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. Jybwee
    Jan 11, 2012
    7
    The story/voice acting are really what stand out in this game and what got me hooked. The rest is a different flavor but as usual is still ice cream as with most mmos. I don't really view that as a negative but it's not a plus. I have also noticed alot of people saying it feels like a single player game, i think the biggest cause of this is the companion system. For me, playing my healerThe story/voice acting are really what stand out in this game and what got me hooked. The rest is a different flavor but as usual is still ice cream as with most mmos. I don't really view that as a negative but it's not a plus. I have also noticed alot of people saying it feels like a single player game, i think the biggest cause of this is the companion system. For me, playing my healer type character, they give me a tank companion as my first companion and make it unnecessary to group for most of the content. On that note - it IS an mmo and you have to talk/group to really get the full experience so i feel it's more the players fault for not being social. I like to view the companion system as an alternative if you like to play alone.

    End game content doesn't offer as much as i would like, slightly less than other mmos have when they first comes out. That being said i think i'll stick with it and look forward to what else they give us with updates/expansions.

    Another thing i'd like to touch on is the character creation. It is incredibly lacking when looked at in relation to most other recent mmo releases. Part of my love for mmos and why i stick with games for years come from me getting attached to my character and when i look too much like everyone else it loses it's appeal. Now one thing it does have going for it is the skill trees - i would like to see a little work done on them in the future, but there is a ton of variety atm. So if on the surface your character doesn't look all too unique, he can be totally unique in the skills/abilities he has.    … Expand
  2. R4d1k4lm4n
    Jan 11, 2012
    7
    Finally an online game that does the Star Wars universe justice! Unlike other mmos that I have played this has got to be the most engaging game out of them all, the effort Bioware has put into the voice acting and story is simply fantastic! I was also pleased that the game is not a complete grind fest like past games I have played and as a result I can casually quest without having to killFinally an online game that does the Star Wars universe justice! Unlike other mmos that I have played this has got to be the most engaging game out of them all, the effort Bioware has put into the voice acting and story is simply fantastic! I was also pleased that the game is not a complete grind fest like past games I have played and as a result I can casually quest without having to kill millions upon millions of enemies to level up (this always put me off continuing my subscription with other games).

    The first flashpoint (The Black Talon) that I played was absolutely amazing, I couldn't believe how good it was being thrown head first into this frantic mission with three other eager comrades being met fierce battles and frequent group conversations, I actually had shivers down my spine the entire time. Once I completed this I was completely sold by the game.

    However as with any newly release mmo it is certainly not perfect. The first issue that I encountered (a personal opinion) was the simplistic character creation process. I thought that this was pretty shocking as I knew that there would be very little differences with my character and other players of the same class and low and behold I was right! What were you thinking Bioware? I just think it would be awesome to be able to run around and see lots of crazy looking toons running around the planets. PVP is also in dire need of some TLC as there are no level brackets and the ability delays do prove pretty annoying when you are trying to play at a competitive level. However I'm sure that this will be addressed in later patches so I can cope with this for the time being. As a result of there being no level brackets I've been forced to wait until I reach level 50 before I can start PVPing because at the moment if you're not 50, the 50's you are playing against will completely destroy you! Another issue that I personally have been having problems with is the fact that it can sometimes be rather difficult trying to find members to form a group for Heroic quests, while not impossible it can take a while. I think this will sort itself out eventually when Bioware removes the server instances so all players play in the same one *fingers crossed*.

    While these issues are rather annoying they still aren't enough to prevent me from continuing on with the game. If you're still on the fence about whether to buy it or not I say go for, it's still in its early stages and it's only going to get even better with time!    … Expand
  3. banz
    Jan 12, 2012
    7
    WoW with lightsabres... hard to not like that. Sure, we all had higher expectations, but it's a good game. I, for one, wanted a Dark Forces II, meets KoTOR, meets Wing Commander: Privateer, meets Battlefield 2... but I ask a lot, apparently. (Imagine huge BF2 style pvp maps with AT-ATs, jedi and speeders... ya... quite the immagination... but I digress.) I'm enjoying the story lines ofWoW with lightsabres... hard to not like that. Sure, we all had higher expectations, but it's a good game. I, for one, wanted a Dark Forces II, meets KoTOR, meets Wing Commander: Privateer, meets Battlefield 2... but I ask a lot, apparently. (Imagine huge BF2 style pvp maps with AT-ATs, jedi and speeders... ya... quite the immagination... but I digress.) I'm enjoying the story lines of the different characters, and the voice acting is pretty darned good. It's fun, but I doubt I'll be hooked like I was on WoW (for years).… Expand
  4. Oreus
    Jan 13, 2012
    7
    Where to begin. The game, in concept, is great but there are many problems that Bioware either has not or can not be bothered to address. One of the first is the fact that they blatently lied to us with the Collector's Editon in game items. We were promised a pet, "Training Droid (Virtual Pet)
    A small but advanced training droid to hover at your side for combat assistance." What did we    Where to begin. The game, in concept, is great but there are many problems that Bioware either has not or can not be bothered to address. One of the first is the fact that they blatently lied to us with the Collector's Editon in game items. We were promised a pet, "Training Droid (Virtual Pet)
    A small but advanced training droid to hover at your side for combat assistance." What did we get instead? A useless piece of garbage that IS NOT A PET, it comes out and circles an enemy for a min or two and then disappears. WTF??!! Bioware has not commented on this. They went with the piece of garbage called Hero Engine. This antiquated gaming engine creates games that are competely instanced. Now the game feels dead because, unlike in WOW or Rift, you can see other ppl around you, in this game, you're basically in a deadzone working on a quest with no one around... You want Customer Support (CS) - I hope you know how to pray... it is basically non-existant and when someone does answer - either they have absolutely NO CLUE about the game or can barely but a coherent sentence together in English. If you think I'm exaggerating as to how poor to atrocious the CS really is, please refer to the following threads:

    http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=86614
    http://www.swtor.com/community/showt...27#post1023327
    http://www.swtor.com/community/showt...08#post1022308

    Don't get me wrong, I love the game itself but I think that ever since the "Kiss of Death" (EA [Electronic Arts]) bought Bioware, it's been downhill ever since.    … Expand
  5. Fireturnip
    Jan 14, 2012
    7
    Coming from 6 years of WoW (but no other MMO experience) as a moderate PVE player (heroic bosses but not complete heroic raids in WoW, no arena or serious PvP outside of vanilla), I have enjoyed my time in SWTOR so far. Leveling is much better than WoW, the voice work is fantastic and really tells the story well. It's nice to know why I'm killing a bad guy for a change (still have noComing from 6 years of WoW (but no other MMO experience) as a moderate PVE player (heroic bosses but not complete heroic raids in WoW, no arena or serious PvP outside of vanilla), I have enjoyed my time in SWTOR so far. Leveling is much better than WoW, the voice work is fantastic and really tells the story well. It's nice to know why I'm killing a bad guy for a change (still have no idea what Illidan ever did to me....). On hitting 50 (max level), I wanted to see another characters story arc, rather than strengthen my character; when I finished leveling in WoW, I was sick of leveling. The stories and voice work are the really strong points; if these points, or Star Wars itself, aren't particularly interesting to you, you aren't going to enjoy this game. If you love arena in WoW, it doesn't exist in SWTOR.

    There are quite a few comments regarding PvP imbalance. Just like every other game ever with PvP. The warzones are similar to battlegrounds in WoW, and they seem fine to me. One major benefit is that there is a warzone type which accommodates battles against the same faction, which really helps queue times.

    The flashpoints (think instances) are fine, nothing special. Bosses are generally a little simple in mechanics, but nothing terrible. Haven't tried the raids.

    I really feel that this is a good starting point, and it depends where they go with it from here. WoW certainly is more polished, but content has generally been in decline (honestly, we got 2.5 tiers of raiding in the whole of Cata....Firelands was too small to be a whole tier). If content keeps up in SWTOR, and they keep polishing, then it will really be a valid WoW killer. At the end of the day, as long as they are constantly working to make the game better, and they keep content coming out often enough that I'm not bored, I don't see me going back to WoW.

    There are a few things I'm worried about. The game takes surprisingly good hardware to run well (Tom's Hardware did a review in Beta which covered this well); this means for me that I have very long load screens, but nothing I can't accept. However, if this means that people with new computers that don't have at least mid range discrete graphics can't play properly, that could have an impact on subs, which of course effects the whole player base. Also, the crew skills (crafting system) and GTN (AH) are bad. Just bad. Removing the requirement that I sit and watch my toon craft is a plus, but it doesn't make the system fun. Presently, I see no real reason to craft at all (unless you enjoy crafting in and of itself). You can easily do without the small advantages that crafting gives you while leveling, and you aren't going to get rich crafting (you will actually get quite poor). The GTN is a big part of this, but both systems are lacking; having said that, I'm not sure how much most players will mind, I'm looking at this from the perspective of someone who hit the gold cap in both WoTLK and Cata.    … Expand
  6. rexob85
    Jan 24, 2012
    7
    Let me preface by giving my experience playing MMOs - City of Heroes, Earth and Beyond, Star Wars Galaxies, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Champions Online, World of Warcraft, Everquest - I have a minimum of 10yrs playing the genre and have a firm understanding of what really works and what doesn't. I have a lv46 Bounty Hunter playing on a PvP server in SWTOR and these are my findings.Let me preface by giving my experience playing MMOs - City of Heroes, Earth and Beyond, Star Wars Galaxies, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Champions Online, World of Warcraft, Everquest - I have a minimum of 10yrs playing the genre and have a firm understanding of what really works and what doesn't. I have a lv46 Bounty Hunter playing on a PvP server in SWTOR and these are my findings.

    Overall, this game has a lot of potential and a very good initial effort by Bioware. However, there are glaring basic MMO issues that longtime veterans of MMOs will quickly notice. The single player experience attempts to create a rich story, and while the voice acting is nice, the consequences never seem as real or truly immerse a player into the universe the game attempts to create. Character creation is solid and each class feels unique. One of the biggest issues I have is the game feels "empty"; playing on a "standard" pvp server I rarely encounter opposing forces, furthermore I rarely encounter my own forces. The voice acting is among the greatest strength of the game. However, I cannot say the same for all of the writing, it becomes apparent this was a huge undertaking and the writing starts to feel dull and recycled as progressing through content. Graphically, the game looks pleasing with the stylized realism. However, the game has FPS issues, even on the solid gaming machines, and the game failed to launch with the high resolution settings included during the beta.

    Bioware is responsive to the shortcomings of the game and various issues. However, some of the missed basics of MMOs is disappointing. The Global Trade Network (auction house) is horrible, the searching and options are limiting and cumbersome. The UI is static and unchangeable; while this is not a huge drawback, the default settings are not ideal. MMOs traditionally place the party frames in the upper/mid left side of the game - not the lower left. In addition the chat box is in the upper left-hand corner which is quite unorthodox from traditional layouts. I am not suggesting every MMO copy and paste layouts, but there are certain expectations and proven designs that do work.

    Loading times are sorely disappointing and borderline aggravating. In addition there are pointless time sinks traveling from one location to another, a common example to leave a planet - board a transport, ride an elevator, enter an airlock & board your ship, finally select a new destination which then repeats the process in reverse when arriving. Crafting in the game provides few unique bonuses, and no real benefits aside from Biochem currently. However, unique crafting systems are rarely in place at launch of most games, and this is not a bad foundation for later updates.

    The PvP is not horrible, but far from ideal. Both sides can partake in "battlegrounds" simliar to Arathi Basin and Strands of the Ancients from WoW. Then the Empire has Huttball, which has a very steep learning curve for newcomers and the zone itself creates significant imbalances among the classes. The Republic has its own "battleground" too, but I have not participated in it. The PvP can be fun, but on servers with greatly imbalanced populations between the sides, you play your sides "battleground" the vast majority of the time and it gets old very quickly. Leveling throughout the game remains constant once hitting level 20. I did not experience a significant slow-down at any point and I leveled as a healer at all times. Stay focused on the missions (quests) and each level seems to average 150minutes, sometimes more or less depending on what is accomplished.

    Overall presentation is very nice when you can get it to run properly and smoothly...the sound is perfect and Bioware did not miss anything there. However, the constant sound of lightsabers and blaster fire does get old after the initial awe fades away.

    The game offers a lot of potential, but some glaring basic gameplay issues sorely stick out to longtime MMO veterans. Longtime Star Wars fans will greatly enjoy the game and universe though with familiar settings - Tatooine, Hoth, Correlia. Overall, SWTOR has a solid foundation to build upon. The speed and execution of the next few months will undoubtedly set the tone for the game's future. Personally, I do not recommend the game to anyone looking for a fun MMO with a strong community, I typically feel very alone in the game. However, if you really enjoy the Star Wars universe this game is for you.    … Expand
  7. WeekendGamer33
    Jan 30, 2012
    7
    My MMO experience; I played WoW for about a week when it first came out, ditto for Everquest (though a bit later to that party). In both cases I gave up because they felt like huge time-sucks with no substance, but I love RPGs (like KOTOR) and I grew up wearing Star Wars underoos. I played a Powertech to level 50 (max) in SWTOR and enjoyed almost every minute of it. The dialog-driven playMy MMO experience; I played WoW for about a week when it first came out, ditto for Everquest (though a bit later to that party). In both cases I gave up because they felt like huge time-sucks with no substance, but I love RPGs (like KOTOR) and I grew up wearing Star Wars underoos. I played a Powertech to level 50 (max) in SWTOR and enjoyed almost every minute of it. The dialog-driven play feels like an RPG, but the game world feels expansive. It's also beautiful; I often scroll the camera around while on a speeder just to see the details in the sky/horizon. Space combat is nice a break between planet-based play, which can devolve into button-mashing. The thing about SWTOR--and the reason it is so polarizing--is that it isn't built around group-play, guilds, raids, and buzzing mom on the intercom to bring down more hot pockets and a bedpan during a twelve-hour proxy for a social life.

    I leveled without doing any flashpoints, minimal heroic (group) quests, and no PVP because I'm a grown-up with a busy schedule and tend to play on Sunday mornings (often with single-digits of other players on a particular planet). But SWTOR doesn't force me to play at 11PM on Saturday, when my server is jammed; sure, I wouldn't mind doing more group-based stuff, and I'm sure the Sunday morning population will pick up as the game matures, but at least having to solo everything wasn't a bottleneck. And by the end, I felt that my little toon had a personality, and a history; he is different than all the other Powertechs in the universe.

    Now, at level 50, I spend much more time crafting and trying to earn credits on the Galactic Trade Network; here you can really see the dynamics of a new MMO. Every weekend some commodity shoots way up or crashes; for a while I was the only one making a few purple-quality mods, and I could make a killing. Then, one day, there were dozens of others and I couldn't sell at a profit, so I had to reverse-engineer my way to a different purple, and so-on. If you then head to the forums, it is a non-stop complain-fest about how "broken" the economy is because something fell in price or because a commodity became extra-rare--but that is what makes a market-based economy dynamic and fun! On the other hand, I won't pay a monthly fee just to make fake money in a virtual commodities market; this is where the lack of facile group-play does start to become a bottleneck.

    The big question, and the reason I rated this game a 7, is what happens next? What do I do with my little Powertech after he has the fast speeder and all his bling? I suspect the answer is that Bioware will continue to patch and expand the game to give me something to do, and to keep the server population increasing so that I can find others to do group quests with. In the end, that will determine whether or not I extend my subscription. But when you read all the complaints and negative reviews ask two questions: 1) Does the complaint boil down to "I want a game that is just like WoW, but way better, and nothing at all like WoW" and 2) Does the negative review criticize anything that cannot be changed in the future by patches and/or an increasing user base. And then ask yourself if you think Bioware employs stupid people that don't know how to listen to customer feedback and that are incapable of evolving SWTOR into a really great experience and attracting more users. (Also note that 99% of people claiming that you will be banned for X are not basing that opinion on verifiable facts.)

