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. CyberJedi619
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    This is one of the best MMO out there. Yes it does need work but people are comparing this to wow. This is not wow. This is bioware... They have awesome cutscene. and game play is unbelievable detail. I've been both in beta and now enjoying the finished product. I see a lot of people rating this game low... Aka most are wow players or elistest. Starwars the old republic and otherThis is one of the best MMO out there. Yes it does need work but people are comparing this to wow. This is not wow. This is bioware... They have awesome cutscene. and game play is unbelievable detail. I've been both in beta and now enjoying the finished product. I see a lot of people rating this game low... Aka most are wow players or elistest. Starwars the old republic and other starwars game are all about the community and fan base. Bioware is a developer who has reached the high level. Yes every company has there flaws but I'm giving this game a 10.… Expand
  2. Samcr0
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    This game does not deserve 0 or 1, think it's a great game with a good story with different perspectives, solid gameplay even though it is very similar to wow, i have been 3 different classes and have enjoyed them all. The endgame is obviously lacking a bit as any new mmo usually is and defenetly will need some work but overall I believe it's a solid start. I also do not mind theThis game does not deserve 0 or 1, think it's a great game with a good story with different perspectives, solid gameplay even though it is very similar to wow, i have been 3 different classes and have enjoyed them all. The endgame is obviously lacking a bit as any new mmo usually is and defenetly will need some work but overall I believe it's a solid start. I also do not mind the environments, never enjoyed walking a million miles in wow to grab a stupid quest item. I am going to give this a ten to even out all the haters unfair 1"s and 0"s… Expand
  3. Swampy
    Jan 14, 2012
    3
    Revisiting my initial review after a month of play; and not much has changed in my views except it's even worse than I initially feared. While the story is nice, it is basically all this game has to offer and makes it VERY linear. There's no incentive for exploration, actually there's not a lot of incentive to do anything but drive the story forward. Technically the game is shabby, theRevisiting my initial review after a month of play; and not much has changed in my views except it's even worse than I initially feared. While the story is nice, it is basically all this game has to offer and makes it VERY linear. There's no incentive for exploration, actually there's not a lot of incentive to do anything but drive the story forward. Technically the game is shabby, the engine is poorly optimised and there are bugs too numerous to list here. The customer service is also terrible, and don't try and leave an opinion on the official forums; you'll be savaged by the rabid 'Bioware/EA defense force' (aka fanboys).. and if you think that isn't bad enough, write any negative criticism and you'll walk a fine line of getting warnings! Apparently they don't mind criticism.. so long as you're not being critical.. I kid you not.. it's actually in their forums t&c's.… Expand
  4. Khornet
    Jan 4, 2012
    0
    It wasn't long before when I still considered myself a loyal fan of Bioware. Although some of their recent activities made me feel strange about them, my love for KotOR 1 and 2, somewhat won over, and I tried the game. Boy how much do I regret that decision. ToR stands against for the entire lore and setting of my favourite RPGs, but that's just the tip of the mountain. The game is ugly,It wasn't long before when I still considered myself a loyal fan of Bioware. Although some of their recent activities made me feel strange about them, my love for KotOR 1 and 2, somewhat won over, and I tried the game. Boy how much do I regret that decision. ToR stands against for the entire lore and setting of my favourite RPGs, but that's just the tip of the mountain. The game is ugly, has stiff animations, the graphics are a joke. Glitches and bugs are a daily basis, the customer support doesn't know what the hell it's doing. Combat and gameplay in general would be funny if it weren't so sad. The typical WoW-like (another dissapointment in a once good company, by the way) "stand still while waving your weapon at a giant single enemy along other 20 "chosen ones" " situation is just too common. The voice acting is TERRIBLE, why people actually list it as the best aspect is beyond me! Monotonous, out-of-character robots, EVERYWHERE. I actually saw a video where the voice actress for the same character changed twice, MID SENTENCE. Top notch quality voice acting, that.
    The whole desperate focus on the RPG elements turns the game into some morbid hybrid, that can only be descripted as "singleplayer RPG with MMO elements". The endgame is simply non-existant, and it takes 2-3 days to reach it. No, PvP doesn't count, because it's an unbalanced clusterf**k. And don't even get me started on huttball...Sith and Jedi playing SPORTS. Yaaay...which gets me to another point: stupidity. CRUSHING lighsabers. DARK heal. SITH getting light points. That's just flat out retarded.
    And the last, but not least is the price for this. Too much. Too high. Alot of people will point out, that WoW is similar in this aspect, but does comparing to WoW really do much good for the game?    … Expand
  5. RampantAndroid
    Dec 26, 2011
    4
    Zones are instanced, gameplay is otherwise identical to WoW, pretty much. The game pretty much bores me to tears. I gave it chance because it was Bioware, but after Dragon Age 2 and now SWTOR, I honestly wish Bioware would go under so I remember them in a somewhat positive light.
  6. Zhiroc
    Dec 21, 2011
    9
    From the beginning, it was clear to me that all of BW's hype was directed towards one goal: producing an MMO that would be more like Knights of the Old Republic in gameplay and style than the traditional MMO. In that, I think they have come closer than any other MMOG. If you like the single-player RPG, you'll appreciate SW:TOR. The questing is actually more like Mass Effect, with fullFrom the beginning, it was clear to me that all of BW's hype was directed towards one goal: producing an MMO that would be more like Knights of the Old Republic in gameplay and style than the traditional MMO. In that, I think they have come closer than any other MMOG. If you like the single-player RPG, you'll appreciate SW:TOR. The questing is actually more like Mass Effect, with full voiceover and a somewhat limited 2-3 response system. I find I miss the more extended conversations you could have in KotOR, and even ME (using the "left side" of the dialog wheel that could give you more info rather than make character decisions on the right).

