it for the campaigns alone. It's amazingly addictive and there are a few really great things about it. The story, the space missions, the flashpoints (when you are not with a moronic healer and tank) and the beautifully crafted worlds are the high points. It feels like a chore though and you shouldn't pay $15 a month for this game as it stands now. Bioware is doing the best they can and patching constantly and adding new content, but it feels like a bandaid over much bigger issues. The main problem is the game mechanics, ie 95% of the game is you fighting either mobs or players and the fighting you can master after an hour. Once you figure out the three or four basic moves of your class it just becomes a Mavis Beacon hotkey typing game.    … Expand
  49. Valladria
    Feb 14, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ordinarily, I also advise patience with new MMOs but the poor implementation of new content and the often flawed, or non-functional, nature of technical remedies does not give me faith for the future. I would also like to praise the game for utilising such immersive class quests and for successfully evoking the simplistic fun of arcade games via space combat missions. Whilst some reviews praise the lower reliance on co-operation in The Old Republic, I find the emphasis on single player content tedious and counter to the essence of an MMORPG. My complaint in this domain is derived from the fact that the game has limited repeatability value despite claims to the contrary by Bioware. In truth, only a small proportion of the levelling experience is related to class-specific content thus you must either tolerate conversations with generic quest NPCs whilst levelling new characters or must skip them, thereby rendering the experience rather hollow. Moreover, any sense of choice in conservations is limited by the need to make choices that boost your companionsâ… Expand
  50. elfelixg
    Feb 14, 2012
    8
    I will admit that at first I was extremely disappointed with the game. The graphics were not what I expected, the pvp is alright, and the open world feel of most MMO's seems to be lacking a bit. These will all hit you in the face like a pie and quite rudely so. That said though, the game has come around further in as I went, it was not bad at all. Having been a Dark Ages of Camelot, WOW,I will admit that at first I was extremely disappointed with the game. The graphics were not what I expected, the pvp is alright, and the open world feel of most MMO's seems to be lacking a bit. These will all hit you in the face like a pie and quite rudely so. That said though, the game has come around further in as I went, it was not bad at all. Having been a Dark Ages of Camelot, WOW, DC Universe online MMO veteran I know what I am talking about. SWTOR is not a bad game, matter of fact, it is extremely good for a game not even 2 months old. Yes it has some bugs, yes the pvp needs to be balanced better, yes the game has to address many more areas of development and entertainment. I still can't feel anything but optimistic though, the game can shine, and it is worthy of your time. To be honest, any improvements made on what they already have will be a plus, the game has a lot going for it. The positives: Hard mode Flashpoints and gear hunting is FUN! You have to have a good group, work together, even if it is just 4 of you the PVE is a challenge. At first you will get demolished as you enter under geared, but slowly as you build up, you are able to handle the mistakes and accidents that happen when pulling mobs. This aspect of the game is golden, almost anyone that makes it to 50 and plays the Hard Mode Flashpoints really like it. Next are the 8 man Ops Raids, very fun, very difficult to keep everyone alive. You must be a part of a decent guild to tackle and win in these. Even normal mode Ops Raids drop good loot for your toons. Now on to PVP, it is competitive, but it is extremely unbalanced. Why? Bioware did not think out well the advancement of PVP gear well, in the first month guilds that were around since BETA took advantage of a PVP experience buff period, and now there are monster players with top gear wiping new players in War Zones. I can tell you it is no fun and can cause people to rage and quit the game early on as there is no point to the fiasco. Fortunately for me, I battled through most of that low gear period and now hold my own amongst the top players. Still, certain classes hold a big edge against other classes and this needs to be addressed. The BAD: The list is long and there is no way I can go into it all. Bugs are a major issue, some bosses in HMs or Ops raids can bug out and can't be beaten. This is a MAJOR flaw that needs to be addressed ASAP. The game on many planets feels like a tunneled and funneled experience, not an MMO with an open world. World's I like are Hoth, Voss, Ilum but many I don't like for various reasons such as Corelia being a nightmare to get from point A to point B. PVP imbalance. Not enough customization for your toon's look. Certain instances and areas in the world do not allow speeders to be used making the trek extremely long at times. Space combat need to be developed because as it is now its a joke. CONCLUSION: If you are itching for the Star Wars universe then play it by all means. There are fun classes to play, there are fun dungeon raids to do, the pvp can become fun once and only you get geared. You need to be social for the game to be great as with every MMO. I do wish it were more like Star Wars Galaxies in terms of the open world exploration but for what it is this is not bad. A good start, needs improvement, but a good start.… Expand
  51. Adler1945
    Feb 14, 2012
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is, by far, one of the best experiences I have had with gaming in general. NOTICE I DID NOT SAY MMORPG GAMING. I said GAMING. This game is a WONDERFUL game, and the MMO part of it is a lot of fun, adding to a great balance of solo gameplay, crafting, and the occasional Starfox-esque space mission. I have seen many reviews on here that are slanted one way, and slanted another, so I will basically state what this game IS and what it IS NOT.
    What this game IS: First and foremost, this game IS A BIOWARE RPG with a MMO setting, so if you are familiar with and love Bioware's RPGs, you "should" love this game. This game is a great MMO that puts the RP back into MMORPG (when it comes to gameplay, I will address player with player RP later). It has a great depth of story, many customization options, and the typical "choice wheel" that Bioware introduced into its games. This allows you to play your character and make choices based off of what your desire is for the character. Want to be a bloodthirsty, murdering...Jedi? You can! Want to be a Bounty Hunter with a heart of gold? You can! The stories themselves can have far reaching repercussions. There was at least one circumstance where I killed a story NPC on one character, but left him alive with another, and to my joy, the character came back into my story and I was able to interact with them. Not so on the other one. This game IS also a great balance between game time, combat time, and crafting time...mostly because farming is pretty much OFF the table, unless you so choose to do it. The crafting system for missions is great, and lets you send off your companions whilst you continue with your stories. This game IS a great single and multiplayer experience, so long as you don't mind a multiplayer experience that is primarily "Heroic" mission, dungeon, operation (raid), and PvP based. This game IS great at immersion in that the environments not only feel Star Wars, but also feel plausible. From the planetary metropolis of Coruscant, to the frozen wastes of Hoth, you feel like it's a Star Wars environment. The game IS great at scaling zones-instead of a uniform size of planets (a la SWG), your starter planets are more a "portion" of the planet, and as you level and gain access to better transportation methods, the planets become bigger and bigger. (Hoth, for instance, is MASSIVE) This game IS well thought out for balancing zone creation, with a feeling of size, scale, and immersion. This game IS a GREAT first installment to a MMO franchise, almost worthy of saying "WoW Vanilla" level. Myself, I have spent a good two months+ in early access and full game and I have yet to cap level on any character because I have been enjoying SO MUCH. Each story is different for each of the main classes, and while the average side missions are sometimes generic, you do have a fair amount of stories that you can do again and again, take a different option and see what happens. This makes for a high level of re-playability, especially if you are a fan of Bioware stories.