    This is, by definition, a dynamic game that will evolve and wax and wane in popularity; if you enjoy the Star Wars universe, dialog-driven questing, predicting mandalorian iron futures, and occasional group-play, then SWTOR will be fun. If you want "WoW, but not WoW" then go eat some mushrooms and play WoW.    … Expand
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. MrDaikon
    Apr 28, 2012
    7
    ... This is a product of a developer that is experienced in making RPG but not a MMO. The class quests are good with some Bio ware "good" and "Bad" decisions but as a MMO is broken. PVP gets repetitive real soon and there just isn't enough end game content. The classes aren't balanced and play style is either DPS or Healing. 1.2 patch didn't help the game one bit. Ultra Ugly armor... This is a product of a developer that is experienced in making RPG but not a MMO. The class quests are good with some Bio ware "good" and "Bad" decisions but as a MMO is broken. PVP gets repetitive real soon and there just isn't enough end game content. The classes aren't balanced and play style is either DPS or Healing. 1.2 patch didn't help the game one bit. Ultra Ugly armor were added. If you like the SW universe, roll some characters and play the class mission. If you spend to spend the next 5 year on an MMO, SWTOR isn't the best choice.… Expand
  13. BeatHour
    Jul 7, 2013
    7
    I reviewed this in 2011, but now I'll review it again.

    This game is a prison. Its somewhat addictive, but not enough to keep me away for whole weeks while still subscribing. Before they did the server swaps, the game was a ghost town. Now the servers have pops akin to what a medium pop on the old 50+ server system had. The main character storyline is good most of the time, and your    I reviewed this in 2011, but now I'll review it again.

    This game is a prison. Its somewhat addictive, but not enough to keep me away for whole weeks while still subscribing. Before they did the server swaps, the game was a ghost town. Now the servers have pops akin to what a medium pop on the old 50+ server system had.

    The main character storyline is good most of the time, and your choices do mean something. But the main story is too few and far between. The planet stories can be okay, but more often than not its bad. Sometimes, like Imperial Taris, its a sort of "anything you can do I can do better" sort of thing, which was really lame. The side quests can be cool, but usually set you up for some disappointment. The companion stories are all usually very cool, but a lot of content was seemingly cut and you can not go on their adventures. Its always a matter of "I have to do this alone."

    The main story is the only thing I find enjoyable about the game, and yet one must wade through tons of sub-par content to get there. This makes the game a massive time sink. The developers intentionally forced people who enjoy a standard fair game to play with MMO diehards, WoW 'heretics' who wanted something better.

    I do play MMOs, too, and have gotten to endgame PvE in WoW a few times (though I tend to prefer PvP), but this was much the same monotony from WoW. This is really EA's fault for allowing the rebel WoW community to dictate how the game was made, and yet the WoW crowd wanted something better instead of a carbon copy.

    The game was better in Beta. None of the beta testers were complaining as far as I saw. The game was significantly difficult, yet people enjoyed the pace of progress. We had some disappointments, like design story decisions on the planet Taris. And then right before the game released, they changed how PvE worked. No longer hard and few fights, but lots of boring ones. Endless trash mobs instead of stuff that was fun to fight. The game changed from being a hero to being a jogger, trying to get through areas as fast as possible.

    Anyway, the game is now a smoldering ruin. The cash shop model is very bad, especially the unfairly priced stuff like 'pvp tickets'. The game may be worth $20 for the game and a free month, just to see one storyline (which you may accomplish if you're dedicated). The game is boring and repetitive after your first through playthroughs, but it has its moments.

    PvP is good if you're in to that, but most people aren't and utterly stink at it. The 50+ stuff is extremely gear based, which defeats all semblance of fun for anyone not geared out.

    Haven't played the newest stuff, but before the expansion, the endgame content was severely lacking. Raids were short but too hard for the average player, flashpoints use the same tilesets from the earlier flashpoints (its like they assumed nobody would play the earlier ones).

    All in all, the game seems like it might have changed direction in developement, and certainly did after its initial financial crisis.    … Expand
  14. Rugi
    Dec 4, 2012
    7
    Ok, it's been a year since release and the free to play patch is out. Time for a new review! Let my start by saying that this is NOT KOTOR. The writing is better than your standard MMO, but they are a little below the quality of our favorite Star Wars RPG franchise. The stories for each class are very entertaining in their own right. Don't listen when people tell you that the Agent is theOk, it's been a year since release and the free to play patch is out. Time for a new review! Let my start by saying that this is NOT KOTOR. The writing is better than your standard MMO, but they are a little below the quality of our favorite Star Wars RPG franchise. The stories for each class are very entertaining in their own right. Don't listen when people tell you that the Agent is the best story in the game or that the Consular story is a snoozefest. It's all opinion and different people will enjoy different things. Now on to gameplay. You're probably going to what a mid range machine to get enjoyment out of this game. I run 8GB of DDR2 RAM with a dual core CPU and a GTX 620 graphics card. A tad dated but I can run most settings on high. Except for shadows. I turn shadows off on every MMO I play simply because it is such a huge drain on processes and disabling them gives a massive performance boost. The enviroments which you will be running around in are very detailed and fun to look at. Except Tattoine. That place is mostly sand, so not much going on there. ToR goes for a more realistic look compared to MMO's such as WoW which are more cartoony. Persoanlly I prefer the realistic style, but your mileage may vary. Speeder training has been brought down to level 15 and makes running around between misssions so much faster. This was a complaint brought up by players as it used to be level 25, 10 levels after you get your starship. Doesn't make much sense, huh? Well, BioWare listened! There is also the Legacy system now. Through this system you can purchase character specific perks such as XP boosts as well as unlock things for all of your characters account wide. For the roleplayers you can also assemble your various characters that you have made into a family tree within your legacy. Now your Sith Warrior can have that Jedi son he's always wanted! There are also bind to legacy items now, so once you get a character to 50 you can gear out your next ones so that they fly through the beginning content. End game there is PvP, daily missions, and Operations (better known as Raids to the WoW crowd) so you will always have something to do once you reach the level cap. All in all the game is solid, but not perfect. If you want an MMO with voice acting, great story, and solid gameplay then give The Old Republic a shot!… Expand
  15. kane148
    Dec 13, 2012
    7
    I went into this game with very high expectations but was significantly let down. It's not a bad game, and in fact I would call it a good game, but it has some serious issues which bring it down a lot. There were numerous features lacking or underdeveloped such as auction sorting, group matching, and chat options. These oversights are inexcusable in my opinion, because they have long beenI went into this game with very high expectations but was significantly let down. It's not a bad game, and in fact I would call it a good game, but it has some serious issues which bring it down a lot. There were numerous features lacking or underdeveloped such as auction sorting, group matching, and chat options. These oversights are inexcusable in my opinion, because they have long been implemented in other MMOs, especially WoW, and since SW:TOR seems to copy so much else from that game, they should have done a little more stealing and at least had a decent auction house and chat system. On top of that, the character creation is pretty lousy with very few customization options for an MMO--especially if you don't want your character to look silly. I did however like that the racial bonuses are pretty much just cosmetic, so you don't have to choose between the race with the best stats and the one you want to play for aesthetic or role-play reasons. Where the game really shines is in its fully-voiced quest dialogue and relatively-strong storylines, which do a decent job of making your actions seem significant. However this becomes time-consuming after awhile--especially when you are re-running instances or playing a second character--and I felt that, in the end, Bioware had not done such a good job of blending their signature singleplayer RPG dialogue/story with the demands of an MMO. I played for a couple months and then quit, having already leveled 2 characters and gotten bored. Hopefully it has improved a lot since then, but even as a big Star Wars and Bioware fan, I don't miss it enough to give it a second try.… Expand
  16. hakblood
    Oct 11, 2012
    7
    Fun game from 1-50 with interesting stories and voice acting, game is hindered by a terrible game engine / design and get boring very quickly at max level. I found it was more fun to level a new toon to max rather than grind the same old same old everyday at end game. After lvling 3 toons to max and beating all the raids i moved on with the intent of returning later, but to be honest theFun game from 1-50 with interesting stories and voice acting, game is hindered by a terrible game engine / design and get boring very quickly at max level. I found it was more fun to level a new toon to max rather than grind the same old same old everyday at end game. After lvling 3 toons to max and beating all the raids i moved on with the intent of returning later, but to be honest the game engine is so bad, i doubt i will ever return now that my sub has lapsed. I did enjoy the time i played it however, just done with it now.… Expand
  17. Zackis
    Dec 19, 2012
    7
    F2P review. much more polished than the original release. Pro: More people on the world to interact with, new content seems consistent,PvP keeps getting added war zones, fully customizable gear and clothes. Con: after the end of you story line it becomes a gear grind, not a ton of end game content. Still worth a look as it is free.
  18. BalicanBreeze
    Jan 20, 2013
    7
    The game was pretty fun when it was first released, albeit a bit too similar to wow in how combat worked. The space combat was really disappointed, and dwarfed by SWG that's a lot older. The questing is fun on your first chars, but having to redo the same quests on alts is very boring. They dropped the ball on this game, it could have been awesome. I still recommend playing it onceThe game was pretty fun when it was first released, albeit a bit too similar to wow in how combat worked. The space combat was really disappointed, and dwarfed by SWG that's a lot older. The questing is fun on your first chars, but having to redo the same quests on alts is very boring. They dropped the ball on this game, it could have been awesome. I still recommend playing it once since it's gone free to play.… Expand
  19. Bmane
    Sep 29, 2016
    7
    A fantastic mmo experience, especially if you love narrative story telling. While the narrative here isn't on the same level as the Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect, it is on a far higher level than any other MMO currently in existence. It's also enjoyable to take part in if your co-opting with your friends, being able to participate in conversations with other players isA fantastic mmo experience, especially if you love narrative story telling. While the narrative here isn't on the same level as the Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect, it is on a far higher level than any other MMO currently in existence. It's also enjoyable to take part in if your co-opting with your friends, being able to participate in conversations with other players is certainly innovative. But... it's not perfect, and there are several parts of the game that leave me scratching my head, such as certain quest giving npcs which are solo/same class only, meaning your friends can't take part in the dialogue.

    I play this as a Free-to-Play game, I'm not a subscriber. As a Free-to-Play game the restrictions are not heavy, if anything they are rather generous, with the max level you can reach being 50 for F2P (60 for subs). But perhaps the most criminal aspect of this game is their support for F2P players. There is no support for guys like me, even ones with preferred status (something you get when you buy off the market). I have never known a game to completely shut off any customer support to F2P players, and not just that, but to do it to even preferred status players. It's a complete joke and the only reason why I'm not giving this an 8. Bioware is not exactly known for its stellar support, nor is EA, but they've gone too far this time. Your pretty much screwed if you run into a bug, a technical issue or even have trouble logging in (something I've had).    … Expand
  20. mijxero
    Feb 8, 2017
    7
    The questing is excellently voice acted and the story is actually quite good. I think it plays pretty good as an MMO, but it still gets weighed down by the MMO style combat and running back and forth. I mean as an MMO I would give it a middle of the road 5, but its voice acting, story, and atmosphere really boosts it up. Activated for one month and enjoyed my time, just don't feel likeThe questing is excellently voice acted and the story is actually quite good. I think it plays pretty good as an MMO, but it still gets weighed down by the MMO style combat and running back and forth. I mean as an MMO I would give it a middle of the road 5, but its voice acting, story, and atmosphere really boosts it up. Activated for one month and enjoyed my time, just don't feel like the endgame stuff is for me.… Expand
  21. orctown-troll
    Oct 20, 2013
    7
    SWTOR is pretty good. Despite that: This game is, was and may forever be, the BIGGEST failure, the BIGGEST disappointment, and the BIGGEST lost opportunity in the history of Game design up to this point. I'm not saying that what we got at publication, or what they have patched it up to now is bad. Its not. the problem with SWTOR is what it could and should have been. What it failed to be.SWTOR is pretty good. Despite that: This game is, was and may forever be, the BIGGEST failure, the BIGGEST disappointment, and the BIGGEST lost opportunity in the history of Game design up to this point. I'm not saying that what we got at publication, or what they have patched it up to now is bad. Its not. the problem with SWTOR is what it could and should have been. What it failed to be. The budget was there but the vision was lacking. For those of us who saw the first Star Wars movie in the cinema back in 1977 This IP was a life changing influence in the same way as Tolkein was in the field of literature. We all know how George Lucas had a gift for failing with Star Wars, for wrecking things, or rubbing the luster off it. But Bioware had a good track record of doing Star Wars well. KOTOR 1 and 2 were great. Mass Effect, though a unique IP showed that the Canadians were capable of great things here. So WTF happened? My guess is they played it way too safe, and tried to copy WOW as closely as possible with a few fatal dashes too many of Bioware's legendary (And in this case diasterous) 'STORYTELLING'.! Hey guys a little advice after the barn has burned down: GAMERS WANT TO WRITE THEIR OWN FACKING STORIES! We don't want to get dragged around like marionettes on strings you pull, or strapped into chairs of the scenic railroads you lay for us! We want to be the heroes of the story in our own terms! SWTOR could have ignored WOW. It could have got a few ideas from EVE and X3, heaps of inspiration from the best of the movies and then a glorious freewheeling sandbox in a galaxy, where you can play any of dozens of races, on dozens of planets explore the galaxy and pursue any numbers of skill sets developing the kind of hero you wanted to be. Luke Skywalker had a thing for droids remember! We could have all been free to develop all sorts of fun non-combat skills for the purposes of ROLE PLAYING. Eventually, after many adventures in many places the players might even have got introduced to the force, or its dark side and found the option to choose to become a Jedi knight or a Sithe warrior. Sadly that was all to 1995 for Bioware. This game offered ZERO EXPLORATION. ZERO meaningful race choice, near ZILCH in character development. Near NOTHING in player choice. You start off affiliated to one of two factions, and well on your way to mastery of skills which in the lore of Star Wars were supposed to be rare and special. Bioware designed a game, and planned for a situation where there would be literally millions of high level Jedi's and Sithe running around! A mad dream that has nothing to do with Star Wars lore. Built without vision, this game fails to impress where it should. It suffers a Bioware malaise: No sense of place. Each area you go to is a sterile set, where you plod about waiting to be cued on a conveyer belt to your next fixed 'plot point'. You don't become a bounty hunter or anything in this game by trial and error, by wandering about and earning the membership rights to a skill set. Instead you make a single choice with character creation that then becomes a RAILROAD OF SUBSEQUENT non choices. Which can also be described, when you think about it (as I so capably do) THE ANTITHESIS OF ROLEPLAYING. What some of the targets of these reviews need to understand is that I was designing games at a professional level at the age of 16, back in 1982. I'm not blowing bubbles out of my arse. The game still scores 6/10 because it has plenty of fun content. You can't burn $300 million without getting nice assets, animations, sincere efforts, good voice acting and a lot of good content, which this game DOES offer. It's pretty well a game everyone should look into when it goes free to play. it may even get patched up enough to earn a green score. I hope so. But it will always be too late. SWTOR cannot now become the masterpiece it should have been. When they set aside the budget for this game, it was a grand chance to be daring and to redefine role playing forever. What we got instead was a boring version of WOW in space. Lost in Space, where is that robot waving its arms crying "warning, warning"? TOO LATE.