    So, if you are looking for the "traditional MMOG experience"--focused on raiding, endgame, and PvP, you might find it lacking. It has those, but it certainly isn't a distinguishing element of the game. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a KotOR/ME kind of game, you will likely find it engaging.

    So far, I find the questing fun and engaging, with some character's stories a bit better than the others (have only played two main classes so far). There are 4 main classes in each faction (Republic/Empire), with unique stories for all. However, the side quests are shared among all classes.

    So far, I've noted the lack of what feels like "grinding" (I've gone into the early 20s with one character), and I've seen very little need to "farm" mobs (though I did a little at times to get that little extra XP to level). If this keeps up (and I was told it does pretty much up through the 40s), this is in itself unique in MMOGs--having fun while leveling? Incredible :)

    And a final note for the hardcore gamer: I am seeing a lot of subtle complexity in the ability system that one needs to master to maximize your character. It's not conducive to having a strict rotation, and you are constantly having to manage your resource pool and activate abilities based on the special effects that sometimes get triggered from other abilities. So here's a place for you to show off your l33t performance :)    … Expand
  7. Khas
    Dec 21, 2011
    9
    After having played a variety of MMO's since Everquest II, I have to say that Bioware has indeed achieved something unique. The Old Republic gives the immersion of a single player game, while allowing more traditional social options, such as PVP and grouping for PVE content. Currently, the social options are pretty limited, the biggest issue being no guild banks. Emotes typically found inAfter having played a variety of MMO's since Everquest II, I have to say that Bioware has indeed achieved something unique. The Old Republic gives the immersion of a single player game, while allowing more traditional social options, such as PVP and grouping for PVE content. Currently, the social options are pretty limited, the biggest issue being no guild banks. Emotes typically found in most MMO's are sadly lacking here, and the lack of armor customization found even in free-to-play MMO's is surprising, though they promise this in a future update. The combat system is fairly fluid and easy to learn, though there are sometimes too many options. There is no auto-attack feature, so it feels very interactive. The launch was smoother than any game I've ever seen or been a part of. Even during the evening hours of launch day, there was no wait time to get on most servers, and this was not apparently from lack of players. I highly recommend SWTOR to anyone looking for a good MMO experience. There are a few rough edges, but a surprisingly small amount considering the state most games ship these days.… Expand
  8. Wackywoo
    Dec 26, 2011
    3
    Very disappointed. I wanted to like this game, but sadly this is not the MMO I was looking for. In design school I always wondered why there was a "risk taken" component on project evaluation sheets. Can't a design be good without taking risk? Maybe.. but more than likely it will be unimpressive. BioWare took no risks. They played it safe all around. The result is unimpressive. LookVery disappointed. I wanted to like this game, but sadly this is not the MMO I was looking for. In design school I always wondered why there was a "risk taken" component on project evaluation sheets. Can't a design be good without taking risk? Maybe.. but more than likely it will be unimpressive. BioWare took no risks. They played it safe all around. The result is unimpressive. Look no further than the uninspired character creation. It has lazy written all over it, with all races being practically human. Hair options are multiplied by adding option A to option B and calling it option C. In game, mobs simply stand still, waiting for you to come and kill them. This, combined with uninteractive environments, leaves the game feeling lifeless. What is perhaps more concerning are the absurd critic reviews. Mediocrity should not be praised. The reviews themselves list many shortcomings, however they give the game a near perfect score. Makes me wonder if they have shared interest in the game's financial success.… Expand
  9. CookieMaster444
    Dec 31, 2011
    0
    Currently level 50 with valor rank 40+ on PvP server.