    Now for the IS NOT: Most of all, this game IS NOT finished. Meaning, like WoW, it is NOT a completely finished, established, and grown MMORPG. Like WoW, it takes TIME for good, core players on each server to coalesce and create a community. This game IS NOT the best PvP experience in the world...but then neither is WoW, Rift, or any other game.WoW took OVER A YEAR to implement the first battlegrounds in WSG, AB, and AV. This game IS NOT the best for max level content. WoW took a YEAR for there to be appreciable content at level 60, and this game has what could be considered the equivalent of the lower level dungeon raids such as LBRS and UBRS (WoW Vanilla 15 man version, but with 8 people), as well as a couple of upper level operations (A la MC 40, but with 12 people). It took WoW over TWO years, multiple patches, and time for them to develop endgame. This game IS NOT your standard MMORPG with your text quests that you don't have to pay attention to. Spacebar through the dialogue and you risk missing important information, or pissing off your companion. Finally, this game IS NOT uber friendly to player RP, as you can't even sit on a chair.
    There is much more I could add, but it would take more time, so I will summarize with this: This game EASILY has over 100 hours of playtime in it and that, in and of itself, justifies the $60 cost imho. It is a MMO game with great RPG value. If you want to get in on the beginning level of a game that will feel somewhat familiar to WoW Vanilla people (i.e. lots of potential, great stuff, and can't wait for the next content patch) then this game IS for you! If you want a completely finished, established game with loads of endgame content, this game IS NOT for you...Period.    … Expand
  52. JodoMojo
    Feb 13, 2012
    10
    Should only be an eight (making it better than many MMOs), but bumped it to ten to counter-act the horde of tards who go "hur hur hur, I canz make it lower than it should be, and that'll somehow make it true!"
  53. DnDcHick
    Feb 13, 2012
    5
    Okay, so going in as someone who has never played an MMO before, I can't give a contrasting opinion to the veterans of the genre. However, if anyone else out there is considering picking this up, I would recommend strongly that you think twice. The closest thing I can compare it to is being in an amusement park with a bunch of spoiled, bratty kids running around doing everything they canOkay, so going in as someone who has never played an MMO before, I can't give a contrasting opinion to the veterans of the genre. However, if anyone else out there is considering picking this up, I would recommend strongly that you think twice. The closest thing I can compare it to is being in an amusement park with a bunch of spoiled, bratty kids running around doing everything they can to ruin your fun. The story missions are pretty good, but the combat is bland as all get-out, doing anything takes forever, and the star wars franchise died when the prequels came out. As a bonus, at least this game tipped me off to KOTOR, a game I had never played, but am now enjoying immensely. I would recommend anyone on the fence about this game get the older single-player game instead. I'm having much more fun with it, and I think this MMO will be dead in a year anyway. What a waste of time.… Expand
  54. SupR_G
    Feb 13, 2012
    4
    A depth-less game with only face value. Almost everything in this game has no attention to detail. The graphics are vastly outdated, the PVE/PVP experience is shallow, the game struggles with performance/bugs, a lack of customization for characters/ships, utterly pointless (and boring) space combat and more. This game might have been impressive if it was 2004, but with today's standards,A depth-less game with only face value. Almost everything in this game has no attention to detail. The graphics are vastly outdated, the PVE/PVP experience is shallow, the game struggles with performance/bugs, a lack of customization for characters/ships, utterly pointless (and boring) space combat and more. This game might have been impressive if it was 2004, but with today's standards, and the standards set by Bioware's other releases, it certainly falls far below expectations. It might be enough to keep the hardcore Star Wars fan happy, but for the rest of us, it's a lame experience.… Expand
  55. evilhippo
    Feb 13, 2012
    8
    This is a mixed review but ultimately a positive one. First what I don't like - this is an ugly game. Some people like the 'toony' style but I certainly do not. Compared to Rift or even the older Age of Conan, the character graphics and gear are pixelated, misshapen, ugly and uninspiring. The animations are adequate at best and goofy at worst, reusing some from BiowareThis is a mixed review but ultimately a positive one. First what I don't like - this is an ugly game. Some people like the 'toony' style but I certainly do not. Compared to Rift or even the older Age of Conan, the character graphics and gear are pixelated, misshapen, ugly and uninspiring. The animations are adequate at best and goofy at worst, reusing some from Bioware Turkey-of-the-Year Dragon Age 2 (which I loathed). Also many aspects of the game are rough (the UI is only just fit for purpose) but then as the game is so new it is perhaps churlish to complain too loudly as there is every indication they intend to greatly improve the UI and most bugs tend to get patched quickly. Some sound related design decisions are very questionable indeed: I am walking around the Imperial Fleet Station's inner ring and I get bombarded with absurd honky-tonk cantina music that is grotesquely out of kilter with the 'Grrrrr. feel the dark side, we are the bad guys' feeling that should be pervasive on the Imperial Fleet! And I would pay Bioware real money to make that accursed intensely annoying and not in the slightest bit amusing robot on my ship just SHUT UP! Ideally I would like to smash him to pieces and throw him out the airlock.
    ---
    More neutrally... this game breaks very little new ground. It is a very conventional MMO that anyone who has played a mainstream MMO will have no problem understanding almost immediately. Whether or not that is a good or bad thing is a matter of opinion.
    ---
    What rocks... the story lines are very good for the most part and the voice acting is absolutely stellar: my very posh female Sith Inquisitor scares me sometimes with her intelligently psychotic one liners! Most importantly game play and team synergy, whilst not perfect, is very much on the right side of acceptable. They have done a good job capturing the 'feel' of the Star Wars Universe and so over all... 8/10    … Expand
  56. FrankFP
    Feb 13, 2012
    6
    Decent game, but nothing new in the MMO genre.
    The storyline is good, but not good enough to make up for too many bland quest, zoned areas and a boring combat system. I enjoyed the month I got out of it, but not enough to keep paying subscription. I really wanted to like this game, but having played MMO's since Ultima Online, there is really nothing new to see here, except for dialogues    Decent game, but nothing new in the MMO genre.
    The storyline is good, but not good enough to make up for too many bland quest, zoned areas and a boring combat system. I enjoyed the month I got out of it, but not enough to keep paying subscription. I really wanted to like this game, but having played MMO's since Ultima Online, there is really nothing new to see here, except for dialogues and a grand quest/story. That I can get in any singleplayer game, so no need to pay subscription for that.    … Expand
  57. Kazee
    Feb 12, 2012
    7
    Positives: SW:TOR is a fine MMO offering that had a smooth launch but inadequate endgame, which is about as much as you can hope for from a modern MMO.