    Orctowngrot    … Expand
  22. Neravarine
    Nov 17, 2015
    7
    If we look it just as a video game, now in 2015 its a good video game, but its not a good mmo. Let me explain: swtor is probably one of the best "video games" of all mmorpg games, but its not good mmo game at all, coz of multiple reasons: Its free to play game in which you have to subscribe in order to do anything, Do not advertise it as a f2p if its p2p, Its content is a bit simple, veryIf we look it just as a video game, now in 2015 its a good video game, but its not a good mmo. Let me explain: swtor is probably one of the best "video games" of all mmorpg games, but its not good mmo game at all, coz of multiple reasons: Its free to play game in which you have to subscribe in order to do anything, Do not advertise it as a f2p if its p2p, Its content is a bit simple, very interesting but still simple, and every single thing in the game is made primary for EA to make money on and not for players to enjoy. PvP is a lot of fun, but I do not think that they ever cared about balance in this game, well I understand, it takes a lot of money to research a proper balance and EA being EA did not see it as a priority to spend money on. As for PvE content its fun, it makes you feel like you are playing single player or co-op game.

    Now its not all that bad, if you want to pay for sub in free to play game, and then pay again for cartel coins:
    It has awesome storyline for every class, and additional storyline for every planet and expansion, it has Starfighter PvP and Starship PvE, those Flashpoints(Dungeons) are real fun and character customization is nice, even if 70% things ingame are cosmetic.    … Expand
  23. Dragon_Fly
    Jul 17, 2014
    7
    This is a great game, however it has come to my attention that ever since it has become "Free to Play" it has been plagued with idiots who just can not comprehend how to play together as a team. It is so bad that the Developers made these crazy easy Flashpoints called : "Tactical Flashpoints" that do not require a tank or a healer; all this in order to accommodate the idiots into playingThis is a great game, however it has come to my attention that ever since it has become "Free to Play" it has been plagued with idiots who just can not comprehend how to play together as a team. It is so bad that the Developers made these crazy easy Flashpoints called : "Tactical Flashpoints" that do not require a tank or a healer; all this in order to accommodate the idiots into playing the game with virtually zero tactics. They ruin the atmosphere of the game with their inability to listen and communicate...

    They bring the enjoyment of the game down; it makes one have to abandon flashpoints due to their lack of team play and listening.

    If these are children of the future... I fear for the future... these people will never be able to do anything in life without being told step by step... they have absolutely no sense of creativity or critical thinking skills. Heaven forbid the day they become "voters."

    I like this game but... right now I enjoy playing Fifa 14 on "Legendary" setting more...    … Expand
  24. vexarez
    May 29, 2015
    7
    To me Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the best Free 2 Play MMORPG´S out there. It has nice graphics, an amazing story and very solid combat and skill systems.
    Only negative aspects to me are boring and sometimes repetitive quests and the advantages a subscriber has in comparison to a free player are too vast, for Instance a "premium" player can have three different crew skills at    To me Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the best Free 2 Play MMORPG´S out there. It has nice graphics, an amazing story and very solid combat and skill systems.
    Only negative aspects to me are boring and sometimes repetitive quests and the advantages a subscriber has in comparison to a free player are too vast, for Instance a "premium" player can have three different crew skills at the same time, while free players can only have one and that´s just stupid from my point of view !    … Expand
  25. MenaBanana
    Jun 30, 2015
    7
    This game has many rights, and many wrongs. The main issue is that it is not a typical MMO, where players focus on a single class and enjoy a single story. This is a game designed to encourage players to finish all 8 of the campaign stories. Unfortunately this was an over reach for bioware, resulting in some misguided decisions. The most interested parts of the lore are not exploredThis game has many rights, and many wrongs. The main issue is that it is not a typical MMO, where players focus on a single class and enjoy a single story. This is a game designed to encourage players to finish all 8 of the campaign stories. Unfortunately this was an over reach for bioware, resulting in some misguided decisions. The most interested parts of the lore are not explored enough, while the most basic parts are over explored.

    Too many side quests, not enough end game content. PVP is sorely abandoned.

    That being said it is by far one of the best MMO's you will find out there. It is far more interesting than WOW, and much more re-playable than ESO. The unique classes will keep you entertained as you learn how to play them all. It has by far the most original costumes than any MMO you will find. You will be able to make not one, but 8 distinct characters that are unique to you. This is a prime game for role players.

    That being said, be warned of the community. Star Wars is a wide spread IP, and it draws both the experienced players and the newest of noobs. Expect drama in practically every community you meet, and expect role players to take themselves far too seriously. This is "Star Wars" and the ultimate nerd ego bolster, so the role players tend to be overly brutal in their treatment of other people and there is a lot of guild politics and bullying. There are the "loremaster" types who like to use their "expansive" knowledge of lore to justify god modding and metagaming. Don't fall for it. Walk away if someone makes you feel bad There are great role players in the game, you just have to find them. And if you do it will be one of the best role playing experiences you can have in any MMO.

    If you love star wars you will love this game even with it's flaws. I have been a subbed player for almost 3 years now. I have leveled 10 characters, and have 12 more. I think it's possible this game could become the best MMO out there if bioware does their expansions right. We'll see.    … Expand
  26. Sparkyte
    Jan 11, 2016
    7
    This game is absolutely fun if you play it for the story, avoid all of the multiplayer **** While I do recommend other games before this it's not a terrible or great game.
  27. tehCrazedrebel
    Jun 21, 2016
    7
    It's a great game, really. The storyline is pretty well thought out, companions are memorable, gameplay is just like any other free MMORPG, that doesn't make it any less fun. Now, the reason I'm only giving it an 7/10? The unrelenting free to play restrictions, yes, this is a free to play game and I understand IN-GAME restrictions, but I've never seen a free to play game dev team do this:It's a great game, really. The storyline is pretty well thought out, companions are memorable, gameplay is just like any other free MMORPG, that doesn't make it any less fun. Now, the reason I'm only giving it an 7/10? The unrelenting free to play restrictions, yes, this is a free to play game and I understand IN-GAME restrictions, but I've never seen a free to play game dev team do this: You are denied access to the forums and support if you're free to play or a preferred player. So, basically, if you have an in-game problem that can only be patched by the devs, you better be ready to pay up and become a subscriber.

    The game is fun! It really is! Even as a free to play player, it's still very fun, try it out! But these restrictions are a real turn off.    … Expand
  28. OldGamer99
    May 2, 2021
    7
    This game is worth is if you love star wars and a respectable RPG story line (some classes are better than others).

    TL;DR: fun enough for someone looking for some star wars action, but well past its prime. By 2021 standards graphics are mediocre with a very poor color scheme which will leave you playing your PCs in every shade of brown, but hey, the movies are pretty much jedi=brown,    This game is worth is if you love star wars and a respectable RPG story line (some classes are better than others).

    TL;DR: fun enough for someone looking for some star wars action, but well past its prime.

    By 2021 standards graphics are mediocre with a very poor color scheme which will leave you playing your PCs in every shade of brown, but hey, the movies are pretty much jedi=brown, sith=black, so it is true to the franchise.

    Aesthethics aside, the game had a far amount of enjoyment, less so for returning players, but very much so for new to the game.

    It's respectable even as creaky and out of date as it is. Hopefully, there will be a decent, up to date successor eventually.    … Expand
  29. Corefitz
    Feb 15, 2020
    7
    Seriously one of the best MMORPGs out there, and can we just take a moment to appriciate that everything is voiced!

    You even get to chose your own moral compass, not at lot of games let you do this these days!

    BUT BUT BUT

    It IS full of EAs slimy microtransactions.
    The game IS from 2012, so it's not the prettiest of games, still really good considering!
  30. 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
  31. Ansatsu83
    Dec 30, 2014
    6
    I will likely advoctate this game, over wow... However the latest expansion has caused too many issues. They changed the way a lot of things worked, all classes got revamped... However... Some of the spec abilities are automatically given to you while others are not... An example is my operative's kolto probe... It was not provided to me, automatically, upon selecting the role... But myI will likely advoctate this game, over wow... However the latest expansion has caused too many issues. They changed the way a lot of things worked, all classes got revamped... However... Some of the spec abilities are automatically given to you while others are not... An example is my operative's kolto probe... It was not provided to me, automatically, upon selecting the role... But my recuprative nanotech, which is operative, was provided automatically. Its inconsistent on many classes. On top of that, there are some ui issues that should have never been changed. They separated the buff and debuff ui sections and made it so the debuff ui will scale automatically (with no way to turn it off), as a result it overlaps my characters health bar and bottom quick bars... Not sure why they made this design choice but I had to move it off towards the side of the screen... Now I have to check my debuffs like im checking the mirror of a car to take a left turn while there is tons of DEATH in front of me. Just some really bad choices by the developers... Many good things, like flagships/strongholds, good story, extra levels/flashpoints/etc, great graphics and fun leveling... But there are issues like this, which prevents me from giving it anything above a 6... If the developers were to think before they do something, it would be rated a lot higher!… Expand
  32. 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
  33. 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
  34. Sariden
    Jan 29, 2012
    6
    Feels rushed, badly. Has an engaging and fun single player story line, but I think there are too many fundamental problems with architecture and execution for the game to last long term. Sorry Bioware, you tell a great story, but you can't get performance out of any engine you use...
  35. obro
    Dec 21, 2011
    6
    The only good things in this game are voice acting and music. Both of those things do not make a video game. Gameplay pretty much WoW so why even bother playing it if it's the same thing I have been playing for years now? Huge lags and ques and instanced zones. No sense of exploration since it's instanced. Animations are terrible for a 2011 game but then again BioWare never had goodThe only good things in this game are voice acting and music. Both of those things do not make a video game. Gameplay pretty much WoW so why even bother playing it if it's the same thing I have been playing for years now? Huge lags and ques and instanced zones. No sense of exploration since it's instanced. Animations are terrible for a 2011 game but then again BioWare never had good animations in any of their games. All in all completely average MMO interesting only in the beginning because of the voice acting but you soon start to skip it all because no choice you make matters.… Expand
  36. mattaui
    May 8, 2012
    6
    What this game does right, it does really right, but so much of that is purely single player content. I feel like the single player leveling experience was developed in a vacuum and the MMO portions were likewise developed separately, and then at a very late stage they were slapped together.

    I immensely enjoyed my trip from 1-50 on my Republic Commando, then hit a wall with the complete    What this game does right, it does really right, but so much of that is purely single player content. I feel like the single player leveling experience was developed in a vacuum and the MMO portions were likewise developed separately, and then at a very late stage they were slapped together.

    I immensely enjoyed my trip from 1-50 on my Republic Commando, then hit a wall with the complete disconnect between the single player experience and what passed for the endgame. Why didn't my character's story tie into an end game raid? Or why did it not even tie into the flashpoints along the way? They should have felt like organic parts of the leveling experience, not glorified coop missions that were utterly disconnected from the rest of the storyline. The best I can say is that SWTOR is a single player game with online functionality and on-disc DLC you rent for $15 a month. I'd have kept my sub for a few months if I hadn't paid $60 up front, but I wasn't about to keep renting that content when I wasn't getting MMO functionality out of it.

    I'd have given it a 7, still, because of how much I enjoyed that leveling experience, but the lack of so many crucial current-gen MMO features made me kick it down a notch, and also reinforces my belief that it was designed as a single player game first, so such features just weren't even considered.    … Expand
  37. FrodoFraggins
    Jul 20, 2013
    6
    Great fun for the first playthrough. The combat response was horrible on launch as was endgame. Too much money and time was devoted to voice acting and not enough to the other areas of this WOW clone. A Star Wars MMO needs to launch with amazing space combat to set it apart. This game failed on almost every front.
  38. Saruk
    Feb 1, 2012
    6
    5.9 while writing this - not a completely unfair score, imo. Maybe a bit on the rough side but I'll agree with a 6.
    It's production value certainly raises it above the lowest scores. Some parts of this game works great :)
    The mmo-part - that the game is build upon - feels very old fashioned and in some areas just old. Some parts of this game doesn't work at all :( If Bioware shows us that    5.9 while writing this - not a completely unfair score, imo. Maybe a bit on the rough side but I'll agree with a 6.
    It's production value certainly raises it above the lowest scores. Some parts of this game works great :)
    The mmo-part - that the game is build upon - feels very old fashioned and in some areas just old. Some parts of this game doesn't work at all :(
    If Bioware shows us that they have a flexible engine and capable programmers that are able to implement much needed features I will raise the score, I believe. For some reason a little part of me is doubtful about this, unfortunately.    … Expand
  39. 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
  40. 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
  41. WildFire15
    Aug 10, 2013
    6
    This game has so many great ingredients: Star Wars, MMO, Bioware, the Old Republic Lore (rather then whiny, badly written George Lucas stuff). However, once the awe has washed away the impression that this game was either designed by people who don't care or by a comity who forced a list in front of Bioware's least experienced employees can't be helped.
    At it's most basic, SWTOR is WoW    This game has so many great ingredients: Star Wars, MMO, Bioware, the Old Republic Lore (rather then whiny, badly written George Lucas stuff). However, once the awe has washed away the impression that this game was either designed by people who don't care or by a comity who forced a list in front of Bioware's least experienced employees can't be helped.
    At it's most basic, SWTOR is WoW with a different coat of paint. For an alleged $200 million budget it's shameful what Bioware has done with this, not taking a single risk or taking advantage of outstanding features anything other then WoW had (no Global friends list is bad enough, but no sidekick feature is even worse). Gameplay is very much by the numbers with a bias towards the NPC enemies if you're evenly matched. There's been so many fights I've gone into with my Bounty Hunter at even level with decent equipment and still been flattened.
    Speaking of equipment, the in-game store added after the change to F2P is an embarrassment, mostly working on random boxes that frequently give you very little with a few 'ok' sets of armour that need modifications adding to them before they can be useful and other bits and bobs.
    I came to this game after City of Heroes shut down. For the longest time, I got on ok with the game as I enjoyed some of the story, but as time progressed I realized just how terrible this game is and wouldn't recommend it at all.    … Expand
  42. Sargonnas
    Dec 28, 2011
    6
    SWTOR is a average game with a good story, but wont appeal as much long term to MMO veterans looking for something more unless those people happen to be big Star Wars fans. Its also too solo oriented and instanced which makes this almost a single player Old Republic sequel more than a MMO. I'm amazed at how good the reviews are and think some publications are unable to truly write aSWTOR is a average game with a good story, but wont appeal as much long term to MMO veterans looking for something more unless those people happen to be big Star Wars fans. Its also too solo oriented and instanced which makes this almost a single player Old Republic sequel more than a MMO. I'm amazed at how good the reviews are and think some publications are unable to truly write a impartial review. This is not a bad game at all, but it should be more than it is for $200 million and what it has now will not sustain it long term which is what will decide if its ultimately successful or not.… Expand
  43. 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
  44. JiggyJoe
    Mar 18, 2012
    6
    The game definitely needs some work, but most new MMOs do when they are launched. It is enjoyable, the RPG like gameplay definitely works well, but as an MMO it definitely plays like another big named game of the same Genre. A bit disapointing, as to you needing to pay $50-$60 for the game, and having to lay down a starting subscription fee of at least $15. The game is not optimizedThe game definitely needs some work, but most new MMOs do when they are launched. It is enjoyable, the RPG like gameplay definitely works well, but as an MMO it definitely plays like another big named game of the same Genre. A bit disapointing, as to you needing to pay $50-$60 for the game, and having to lay down a starting subscription fee of at least $15. The game is not optimized well, so those who have an older computer or gaming rig may need to upgrade to run this game even on Low settings. They're fixing a lot of the issues, but that doesn't take away the fact that it plays to much like other MMOs. Great, but not astounding. Fun, but nothing new. Worth a check out if you're tired of other games, but definitely not worth playing over others.… Expand
  45. Mundty
    May 7, 2012
    6
    This game is unfortunately no where near as groundbreaking as Bioware portrayed it to be. It stands there with just about every other MMO using a standard cookie cutter approach to combat and gameplay. The voice acting is the only major departure, but unfortunately for Bioware you cannot pin an entire game's success on one noteworthy feature. There's still hope that given enough timeThis game is unfortunately no where near as groundbreaking as Bioware portrayed it to be. It stands there with just about every other MMO using a standard cookie cutter approach to combat and gameplay. The voice acting is the only major departure, but unfortunately for Bioware you cannot pin an entire game's success on one noteworthy feature. There's still hope that given enough time they can modify this game into something much better than what we're seeing today. For now though, this game just isn't worth the $15 subscription fee once you've reached level 50. Maybe Guild Wars 2 will deliver where The Old Republic has fallen short... only time will tell.… Expand
  46. GigaHz
    Dec 20, 2011
    6
    I pre-ordered my game and have been playing it through Early Access. I have been trying to give the game a fair chance, but in all honesty, I feel as if the game is a massive disappointment.