    It's got pretty good PvE even if it does force you to group up in some storyline missions. Decent graphics, love the lightsaber sounds(all sounds actually), great storyline and lots of abilities to play around with. So why the 0 then? Bugs, unbalanced PvP, and terrible customer service. The amount of bugs in this game is just more    Currently level 50 with valor rank 40+ on PvP server.

    It's got pretty good PvE even if it does force you to group up in some storyline missions. Decent graphics, love the lightsaber sounds(all sounds actually), great storyline and lots of abilities to play around with.

    So why the 0 then? Bugs, unbalanced PvP, and terrible customer service. The amount of bugs in this game is just more than any MMO at release that I have ever seen. Everything from broke quests to entire classes unable to attack due to some ability casting bug. If you manage to get stuck into a zone from a bug and your fleet pass isn't up, expect to wait the full cool down of your fleet pass as CS won't come for you. Their response is always usually automated and tells you to use the /stuck command. Gee, thanks.

    Lastly is the PvP which you can clearly see was put in at the last minute. No brackets in Warzones, ranged classes that do more damage than melee and have an array of CCs, stealth classes that can do 6-7k crits several times in a row(you'll only have about 10-12k health at level 50 not geared), and endless CC which never ends. You'd think that classes that gets various CCs wouldn't be too bad as you have this in most MMOs however...you can be CCed so much repeatedly even if you skill to get out of one CC to the point that you can be CCed the second later by another. There is DR but it takes so long to get there with some CC that you'll be dead long before that bar fills up. Plus even if the bar does fill its only DR on that certain type of CC. Various other CCs will still work. So it's not so much the classes in the case for CC as so much as there is no way to get out of it. You can jump out of a warzone spawn just to be CC and dead 5 seconds later and now get the chance to have to wait another 30 seconds before you get into battle. You spend a lot of time waiting behind stupid walls that manage to lock you in. If the enemy team kills you just as the doors blow up on voidstar and you're stuck with a full timer, not only do you have to wait that full timer along with whomever else died with you but now after the spawn wall does go down you have to run and catchup. The problem with this is the fact the enemy can easily blow up the next set of doors before you even get in range of them. Enjoy running to the next point.

    I came for PvP and it was a mess that left me disappointed. There is an endless list of bugs and issues that need to be fixed to make this game stable. However at the rate they are going with patches I don't see this happening within the next 2-3 months so I would suggest looking at the reviews at that time.