    Negatives: Some of the class design choices went too far trying to differentiate from accepted 'trinity' ability distribution (a stealth healer with DPS? kind of OP. A pure Tank class that doesn't have effective mob gathering skills? Not    Positives: SW:TOR is a fine MMO offering that had a smooth launch but inadequate endgame, which is about as much as you can hope for from a modern MMO.

    Negatives: Some of the class design choices went too far trying to differentiate from accepted 'trinity' ability distribution (a stealth healer with DPS? kind of OP. A pure Tank class that doesn't have effective mob gathering skills? Not a good idea.) The story is very well done, but becomes tedious on subsequent play through. After reading some of the reviews here and on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, I think I will be avoiding 'User reviews' on Metacritic from here on. The hyperbole of the reviews and the flimsy justifications for the extreme positions are not entertaining nor a good guide to whether or not anyone should purchase a game, which I think should be the most useful thing about them.

    I justify a score of 7 because I was thoroughly entertained for my first play through and I am regularly raiding with my guild. I would highly recommend a guild for grouping and endgames. As with every MMO ever, pug tanks will make you want to perform seppuku.

    A zero through three should only be given to a thoroughly broken game, not because the game designers made a perfectly acceptable design decision that you didn't like. A ten should only be given to a game that cures terminally ill children and creates a bridge to Valhalla.    … Expand
  58. wxgreg
    Feb 11, 2012
    0
    This was a very fun game, having played for almost 2 months and max leveling two characters. The problem is not just the bugs at higher levels (which believe me are plenty), Its not just the incompatibility of logitech mice (I have contacted logitech and there is nothing they can do) it is the worst, lack of, if any customer service at all. The always have the same canned responses, ifThis was a very fun game, having played for almost 2 months and max leveling two characters. The problem is not just the bugs at higher levels (which believe me are plenty), Its not just the incompatibility of logitech mice (I have contacted logitech and there is nothing they can do) it is the worst, lack of, if any customer service at all. The always have the same canned responses, if they respond at all. And the issues you have, detailing the bugs etc are not addressed in any patches. So... SWTOR, you get a big goose egg.… Expand
  59. teaiewold
    Feb 11, 2012
    9
    This game has all the issues of every MMO that has ever been released. There's bugs, balance issues and some features that are missing that people want. The one great thing about MMO's are that the game grows and matures and hopefully turns into something better then when it's first released. Unfortunately in this day and age people want instant gratification and don't have the patience toThis game has all the issues of every MMO that has ever been released. There's bugs, balance issues and some features that are missing that people want. The one great thing about MMO's are that the game grows and matures and hopefully turns into something better then when it's first released. Unfortunately in this day and age people want instant gratification and don't have the patience to allow a developer to make a game better. They expect everything to be the way they want it right this second.