    I'm not sure where to start. The game isn't terrible, it just isn't great. There's something about the gameplay and overarching design philosophy that feels very dated and I don't know why I wasted so    I pre-ordered my game and have been playing it through Early Access. I have been trying to give the game a fair chance, but in all honesty, I feel as if the game is a massive disappointment.

    I'm not sure where to start. The game isn't terrible, it just isn't great. There's something about the gameplay and overarching design philosophy that feels very dated and I don't know why I wasted so much time trying to convince myself that it's acceptable. I'm not so much referring to the mechanics that were ripped from WoW or other MMOs, it just feels as if the team that worked on this game lacked any sort of passion to separate this game from its competition.

    Yes, the game has the standard Bioware cutscenes and they do give a sense of importance to certain quests, but that's basically the only unique thing this game has going for it. And really, there is only so far you can take something like that without it turning into a gimmick. Having fully voiced cutscenes for the majority of quests is a great idea... in theory. After a while, it starts to become a bit ridiculous. I don't care how you act out an unimportant fetch quest, a fetch quest is a fetch quest. You don't need to pretend that I'm looking for buried treasure or Al Capone's vault, I won't suddenly convince myself that your quest offer is less redundant than it already is.

    I also really tried to connect with my character (Smuggler/Gunslinger) to immerse myself in the plot. Despite the character playing out as a glorified Han Solo simulator (which I mean in the best possible way), I must have heard 'I can do it blindfolded!' 3 times in the starting world alone. If they're going to pride themselves on having fully-voiced cutscenes, they could at least be clever about how they recycle dialogue lines.

    As some have said before, the worlds are incredibly linear. As old and criticized as WoW is, at least there is a sense of free-roaming and unique set pieces to differentiate each zone from the next. SWTOR's world design takes uninspired to new heights. It doesn't matter what zone you're in, there is a universal sense of monotony and sterility to everything. It's like the game was designed for corridor fetishists. If you're in an indoor or outdoor zone, everything feels (and is) closed in or restrictive. I can't even think of a single prop or locale in these locations that have stuck out on my mind. If Bioware or EA were seriously looking to keep people playing their game for years instead of months, they should have put more emphasis on the design and aesthetics of these locations. Right now, the only positive description I can think of for these zones is that they are functional, and that doesn't mean much.

    Oddly enough, the Combat system is what I enjoy most for this game. It's not unique either, but at the very least it's fun. I've ran into a few issues with the Smuggler/Gunslinger class. These are not so much glitches as they are poor design choices. For instance, if I'm doing a Heroic instance with others as a Gunslinger, there are times when I am forced to go into cover to activate the abilities that I need. There are also times when I would like to keep my distance on the target and use my portable/holographic cover instead of rolling behind an object. In unfavourable circumstances, I will sometimes automatically roll to a place I don't want to be instead of just deploying my cover. If they were to add in an option to turn off this roll, that would solve my problem, but for now, it's a sloppy mechanic. It's a little ironic that when you're starting out as a Smuggler and you don't have portable cover, it's cumbersome to roll behind an object to mitigate damage taken.

    Everything else feels out of place or tacked-on. PvP doesn't play as good as it could have, Space Combat is just an on-rails shooter with plenty of repeating segments, and while they are pretty useful, the game almost forces you to utilize your companion. Why is it that I have to delegate crafting to my companion instead of crafting items myself? Is working with my hands beneath me? Do Star Wars players have God Complexes? I don't get it. However, I am a fan of sending my companion on side-missions. Only because then I don't have to put up with his spineless, good-for-nothing personality.

    I'm going to go out on a limb and say that The Old Republic is nothing more than a shameless cash grab. Maybe plenty of people who do their research on this game were aware of this already, but I was genuinely optimistic and unaware. Now I know why there were so many CG cutscenes to promote the game instead of actual content.    … Expand
  47. Solitaire
    Dec 20, 2011
    6
    SWTOR je u principu solidna igra. Ne postoji nista u sta bi mogao uperis prst i kazes da ne valja. Kontrole su zategnute, grafika je na nivou, dijalozi dobro izrezirani, borbe drze paznju...
    Medjutim, problem je u tome sto u igri isto tako ne postoji nista sto je stvarno zablistalo, sto je vanserijski. Izuzev dijaloga, sve sto SWTOR nudi MMO konkurencija ima barem na istom nivou, ako ne i    SWTOR je u principu solidna igra. Ne postoji nista u sta bi mogao uperis prst i kazes da ne valja. Kontrole su zategnute, grafika je na nivou, dijalozi dobro izrezirani, borbe drze paznju...
    Medjutim, problem je u tome sto u igri isto tako ne postoji nista sto je stvarno zablistalo, sto je vanserijski. Izuzev dijaloga, sve sto SWTOR nudi MMO konkurencija ima barem na istom nivou, ako ne i bolje. O non-MMO konkurenciji da i ne govorim.
    Sami dijalozi jesu nesto do sad nevidjeno medju MMO igrama, i kada se uporede sa resenjima koje ima postojeca konkurencija (WoW, EvE, LOTRO,GW), ali i buduca (GW2,TSW,TERA), zaista deluju kao nesto impozantno. Medjutim, kad stavis Busmana medju kepece i on ce izgledati kao dzin.

    Dijalozi u SWTORu su jako staticni, zbog cega deluju arhaicno i na nivou onih iz ranih dve hiljaditih. Uz to, ne pomaze im ni jako ogranicen izbor koji stavljaju pred igraca, a koji je postavljen po BioWareovom tradicionalno lobotomiranom kljucu - Psihopata/Patrijarh Pavle uz povremeno "daj jos para". Pri cemu su efekti tog izbora minorni ili zanemarljivi za dalji tok radnje.
    Mrzi me da ulazim dublje u ovu tematiku, ali sve u svemu - iako su dijalozi u SWTORu za MMO standarde zaista impresivna stvar, kada se stvari gledaju iz sveobuhvatnije perspektive, tesko da su oni nesto sto bi zaista moglo da SWToR svrsta medju izuzetnije naslove. U ovoj oblasti, standardi su postavljeni jako visoko, i tesko da bi me SWTORovi dijalozi mogli impresionirati posle verbalnih duela iz Deus Ex: Human Revolutiona ili ultradinamicnog ludila iz Alpha Protocola.

    Realno, SWTOR ce biti, barem u pocetku, komercijalno uspesna igra. Fransiza i pedigre joj to garantuju. Ono sto smo videli iz bete nam pokazuje i da ce biti solidan naslov. Medjutim, u ustima fanova ce ipak ostati gorak ukus razocarenja, jer je BioWareov Kotor MMO imao potencijala da bude nesto mnogo, mnogo vise.    … Expand
  48. nzh
    Dec 20, 2011
    6
    Fun game, worthy of playing through at least once. If this were a singeplayer or coop title, it would be deserving of a higher score. Trying to call this an MMO is the problem. It lacks some of the key features commonly found in other MMOs that are essential to creating a healthy community. The excuse of "they'll be added later" is unacceptable. Many fans have expressed their opinionsFun game, worthy of playing through at least once. If this were a singeplayer or coop title, it would be deserving of a higher score. Trying to call this an MMO is the problem. It lacks some of the key features commonly found in other MMOs that are essential to creating a healthy community. The excuse of "they'll be added later" is unacceptable. Many fans have expressed their opinions about the lack of dungeon system and addon support, only to be met with hostile criticism from so-called "true fans" of MMO gaming. If ToR is to become successful, it will need to open doors for all players. In its current state, it offers very little for competitive players. If anyone is on the fence about buying this game, I say go for it. You get a free month with your purchase, which is plenty of time to playthrough once and experience the main storyline.

    Sorry for the repost, but my original score was meant to be a 6.    … Expand
  49. Tilran
    Dec 20, 2011
    6
    The game is developed well..you can tell hundreds of millions went into this game because it is very polished and the voice overs are well done.

    Unfortunately this is not my cup of tea for a game because it bores me to death. It feels like a single player game that has other people in it. The PvP is awful instanced matches...and is just dull as hell. The dungeons are instanced    The game is developed well..you can tell hundreds of millions went into this game because it is very polished and the voice overs are well done.

    Unfortunately this is not my cup of tea for a game because it bores me to death. It feels like a single player game that has other people in it.

    The PvP is awful instanced matches...and is just dull as hell.
    The dungeons are instanced group missions which are fun...but get soooo repetetive and arent hard.

    Honestly if you spend money on this game...remember that its a single player game and you wont be dissapointed when you realize the same thing.    … Expand
  50. Serpentu
    Dec 24, 2011
    6
    Good job on screwing up the launch by making it unavailable for half the globe.
    You've essentially diminished the interest of many, many players who would've otherwise gladly given you their money -despite- it being an EA published title.
  51. JoeCool
    Dec 25, 2011
    6
    This game is not an MMO, the hole world is instanced, creating a rather empty feel when you play it. You'll run into other players but not a whole lot. Once too many players enter a zone another instance is created and you'll always have the same feel. While that may be good for immersion, it is blasphemy in MMO country. The game revolves around the story. While that story is often quiteThis game is not an MMO, the hole world is instanced, creating a rather empty feel when you play it. You'll run into other players but not a whole lot. Once too many players enter a zone another instance is created and you'll always have the same feel. While that may be good for immersion, it is blasphemy in MMO country. The game revolves around the story. While that story is often quite good, and as a single player game it would certainly have disappointed a whole lot less. However as an MMO you just have to label it the failure it is. If you're look for a Star Wars game, then this is one. If you're looking for an MMO, let alone a good one, better pass on this one.… Expand
  52. Crimsonking58
    Dec 26, 2011
    6
    It seems impossible for this game to stand on it's own. Angry hardcore players comparing it to WoW, rabid Bioware fans assuming its absolute perfection, the treatment this game is receiving is simply unfair. On it's own, without any comparisons to WoW or the existing MMO genre, this is pretty much a mediocre Bioware game with multiplayer capabilities. Which, in thee end, isn't too shabby,It seems impossible for this game to stand on it's own. Angry hardcore players comparing it to WoW, rabid Bioware fans assuming its absolute perfection, the treatment this game is receiving is simply unfair. On it's own, without any comparisons to WoW or the existing MMO genre, this is pretty much a mediocre Bioware game with multiplayer capabilities. Which, in thee end, isn't too shabby, but nothing that will go down in gaming history.

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

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

    In conclusion, I believe Bioware has created their most mediocre single player experience to date. But given Bioware's standard of quality, that doesn't mean it's bad. The hours of voice acting and thousands of quests to complete will either bore or immerse you, depending on your Star Wars enjoyment and previous MMO experience. For new players trying to decide between this or WoW, I would go with this, for it will feel much more like the plot-driven games that many are used to as opposed to a faceless trek through 85 levels that WoW feels like nowadays. For veterans, I would steer clear for now. If plot doesn't interest you, and you've already gone through the raiding motions in other MMOs, this will just feel like an elongated single player game with nothing at the end. For now, a 6 for slightly above average. If the end game proves to be as engaging as Burning Crusade was, and Bioware manages to keep content flowing nicely with patches on a regular basis, I'll bump it up to an 8 or a 9. Here's to hoping.    … Expand
  53. NathanScmidt000
    Jan 1, 2012
    6
    Saying that The Old Republic is another World of Warcraft clone is an insult to World of Warcraft. Bioware has basically crafted a single player/co-op campaign experience with PvP arenas, and a virtual lobby. Why not just drop the Lucasartâ
  54. checktheemails
    Jan 3, 2012
    6
    I'm the type of person that has never played an MMO except one month of WoW the first month it came out then I dropped it for fear of addiction. First of all, Star Wars is way too expensive for what it is; it is worth 50 bucks max considering how buggy and unfinished the game is. I am currently a level 40 imperial agent, and I have to say that the game has a problem when the best way toI'm the type of person that has never played an MMO except one month of WoW the first month it came out then I dropped it for fear of addiction. First of all, Star Wars is way too expensive for what it is; it is worth 50 bucks max considering how buggy and unfinished the game is. I am currently a level 40 imperial agent, and I have to say that the game has a problem when the best way to level up and gain gold is to PvP yet the PvP is terribly constructed. There are three maps that you play in PvP warzones and matchmaking is a joke. You get matched with level 50s and level 14s all in the same queues, so basically you have gods running around the maps while other ppl just get owned and are incapable of any combat. Also, the map designs are buggy and in some cases assanine. For some reason they decided to include two air vents in the center of the Huttball map that randomly decide which way to throw you into the air. This means that your enemy can grab the ball, run into the vent and then get magically placed onto a much greater field advantage while you jump onto the vent chasing them and are launched basically into an acid pool. Maps are not supposed to decide winners and losers they are supposed to be the blank canvas that the game is played on. That is one thing they need to remove. Secondly, sometimes you get thrown into a PvP that is already losing just because the team had a few leavers, (ppl leave because their teammates are level 14s, etc.) It isn't a huge deal considering you still get some xp for doing basically nothing but joining the match, but it makes you realize how much the PvP is just a joke. They really need to make PvP cross-server matchmaking such as in League of Legends (hate to say it) where you have a huge pool of players that can be mixed and matched to the best balance instead of just choosing from what they have on ONE server.

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

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

    I wish I could give this game a 6.5, but a 7 is too high for something so buggy. Definitely not renewing for another 15 bucks a month I already got jipped paying 60.    … Expand
  55. maddychan
    Jan 17, 2012
    6
    SWTOR is certainly a beautiful game. The story lines and voice acting are just as top quality as promised...
    However, for me it fails on providing enough features: I can find - more entertaining - instances (both for small groups and for bigger ones) in other games, along with a lot more alternative activities if those are not your cup of tea, or even if they are for that matter.
    The last    SWTOR is certainly a beautiful game. The story lines and voice acting are just as top quality as promised...
    However, for me it fails on providing enough features: I can find - more entertaining - instances (both for small groups and for bigger ones) in other games, along with a lot more alternative activities if those are not your cup of tea, or even if they are for that matter.
    The last complain I personally have is about the user friendliness of the interface: since the UI is not scalable, viewing it on a big, high resolution monitor makes it almost impossible to see, let alone read.
    Engaging story lines and high resolution graphics are good and all, but playability still has to come first in my opinion.    … Expand
  56. northwoods21
    Jan 5, 2012
    6
    Graphics 8/10
    Gameplay 6-7/10
    Creative/Original 2/10 PvP 3/10 PvE 7/10 replay value: 5/10 Continued... (accidentally pressed submit on previous one sorry! lol...) Ok here are some very important gripes I think at least some players or ex players can agree with. Since publications like PC gamer and other "non user" reviews are writing nothing but pure gold about this game untarnished in    Graphics 8/10
    Gameplay 6-7/10
    Creative/Original 2/10
    PvP 3/10
    PvE 7/10
    replay value: 5/10



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    10.) chracter creation, zones, quests, pvp, warzones, flashpoints.... all these things copy wow completely in every way but A lot of the nice features that WoW has developed over the years, such as being able to refund an item you accidentally bought with hours worth of PvP marks, have been questionably left behind.    … Expand
  57. h0tangel99
    Jan 7, 2012
    6
    If you like RPG's and Star Wars, then this is the game for you. If you like MMO's, don't get it. This game feels like a single-player RPG. All the planets are empty due to the amount of instances there are. (Which I heard might be only temporary) Because of this, it's almost impossible to find a group for Flashpoints (dungeons) and Heroic Missions (quests that require a group)

    The story    If you like RPG's and Star Wars, then this is the game for you. If you like MMO's, don't get it. This game feels like a single-player RPG. All the planets are empty due to the amount of instances there are. (Which I heard might be only temporary) Because of this, it's almost impossible to find a group for Flashpoints (dungeons) and Heroic Missions (quests that require a group)

    The story in the game is great, though. It is very intriguing and will make you want t know what happens next. But I'm not joking when I say that is the only positive thing I can say about this game.