    Sigh, hopefully TERA/GW2 will be better. Subscription canceled.    … Expand
  10. jamezohlen
    Jan 1, 2012
    0
    It's finally here! The latest, the greatest, from the sweetheart of gaming, Bioware! It seems like so long ago that the SW:TOR hype train first began to chug full steam ahead. Many years and 135+ million dollars later, Bioware has done it again! Yes, they finally managed to do what Korea has been doing on the regular for the last half decade! They have copied WoW! Okay, all jokingIt's finally here! The latest, the greatest, from the sweetheart of gaming, Bioware! It seems like so long ago that the SW:TOR hype train first began to chug full steam ahead. Many years and 135+ million dollars later, Bioware has done it again! Yes, they finally managed to do what Korea has been doing on the regular for the last half decade! They have copied WoW! Okay, all joking aside, this is pathetic. I've been playing MMOs since Ultima Online, and I have to say it is saddening to see what happened to this industry when games like SW:TOR are actually being given high marks for anything. Calling the game a wow clone is actually a compliment this game doesn't deserve, as it falls short in so, so, so many areas I cringe at the thought of where all the money went. You're telling me after all these years and money, Bioware couldn't add anti-aliasing? After all these years and all this money, they couldn't add a LFG tool? Really? Nobody at bioware thought that would be important or high priority? Oh that's right, all they do is add a bunch of pointless dialogue with a point system to appease the plebs. No customizable UI? No mod support? Horrendously unbalanced PVP? You're telling me after all these years and all this money, and all this BETA testing, the game is still riddled with amateurish bugs and glitches? There are free games that were developed with one twentieth of the budget this game had that have all of these features and more, without all of the bugs of glitches. At LAUNCH. YEARS EARLIER. The success of this game will prove that all you need to do is pour money and marketing into a product and it will be successful, no matter if the product has any merit.… Expand
  11. Khors
    Jan 1, 2012
    1
    Bioware has taken the Massively-Multiplayer genre to a new low, more akin to a single-player rpg then it has ever been. Having played mmorpg's for 15-years and watched the decline of community player-base purpose, motivation, value, contribution and involvement in a persistent world decline over the years from various studios, I would have hoped that massively-multiplayer features andBioware has taken the Massively-Multiplayer genre to a new low, more akin to a single-player rpg then it has ever been. Having played mmorpg's for 15-years and watched the decline of community player-base purpose, motivation, value, contribution and involvement in a persistent world decline over the years from various studios, I would have hoped that massively-multiplayer features and content would see more of a rise with TOR, but that is not the case in the slightest.