    1. The voice over work is as awesome as any Bioware product. 2. The class story lines are amazing (granted I've only seen half of the class story lines but the 4/8 have been great).
    3. I find the combat to be done well. I like it better than WoW.
    4. I love having my personal spaceship as a base of operations.
    5. I like the crafting system quite a bit to include the reverse engineering portion (eventhough that can be very frustrating at times).
    6. I think the appearance of the locations are great. Often I find myself stopping to look at the area and I'm quite taken aback.
    7. I think the companion system adds another layer to game because I find myself getting invested with my companions.

    Some bad points are as follows:
    1. The customer service at launch was atrocious. I don't know how it is right now but I hear it's not much better.
    2. Reverse engineering being tied to the RNG can be extremely frustrating. They need to implement some kind of guaranteed % in the background. Currently it's possible to never learn a new recipe because of the RE process being random.
    3. The UI is crapola. You can't move anything around or change the scale. (Supposedly this is changing in the big content update in March)
    4. There's still quite a few skills that are broken within various AC's that have been broken since beta which make certain trees of AC's useless to play.
    5. The pvp on Ilum is still crappy. They have this massive open world for pvp and they shard the zone because of performance issues. There's really no point in going there to be honest. When you get there you get the sense that there should be a massive battle going on of 100+ vs. 100+ but you'll be lucky to find 8 people from the opposite faction.
    6. Faction imbalance is pretty bad as well which makes it another reason no one wants to open world pvp. The Empire outnumbers the Republic on most servers so the Repubs hardly come out to play in open world pvp because they will get steamrolled.

    Those are the things that I think are hurting the game the most right now.

    The reason I gave the game a 9 was because the game as it stands right now is an awesome game. If Bioware is diligent in addressing the communities concern then this game is going to be a big deal. Most people forget what WoW started out with when it launched. It might have had 25% of what it currently has. It just takes time for MMO's to come into their own.    … Expand
  60. SnakeBytes
    Feb 10, 2012
    4
    I must say, Bioware have been very innovative with SWTOR.

    They created a singleplayer railroad buggy experience that looks & feels like it was made in 2004 with some multiplayer features tacked on & able to charge people monthly for it. The only good things in SWTOR are the voiceovers & Huttball. As it stands right now, this game does not feel like a game that is supposed to be an AAA+    I must say, Bioware have been very innovative with SWTOR.

    They created a singleplayer railroad buggy experience that looks & feels like it was made in 2004 with some multiplayer features tacked on & able to charge people monthly for it.

    The only good things in SWTOR are the voiceovers & Huttball. As it stands right now, this game does not feel like a game that is supposed to be an AAA+ MMO with 4+ years of development & massive budget behind it.    … Expand
  61. Bellicose
    Feb 10, 2012
    3
    Requires Origin. Automatic fail as far as any sensible person is concerned. Beyond that, this really shouldn't count as an MMO. It's a single-player game with multiplayer content.
  62. diggs
    Feb 10, 2012
    8
    The ability to write an objective review (or inabliity) looms very large over this games score. Many mmo gamers in todays market have no doubt played wow at one time or another. Sadly, they probably have not played any other mmo. Judging a new mmo based on another one is fair to do, but only if you are able to remain objective. One must take into account that wow did not introduce anythingThe ability to write an objective review (or inabliity) looms very large over this games score. Many mmo gamers in todays market have no doubt played wow at one time or another. Sadly, they probably have not played any other mmo. Judging a new mmo based on another one is fair to do, but only if you are able to remain objective. One must take into account that wow did not introduce anything new to the mmo genre, thwy simply did it netter than anyone else. At launch wow did not have raids, they did not have heroic dungeons, nor did they have battlegrounds. And if you played at launch, you will remember the insqne queue times, the terrible server lag, all the loot bugs, and many of the things that plague new mmos.

    Star wars is no different. They shipped the game with some graphical bugs, quest completion issues, a few buggy raid fights, and sound issues. But being objective, the launch of this game has gone far smoother than qny other I have played. Minor release issues aside, this game ia very good. It has multiple raids, many 4 man dungeons, three warzones, a solid gear system in place, and an entire planet dedicated to end game content (though buggy in its current incantation). To biowares defense, they have quickly addressed and eliminated many release bugs already. The story immersion is incredible, the graphics are pretty detailed for mmo standards, the sound is classic star wars, and there is substantial end game content.. The game really doesn't do anything new (outside of the great VO), but much like wow did, it does the standard mmo elements better than any other game on the market. No game launches without bugs, but if this one had, it would easily be 10/10. Give it a try, objectively.    … Expand
  63. ryfleman
    Feb 9, 2012
    10
    While it is not a revolution, it is an evolution. It takes the EverQuest formula (not the World of Warcraft formula, WoW is an EverQuest clone and TOR is as well) and polishes it to more of a shine. The plot lines are for the most part good (I have heard less positive things about the Smuggler, but I haven't played that class yet), the combat is more or less following the formula but theWhile it is not a revolution, it is an evolution. It takes the EverQuest formula (not the World of Warcraft formula, WoW is an EverQuest clone and TOR is as well) and polishes it to more of a shine. The plot lines are for the most part good (I have heard less positive things about the Smuggler, but I haven't played that class yet), the combat is more or less following the formula but the addition of lightsabers and blasters make for good visuals, the graphics while not completely demanding are done with good aesthetics, and the linearity is actually quite complementing to the game without making you feel confined (people will complain about it but you know how nerds are with change sometimes. Besides, some of our favorite games are linear, take just about every FPS in history), the PVP is fun, but the faction unbalance leads to a lot of games of Huttball which I actually love so its a win for me (people say it is unbalanced, but dogs wolf, cows moo and MMO players yell 'The PVP is unbalanced!'). In very brief, The Old Republic is a very fun game that is not the best MMOs have offered, considering WoW has gone a little donwhill with each expansion it is the best since The Burning Crusade. 8.7/10… Expand
  64. socokid
    Feb 9, 2012
    9
    I played this as KOTOR III, and absolutely loved it. I did not to one group quest, never spoke to another "live" person the entire time, and no one spoke to me. If you play this as a pure RPG (which is what it should have been to begin with, without the money grabbing MMO "add-on" it seems like here), and finish within 30 days, it is fantastic. Buy it. If you are looking for a WoWI played this as KOTOR III, and absolutely loved it. I did not to one group quest, never spoke to another "live" person the entire time, and no one spoke to me. If you play this as a pure RPG (which is what it should have been to begin with, without the money grabbing MMO "add-on" it seems like here), and finish within 30 days, it is fantastic. Buy it. If you are looking for a WoW equivalent, move on. If you are willing to accept the differences and allow them merit, or are a Star Wars fan, also buy it. It is worth the $60 for 30 days, as much as that pains me to say. It is just that good. In fact one of the only detractors to the game would be the MMO element. They should have stuck with making it a Bioware/Star Wars version of Skyrim, which it is very close to right now anyway.… Expand
  65. cyanide7
    Feb 8, 2012
    10
    Great story, great content that's ever growing. Sure there are bugs, but always being fixed. Voice actors were top notch. An MMO for the people who don't like people.
  66. Amorphous_Blob
    Feb 8, 2012
    5
    I got this game when it came and i'm already bored of it. I feel i've done everything there is to do at level 38 and i don't see the need to grind to 50 to get a couple of extra powers and see another couple of lifeless worlds. During development Bioware raved about how the story would make this game better than other MMOs, and it would, were the story remotely engaging. I'm worried thatI got this game when it came and i'm already bored of it. I feel i've done everything there is to do at level 38 and i don't see the need to grind to 50 to get a couple of extra powers and see another couple of lifeless worlds. During development Bioware raved about how the story would make this game better than other MMOs, and it would, were the story remotely engaging. I'm worried that bioware have lost their story writing talent, because this is their second game of 2011 that has been severely lacking in the story and story-telling department. I feel like i'm just running an unconected series of errands(like in DA2) rather than contributing to anything. Think of how in dragon age origins you were given, near the start of the game, a goal(defeating the blightand killing the arch demon) and this goal was then reinforce through conversations throughout the game. In swTOR, as a jedi consular, i'm given a goal for act one(save a few dudes), buts its difficult to see exa tly why i'm doing this and it all seems quite contrived.
    Anyway i'm cancelling my subscription this month because i dont see myself playing anymore. I'm giving it a five because while its not a terrible game as my 40 odd hours playtime will show, i've spent almost three times as long playing skyrim and that cost me 15 squids less.    … Expand
  67. Obliark
    Feb 8, 2012
    8
    Needs work, but the foundation is there to grow and expand on with time. Space combat, pvp, Quests, Datacron hunting, and companions give you playtime if you tire of one.
  68. moorejs99
    Feb 8, 2012
    3
    Where to begin? If this was a single player game released in 2007, it might get a 7. But as an "MMORPG" released in late 2011? What a mess. A brief rundown:

    Graphics/presentation: The voiceovers are well done. But they get BORING and insipid after a while...you spend as much time in cutscenes as you do in the game. The graphics are, in a word, abhorrent. The terrain/object models are OK,    Where to begin? If this was a single player game released in 2007, it might get a 7. But as an "MMORPG" released in late 2011? What a mess. A brief rundown:

    Graphics/presentation: The voiceovers are well done. But they get BORING and insipid after a while...you spend as much time in cutscenes as you do in the game. The graphics are, in a word, abhorrent. The terrain/object models are OK, but the textures are awful, making the entire game look equally bad. There is no excuse for something this ugly in 2012.

    Gameplay: Nothing special. Not good, not bad- it's just like every other game in the genre, only much, much easier. Rolling an alt is all there is to do if you hit the level cap, and once you're made 1 for each faction, it's just painful to play through the same garbage all over again. Good thing they made it about a casual 2 week stroll to max level, huh? I won't even talk about space combat- it's so insanely silly and poorly done it's not worth it. You're basically playing the 80s arcade came Tempest. Awful. Questing is an on-rails experience. You have no choices. There are light and dark side options, but none of it makes a shred of difference. Skills are typical, boring, cookie-cutter. Nothing to see here that hasn't been done far better a dozen times.

    Performance: The Hero engine is, in a word, trash. It's ugly and lor resolution, yet it chugs like a pig. Everything you do is delayed while the engine thinks about it. Just dreadful.

    User Interface: No mods. You can't move elements or change colors. It's hideous. Enough said.

    Customization/Roleplay: There is an "RP" in "MMORPG", but you won't find it here. This is 1012, and get this: There are ZERO ways to make a unique looking avatar. There are 4 body types: Bobblehead, linebacker, hulk, and fat sloppy git. No sliders for height, weight, muscle tone, nothing. Not a single facial feature can be adjusted- you pick one of the pre-made looks, choose on of the 20 ish terrible hairstyles, layer on some low-res terrible scars or tattoos, and there you are. INEXCUSABLE. Period. Beyond that...the world is completely static. Nothing can be interacted with. You can't sit in a chair or on a bench. The emotes look like they were animated in freeware by a blind teen. Housing? None, unless you count your starship..that is identical to every other starship for players of your class, and can't be customised in any way. It's useless other than a single storage cabinet. Other players can't come on board, either, because your entire hangar is a solo instance. It sucks.

    That's enough, I guess. There is a LOT more wrong with this train wreck, but it's been covered ad nauseum. This is by leaps and bounds the most disappointing, shoddy, half hearted and tossed together attempt at a game I've seen in years.    … Expand
  69. homer2324
    Feb 8, 2012
    5
    NOT NOW. maybe later. It is bioware's first MMO following their successes with Dragon Age (arguably?) and Mass Effect. The dev's arrogance can be felt throughout their mannerism. (1) adjustment to classes are made base on the dev's without sound justification - often dramatically reducing the enjoyment of the class in the process; (2) increasing frequent lengthy patch time, fixing very fewNOT NOW. maybe later. It is bioware's first MMO following their successes with Dragon Age (arguably?) and Mass Effect. The dev's arrogance can be felt throughout their mannerism. (1) adjustment to classes are made base on the dev's without sound justification - often dramatically reducing the enjoyment of the class in the process; (2) increasing frequent lengthy patch time, fixing very few bugs each patch (average 3-4 according to patchnotes). 3 patches happened last week, all during European day time; (3) patches often DO NOT address existing bugs in existing content; (4) in-game issues (bug) assistance is non-existent, it takes 3-4 business days for them to reply to any ticket, in the form of an generic form requesting more information, can happen multiple times for the same issue; (5) devs uses a 'triage' system to prioritize issues - bugs and issues are prioritize base on the amount of people complaining AND affected by it. As a result, there is no ETA to be seen for most non-functioning skills/talents/bugs of the least popular classes and 'end-game' content bugs. TO CONCLUDE: this game is obviously trying to focus on short-term capitalization instead of making a fun game.… Expand
  70. Daerian
    Feb 8, 2012
    10
    Longtime MMO player, and SWTOR is the most fun I've had. Some issues with a lack of content at end game, but a reasonable player will understand this is something that will come with time. Great game.
  71. gothjon
    Feb 8, 2012
    10
    Game is awesome. Anyone else is either trolling or NEVER played it. The Story is captivating. This game is just like Star wars: knights of the old republic, I found my self wishing I could save so I could see both options panning out.
  72. Navyseal
    Feb 7, 2012
    0
    I would Rather Play SWG then this dreadful thing they call an MMO. All Biware can do is story tell not make an mmo Galaxies was way better then this . Really need to stick to RPG's not doing big game like this what a disappointment and a waste of money
  73. MrFpeas
    Feb 7, 2012
    6
    It is a typical MMO, yet a MMO that should not deserve so much hate. As much as I want to try making these people's hate go towards Mists of Pandaria, they seem very focused on this MMO because of the words "BioWare" and "EA", so I just want to take this chance to clarify somethings about this MMO and show that, yes it does not accomplish much, it is just another MMO. I tried writing theIt is a typical MMO, yet a MMO that should not deserve so much hate. As much as I want to try making these people's hate go towards Mists of Pandaria, they seem very focused on this MMO because of the words "BioWare" and "EA", so I just want to take this chance to clarify somethings about this MMO and show that, yes it does not accomplish much, it is just another MMO. I tried writing the rest of this review not comparing this other MMOs (it is a personal policy of mine I have taken recently that I should not compare it to other games of the same genre, but rather judge it by itself), I personally felt like I had to bring up WoW to prove a quick point. Hopefully it will not anger too many people :) But lets get down to the point. I give it a 6.5/10 (based on the old style of grading, not the new style where anything below 9 is **** Though this game really offers nothing new to MMO's honestly, it accomplished what was expected in MMOs, and I will give it credit for that at least. The gameplay is nothing too new, though they try adding a new "pattern" to the users of Smugglers and Imperial Agents, which (depending on spec) they must take cover to use certain abilities. Though not overly complex, they add a new pattern in your typical rotations from past MMOs, giving it a slightly new feel. Most spells are nothing new, very typical for most MMOs (if any of you has seen the famous pictures of how TOR stole spells from WoW, you will see that half the spells people say were stolen are actually fairly common spell. Like you haven't seen a heal over time spell in other MMOs?). The PvP is not exactly balanced, but hey, Yahtzee brought up a very valid point: "Cows go moo, dogs go bark, MMO nerds go PvP is broken" or something along the lines of that. I'm not exactly sure if Illum actually got broken again, but if you read the patch notes, they fixed the big problem at Illum the next day (which a lot of people shut their mouths and acted like they never complained about it). For the review of the "story" aspect, I have to divide it up into two short sections. Class stories are actually not that bad (Imperial wise, no idea what Republic is like, not hearing nice things about it though). I honestly don't see hope in the Bounty Hunter story, but the rest of the Imperial classes have actually fairly interesting stories, not unbearable by any means honestly. Though, the regular stories (regular quests that anyone can pick up) are where the problem lies: they're nothing special and some truly do disgrace the things set up in KOTOR, which this aspect is the biggest problem I have with this game. They really slapped the fan's of the original KOTOR series face, example you get this quest line where you help out the 'Revanites', the followers of the infamous Revan. While I was doing this, I was like "Holy **** this is terribad".
    The 'moral' system is basically forced upon you. If you don't have any light/dark side points, you won't be able to get to the better gear, but honestly, I cannot imagine that many people NOT choosing Light/Dark options, especially in a BioWare game. This was just my personal view on this game. Not the perfect MMO at all, not the best, but I am ok with this MMO until Guild Wars 2 comes out. Hope this review was helpful (was tired while writing this). I really could have written so much more, but I'm too tired and it would have taken way too long and used too much space to write all the info I wanted to write ._. Oh well, it is very mediocre at best, not the best MMO, not 4.0 bad, but mediocre. I'll just leave off by saying: It's a MMO. You either ok with it or you despise it.