    Oh yeah, and 1 more thing, this game looks like it was made in 2003. I know graphics don't matter too much, and it's mostly about the gameplay, but I mean c'mon...A game made in 2011 should at least look somewhat decent. The combat is trite, and the game is just overall boring. I don't recommend it, but if you are a huge Star Wars fan, and love RPG's, then try it out.    … Expand
  58. Delaro
    Jan 7, 2012
    6
    The Graphics are very good and it has a great Story line but that is where it ends. In the end it ends up being just another MMO following in the World Of Warcraft mold, somehow I was expecting something different. Quests are the same as what you expect, except Npc's talk more and dungeon boss mechanics are Blahh, nothing challenging. SWTOR is above the typical Asian grindfest MMO's thatThe Graphics are very good and it has a great Story line but that is where it ends. In the end it ends up being just another MMO following in the World Of Warcraft mold, somehow I was expecting something different. Quests are the same as what you expect, except Npc's talk more and dungeon boss mechanics are Blahh, nothing challenging. SWTOR is above the typical Asian grindfest MMO's that is all I will give it but nothing inventive. If you are bored of the typical MMO scenario then this game will not hold your interest for long.… Expand
  59. SnakeByte
    Jan 8, 2012
    6
    Great game! The combat feel extremely fluid and well balanced PVP for just released game. Sure PVP needs some tweaking but for 3 week old game its more than good and not far from where it should be. I was not very optimistic for this game after the first week 'cos of the bugs and some ability delay issues. But now after 2 more weeks, 4-5 bugfix patches and one major patch coming before endGreat game! The combat feel extremely fluid and well balanced PVP for just released game. Sure PVP needs some tweaking but for 3 week old game its more than good and not far from where it should be. I was not very optimistic for this game after the first week 'cos of the bugs and some ability delay issues. But now after 2 more weeks, 4-5 bugfix patches and one major patch coming before end of January the game future seems very promising - considering how fast bugfixes come and patch 1.1 contents and bugfixes that include patches for most annoying and spread bugs, ability delay improved, flash-point(dungeon) and 4 operation(raid) bosses.… Expand
  60. MisterPants
    Jan 9, 2012
    6
    Average game with some good voiced quests. However, don't believe the marketing hype that it is fully voice acted it isn't. In addition to some mission terminals, much of the dialogue is simply re-used, in many cases where it doesn't make sense, or makes use of alien speech where they can re-use the same voice clips over and over.

    Combat is the usual mmo combat, and nothing original    Average game with some good voiced quests. However, don't believe the marketing hype that it is fully voice acted it isn't. In addition to some mission terminals, much of the dialogue is simply re-used, in many cases where it doesn't make sense, or makes use of alien speech where they can re-use the same voice clips over and over.

    Combat is the usual mmo combat, and nothing original there, though some of the combat animations are enjoyable. PVP combat is terrible. Space combat should have been delayed until they could build a proper space combat game, not some terrible rail shooter. Quests are the standard mix of fetch-it and kill quests, though admittedly that's not a complaint more of an expectation.

    Graphics are decidedly average and lack high res textures. Very limited character generation options. Blocky buildings that are repetitive (if you've played Biowares Dragon Age II you understand what this means).


    Large amount of bugs. Multiple hundred page threads on the customer service website about lag and stutter on systems that significantly outpace the system requirements (people with GTX570's, SLI or Crossfire video cards, 2.4GHz quad cores etc.). This is in addition to the many bugs that exist of mobs spawning in walls, player getting stuck in the environment, quests hanging and not being able to be completed. This is combined with terrible customer service. Having been a part of the release of many mmo's over the years, including some of the smoothest in terms of bugs and stability (LOTRO) and worst (AO/AOC) this game is on the worse side of the spectrum, not as bad as the worst, but a far cry from the best. Multiplayer aspects often seem like an add-on and the focus is definitely on the single player experience. Companions seem to emphasize the single player experience. For a game with a seemingly large population, the worlds seem fairly barren.

    Light and dark side choices seem to have no consequence beyond the graphical of being able to look like a sith (whether you want to or not as the show sith corruption is bugged forcing you to have to reset it everytime you zone). This forces a gaming of the system to get the higher light/dark gear, rather than making dialogue choices that seem appropriate.

    Pros: - storyline quests are for the most part enjoyable
    - the music and sound effects are terrific (both the original John Williams scores and anything they added)

    Neutrals
    - combat is the same old mmo combat
    - crafting is not bad, not great but at least not terribly intrusive

    Cons
    - bugs
    - last gen graphics and poor graphical differentiation
    - space combat is terrible
    - pvp
    - customer service    … Expand
  61. Pendulous
    Jan 13, 2012
    6
    Mediocre is really the best word to describe this game. Its easiest to take things one at a time.

    Sound - This is excellent and truly the best part of the game. Yes, it sounds like Star Wars. The voice acting is also very well done. Story- This section is kind of a conundrum. The class stories are truly interesting. They remind you of great Bioware titles and what you've come to expect.    Mediocre is really the best word to describe this game. Its easiest to take things one at a time.

    Sound - This is excellent and truly the best part of the game. Yes, it sounds like Star Wars. The voice acting is also very well done.

    Story- This section is kind of a conundrum. The class stories are truly interesting. They remind you of great Bioware titles and what you've come to expect. Planet arcs are fairly interesting as well. However, these aspects are only 15-20% of your time. The rest is boils down to "here is why I want you to kill droids". Minor uninteresting characters you never see again distract from the immersion Bioware was attempting to create. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and other single player titles can do this, but in an MMO its just clunky. Flashpoint stories are cool as well, but again the dialogue parts are so far and few between that they don't create a sense of meaning. Gameplay- Many others reviewers are using uninspired and it really fits. Its not that its bad in any way, its just nothing new. And I mean nothing. Combat is exactly like WoW or most other MMO's. Its not that its bad, but its not good for 2011. 2006 it would have been lauded, now its tiresome. The ranged classes cover mechanics are clunky as well and have needed fix since early beta. PvE- Standard PvE fare. Kill boss, collect loot, wait for new instance, repeat. Fights (including hard mode) are not challenging which will probably turn away most hardcore players. PvP- Very far behind the curve. This game will not be an ESport in the foreseeable future, because of a number of questionable design choices. How a AAA MMO expects to not have to deliver arena combat is mind boggling as well. Guild Mechanics- Guild Chat. Ships may come in the future but on launch is not there. Overall this game needed to be launched with more features or years ago. As for the expectations of the current MMO market it meets them, but doesn't justify a Triple-A rating or the price tag (and subsequent monthly fees) in my opinion. Some will love this game, but most of us and especially PvP junkies will want to skip it. The only caveat is the hope of future updates and whenever BioWare gets to adding stuff from the mysterious "wall of crazy".    … Expand
  62. rotator
    Jan 29, 2012
    6
    It is safe to assume the game was targeted primarily to 2 audiences: those who played the old KotORs (superb single player RPGs) back and forth and fans of the MMO genre. Let's see the break down!

    Pros for a KotOR gamer: - The Star Wars atmosphere. - Two distinct walkthroughs: Republic and Imperial. See cons for more... - Quality voice acting and dialogs, class stories are generally    It is safe to assume the game was targeted primarily to 2 audiences: those who played the old KotORs (superb single player RPGs) back and forth and fans of the MMO genre. Let's see the break down!

    Pros for a KotOR gamer:
    - The Star Wars atmosphere.
    - Two distinct walkthroughs: Republic and Imperial. See cons for more... - Quality voice acting and dialogs, class stories are generally good.
    - Slightly improved graphics (compared to the original KotORs).

    Cons for a KotOR gamer:
    - The old skill system is gone. There are talent trees now, which only improve your proficiency in battle: damage output and resistance. No secondary skills like persuade, slicing and others.
    - Combat is realtime MMO style with the usual abilities and cooldowns, no pausing and planning.
    - Dialogs are copied from Mass Effect: no real consequences and you only get a hint about your own lines instead of the full text. No persuading skills except for force persuade.
    - Fully linear story, you visit the planets in a predetermined order and choices have no major impacts on the story. While technically you can play 8 classes with their own story, it doesn't mean it is equal to 8 KotOR games, because the 4-4 Republic and Imperial classes share the same 2 main questlines, which are about 80% of all the quests. Light and Dark alignment has nothing to offer in the long run except for some specialized gear.
    - You can't influence companions' alignment, affection only results in companion quest unlocking and better efficiency at crafting. Also you can't kill off companions you don't like.
    - You can't complete all missions by alone. There are so called Heroics and Flashbacks which require a group of people to work together. Most of the time it is damn hard to find people for that. The multiplayer part of the game feels absolutely unnecessary and irritating.
    - No pazaak, no swoop racing, no slicing. The only minigame is the cheesy, but enjoyable space combat.
    - Most quests are just brainless grinding and courier missions.
    - If you complete every available quests, the game will be way too easy. You will be a bunch of levels above the recommended after the first 2 planets.
    - No same sex romance, if that's your thing.
    - The overall gameplay feels robotic, just completing tasks instead of, well, gaming in a rich world and getting involved in a nice story.

    Pros for an MMO player:
    - The Star Wars atmosphere, is you're into it.

    Cons for an MMO player:
    - Too much cutscenes and slow storytelling will probably bother you while impatiently leveling up. Friends can't help you leveling up faster either, because skipping the storyline and looting high level stuff can result in ban.
    - Auction House is a joke and if you're playing well with the economy, you will just get banned.
    - Except for the voiced cutscenes and dialogs, the game is a carbon copy of World of Warcraft (from around 2008) in almost every possible aspect. Too bad WoW has been improved vastly till then.
    - Endgame is virtually nonexistent with just one raid.
    - PVP is badly unbalanced and requires no human skills.
    - UI is not customizable, no LUA scripting support.
    - Available races are all strictly humanoids (because the "necessary" romancing), not even wookies are playable (not to mention all those exotic species the Star Wars universe could offer). There are virtually no racial abilities.

    General pros:
    - They are working hard on it, with frequent patches.
    - Server and connection is fairly stable for most of the time, download speed is exceptionally good when patching.

    General cons:
    - While the graphics is way below the 2011 standard, you still need a pretty powerful machine for the game.
    - Problems with subscribing. The official website itself has numerous glitches.
    - Patching is done at the same time everywhere, unlucky players can experience server downs at prime gaming times.
    - Customer support is freaking slow, it is taking them days for a simple answer.
    - For a game featuring tons of closeups and cutscenes, the character generator is overly simplistic.

    Final words:
    Star Wars: The Old Republic is offering a very mixed experience. 90% of the game is a World of Warcraft clone and 10% of it is cutscenes and dialogs from Mass Effect. Both the CRPG and MMO aspects are dangerously watered down to accommodate different audiences. Both groups will find a lot of unnecessary things in the game, but also a lack of deepness in their own needs and ultimately nobody gets satisfied. Certainly quite a few people will find out it is just the game for them, but it might prove to be deadly to base a 300 million dollar game to appeal all but the core gamers of the touched genres.    … Expand
  63. AkiTheConqueror
    Jan 28, 2012
    6
    The game is relatively new at this point so alot of the problems that it has can be attributed to the growing pains. Others however are more baffling. Generally I came to expect a degree of quality from bioware games, so thats why I find some missing aspects of the game strange.

    Gameplay: Leveling is actually pretty good, compared to other MMORPGs. Personally it never really felt like    The game is relatively new at this point so alot of the problems that it has can be attributed to the growing pains. Others however are more baffling. Generally I came to expect a degree of quality from bioware games, so thats why I find some missing aspects of the game strange.

    Gameplay:
    Leveling is actually pretty good, compared to other MMORPGs. Personally it never really felt like a drag, even though the formula is very standard, mostly of a variety go there kills/loot that, there is a voiced over story background to go along with all of that, and this makes all the difference.

    The problems start to become apparent once players reach lvl 50. Max lvl is where most of the gameplay in MMOs actually takes place, that where you start to get into big groups of people and raiding very difficult content. What keeps people in the game at this point is the challenge and objectives that are to be aimed for. This can be things like gearing up, getting some rare recipes, all in the drive to progress further to get rare piece of armor and to finally kill that particularly hard final boss.

    The problem with SWTOR is not that there is no end game content, but that its is poorly executed, uninspired and too easy. Arguably the last bit is particularly deadly too a MMO, there is no ammount of content in this world that will keep people happy and occupied if it is too easy. People will blow through it in no time, after that people get bored and bored people leave the game to go play something else.

    I hope that in the future Bioware rectifies this problem.

    Graphics:
    Atmosphere in the game is great and really feels like star wars, but quality of the graphics is rather poor for a game released end of 2011. In a way they are even comparable to WoW, but that game is 7 ears old! I'm not talking about amount of pretty colors on the screen, both games have it in abbundance, what is lacking are the details on character models and armor. It all feels so flat, almost like a reskin of a base character model, this is especially visible on a character loading screen, which shows your toon in its full glory.

    Game features:
    This part is an absolute disgrace. For a game that involved 800 people in its creation I get a feeling that the interface and associated tools were written in year 2000 and never touched since then.

    There are no tools for finding groups except the very basic LFG flag, there are no tools supporting guild beyond giving them option to chat, there are no tools to optimize the interface, no macros...it's like Bioware forgot that they are making a MMO instead of single player game.

    Crafting:
    Can't say much beyong that it keeps you more or less decently geared through the leveling process, beyond that, it is mostly useless.

    PvP:
    I am generally not into PvP aspect of MMOs, preffering to do my PvPing in games like counter strike and TF2, but this is apparently also not in the best of states.

    So here is my score of 6 out of 10, with a big hope that Bioware picks this game up.    … Expand
  64. AtmaTheWanderer
    Jan 29, 2012
    6
    A game with mixed promise at this time. What seems like a rich and deep system of quest issuance quickly devolves into spacebar-mashing your way through dialogues to get another quest to go kill 10 imperials. Basically, SWTOR looks pretty, but it's just a layer of pristine fallen snow covering the toxic waste dump that MMORPGs have become in the wake of WoW.

    The main contributor to my    A game with mixed promise at this time. What seems like a rich and deep system of quest issuance quickly devolves into spacebar-mashing your way through dialogues to get another quest to go kill 10 imperials. Basically, SWTOR looks pretty, but it's just a layer of pristine fallen snow covering the toxic waste dump that MMORPGs have become in the wake of WoW.

    The main contributor to my relatively low rating of this game is the lack of response from the developers, particularly in response to the myriad of exploits, bugs, and general imbalance occurring in the world of PVP. Developers are silent regarding proven faction balance issues between animations (Imperial animations are faster, thus their effects "supersede" Republic players effects. For example, if a Republic player issues a knockback and a an Imperial reacts fast enough, they can render the move irrelevant and knock the republic player back first.). Numerous massive exploits have happened and the developers have taken no action, such as "Ilum Massacre Day". Almost 75-80% of PVP matches have become dominated by sorcerers/sages and bounty hunter/troopers due to glaring balance issues with classes.