    This is a dull, tedious and barren example of an MMO that is void of anything remotely valued in what should be a persistent massively-multiplayer universe. I'll give it a 1 for the false advert that it is a mmorpg, which it isn't    … Expand
  12. Remoe
    Jan 1, 2012
    1
    Terrible excuse for a WoW clone, is Bioware even trying? Game breaking bugs at launch, just an overall terrible game that I would recommend to no-one.
  13. bugbear1
    Jan 15, 2012
    2
    One thing, that completely boggles the mind, is the number of solid 10 scores for this game that have been written by reviewers with singular postings or less than a few, at this observation. While it's true, any number of postings will NOT validate opinion, nor assuage present bias, it MAY, however, raise questions as to motivations of those posters that have chosen ONLY to review thisOne thing, that completely boggles the mind, is the number of solid 10 scores for this game that have been written by reviewers with singular postings or less than a few, at this observation. While it's true, any number of postings will NOT validate opinion, nor assuage present bias, it MAY, however, raise questions as to motivations of those posters that have chosen ONLY to review this game. For comprehension of this line of inquiry, when evaluating any review, please also click "All this user's reviews" at the lower right of the review pane. --In this manner, YOU, the reader, might better evaluate any writer's credibility; or, at the very least, track their opinion-swings through a number of reviews in order to assay the weight of their stated views.
    *STAR WARS:TOR might be better named: STAR WARS: THE TIRED OL' REPUBLIC as the game hews fairly closely to timeworn gaming conventions and staid mechanics; which, under the present condition of the game, might be what retains subscribers, as familiarity often breeds complacency. In other words, with so much rehash going-on in SWTOR; rampant bugs, missing features, incomplete features and broken gameplay concepts such as SWTOR's PvP design, players would, nominally, leave in droves if it were not for the comforting constraints of familiar gameplay design abstracted from nearly every MMO released prior to SWTOR. Simply put, SWTOR attempts to crib nearly every worthwhile idea from practically every other worthwhile MMO that has been released in recent memory. Which, in the singular case of SWTOR is a magnificent conceit!?! SWTOR, in one sentence, might better be described as a "SINGLEPLAYER GAME with limited Coop, chat pane and a monthly sub." While it is true the world of SWTOR is heavily instanced, sharded, loaded with quest-hubs, and only linear, it does embrace the tenets of Lucas' constant micromanagement of the Star Wars universe. With limited player-choice, minimal exploration, linear questing augmented by timesinks and poor implementation of many mmo-style tools such as, practically, nonexistant guild tools, SWTOR raises the bar to enjoyment. Frankly, SWTOR runs poorly on much modern hardware, would NOT run well on an i7 with 8 gigs of DDR3 sys ram and a GT335 vid card with 1 gig of vram, Win7 64 bit. (This machine does run FFXIV on medium, RIFT on medium to high and WOW maxed.) On a tower, a Q6600 with 4 gigs of sys ram, GTX280 with 1 gig of vram, Win7 32 bit, the game ran with FPS in the playable range, although frequent swings were apparent. Screen tearing, artifacts, missing AA, glitchy with hitching, frequent CTDs and massive LAG are readily apparent, as well. Input lag, server lag, EVEN with 30Mbs ISP speeds strongly point to unoptimized netcode and client. Admitted memory leaks also plague the game.
    *The game's not finished, not optimized, feature incomplete and poor feature implementation marrs the fun!    … Expand
  14. Yuze
    Dec 21, 2011
    0