    Hope I don't cause a ****storm.    … Expand
  74. 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
  75. f0xtr0t369
    Feb 7, 2012
    10
    This is one of the best games I've played in a long time. I am thoroughly enjoying the story for all most all the classes. Bioware has really brought story to the mmo experience and I personally won't play another mmo again where I have to read quest dialog off of the screen. I have never felt more connected to my characters like this before. Yeah, it has a few bugs, but they are inThis is one of the best games I've played in a long time. I am thoroughly enjoying the story for all most all the classes. Bioware has really brought story to the mmo experience and I personally won't play another mmo again where I have to read quest dialog off of the screen. I have never felt more connected to my characters like this before. Yeah, it has a few bugs, but they are in no way game breaking and the developers are addressing issues in a timely manner, IMO

    And I have engaged in more group content in this game then any other mmo I've played. Now I am doing very similar group content like in most mmos but I'm also experiencing it during the level process, Bravo Bioware, Bravo!    … Expand
  76. JamieLee
    Feb 7, 2012
    1
    Logged in today and Illum is broken again, everything they fix they break something else. Most of the issues have been issues since Alpha. It's EA, they don't care about quality they care about money. To them getting the game out ahead of another is better than making the game we the fans want and what James wanted to deliver
  77. telemon61
    Feb 7, 2012
    8
    I haven't gotten any end game characters yet...... but so far the game is one of the most fun i have played in quite a while..... it has a nice casual feel.... and runs smoothly for me..... The graphics are good enough for me and the story lines are fun and interactive..... overall worth checking out if your into mmo's.
  78. drake_avi
    Feb 7, 2012
    8
    As a Bioware and Kotor fan, i love Star Wars The Old Republic. Yes, it doesn't re-define the genre and it isn't exactly groundbreaking, but with it's illusion of choice, it's focus on story-telling and exciting pvp i am hooked. It's a really good game and although i was a little disappointed with certain aspects of the game like the lack of dynamic fights (it's basically WOW styleAs a Bioware and Kotor fan, i love Star Wars The Old Republic. Yes, it doesn't re-define the genre and it isn't exactly groundbreaking, but with it's illusion of choice, it's focus on story-telling and exciting pvp i am hooked. It's a really good game and although i was a little disappointed with certain aspects of the game like the lack of dynamic fights (it's basically WOW style fights), grinding for experience points, uninspiring space fights and lack of consequences (unlike other Bioware games like Dragon Age and Mas Effect). However i can say that Star Wars The Old Republic is very engaging. It's only been out there for a while and i can't wait to see how it shapes up. After all mmorpgs evolve over time and i can't wait for all the contents they are going to add. I vouch for Bioware when they say they listen to their fans and i am sure they are working hard to give us the best possible experience. So in end i can say that as this is a Bioware game and like all Bioware games it is of high polish and is a game built on a grand scale. So If you are a fan of mmorpgs/rpgs or Bioware or Star Wars or just looking for a great game to invest some time in, then don't miss out on this.… Expand
  79. text12
    Feb 7, 2012
    10
    This game is great. The end. It manages to make you care about your character and actually think about how your character would respond to the situations. In the 3 class stories that I have played 1 has been good and 2 have been down right excellent. Not everything is perfect but it has just launched and it has launched in a better state then most MMOs have. The worlds do feel a littleThis game is great. The end. It manages to make you care about your character and actually think about how your character would respond to the situations. In the 3 class stories that I have played 1 has been good and 2 have been down right excellent. Not everything is perfect but it has just launched and it has launched in a better state then most MMOs have. The worlds do feel a little empty sometimes thanks to the instancing of popular areas but this also means their is virtually no spawn camping and you can complete your quest without competition. There are A LOT of whiners playing this game though, and that can be very irritating. People seem to be angry with Bioware anytime the tiniest thing isn't exactly like they want it. Bioware has done a good job of addressing issues with the game and it keeps getting better. Server Queues? Gone. Unfair world PvP? Fixed. Unbalanced classes in PvP (common you baby what game doesn't have some of this?) Learn to play your class. If I can do well in PvP and a pve specd Powertech, and you are having problems you're doing something wrong. If you are looking for a fully realized game go make a panda in WoW. If you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes stick with SWTOR.… Expand
  80. IrishStPatrick
    Feb 6, 2012
    9
    SWTOR puts the RPG back in MMORPG. To start, this MMO has had such a smooth start up compared to others out there who have tried and failed and are now F2P (Free to Play). I will compare it to WoW for a second, because I know everyone is, in saying that the sense of community is not as strong as in WoW. However, unlike WoW, you don't ever really feel like you're "grinding" for levelsSWTOR puts the RPG back in MMORPG. To start, this MMO has had such a smooth start up compared to others out there who have tried and failed and are now F2P (Free to Play). I will compare it to WoW for a second, because I know everyone is, in saying that the sense of community is not as strong as in WoW. However, unlike WoW, you don't ever really feel like you're "grinding" for levels because the story has players so immersed. I think the level of immersion is actually part of the cause for why there isn't such a strong community feeling. This isn't to say that people don't communicate or help each other out, it's more in the "feeling" of community. Everyone is pretty friendly, but you do get the occasional troll. PvP needs to be fixed; the only division between levels for warzones is that level 50s can't queue with those level 49 and below...but a level 10 is still going to have to face level 49s. That's a problem. Companions are an awesome addition which make going out to complete missions a little easier. Deciding which companion to summon can really change the strategy involved when soloing a rare spawn elite you come across. You can "court" your companion, as long as they're a courtable apecies and you're the opposite sex. That adds just a little more to the RPG feel. If you really like immersing stories which are guided by your decisions sort of like Skyrim, but are on the MMO scale, then this game is for you. Plus, if you decide to become dark side, you can really be a pr*ck to everyone you meet. Light and dark sides aren't restricted to faction; you can be a dark side Jedi and a light side Sith if you want.… Expand
  81. doritosandmarij
    Feb 6, 2012
    4
    This game is not an MMORPG worth checking out; it is a retarded little brother of World of Warcraft. I didn't like the partying system, nor the crafting system, nor the levling or questing system, and the game had nothing unique to it besides the Star Wars lore.
  82. Prufrock
    Feb 6, 2012
    8
    SWTOR is overall a great game. Of course, if you are expecting it to be jam packed with features upon release (say coming from WoW) you will be disappointed. It is a story driven, well crafted MMO that allows players to interact completely in the Star Wars Universe. The graphics are equally stunning as well. I think where the game falls a tad short is in meeting the expectations of seasonsSWTOR is overall a great game. Of course, if you are expecting it to be jam packed with features upon release (say coming from WoW) you will be disappointed. It is a story driven, well crafted MMO that allows players to interact completely in the Star Wars Universe. The graphics are equally stunning as well. I think where the game falls a tad short is in meeting the expectations of seasons MMO players who are looking for features such as a modifiable UI, server transfer, guild halls, etc right out of the box. So it will feel like it is missing something from that perspective. Yet, people forget that it took years and years to develop those features even in WoW because they are expensive to create. So first comes the subscriptions, then comes the added features. That's just the way it works and to expect otherwise is not realistic.… Expand
  83. Setsuna86
    Feb 5, 2012
    5
    This game was a huge disappointment. With so much hype and such a highly promising development you could imagine this one being the new kind of MMOs to come. Sadly this was not the case. I have been playing quite a few MMOs so far (WoW, Rift, GuildWars) and to me Swtor didn't bring anything really innovative or revolutionary to its genre. Sure, the full voice acting is an awesome plus andThis game was a huge disappointment. With so much hype and such a highly promising development you could imagine this one being the new kind of MMOs to come. Sadly this was not the case. I have been playing quite a few MMOs so far (WoW, Rift, GuildWars) and to me Swtor didn't bring anything really innovative or revolutionary to its genre. Sure, the full voice acting is an awesome plus and the game itself is not really bad, though you can hadly call it a MMORPG game.
    The character progression is way too easy compared to other MMOs, and since you level up so quickly you would imagine the developers planned it with a lot of endgame content. Sadly, not. Once you reach level 50 there's not really much you can do. The terrible aspect of the game is the MMO side: you have a companion which is really nice (reminded me of GuildWars) but that's not what breaks the game as MMO. The real problem is you're not actually forced to make a group to do anything else apart from Flashpoints (instances), and you're not even forced to do them. You could reach level 50 without virtually doing any group-quest or instanced zone, because you can simply skip such content and level up in some other ways (space battles, next zones). Quests don't really have any impact on the storyline, the choice you have with dialogues gets you to the same result eventually, so there's no point at all. This game could have been a single player game. That really shocked me: it doesn't -feel- like a MMO game, it's just a bad attempt to mix the ingredients. And the result is a flat MMO, with somewhat empty zones and a LOT of room for improvement. It wouldn't be so bad, really, if it was a free to play MMO, but paying 13â    … Expand
  84. ABNMP
    Feb 4, 2012
    5
    A vanilla game. You can get similar game play from a "free to play" title. In no way, shape, or form is this worth a monthly subscription. If you haven't been gaming on a PC since 1986, and this is your first foray into the genre, you will probably tolerate it.
  85. Akuta
    Feb 4, 2012
    0
    The worst MMO experience I've had. It doesn't even feel like an MMO... maybe a single player game with a shared city. The PvE is boring, there's massive amounts of bugs, the PvP servers have absolutely no PvP--there's 3 warzones you queue for 5000 times--literally--for the same gear. I'm extremely disappointed by this game.
  86. Aquila
    Feb 4, 2012
    0
    It has good Voice Acting but this score is way more important in for example an animated movie/TV show than in a MMORPG. Levelling Until lvl 11 is nice if you go further it becomes very linear in a crappy environment. About end game: My guild stopped operations because of game breaking bugs, and lack off people because they didn't like this game in this state and pvp is very bad andIt has good Voice Acting but this score is way more important in for example an animated movie/TV show than in a MMORPG. Levelling Until lvl 11 is nice if you go further it becomes very linear in a crappy environment. About end game: My guild stopped operations because of game breaking bugs, and lack off people because they didn't like this game in this state and pvp is very bad and unbalanced. Besides PVE/PVP like exploring datacrons(Strange fault in the game is if body type 3 can´t reach them), dailies everything is disappointing. Its a static universe, mobs and NPCs are static, no freedom, to much walls/blockades, linearity, to much is instanced/sharded. You enter a building/cave which mostly all lookalike eachother and are very linear. Lots seems copy pasted. But the worst thing is if your done your looking at a wall and you can better die to turn in your quest instead of running that entire questinstance back same way you came in. The game is claustrophobic, straight edged, much copy pasted elevators and things. Everything but a real planet, a real world, or an MMORPG world can feel like. Feels like you live in a maze, a prison. Hard to imagine flying with your spaceship over the planets because its like the walls in this game want you to keep in the labyrinth. Or even land and take off yourself instead of seeing the same copy pasted video of your ship landing/take off on all locations.
    The engine is horrible, the programming is horrible if you open any tab like inventory, map, character screen you have screen freezes and you can feel this sort of clunkiness throughout the whole game like ability delay and much more. There is no logic in ability rotations and talent trees are copied from WoW.

    The main thing to play MMORPG's are about dynamical content not static content (story). Here it goes wrong in the first place. But to be short every department in this game has shortcomings, flaws, bugs and illogical things. From the character selection screen to endgame.

    They say SWTOR has potential but seeing the list of issues... Also since the beta practically nothing changed and they did 1 year!! over a flashpoint (Kaon Under Siege) i can't really say it has potential although I hope it.



    Lucas should have done a SWG 2 with good pve/pvp and gameplay.    … Expand
  87. fenix12549
    Feb 4, 2012
    10
    This is a huge step foward in the MMO universe. Granted it kind of leaves out the group idea for the main quests but it makes up for it in its long flashpoints. As many ppl have stated; the pvp is unbalenced, that has been fixed now a lvl 10 can kill a lvl 40 as their stats are equal. Some planets are laggy simply because of horrible glitches but Bioware are trying to fix it and keep inThis is a huge step foward in the MMO universe. Granted it kind of leaves out the group idea for the main quests but it makes up for it in its long flashpoints. As many ppl have stated; the pvp is unbalenced, that has been fixed now a lvl 10 can kill a lvl 40 as their stats are equal. Some planets are laggy simply because of horrible glitches but Bioware are trying to fix it and keep in mind ppl an MMO can improve on every lvl if u give it the chance… Expand
  88. Lionhearted
    Feb 3, 2012
    6
    In a word, well there's no one word that explains my disappointment.

    As a MMO, Swtor stands out as being the finest overall achievement I've seen in my 25+ years of gaming, as a MMO ... As a game? Boring. I've been bored by Bioware creations before, heck I put down Kotor a few times before coming back to finish it .. twice. But there's no sincerity to this game, there's no depth to    In a word, well there's no one word that explains my disappointment.

    As a MMO, Swtor stands out as being the finest overall achievement I've seen in my 25+ years of gaming, as a MMO ...

    As a game?

    Boring.

    I've been bored by Bioware creations before, heck I put down Kotor a few times before coming back to finish it .. twice.

    But there's no sincerity to this game, there's no depth to players experience. Everything is on rails, and with as much as there is to explore it's awfully ironic.