    SWTOR can be a fantastic game, but not unless Bioware kicks things into hyperdrive and starts making sweeping changes, and fast. I don't think anyone is foolish enough to believe that there's any chance of this MMO failing in the near future, but there is a great chance of it not being anywhere near as successful as they have hoped and dreamed.    … Expand
  65. lippmannk1
    Jan 31, 2012
    6
    I will make this short and sweet:

    At the beginning, the game is FANTASTIC. But as levels wear on, and quests, areas, dungeons, armor, and other such things begin to repeat themselves, it loses the "flair" that it initially captures. The whole world starts to seem dull, and nothing brings it to life. Everyone has the same armor at the end, and there isn't anything to do once you hit    I will make this short and sweet:

    At the beginning, the game is FANTASTIC. But as levels wear on, and quests, areas, dungeons, armor, and other such things begin to repeat themselves, it loses the "flair" that it initially captures. The whole world starts to seem dull, and nothing brings it to life. Everyone has the same armor at the end, and there isn't anything to do once you hit level 50 except "daily" quests. Right now, as things stand, this game holds a lot of promise. Bioware needs to get the lead out and fix the game-breaking glitches and errors that completely ruin the experience.

    BOTTOM LINE: The game is not finished, uninspiring, and does not have that "hook" that keeps you playing.    … Expand
  66. bluejay3463
    Feb 1, 2012
    6
    If you overlook the numerous bugs and incomplete elements, you still have a game that has terrible graphics, serious faction balance issues, a mostly useless crafting system, and a broken end game.

    Some of these issues can be fixed with time, but the faction balance is an issue of quality of content as well as balance and can not be fixed easily. This contributes to the broken end game.    If you overlook the numerous bugs and incomplete elements, you still have a game that has terrible graphics, serious faction balance issues, a mostly useless crafting system, and a broken end game.

    Some of these issues can be fixed with time, but the faction balance is an issue of quality of content as well as balance and can not be fixed easily. This contributes to the broken end game.

    Of particular note is how bad everything looks. The graphics are pixelated and blurry, and the armor designs are amazingly bad. I was shocked to see a game released in 2011 that had graphics this poor. The armor, particularly the end game, high level pieces, are so bad it's laughable. Truly amateurish.

    The only positive is the story based leveling. Grinding has been mostly removed from the game.    … Expand
  67. 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
  68. 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
  69. 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
  70. Mogul
    Apr 21, 2012
    6
    To me, this game is a single player RPG with annoying MMO bits tacked on. The single player RPG parts are watered down and wildly outdated, and the MMO parts are fairly terrible. Still, it's kind of fun, and I did enjoy parts of the story and levelling up (even if combat is a fairly bland grind compared to some other MMOs). I did have more fun with this than several other games, even ifTo me, this game is a single player RPG with annoying MMO bits tacked on. The single player RPG parts are watered down and wildly outdated, and the MMO parts are fairly terrible. Still, it's kind of fun, and I did enjoy parts of the story and levelling up (even if combat is a fairly bland grind compared to some other MMOs). I did have more fun with this than several other games, even if SW:TOR was mostly a disappointment for me.… Expand
  71. survivor_686
    Sep 25, 2012
    6
    The Old Republic is perhaps the example of when developers fail to address key issues and it drags the rest of the game down. TOR is by no means a bad game, but for price it charge ($15 a month) its bugged by a few issues that drag the rest of the product down.

    Graphics are well done and look splendid even on a lower end rig such as mine. If its made within the past five years, your    The Old Republic is perhaps the example of when developers fail to address key issues and it drags the rest of the game down. TOR is by no means a bad game, but for price it charge ($15 a month) its bugged by a few issues that drag the rest of the product down.

    Graphics are well done and look splendid even on a lower end rig such as mine. If its made within the past five years, your computer can run it. Bioware's technical team certainly deserves some praise in this regard. The PVE aspect of the game is perhaps one of its strongest suit. Storylines have the trademark Bioware seal of quality, almost all NPC's are voiced over (a rarity in an MMORPG) and it manages the capture the essence of being free to travel the galaxy at ease, something very few games have done.

    That being said the Character selection could use a little bit more diversity. There basically four extremes one has to choose from and facial hair is limited in its selection. The Flashpoints/Operations are one of the game strong points...and its weakness. After the beauty that is "Esseles" (the first one), the other flashpoints feel a bid drab and lack the group interaction and morality that "Esseles" had. Mind you they certainly feel unique from each other, and have different enemies to fight against and require a degree of coordination. Operations are simple Flashpoints on a bigger scale and enjoy the same strengths....and the same weaknesses

    The PVP aspect on the other hand....is a major letdown. With only four maps available at time of review and an staggering imbalance present during play (In general Imperial characters tend to be slightly powerful than their Republic counterparts), even after a year post-launch. Given the slight imperial majority (Have to admit their accents are kinda attractive) and Bioware's lack of PVP experience in balancing classes, one should avoid PVP if one chooses to play as the Republic....especially if as Commando (its all glass and no canon). Imperial characters feel powerful and almighty, whilst Republic character needs local superiority to even get a chance to win. Another sad aspect of PVP is the lack of a proper Matchmaking system. New players will be dumped in the same arena as experience players and be expected to survive. Granted this may be due to the server itself, but one should expect so attempt at balancing this issue. In the end TOR is not a bad game...but its not a great one either. Its a game that has great aspect which are ruined by some shortcomings. At $15 a month...its simply not worth the price of admission. Wait till it goes Free-To-Play then try it out....Unless you're Imperial than have fun. 6/10    … Expand
  72. neal121
    May 4, 2012
    6
    I feel that giving the game a 6 is being a little too nice...

    Ive played my share of MMO's - both free and paid. SWTOR is just a Star Wars version of a basic MMO. Nothing truly special. Take a basic story line, spam 1 2 3 4 5 6 and turn in the quest - thats all it is. The PVP is basic, nothing special. The end game has nothing worthwhile. EA did announce that they are not happy with    I feel that giving the game a 6 is being a little too nice...

    Ive played my share of MMO's - both free and paid. SWTOR is just a Star Wars version of a basic MMO. Nothing truly special. Take a basic story line, spam 1 2 3 4 5 6 and turn in the quest - thats all it is. The PVP is basic, nothing special. The end game has nothing worthwhile.

    EA did announce that they are not happy with how the game turned out and they are not making enough money from it. It is also expected that about 1/3 of the subscribers will cancel by May 2013 unless they magically improve the game.

    On a positive note, Bioware does send out quick patches almost weekly. They are also improving the game quickly with new content and features. Blizzard's World of Warcraft still dominates the MMO market and Bioware is trying to match it by putting the same features into SWTOR.

    One example is that WOW has the Looking For Group feature for queuing into their dungeons/instances which helps greatly so that you dont have to sit in trade chat and spam "LFM blah blah blah." Bioware is introducing this in 1.3. This will help out greatly getting into Flashpoints.

    Overall - its just ok. If Bioware put more time into the game and not so much its cinematics, could've been better. Even the Beta was nothing special and all the positive remarks came from players only playing the first few levels. If you play at least till level 5 you will notice a pattern in the quests and expect lots of walking and going in circles.

    There is a lot of - turn in 1 quest, walk all the way to get another to find out you need to go back to do something else, it does get REALLY ANNOYING.    … Expand
  73. Gothic90
    Aug 20, 2013
    6
    I used to rate this game a 3 roughly a year and a half ago, now I want to rate this game again at a higher score.

    Don't get me wrong; it absolutely deserves a 3 when it first came out. Game was insanely buggy and unstable, has awful performance issues and the design team was retarded. Well, was. At least they are learning things. New PvE dungeons are not bad and casual PvP has always    I used to rate this game a 3 roughly a year and a half ago, now I want to rate this game again at a higher score.

    Don't get me wrong; it absolutely deserves a 3 when it first came out. Game was insanely buggy and unstable, has awful performance issues and the design team was retarded.

    Well, was. At least they are learning things. New PvE dungeons are not bad and casual PvP has always been like that. It is at least stable now.

    The cosmetic cash shop is well designed and really caters to the Kotor fantasy of the players. Quite unfortunately it is built on a F2P system that is not quite pay to win, but very annoying.

    The major problem of this game now is that its updates are very, very, very slow. You'll likely get through all content of a patch quickly if you are playing anywhere near regularly, and the next patch won't get there in like forever.    … Expand
  74. Naners
    Jul 18, 2012
    6
    I wanted nothing more than to love this game being a huge Star Wars fan and self-proclaimed Hutt Lover, however take away all things Star Wars and what you essentially have is a pretty mediocre clone of the Game That Cannot Be Killed. Fully voice acted class cut scenes were certainly nice, and rolling alts to unlock all of them was definitely entertaining. But unfortunately, it's simplyI wanted nothing more than to love this game being a huge Star Wars fan and self-proclaimed Hutt Lover, however take away all things Star Wars and what you essentially have is a pretty mediocre clone of the Game That Cannot Be Killed. Fully voice acted class cut scenes were certainly nice, and rolling alts to unlock all of them was definitely entertaining. But unfortunately, it's simply not enough to keep you playing for years on years...or even months. A truly squandered opportunity for Bioware when they have license to a franchise with infinite potential.… Expand
  75. beladrim
    Sep 20, 2012
    6
    Being a Kotor and starwars fan, never have i been so excited about a game like this one. For three years i have followed it's evolution. Untill it was finally released.

    Now i have waited a long to to review it and i wanted to try GW2 before giving my final opinion. When i critic this game, i do so as a kotor fan and an mmo player. As a Kotor fan, the game did "satisfy" me. The    Being a Kotor and starwars fan, never have i been so excited about a game like this one. For three years i have followed it's evolution. Untill it was finally released.

    Now i have waited a long to to review it and i wanted to try GW2 before giving my final opinion.

    When i critic this game, i do so as a kotor fan and an mmo player.

    As a Kotor fan, the game did "satisfy" me. The leveling process in this game is basicly playing Kotor 3, and for that it scores some points. However, this game is not Kotor 3, it's an MMO based on the first instalment of the franchise. Being an MMO, you quicly discover that your actions in this world are without true consequences. Yes you will make choices there and there. Some very hard ones might i add. But in the end, none of the them matter. You have ONE endind to your personal story. And once you are done with it's over. What ever you have accomplished in your story will never be mentionned again nor will affect your experience at level 50. Now... I understand that as an MMO, you can't possibly be the next great sith lord to rules the universe when thousands of other players share this world with you. However, it is worth noting that the MMO nature of this game severly limits the outcome and consequences of your personal story. Which is one of BW's strong points. As an MMO, this is where the game misses the mark. Bioware didn't dare to innovate and break the mold. I know you read this before, but i will say it again. This is WoW in space. The quests are your typical go kill that, and gather 6 rat tails missions. PvP is your typical warzone, open PvP is joke, the game play is slow, characters are unresponsive, animations lag. PvE fairs better, but not much. Every new boss, and operation comes with it's bag of bugs, making the experience very frustrating. The PvE encounters are "interesting" enough, but nothing ground breaking either. Now we have GW2. And while i am not a fan of phantasy (i am a sci-fi geek) i have to say that Arenanet has more balls than Bioware. Yes it's still an MMO at it's core. But this is the first mmo that finally feels "fresh". They are no healers or tanks, you just change weapons (in combat) to either increase your dps, resilience, or utility. The combat is dynamic. It's fast and be really confusing at time. But boy is it enjoyable. They are no PvE raid in this game, just dungeon and world event that keep. The level ajustment system is the what make GW2 a solid AAA MMO. Basicly, you go anywhere in the world, and your level will adapt to the region you are in. This is an amazing feature, in this game the whole WORLD is your playground. Not an instance area, the world is alive and kicking. And this is what every MMO should achieve.

    Starwars was great as i leveled my characters. But past that, the MMO features are just lacking. I honestly don't have high hopes for this game. The only thing that will save it is the fact that is the current Starwars MMO. With million of SW fan, this MMO will be around for the time. But take out the SW lore and the story line questing and you have lifeless, uninspiring game.

    With Dragon age 2, this game is a great disappointment from Bioware.    … Expand
  76. jigme
    Jul 9, 2012
    6
    Started at launch, had fun playing up to 50, then it got boring fast. I tried to level a few alts, but the repetitiveness was just too much. Dropped out. I also never could accept the cartoon style art.
  77. Kimikaze
    Aug 2, 2012
    6
    The game sadly didn't meet my expectations. It has it strong sides and is probably one of the best story based mmo's released, but the characters just doesn't seem that interesting. Still I would say it might be the perfect game for some players who loves the Star Wars universe as it is a polished and solid release.
  78. sithpanda
    Aug 13, 2012
    6
    Buggy, unresponsive, dull and lifeless... those are just a few ways I can explain the customer service and responsiveness of the company to fix the issues with an otherwise amazing game.

    The storylines are amazing.... Story telling is definitely a plus in SWTOR, especially the Jedi and Inquisitor story lines.. so far my favorite.. OK, I will admit, not a fan of the bounty hunter story    Buggy, unresponsive, dull and lifeless... those are just a few ways I can explain the customer service and responsiveness of the company to fix the issues with an otherwise amazing game.

    The storylines are amazing.... Story telling is definitely a plus in SWTOR, especially the Jedi and Inquisitor story lines.. so far my favorite.. OK, I will admit, not a fan of the bounty hunter story line but some people like it, it's just really not my taste.. although some of the things mine comes out with in the dialogue are quite funny.

    Seriously a friend and I rushed through our first characters for two reasons, 1) the story was so captivating we couldn't wait to see what came next!, 2) We pre-ordered far in advance and started playing early.. there were a lot of people playing and we wanted to ensure that we got the Legacy Name of our chosing. We made all of our toons up front to reserve names and the Legacy name tied them all together so this was important.

    We played the game, put in lots of bug reports as we were among the first to reach the higher level areas, which were soooo buggy... We would die when trying to travel on the tram in correlia, get dragged outside of the ship in voss.. our companions would die when getting on and off elevators, bug out and just lay down, etc etc

    Then came the PVP bugs... still persisting from day 1 a bug that makes it possible to get permastunned - getting stunned permanently, so that the toon cannot move until and even after death resulting in not being able to move from the safe zone and being removed from the group. When this happens you receive no rewards from participating in the event. What is worse is that in rated PVP where teams are ranked and each match counts, when this happens the team is left short as when someone is removed from the group there is no way to replace the player.

    The multitude of issues that were not fixed or fixes implemented that resulted in even more issues, sometimes more serious than the one fixed took its toll and people started to leave.... so many people left that servers that previously had wait times of up to an hour now had so few people that it wasn't always possible to have 4 people on a planet to do a heroic 4 mission. It got so bad that even more people left because it wasn't possible to get a PVP match or ops running....

    Then came the server mergers... I am unsure how the selection was made but people who started 5 days before the game release, people who reserved their names and worked hard to get to the legacy name of choice were forced to name change... even worse there are still people who, because they have more than 8 characters that were selected to go to the same destination server, they have toons on dead servers marked for deletion that they cannot move. They have begged and pleaded to even pay cash in order to move their toons to another server that is available and have been met with silence. These are the most dedicated of players who love the game, love their toons and want to stay... and customer service treats us like a burden.

    I am not sure of what happens in the offices behind closed doors.... I am not sure which of those who work behind the scenes are worthy and which are the worse offenders... What I do know is that the game has its merits, I still play. .I am not sure if anyone will step up and pull the group together and fix the game or if it will continue to die it's slow and painful death... If it dies there is one thing that can be sure.. those responsible will blame everything but themselves... and then they will go and help another unsuspecting new emerging game... sad, really... such senseless torture and devastation within a fantasy world of infinite potential.