    This is an awful game. Completely void of the Star wars franchise and of KotOR, everything has been retconned removing any form of consistency with bland, lifeless performances, yes, the voice acting may be good but in this day and age the lack of facial movement, limb movement, any movement at all outside of the 3 pre-created 'talk' animations - there is no emotion at all. This isThis is an awful game. Completely void of the Star wars franchise and of KotOR, everything has been retconned removing any form of consistency with bland, lifeless performances, yes, the voice acting may be good but in this day and age the lack of facial movement, limb movement, any movement at all outside of the 3 pre-created 'talk' animations - there is no emotion at all. This is essentially WoW 2.0. There is nothing new, nothing has changed. The art style is simplistic and clearly rushed for economic reasons with generic textures and bland colour palates. The raids/fights are dull and laborious and the atmosphere of an mmo is not there. The worry is that in a months time once everyone has managed to complete the joke of a story, the 'economy' i.e. auction house will collapse and it'll be barren. Good riddance I say - If you really must buy this, play the pathetic story which even a 5 year old could foresee then cancel your subscription. Sad excuse for an MMO in 2011, absolutely atrocious.… Expand
  15. Greever
    Dec 24, 2011
    3
    Despite really wanting to enjoy this game, I find it hard to even just log in and play the beginning levels. Graphics are really poor, combat is tiresome, the classes are uninspired and the quests are just the same old thing as every MMO before it. If this were a MMO from 2000 it would be passable, but for one from 2011 it's shockingly bad.
  16. kvonbose
    Dec 25, 2011
    0
    Nothing new in this game. The world feels so lifeless, like a soulless amusement park. Quest after boring quest makes you feel like you aren't playing a game, but doing non-stop chores. The maps are huge and empty. There really isn't much to do in this game. PvP is monotonous and feels like it was put in as an afterthought. After playing the launch of Rifts, (a game I no longer play) thisNothing new in this game. The world feels so lifeless, like a soulless amusement park. Quest after boring quest makes you feel like you aren't playing a game, but doing non-stop chores. The maps are huge and empty. There really isn't much to do in this game. PvP is monotonous and feels like it was put in as an afterthought. After playing the launch of Rifts, (a game I no longer play) this game just feels 2nd rate, boring, and it's just hard to care about it.… Expand
  17. crnppscls
    Dec 26, 2011
    4
    I've never paid £39.99 for a pc game so this was a first for me. Also i've never played wow (but plenty others) i did have really high hopes for the game but was a bit meh in beta.
    The voice acting i like, plus there are some soul searching decisions you have to make especially if you play a dark side char. It isn't awful by any means, but there are just a lot better mmo's out    I've never paid £39.99 for a pc game so this was a first for me. Also i've never played wow (but plenty others) i did have really high hopes for the game but was a bit meh in beta.
    The voice acting i like, plus there are some soul searching decisions you have to make especially if you play a dark side char. It isn't awful by any means, but there are just a lot better mmo's out there, i am just so disappointed in this release. The questing is normal and generic to any other game, 'epic space battles': non existent, character customisation is a joke, it is not a pretty game either, the bland textures used seem to distract you from any exploration of your new world + the heavy instancing where you can't progress because of barriers.
    Seriously, i think people have become so sick of these generic mmo's (most of which you can play for free) and relied on bioware being their last bastion of pc greatness to deliver something groundbreaking. Well they didn't. If you're a diehard lover of sw lore, you will love it (probably) but for the price of the game and the sub, a lot of people won't bother basically because there is better out there.
    And another thing lol, i spent months telling my console owning friends that this title will be the pinnacle of pc greatness and they all wished the game was available on console. Now i have to say it's uninstalled but you lot just wait for gw2 and then we'll see .    … Expand
  18. Ultan