    The quests after the first couple of planets become more and more generic-y.
    The combat is especially old hat and in many places has an odd convoluted feeling.
    I love the gimmicky nostalgic poster "stances", but under the weight of the ad-tedium MMO keyboard gameplay, the visuals drop to back ground noise for farming MMO "stuff".

    I was bored of WoW a year after it came out, why would I return for episode 2?

    Thee is almost no "real" exploration, except for the platforming to gain special rewards. But again they have no meaningful gain to your character so they are basically discardable experiences in an otherwise quest grindy leveling game.

    I found myself looking at everything, trying everything and being punished by being way over level to the point where I actually skipped the 2 most famous planets in the Star wars universe .. talk about frustrating.

    Ya know it's one thing to create a game with a great deal of restrictions in mind for the players better enjoyment~
    It's another to restrict the player and really not offer anything enjoyable.

    If you are even half right brained this game will not suit you, and for a game this lives and dies on it's creativity addition.....

    I guess I'll just have to say the Bioware or really EA should be thankful Blizzard carved them an advertisement pathway, because there's not much here for anyone who relishes a traditional Bioware personal story experience or meaningful food for thought.    … Expand
  89. realisticreview
    Feb 3, 2012
    10
    I agree with Esiasch ( see review below ) the attitude of the zero or troll reviewers is mind-boggling. After reading Esiasch's entry i looked at user review for several games. I believe in freedom of speech and that everyone is entitled to their opinion. However even really good games that i enjoyed and are actually well-made game still have a percentage of zero or troll reviews SO IVEI agree with Esiasch ( see review below ) the attitude of the zero or troll reviewers is mind-boggling. After reading Esiasch's entry i looked at user review for several games. I believe in freedom of speech and that everyone is entitled to their opinion. However even really good games that i enjoyed and are actually well-made game still have a percentage of zero or troll reviews SO IVE ATTEMPTED TO RESPOND to these with my views on various complaints made about the game. SWTOR isn't perfect by any means but that doesn't mean it a bad or sub-standard game. I'll compare to the other available options first. Wow is a game i played for six months on a private SERVER mostly to get used to MMO system , PVE/PVP ETC. Up until this point i was an XBOX gamer and a kotor fan so i was expecting kotor 3 on the xbox. I enjoyed my time playing WOW BUT I WOULDN'T ACTUALLY pay a subscription for it ( check my previous review for a full explanation of WOW AND SWTOR ) . The other mmo's on the market that I would consider are LOTRO and Rift both seem similar to WOW but hold no interest for me. The next expansion of WOW is something i might go back to but that not coming to next year and it going to even longer on a private server. that leaves me with diablo 3 and guild wars 2, im sure they're good in their own way but it made me realise that SWTOR was the only MMO for me. So ive been playing SWTOR since release i have a lvl 50 bounty hunter and 3 other alts on the dark side. I'm going to the republic side once ive lvled my alts. I found the game enjoyable and entertaining but there several features that considered standard that are missing in the game. The two most notable omissions are a looking for group system for group quests and a guild bank. Both these are crucial for an MMO'S success as they aid the commuinty socialization and development. Some reviews have also suggested that they are going to wait until patch 1.2 because this is a live beta test. This is mostly true because honestly the game wasn't complete on launch. They only had a very small release window because of BF3, MW3 and SKYRIMM in november and mass effect 3 in march along with diablo 3 and guilds wars 2. So bioware had to release in december because the only other viable option would be summer 2012. The game had already been pushed back several times and it simply wasn't fair on the substantial SWTOR community that been waiting patiently for the games release. In addition Bioware alienated large sections of the market by not releasing in Asia or Australia and not developing the game for mac's. Mac users have pc emulation bootcamp and parallel so that solves that problem and SWTOR releases the game in Australia in march. It is also also true that there are graphical and performance issues even on high-end machines. I just don't go to the imperial fleet (The main dark side base ) in the daytime cos my framerate drops and it makes running about doing trading and training difficult. This also also affects the open pvp ilum as to many players affect framerates. Everywhere else is fine with glitches and bugs in the odd place but these dont really affect gameplay. There were numerous other bugs on release but most of these have been fixed. The linear aspect or lack of sandbox has also been criticized. Other mmo's have the appearance of go anywhere do anything but this is an illusion. Most mmo zones have a certain level and if you are gathering this narrows your scope so you usually end up going to the same places depending on your profession. If ur lvling as well this creates a lot of grind . The companion system of profession missions largely eliminates the grind leaving you to venture forth on the planets. The linear part actually helps here as your class quests suggests area's appropriate to your level with the option of additional heroic group quests. Most of the planets are huge and offer a reasonable amount of choice, for example i been to tattooine 3 times but i've only been to half of the zones. There is also the fact that the republic side have there own planets and area's on later planets and this is only at launch with more planets and zones to be added. Flashpoints are instanced heroic quests with more of a story element these are very enjoyable. I've been concentrating on lvling my alts and their professions so i haven't raided or done operations. These are still a bit buggy so i will wait until the next patch for that. PVP is fun and more balanced cos of 50 only war zones and space combat is a fun mini-game. Anyone buying this game knows they're getting a bioware product which has standard mmo framework with mass effect's UI and the SWTOR IP. So all these haters and trolls shouldn't complain cos it's more or less advertised as is and does what it says on the tin. It definitely offers 3 months of solid gameplay… Expand
  90. Woody309
    Feb 3, 2012
    0
    I had high hopes for this game. I was severely disappointed. While the class quests were interesting for a while the horrible mechanics completely broke the positive aspect of the story lines. I also had a problem with getting immersed in this game due to the overuse of load screens.
  91. VasiliiZaytsev
    Feb 3, 2012
    0
    WoW in space. Terribly optimized. Ruins everything great about Knights of the Old Republic, the series it is based on. Generic gameplay and poor graphics and animations that would look out of place five years ago. The art style looks like something from the back of a cereal box and does not fit the universe of the game at all. Abysmal game. Keep your money.
  92. trashguy
    Feb 2, 2012
    8
    The game is enjoyable as an MMO with the added perk of the Star Wars IP. It is worth trying if you want a MMO change of pace. Majority of the low scorning negative reviews are probably form people with either no MMO background or trolls who didn't level cap. It may not be Bioware's best game but playing through 2of the base class stories has been fun. I think with time this game will getThe game is enjoyable as an MMO with the added perk of the Star Wars IP. It is worth trying if you want a MMO change of pace. Majority of the low scorning negative reviews are probably form people with either no MMO background or trolls who didn't level cap. It may not be Bioware's best game but playing through 2of the base class stories has been fun. I think with time this game will get better for end game content.… Expand
  93. Esiasch
    Feb 2, 2012
    10
    In spite of the fact that I belong to the Homo Misanthropus sub-species, I am generally not a fan of MMORPGS. Some anti-social people find it easier to open up online but I find that it is easier to deal with a lonely, anxious, introverted person face to face than a similar person whose online anonymity has gifted him with zero inhibition, inevitably leading to the unveiling of 15 yearsIn spite of the fact that I belong to the Homo Misanthropus sub-species, I am generally not a fan of MMORPGS. Some anti-social people find it easier to open up online but I find that it is easier to deal with a lonely, anxious, introverted person face to face than a similar person whose online anonymity has gifted him with zero inhibition, inevitably leading to the unveiling of 15 years worth of ridicule and sexual frustration blossoming into a perfect **** storm of **** For instance, in my case, the act of speaking with another human being is brought to a frenzied but rigorously polite dance of anxious madness due to the fact that I am shy and unable to break the colloquial barriers that plague my kind. This leaves little reason for me to vent my frustrations on others as the origin of the fault is obviously my own. As for "the others", the fault is only obviously their own to everyone else. To them, the problem is external --the world is out to get them and they create a hierarchy of self wherein their misery must become a communal one. For these homuculi of the conscious self, the only thing keeping them from being a douche in person is the recognition of the inevitable possibility that the person with whom they are speaking may be pushed into a causal chain that ends in their [the douche] being crippled. Since about a quarter of the people I have ever interacted with in online RPG's fall under the latter classicication, I avoid them like the plague as they leave me pondering things like: "why are they here" as opposed to the more productive "why am I here".