    It is going free to play so I suggest that you do check it out if you haven't already, if nothing else, for the storyline of the first 50 levels. Hopefully something good will happen along the way and we will all get a sweet game out of the deal. Fingers crossed.    … Expand
  79. Orctownorc
    Oct 3, 2012
    6
    The reason I'm the best reviewer in here is because I can put things into their true perspective. This game is, was and may forever be, the BIGGEST failure, the BIGGEST disappointment, and the BIGGEST lost opportunity in the history of Game design up to this point. I'm not saying that what we got at publication, or what they have patched it up to now is bad. Its not. the problem with SWTORThe reason I'm the best reviewer in here is because I can put things into their true perspective. This game is, was and may forever be, the BIGGEST failure, the BIGGEST disappointment, and the BIGGEST lost opportunity in the history of Game design up to this point. I'm not saying that what we got at publication, or what they have patched it up to now is bad. Its not. the problem with SWTOR is what it could and should have been. What it failed to be. The budget was there but the vision was lacking. For those of us who saw the first Star Wars movie in the cinema back in 1975 (?) This IP was a life changing influence in the same way as Tolkein was in the field of literature. We all know how George Lucas had a gift for failing with Star Wars, for wrecking things, or rubbing the luster off it. But Bioware had a good track record of doing Star Wars well. KOTOR 1 and 2 were great. Mass Effect, though a unique IP showed that the Canadians were capable of great things here. So WTF happened? My guess is they played it way too safe, and tried to copy WOW as closely as possible with a few fatal dashes too many of Bioware's legendary (And in this case diasterous) 'STORYTELLING'.! Hey guys a little advice after the barn has burned down: GAMERS WANT TO WRITE THEIR OWN FACKING STORIES! We don't want to get dragged around like marionettes on strings you pull, or strapped into chairs of the scenic railroads you lay for us! We want to be the heroes of the story in our own terms! SWTOR could have ignored WOW. It could have got a few ideas from EVE and X3, heaps of inspiration from the best of the movies and then a glorious freewheeling sandbox in a galaxy, where you can play any of dozens of races, on dozens of planets explore the galaxy and pursue any numbers of skill sets developing the kind of hero you wanted to be. Luke Skywalker had a thing for droids remember! We could have all been free to develop all sorts of fun non-combat skills for the purposes of ROLE PLAYING. Eventually, after many adventures in many places the players might even have got introduced to the force, or its dark side and found the option to choose to become a Jedi knight or a Sithe warrior. Sadly that was all to 1995 for Bioware. This game offered ZERO EXPLORATION. ZERO meaningful race choice, near ZILCH in character development. Near NOTHING in player choice. You start off affiliated to one of two factions, and well on your way to mastery of skills which in the lore of Star Wars were supposed to be rare and special. Bioware designed a game, and planned for a situation where there would be literally millions of high level Jedi's and Sithe running around! A mad dream that has nothing to do with Star Wars lore. Built without vision, this game fails to impress where it should. It suffers a Bioware malaise: No sense of place. Each area you go to is a sterile set, where you plod about waiting to be cued on a conveyer belt to your next fixed 'plot point'. You don't become a bounty hunter or anything in this game by trial and error, by wandering about and earning the membership rights to a skill set. Instead you make a single choice with character creation that then becomes a RAILROAD OF SUBSEQUENT non choices. Which can also be described, when you think about it (as I so capably do) THE ANTITHESIS OF ROLEPLAYING. What some of the targets of these reviews need to understand is that I was designing games at a professional level at the age of 16, back in 1982. I'm not blowing bubbles out of my arse. The game still scores 6/10 because it has plenty of fun content. You can't burn $300 million without getting nice assets, animations, sincere efforts, good voice acting and a lot of good content, which this game DOES offer. It's pretty well a game everyone should look into when it goes free to play. it may even get patched up enough to earn a green score. I hope so. But it will always be too late. SWTOR cannot now become the masterpiece it should have been. When they set aside the budget for this game, it was a grand chance to be daring and to redefine role playing forever. What we got instead was a boring version of WOW in space. Lost in Space, where is that robot waving its arms crying "warning, warning"? TOO LATE.… Expand
  80. Sacrelicious
    Oct 10, 2012
    6
    This game still has potential. If they´d add decent space combat, housing and make the planets more dynamic and better looking it could get great in the future. Right now it´s far from perfect, though enjoyable at times. Game needs a major graphical overhaul and more different gameplay mechanics.
  81. Jaz
    Feb 23, 2013
    6
    I am a Star Wars fan, played Star Wars Galaxies and the Knights of the Old Republic 1-2. I expected more from this game as did so many others. It isnt bad but it isnt great either. Pros: Star Wars, companions, crafting, combat animation, dungeons, personal stories. Minus: End game, repetitive combat, wasted transition time between planets, space combat, lacking small MMO details that makeI am a Star Wars fan, played Star Wars Galaxies and the Knights of the Old Republic 1-2. I expected more from this game as did so many others. It isnt bad but it isnt great either. Pros: Star Wars, companions, crafting, combat animation, dungeons, personal stories. Minus: End game, repetitive combat, wasted transition time between planets, space combat, lacking small MMO details that make world "real" like night/day etc. I was a subscriber, left and when i got back i found out that their "f2p" model is bad, even for me. I d still recommend to play it, raise a character to max lvl from each faction and thats it, dont ask for more.… Expand
  82. pennstateguy
    Apr 26, 2013
    6
    Great Storylines, Great Gameplay, Great Class Balancing, Good PVP

    Think this game lacks is end game. End Game Raiding semi challenging, End Game Ranked Style PVP terrible as it deals with primary server versus a global characteristic. Once you get into ranked you start to realize you and one other team are truly competitive amongst the random pugs that try and play. This game needs    Great Storylines, Great Gameplay, Great Class Balancing, Good PVP

    Think this game lacks is end game. End Game Raiding semi challenging, End Game Ranked Style PVP terrible as it deals with primary server versus a global characteristic. Once you get into ranked you start to realize you and one other team are truly competitive amongst the random pugs that try and play.

    This game needs an arena concept wher eyou can play a 1v1, 2v2, 5v5 game play like deathmatch versus objective play as well as possibly a capture the flag style of play or even a guild versus guild concept like int raditional guild wars 1. That and if you could include a dodge roll this game would be uber amazing and it be crosshair based attacking versus tab targeting    … Expand
  83. ULTROX
    Aug 5, 2013
    6
    Its actual classic MMORPG with pay 2 win system. The story is good with many recognizable elements and details from SW expanded universe, you can choose your path but its will be hard if you dont behave like side you choose. Fine cutscenes where (probably for first time) you can see other players from your group in it. The game have good PVP. I personally think that SW galaxies was muchIts actual classic MMORPG with pay 2 win system. The story is good with many recognizable elements and details from SW expanded universe, you can choose your path but its will be hard if you dont behave like side you choose. Fine cutscenes where (probably for first time) you can see other players from your group in it. The game have good PVP. I personally think that SW galaxies was much better but this is not so bad either and fans of SW and MMORPGS will like it.… Expand
  84. Zarniwooop
    Jun 9, 2014
    6
    Just like all biowar games of the 200s - its a great story and a "meh" game.

    Played to level 39 and just couldn't do it anymore. You've already played this game. It was called Wow and it was better at release in 20004 than this game is now. The only thing it really has going for it is: 1. Star Wars 2. Story If you want to just play the story once, feel free. It's not bad.    Just like all biowar games of the 200s - its a great story and a "meh" game.

    Played to level 39 and just couldn't do it anymore.

    You've already played this game. It was called Wow and it was better at release in 20004 than this game is now. The only thing it really has going for it is:

    1. Star Wars
    2. Story

    If you want to just play the story once, feel free. It's not bad. But, as an MMO, its not at all worth my money or time.    … Expand
  85. cidgrad01
    Jan 10, 2014
    6
    SW: TOR is ultimately a disappointment. It’s not going to satisfy the hardcore MMO player and single player gamers are not going to want to continually pay the sub or microtransaction fees the game requires to progress. It was a good attempt at making a hybrid genre RPG but suffers from a few critical failures.

    I’ll admit that I have enjoyed playing this game a great deal and have sunk    SW: TOR is ultimately a disappointment. It’s not going to satisfy the hardcore MMO player and single player gamers are not going to want to continually pay the sub or microtransaction fees the game requires to progress. It was a good attempt at making a hybrid genre RPG but suffers from a few critical failures.

    I’ll admit that I have enjoyed playing this game a great deal and have sunk more hours into it than I care to admit. I played through the stories of five different classes to reach max level and enjoyed them all. If you plan out your characters’ crafting trees, you can have some fun with making your own gear and keep your weapons & armor stocked with strong mods, which makes leveling much less of a grind.

    As someone who mainly prefers single player games, I liked the mix of the MMO elements. I never felt required to group up with other players, but you can reap rewards in tougher areas if you do. I liked the companions, dialogue choices and side missions, as well. If you love Star Wars and the original Old Republic games, you’ll love the narratives for these characters, made all the more interesting by being able to pick light or dark side choices as you play. My Sith Sorcerer, for example, was actually kind of a nice guy.

    PvP was an absolute blast in this game, too. When it first released and they had way too many servers and not enough people, it quickly got terrible due to unbalanced population pools. Once they consolidated the servers, though, it came back better than ever. PvP is where I’d typically gain the bulk of my leveling XP to avoid having to do the same PvE sidequests I’d already done on one or two other characters. I’m surprised to say that it never got old. It was always fun to force leap & stun someone in Huttball right as they were crossing the last fire pit to the goal :)

    Unfortunately, the poorly implemented MMO side catches up before long. For me it is the totally lifeless environments. They are so big and many look nice, yet there is almost nothing to do in them. For example, there is a gigantic casino in one world whose only purpose is for you to visit briefly for a cutscene if your chosen class story requires it. Why not have some sort of gambling system in place to let players win (or lose) in-game currency? Why not have some adaptation of Pazaak, the card game from earlier KOTOR games? And there is no social hub to speak of. There are cantinas and things but again, nothing to do there, so nobody is ever around. What happens is that most people end up congregating around the PvP area in the faction HQ and wandering around in circles or AFKing, waiting for the queue to pop.

    Then there’s the ruthless implementation of the F2P model, which crushed everything I liked about the game. I get that they have to make money but my problem is that if you were an original customer who bought the game and paid sub fees for several months, you get no reward for that. You still have to purchase “cartel coins” to buy an unlock (or pay more sub fees) simply to show your head gear or have more than one quickbar to use, the same as any schlub who DL’d the game for free yesterday. That stings.

    There is a fun game lurking inside SW: TOR, but you have to claw through several layers of frustration & hidden fees to find it. And if you want a "real" MMO, you won't find it here. I have some good memories of time spent playing this game and I would like to play through the remaining stories I didn’t experience yet, but I’m done spending money on it. There are too many other games out there with one-time fees I can play.    … Expand
  86. Troublewalking
    Mar 6, 2014
    6
    Sadly this game had great potential but the ball was dropped on so many levels that it just ended up being an average MMO.MMO is Massively Multi-player Online, If you are not familiar with these types of games. Usually RPG's with several thousand players. I played till cap with 2 other members from my family. I played pretty much all classes on both sides. I played this game when itSadly this game had great potential but the ball was dropped on so many levels that it just ended up being an average MMO.MMO is Massively Multi-player Online, If you are not familiar with these types of games. Usually RPG's with several thousand players. I played till cap with 2 other members from my family. I played pretty much all classes on both sides. I played this game when it first came out, you had to pay for the game and pay for the subscription each month. The game fell quickly from it's pay to play hopes. Falling faster than any AAA MMO that I know of, to the failed Free to play realm MMO's. Especially for one designed to be a AAA pay to play MMO. And which is probably one of the most expensive MMO's ever made. Because of it's high expectations, and high development cost most MMO fans consider this game an epic failure.

    This was because the game was spun by the PR people at EA to be 3-10 of the KOTOR series. As a sequel to the Knights of the Old Republic games this game fails epically. The game does not even come close to delivering the story, the mini games or replayablitiy, of the KOTOR series.

    However, if you were looking for an average MMO, with no real ties to the KOTOR series and was set in the Star Wars universe, set way before the Star Wars stories, that is super easy to play. Then this might be the game for you.

    As far as MMO's go, SWTOR seems to be very weak and buggy on it's PVP. The PVE story is fine and the classes are interesting enough. It has a on "rails" space ship mission series that is an okay mini game. And the game is very soloable for an MMO. The graphics, playability, UI, and everything about the game are average at best for an MMO.

    The only thing to make this different from any other MMO is it's class story instances. It tried to copy choices meaning something from the KOTOR series but fails epically. In the end people just choose all light or dark side choices to get sets of gear. Neutral choices actually punish you, as there was no neutral gear rewards when I played. But in truth the only thing that makes this game unique in MMO's is it's based in the Star Wars universe. And sadly, Star Wars Galaxies was a Star Wars MMO that was much more loved than SWTOR was. SWTOR forced SWG out, only because George Lucas only gave the rights to the Star Wars Universe to one real MMO at a time. So SWG had to have it's plug pulled. Thus SWTOR is the only Star Wars MMO standing by virtue of a newer more lucrative pay out to Lucas. Not because it was a better game.

    But in the end it is very disappointing because this game was supposed to be multiple sequels to the KOTOR series, and just doesn't even come close to being half as fun or have the replayability of the single player and much older KOTOR series of games.

    Though I have to rate the game fairly. And as an MMO it is average at best. And that is in the very run of the mill World of Warcraft rip off theme park MMO's category. Which makes it very generic. Honestly the game had huge potential, but ended up being just another face in the crowd, of what most consider failed MMO's. Forced into the niche and free 2 play market, way before it's time. Because EA didn't even come close to delivering the KOTOR MMO in a Star Wars universe they promised.    … Expand
  87. yo_mama_so_fat
    Oct 23, 2014
    6
    Huge Star Wars fan. HUGE. This game could have been great, majestic even, but for some or other reason Bioware just didn't bring it home this time. It's a damn shame actually.
  88. JustMy2
    Jun 10, 2016
    6
    This game is at the same time grandiose in scale and vision, and the pinnacle of mediocrity in execution. It is truly one of a kind, and never shall anything quite like it be created ever again. To understand the peculiar way the stars aligned to make this game possible, let's recap the story of its creation:

    In the beginning was the legendary Bioware game Knights Of The Old Republic    This game is at the same time grandiose in scale and vision, and the pinnacle of mediocrity in execution. It is truly one of a kind, and never shall anything quite like it be created ever again. To understand the peculiar way the stars aligned to make this game possible, let's recap the story of its creation:

    In the beginning was the legendary Bioware game Knights Of The Old Republic (2003). This game was a fantastic achievement at the time, and it remains an enjoyable game to this day (if you can look past the parts that are a bit dated for obvious reasons).

    Millions of fans wanted wanted more KOTOR, and another studio was tasked with creating a sequel. The sequel turned out good but not fantastic, and it clearly suffered from being forced out the door before it was ready. The dream of Bioware some day returning to give us a REAL sequel stayed alive in the hearts of fans for years.

    Then WoW happened, and game developers saw that this new MMO thing could rake in money like there was no tomorrow. Everyone wanted a piece of that action! Bioware was no exception, and they knew you have to bet big to win big, so they gambled some serious BIG MONEY on their first MMO.

    This was a project that couldn't afford to fail, so they did what people always do when failure isn't an option - they bet on what they perceive to be A Sure Thing (TM).

    People LOVE WoW, people LOVE Star Wars, and people LOVE Knights Of The Old Republic too! Put these three things together, supercharge with stratospheric production value, and boom, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!!

    Quite a lot, as things turned out...