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    Voice acting is very good for a MMO game. Gameplay is fun and story is great. Flashpoint are fun for some, others feels it needed more work. Some boss fights feel as though they made no sense and your fighting away wondering why they did what they did... Down side is they could have waitted another month or two still on the bugs and fixes. (nothing new here) Im a level 35+ jedi alreadyVoice acting is very good for a MMO game. Gameplay is fun and story is great. Flashpoint are fun for some, others feels it needed more work. Some boss fights feel as though they made no sense and your fighting away wondering why they did what they did... Down side is they could have waitted another month or two still on the bugs and fixes. (nothing new here) Im a level 35+ jedi already since early launch. So getting exp is way to fast and too easy and you can not explore the whole map of the zone. You die if you try. Yes you heard me. you die.... takes the exploring feel out of it and feels restrained. For these two reasons i gave the game a 8. For a Starwars game. this is the best i played.… Expand
  19. CazNeerg
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Bottom line on TOR is that if you love BioWare style storytelling, and don't absolutely loathe traditional themepark MMO mechanics, you will probably like this game, maybe even love it. But if you think story doesn't belong in MMOs, or themeparks suck, look elsewhere.
  20. papi
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Beautiful storyline and beautiful graphics Lucas team did a superb job. Currently leveling a Sith warrior and so far it is enjoyable. Questing is fun one minute you're on planet and the next deep in space. Haven't encountered any PVP yet, I am a level 21, so far the dungeons have been great I am fighting great Jedi knights known in them movies with you and a group of random people. As farBeautiful storyline and beautiful graphics Lucas team did a superb job. Currently leveling a Sith warrior and so far it is enjoyable. Questing is fun one minute you're on planet and the next deep in space. Haven't encountered any PVP yet, I am a level 21, so far the dungeons have been great I am fighting great Jedi knights known in them movies with you and a group of random people. As far as professions, you don't have to worry you have slaves that can work for you 24/7, so you don't have to be picking on herbs have your slave to do it. So, far it is a fun game and can't wait for end content raiding, world bosses, and PVP SAAAAAN!… Expand
  21. Energiie
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    This is a Milestone for the MMO Genre! Bioware has done a fantastic job, creating great storyline, sublime action in dungeons (witch in WOW tended to be boring times to time), great possibilities when playing with your friends as well! people tends to have WAY high expectations, that the graphs should be over the charts, all story no "hack-and-slash" quest.. but no an MMO needs that, andThis is a Milestone for the MMO Genre! Bioware has done a fantastic job, creating great storyline, sublime action in dungeons (witch in WOW tended to be boring times to time), great possibilities when playing with your friends as well! people tends to have WAY high expectations, that the graphs should be over the charts, all story no "hack-and-slash" quest.. but no an MMO needs that, and Bioware has done this in a great manner! it is a great MMO, with an even greater story!… Expand
  22. agentsvr
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    I played KotOR and am a huge fun of Bioware games.
    Given this, i have been really disappointed at the late games Bioware has been releasing, both story and game play wise. Now i understand why. All the good writers, artists and game developers were working on SWTOR.
    I was really skeptic if the kotor style would work as a MMO. The thing is, the MMO is still there, but the kotor game feel    I played KotOR and am a huge fun of Bioware games.
    Given this, i have been really disappointed at the late games Bioware has been releasing, both story and game play wise. Now i understand why. All the good writers, artists and game developers were working on SWTOR.
    I was really skeptic if the kotor style would work as a MMO. The thing is, the MMO is still there, but the kotor game feel really makes all the difference in the world. After playing this jewel it will be very difficult for anyone to go back and play another MMO.
    It still has a few flaws, like bounty hunter and smuggler story lines are not as good as the others, the crafting system is under powered, etc... overall it still gets 9, and that's because i am picky!    … Expand
  23. Cavadus
    Jan 4, 2012
    2
    If you're a veteran MMO player TOR offers nothing for you. All of the gameplay and systems are absolutely archaic and ripped verbatim from World of Warcraft, the graphics are unimpressive, and the combat gameplay is incredibly stale and dull.