    As such, I absolutely LOVE THIS GAME!!! I finally get to have one of my beloved Bioware single player RPG'S share some of the only qualities of online RPG's that I find desirable such as ever expanding content, appropriate vastness of environment, and the occasional option to share the experience with friends (well of course I have friends...what? did you think I was an **** or something?). I adored the first two games in this series (especially the 2nd but only with the extra content. Otherwise the ending feels like a breezy summer morning stiffy followed by a close encounter with the Lorena Bobbitt kind) and the writing here rivals almost anything I came across in either of those games. The plot may be linear, but let's face it, every other Bioware narrative is just as linear but they put more effort into masking the fact with the clever illusion of openness. In conclusion I will say only this: if you find that you can relate to any of what has been said, you should probably buy this game...but don't try to add me to your group or anything. The evolutionary needs of this primate are accounted for.    … Expand
  94. MMOPlayer
    Feb 2, 2012
    2
    Disappointing. It's a single player game wrapped in an MMO title. Social content is actually discouraged in SWTOR. That becomes obvious when you play. When you play you are almost by yourself 90% of the time. You need no one and no one needs you. That is not an MMO. They constantly shard every planet so you cannot see more than 2-4 people at any one time. The only exceptions are the fleetDisappointing. It's a single player game wrapped in an MMO title. Social content is actually discouraged in SWTOR. That becomes obvious when you play. When you play you are almost by yourself 90% of the time. You need no one and no one needs you. That is not an MMO. They constantly shard every planet so you cannot see more than 2-4 people at any one time. The only exceptions are the fleet where everyone must go and Ium for PvP. But for the most part you are alone and that's fine for a single player game. But SWTOR pretends to be an MMO.

    It's clear that BW designed and built this game as a hybrid knockoff of WoW and it's own singleplayer games.

    Also, it just seems that nothing you do in the SWTOR world really matters.
    BW's almost doctrinal stance on the solo story design is a mistake. Their stance on solo gameplay as a whole, in an MMO, is a mistake. SWTOR's group content is INCONSEQUENTIAL. If I did 5 fp's total, that would be a lot. There is no need to do them. You do not need to do them to advance in any way. I made it to 50 on one toon and 20 on another in 30 days without them. You say I missed out on great gear??? Really and with what consequence? NONE! And I was constantly ahead of the leveling curve right up to Corellia which is 47-49.

    The group content is fun that being FP's and Op's but it's old and tired and in the end doesn't matter as everyone will get good enough gear or better gear without trying so there is no point to it.

    People on the forums tell you do the FP's, OP's, crafting and such but none of it really matters in the end. Crafting : you will loot better gear while PvPing or running regular quests , fps or ops, so no point. Gear is easy to get so everyone will have it so again no point to ops or fp.
    At end game the game really becomes pointless especially on Ilum as Republic.

    That's one of the biggest things I come away with is that the game is too easy, too much good gear drops for nothing, no one needs you and you need no one. No middle game content that would make someone slow down. No real Epic questing going on. It's just more like doing assignments. You will get everything you want guaranteed. No risk whatsoever. It's epically boring.

    SWTOR is mediocre at best and fraudulent as an MMO at worst.
    They duped the paying public into believing this was a true MMO.    … Expand
  95. RingoStarr1991
    Feb 2, 2012
    8
    Not a fan of MMO's but the story lines for the characters I have made (Sith Warrior, Jedi Guardian, and Jedi Councilor) have been quite enjoyable. Lots of quests and missions that can be completed solo or in a group. This game really pulled through for me and will have my hard earned money until I finish the main stories.
  96. achaeon
    Feb 1, 2012
    0
    Very boring. Nothing innovative. Yet another clone half produced with empty promises for the future.. I don't want promises for the future when im paying now. Which is why I cancelled.
  97. Novarek
    Feb 1, 2012
    2
    TOR is a "standard" theme park mmo, prety interesting in PVE but horrible in the craft and PVP, i realy want to know how bioware have used the 200 million USD for this game...

    And the most horible in this story, we have lost SWG for TOR, SWG are superior in many many many point (space, craft, pvp, group and guild activity, many tool for the rp, housing...)
  98. lucidanarchy
    Feb 1, 2012
    2
    Not a fan of a game which does not feel fluid and is full of bugs. Currently anyone playing this game is not a customer but a beta tester. It feels like the Star Wars genre has been drained of all life with this title, and someone with high hopes with what was promised is left with complete disinterest in picking up another Bioware title.
  99. 2clueless
    Feb 1, 2012
    9
    Such a polarizing game. Seems people either love it or hate it. Guess it all depends what sort of research you did on the game as it was going through development, where you set your expectations, and how it all panned out in the end.

    Personally, I am having a blast. Bioware is doing what it does best: telling a story. Doing it's best to inject flavour and character in every    Such a polarizing game. Seems people either love it or hate it. Guess it all depends what sort of research you did on the game as it was going through development, where you set your expectations, and how it all panned out in the end.

    Personally, I am having a blast. Bioware is doing what it does best: telling a story. Doing it's best to inject flavour and character in every interaction, every character, every choice. And most often, it succeeds. It's a bonus that I can bring my friends along for the ride, and interact with other like minded people. It uses a solid bedrock of tried and true MMO mechanics and uses this base to launch you into an immersion factor unparalleled by any other game in the genre.. if you let it.

    I have delighted with friends going through flashpoints, and seeing the conflicting choices happen between light and dark side choices. I have laughed and cried and different situations and dialogue choices that have arisen through my own story experiences. Even though I have been mainly a Republic Lightside player, I have chosen dark side because I could NOT let the evil do'er live, he/she was so despicable. Heck, I have hated myself for being good, as well: during one particular mission, I was forced to choose between saving a character I had really grown to like, or save 300 other innocent lives. It was torture, and I loved it.

    Everything else seems to offer you choices to let you take a break and breath from the story. PvP, Flashpoints, Space Combat, Crafting, all of it is good, none of it is exceptional, there is plenty of improvement needed.. and it will be done.

    And the game isn't flawless, bug-wise, but Bioware is listening, things are being fixed, one just has to be patient.

    If you are looking for story, if you are looking for an awesome game to play with or chatting to a few friends about your experiences, and if you've enjoyed past Bioware games, then this for you. If you are expecting something ground breaking in other ways, if you are looking for the next Major League Gaming competitive PvP game, if you power level without stopping to appreciate the moment.. then this game probably isn't for you.

    Awesome game, 9/10 simply because nothing is ever perfect, there are improvements to be made.    … Expand
  100. DannyInternets
    Feb 1, 2012
    6
    If this wasn't marketed as an MMO I'd be giving it a significantly higher score. Unfortunately, Bioware thinks that you can simply add some auction houses and call any old RPG "massively multiplayer." The terrible engine, non-fluid combat mechanics, broken endgame, and terrible PvP make this one of the stand-out disappointments in my 25 year history of gaming.

    SWTOR is not a bad game, but    If this wasn't marketed as an MMO I'd be giving it a significantly higher score. Unfortunately, Bioware thinks that you can simply add some auction houses and call any old RPG "massively multiplayer." The terrible engine, non-fluid combat mechanics, broken endgame, and terrible PvP make this one of the stand-out disappointments in my 25 year history of gaming.

    SWTOR is not a bad game, but it's very far from a good one. I refuse to pay $15/month to rent a single player game.    … 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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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