    The worst problem with SW:KOTOR, is that it feels forced as an MMO; it clearly has the soul of a single player game. The MMO aspects of the game simply aren't very impressive. And when judged as a single player game, it's unfortunately much worse than it could have been if it hadn't been forced into the MMO mold in the first place.

    It's a BIG game though, all that money spent sure bought a metric F-ton of lovingly crafted content. But it's all MEDIOCRE! The story is mediocre, the gameplay is mediocre, the visuals are mediocre.

    This can't really be blamed on lack of trying, the game oozes of love and care! It's clear everyone involved gave it their very best!

    But they had too many checkboxes to tick, and the game is an Overconstrained Design as a result. They were tasked with creating something that was fully WoW *and* fully Star Wars *and* fully Knights Of The Old Republic, all at the same time. They were given the resources to pull it off, but were then clearly hampered with a risk averse leadership that wished to play it safe.

    The result was a mess. And a surprisingly dull gaming experience. Players went into it expecting to have their minds blown, got disappointed, and quit. The scores of servers Bioware started out with were emptying out fast, and many players who wanted to play after all got stuck in ghost towns.

    But Bioware refused to admit defeat, and took way too long to merge servers. When they finally did, it was more or less too late, the remaining population was low. Certainly far lower than they had hoped for at first.

    Heads rolled, the team that created the game was replaced because "it takes a different skill set to run an MMO from creating one", as Bioware diplomatically put it. The new team set out to convert it to the free-to-play model to pull in more players. But they didn't want to lose the few subscribers they had, so they came up with a convoluted 3-tier hybrid pay model where you can play most of the game for free, but are nagged to subscribe and nickled-and-dimed for ridiculous little things like having to pay to hide your helmet (!).

    All that said, the game isn't BAD, it's just not all that good either. And it needed it be AWESOME to live up to expectations from players and investors alike.

    It has been polished and improved a lot over the years, and at this point it is without a doubt the finest free-to-play single-player "MMO" experience out there! If you want to waste some time grinding mobs mindlessly and being rewarded with snips of a little light heroic story, then this is your game! All for free!

    I haven't actually paid a single cent for this game, but I have played three characters to level 50, and have three more at level 15 waiting to go when I have some time to waste. Tier 1 free-to-play players actually only get 2 character slots, but I preordered the game and ended up being registered as a former paying customer, which elevates me to tier 2. This in spite of the fact I canceled my preorder in disappointment after trying the early access...

    Sometimes you only want to play a dumb bog-standard mob-grinding MMO to give your brain a break for an hour or two. This is just the game for it. It beats anything in the "market" for games you care enough to play once in a while, but not enough to actually pay for.

    Which must be considered a colossal failure.    … Expand
  89. Fedaygin
    Jul 31, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Graphics: 7/10 Cartoon Network's low polygons even w highest settings
    Gameplay: Tab Target. No Action Dynamic Combat :( Stiff Animations & Ctrls. Idle animation gives Statue look. Theme Park design = Many loading screens :/
    Storyline: Class Storylines are Immersive. They end to 3.0 :( Can go through as F2P.
    Difficulty: Blindfolded. Eaware applied big storyline / world combat Nerfs :/
    Grind: None & Dumb Prog. changes by 'lost' Dev crew after 2015 made Raids to be semi pointless & also Pvp. They even released Raid in pieces :D :(
    Lil bit of my Swtor story & some Swtor's History:
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hardest Review to write ever since started to write after jumped to Pc world in 2004. Cause of Commitment & love poured down to SWTOR from 1st beta day & launch at Dec 2011. Continuous Sub to Q1 2016. Resub at Q2 2018 & Q4 2019, but couldn't longer than Few hrs cause of Nerfed Content & Game-Engine :( No Sub Renewal. Been Following Development & still no resub & relogin worthy news :/ Talent Trees Axed & Traveling got nerfed for Lazies from 3.0 forward :/ Combat Nerfed at 5.0 & Forward :/ Teleporting to Planet's HC Missions & many other Dumb gameplay Nerfs.

    Few years i was part of 2x good Guilds. Longer on Progenitor after many servers like loved Rp-Pvp that i loved vanished in result of 1st servers Merge :( Eaware acquired too many SMALL Servers in Early Days.. Forceflux Guild on Progenitor had many fine people. We did prog. Raiding, premade Pvp trips (also relaxed PvP = No veins popping out) & Guild meetups at Guild ship. Good World Pvp Memories On PvP Server before WPvP was removed cause of old Game-Engine :( Later our guild & Veterans had the same fate as tons of others from Na & EU :( Started at 5.0 & esp. from 5.0 forward. REASON: Charles "sleeky smile" Boyd & LDR after to blame for lack of development & bad calls :( Also LACK of Focus to Feedback & no Survey given out for Plrs to Fill.
    GOOD Suggestions Ignored by Devs since launch:
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On official forum (where CAN'T write if not feeding EA w monthly sub) There's over 10x good Suggestions. Improving Galactic Starfighter, Many Day & Night Cycle Requests to bring more 'LIFE' (Many Mmo's have it) into SWTOR. Interactable Furniture to Hubs (Cantinas & Fleet).. Many Requests for both mini-games Dejarik & Pazaak. Mini-Games could be played in big Cantinas. SWG has them, but Neither in Swtor :( Swtor that's made to Outdated Hero Engine & still running on fumes when near Q4 2020. Much wanted Day & Night Cycle since 2012: Each planet to have their Lore-specific Day-Night cycle & each bogey to behave accordingly. Same with timed Vendors & or NPCs. Weather should influence Planets more often.
    IMAGINE Raining in Nar Shaddaa & brings Blade Runner vibes. Sadly not there.. No Day & Night Cycle :( ESO, Wow & FFIXV has proper Weather & D&N Cycle. IF ONLY SWTOR had been made w CryEngine or Frostbite Game-Engine.. *Drools when thinks of images.*
    Changes that DROVE Away Veterans w real Eyesight:
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From 3.0 forward: Swtor's Skeleton Dev crew made Bad Development calls, slow pacing & no comms with their Customers :( (Sry player base) Command Lvls & RNG Grind.. Dumb moves to start Single Char's Storyline @mind numbing KOTFE & KOTET :/ Those Expansions w many chapters having mind seizures cause too many scripted parts where Sky Troopers jumping down. Just to be put down Fast. Y most plrs use OP Companion after Comps they turned Invincible :( Changes drove away Single Plr & Group Plrs. I'm one of Old School plrs who LOVED to Equip your comp. before got ruined to Terminator mode (tank, heal & dps) & their modding Vanished :( Eaware's Skeleton Crew at Meetup during pre 5.0 patching: - Let's give RNG to everything - Both PVE & PVP. What could possibly go wrong ? Was Sad to Witness.."
    More DUMB Changes without Feedback Survey to Plrs:
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I & hundreds of others got Attached to our Characters & their Respective Factions that we spent Years with. At mind numbing KOTFE all of that VANISHED cause of dumb Charles "sleeky smile" Boyd & his few Skeleton Devs working in HQ's Broom Closet :( REASON: A new totally Random & OP as He** Faction suddenly invades the Galaxy while our characters are in a Coma. Making the Jedi, Sith,Republic & every accomplishment our chars made completely pointless & irrelevant. In my eyes that made years of their writing Meaningless..
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Immersion breaking Cutscenes like DW Char uses only other weapon from 2x :o :( I can't recommend newcomers (New Souls to be Milked by EA) to Sub cause you can do all Storylines without Feeding EA. [Link omitted per site rules]    … Expand
  90. Dubeau
    Jun 10, 2023
    6
    SWTOR is a good game considering when it was released. The stories are fun but some side quests contradict the main quest (Planet Hott). There 8 chapters for 9 classes (I think), and each classes play a slight different story. The amount of content is enormous. I play this purely in solo mode and there is so many systems that, I am overwhelmed. I don't do any timing/daily/weekly quest. ISWTOR is a good game considering when it was released. The stories are fun but some side quests contradict the main quest (Planet Hott). There 8 chapters for 9 classes (I think), and each classes play a slight different story. The amount of content is enormous. I play this purely in solo mode and there is so many systems that, I am overwhelmed. I don't do any timing/daily/weekly quest. I don't do those horrible subquest that have no saving point, and last more then an hour or so (stupid decision). I try the space fighting but it's just point and shoot.

    The fighting is fun, at least in terms of getting slowly some new moves. But it is very repetitive. The graphics feels washed up and old. Reshade with sharpen/lumen did the job visually. A lot of loots. Although the integration of crafting/upgrading feels really disjointed. You get a Stronghold but it's purpose seems to be for vanity and decoration. You can invite people I suppose. So, all those system seems like they were put one over the other, and it's difficult to manage at times. I like the creatures, the races, the planets and ships. The environments are nice but I would have like weather in them. The sounds and music are great. I give it 75% because it is still a fun experience, even in single player. But I am afraid, I will loose interest well before the ending of my first play through.

    Update: Downgrade to 6, because the main story obligates you to do a flashpoint. Flashpoint are horrible, no saving, hours without interruption. I don't have infinite time to play games.    … Expand
  91. DeDoctor
    Sep 17, 2018
    6
    SWTOR is a good MMO as a new player: great stories and pretty fun game-play. But I've been playing this game for 5 years now and yes, it does give out new updates pretty much every month, it still has little to no content, unless you count the few raids, an alright amount of flashpoints, but you'll get to the point where you'll redundantly do them over and over again, and the PvP that isSWTOR is a good MMO as a new player: great stories and pretty fun game-play. But I've been playing this game for 5 years now and yes, it does give out new updates pretty much every month, it still has little to no content, unless you count the few raids, an alright amount of flashpoints, but you'll get to the point where you'll redundantly do them over and over again, and the PvP that is pretty much broken, but let's admit, no MMO will ever get PvP right. The F2P is a bit restricted, but you do get 1-50, so basically all the class stories. Also, most of the time it doesn't even feel like a MMORPG.

    Summary: In all, it's an alright game. Fantastic for new players, but once you play for quite a while like I have, it gets stale and you go on to better games.    … Expand
  92. Soullex
    Nov 29, 2022
    6
    Bu da bi kardeşimizdir.....................................................
  93. RevUBrah
    Mar 11, 2021
    6
    This game truly is the epitome of mediocrity. Of the eight storylines available, only two of them are actually well-written and engaging (Sith Warrior & Imperial Agent). Not to mention how it butchers the lore of previous entries in the Old Republic series in order to make the mediocre Jedi Knight storyline look more important. Aside from that, it's pretty much your basic MMO.
  94. bancandrei
    May 15, 2020
    6
    This game has brought me an important insight. How does a game make you "feel" like a Jedi? And the answer was unexpected for me. It's the music. And this game delivers.
    This is basically a game of two halves. One is a story driven RPG, one is an MMO. The story would have been a much better fit on a different type of game. It is good. I just know about the Jedi Consular and the Sith    This game has brought me an important insight. How does a game make you "feel" like a Jedi? And the answer was unexpected for me. It's the music. And this game delivers.
    This is basically a game of two halves. One is a story driven RPG, one is an MMO. The story would have been a much better fit on a different type of game. It is good. I just know about the Jedi Consular and the Sith Inquisitor, and I feel they are both very adequate and satisfying. I imagine that's why you would play a Star Wars game. To be a Jedi. Or a Sith
    The MMO part is simply not for me. It is very similar to WoW. While some details maybe felt better I think it was a mistake to try to combine these 2 games. You have to get through the gameplay to get to the story and it is hardly worth it. It was dated when it came out, I would prefer something forward looking    … Expand
  95. Traxillion
    Aug 9, 2020
    6
    Really feels like a Star Wars version of WoW.
    Would only recommend it for the story and the great community.
  96. Giero
    Jan 4, 2023
    6
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  97. agradecemais
    Feb 7, 2023
    6
    MMO gostoso de jogar com uma história cativante...recomendo!

    Um bom MMO para passar o tempo.
  98. KRob4
    Mar 19, 2012
    5
    I am so disappointed in this game. It is exactly like people say, it's the same old MMO. It's a grind, and worse than most because the worlds, although "open", are supremely linear. The replayability is near impossible past level 20 because all of the content is the same. My biggest issue is the lack of permanence in the game. Absolutely nothing I do in the game effects the world in aI am so disappointed in this game. It is exactly like people say, it's the same old MMO. It's a grind, and worse than most because the worlds, although "open", are supremely linear. The replayability is near impossible past level 20 because all of the content is the same. My biggest issue is the lack of permanence in the game. Absolutely nothing I do in the game effects the world in a greater capacity past 10 seconds. So it's basically a single player KOTOR experience with MP added in. I wanted to love this game SO much...I tried, for months...I tried. But it's a freakin grind...and the PVP is so lollypop that it's a mere distraction from the grind. This is a HUGE fail. I gave this game a 5 because I had a lot of fun for the first 15 levels of a few characters...but once you get into the 20s, it's just the same old. Integrate a permanence, a feeling that I'm effecting the greater world, the greater battle, and I'll come back, but until then, I'd rather play BF3, Skyrim, or EVE.… Expand
  99. rucknrun
    Jan 2, 2012
    5
    I just can't get into this game. I put 30 hours or so into it. I am almost lvl 20 and there is very little to explore. Where is the next area? The space combat feels like an after thought. I really wanted this game to be great. I don't mind that is feels like WoW a little bit. I love WoW. It just isn't good enough to pay 15 a month for, 60 for the client is way too much too. TheyI just can't get into this game. I put 30 hours or so into it. I am almost lvl 20 and there is very little to explore. Where is the next area? The space combat feels like an after thought. I really wanted this game to be great. I don't mind that is feels like WoW a little bit. I love WoW. It just isn't good enough to pay 15 a month for, 60 for the client is way too much too. They need to start giving us the clients if they are going to charge a monthly fee.… Expand
  100. shadus
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    This game is a disappointment. That being said It's not a bad game. First the good points... The sound is one place the game really shined, but sound alone doesn't make a great game... and when I say sound I mean ALL of the sound. The music is very good, the voice acting and cut scene sounds are top notch productions as far as I've played in the game. If top end sound is a priority forThis game is a disappointment. That being said It's not a bad game. First the good points... The sound is one place the game really shined, but sound alone doesn't make a great game... and when I say sound I mean ALL of the sound. The music is very good, the voice acting and cut scene sounds are top notch productions as far as I've played in the game. If top end sound is a priority for you give this a try, it really does show where the future is headed and what can be done with a good budget and being willing to put forth some budget on the sound. The crafting system is also an improvement over the sit for 15m and watch a bar repeatedly zip to the top 400 times system that has become common place in many games. The downside is the combat and feel of the game is pretty much carbon copied from another large aaa game with a sci-fi skin pasted on it. The choices you have with your character feel contrived and limited as far as real skills go. The instancing level the game exhibits with 300 carbon copies running around doing exactly what I am doing being "the one" is a complete disappointment and is highly immersion breaking. The problem is, in my aspects it copied from another aaa game, but failed to innovate on the same formula. After the previous attempt with making a mmo with this ip it's easy to understand Bioware wanted to be more conservative, but they exceeded the bounds of reasonable in the degree of conservatism they are exhibiting. People have been playing games using roughly the same formula and style since the mid/late 90s and many are beginning to tire of the exact same formula. The biggest issue is that the game lacks the innovation you would hope to see in such a big aaa title. The game also lacks the polish you feel in the older games in the genre that it is similar to. The game already feels dated because of the many choices they made with regards to combat and core game play with many of the free to play games showing better feature sets even. However, if you're looking for a very well designed game that is largely a sci-fi re-skin or you're looking to be a part of the star wars universe as your primary concern, look no further-- this is the game for you. If you're looking for something different, something unique, and a change in functional way a game plays, this is not the game for you it fails completely on that front.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critic Reviews

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