    The game doesn't feature a single sandbox element and dictates every variable of your character's existence. Also, the character creator and space    If you're a veteran MMO player TOR offers nothing for you. All of the gameplay and systems are absolutely archaic and ripped verbatim from World of Warcraft, the graphics are unimpressive, and the combat gameplay is incredibly stale and dull.

    The game doesn't feature a single sandbox element and dictates every variable of your character's existence. Also, the character creator and space combat are so bad that Bioware must be ashamed.

    The lone PvP world is horribly broken and routinely exploited. Open world PvP offers absolutely no rewards of any kind and the bulk of PvP is shoved into instanced warzones where a mechanic called "Bolster" allows low level players to get absolutely demolished by max level players.

    All in all there's nothing new in TOR and the gameplay is so old that you could read Greg Vederman articles and swear he was talking about this game.    … Expand
  24. MaestroBlaBla
    Dec 24, 2011
    3
    LucasArts should scrap this too. SWG was slightly epic. This is tacky and feels more like a $ sink-hole. As far as i know, it is the most expensive mmo to play. Tested CB(thank-god)......WAS VERY UNIMPRESSED
  25. jrs1977
    Dec 22, 2011
    8
    It is laughable to see some of the scores of 2 or 0 for this game. This would indicate that you believe this game is among the worst games available and that is absurd. This is a solid and fun MMO that repeats something that were done before in other MMOs like WOW (quest structure and to some level combat) but provides a different game as well through other elements (Storylines, voiceIt is laughable to see some of the scores of 2 or 0 for this game. This would indicate that you believe this game is among the worst games available and that is absurd. This is a solid and fun MMO that repeats something that were done before in other MMOs like WOW (quest structure and to some level combat) but provides a different game as well through other elements (Storylines, voice acting, and to some degree combat). If something is done well why not take elements of that and reapply them? People's expectations are so ridiculously high if you believe this is a disaster of a game. Did you expect to log in and get to play 20 different races, 30 different classes, and have graphics that resembled a Lucas Arts film? Did you ever think that perhaps the best method, and the one every MMO game uses is to start off small and work up to things like additional races and dungeons. Also note to people, WOW did not create the click a button on your UI back and forth combat structure nor did it create the quest structure of kill this or go fetch that. Games like Everquest and Ultima did this long before. If you take the game for what it is, it is highly enjoyable. Right now the game is more about the journey with storylines and morality points than power leveling to end game content which is all WOW is. You cannot put the cart before the horse. Did you want Bioware to come out with 15 different end game raids right away when most people won't even get to 50 for awhile? No MMO has ever done that and it makes no sense. There will be updates with new end game content as time progresses and more and more people get there. Combat to me is fun and fast paced. Is it ground breaking? No, but that doesn't mean it is not fun. If this game remains the same in a year than people have room to complain but for now you can't get mad because it doesn't have all the refined elements that a 6 year old game like WOW now has (does anyone remember vanilla WOW? It was a lot of fun but not exactly earth shattering either). Also everyone assumes that this game has set out to destroy WOW by being so much better that it robs WOW of its fan base. Maybe the game wants to offer something that appeals to casual WOW players and a new fan base of people who are tired of playing a WOW game whose sole purpose is to get to end game content so you can raid for 6 hours with arrogant, rude, asses, who act like the rulers of their little fiefdoms because their dps meter is higher than yours. It is a just a game people and if you relax and enjoy it, a very fun one. Stop expecting it to be a world shattering work of art that changes the cultural landscape. If you are a fan of Star Wars and MMOs this is a very fun game you should definitely try it. If you are a 3 time a week raid leader on WOW or someone who believes video games should be on the same artistic level as a Thomas Pynchon novel then save your money.… Expand
  26. PansyMo
    Dec 24, 2011
    2
    It amuses me to no end how we are not allowed to not enjoy this game. Those giving 10s and complaining about us having different opinions are just trolls is are just wearing their Naboo-tinted glasses, refusing to see anything potentially wrong. These are the same people who think that including a character like Jar Jar Binks in the movies was a much better idea than curing cancer,It amuses me to no end how we are not allowed to not enjoy this game. Those giving 10s and complaining about us having different opinions are just trolls is are just wearing their Naboo-tinted glasses, refusing to see anything potentially wrong. These are the same people who think that including a character like Jar Jar Binks in the movies was a much better idea than curing cancer, simply because he's in the Star Wars movies. That said, I was unimpressed by the game. Everything seemed "samey" to me. The voice acting was alright, and the different story lines are okay, but that's just the thing. Pursuing the different story lines, is, for the most part, an individual endeavor. It gives me the feel of this being a Single-Player game disguised as an MMO. The instances annoy me, though the queues not so much. However, the scattered, unmoving NPCs detract from my overall so-called "immersive" experience. Also, I hated walking through Tatooine to get to a point I needed to be, only to walk through a sand people camp that immediately triggered the "kill 0/20" quests. So far, there's also been no endgame. Really, people, are you that protective of your favorite universe that you refuse to admit that there may be some flaws?… Expand
  27. Uachet
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    SWTOR is a very mediocre offering that who's only claim to fame is a voice overs. The mechanics of the game are dated, the graphics are dated and glitchy, and the world itself seems to be tomb-like. Let me explain more on why the world seems like a tomb. Though you may see an indicator stating there are over 100 people in your particular area, for some amazing reason you only really everSWTOR is a very mediocre offering that who's only claim to fame is a voice overs. The mechanics of the game are dated, the graphics are dated and glitchy, and the world itself seems to be tomb-like. Let me explain more on why the world seems like a tomb. Though you may see an indicator stating there are over 100 people in your particular area, for some amazing reason you only really ever see about 5 to 10 other people. Also the worlds lack any fauna and talkative npcs outside of quest givers. It also lacks a day and night cycle, so depending on the planet you are on it is always day or always night (I felt no feeling of a passage of time).

    Anyhow, the developers seemed to have squandered there budget on voice talent (which is pretty good in some instances and poor in others). It is unfortunate for me that the most expensive online game created yet, is also the most shallow one I've experienced. This offering truly feels like a quick cash grab, instead of an attempt to make a game that is lasting.    … Expand
  28. TheFonz
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Don't listen to all the Bio-drones claiming that this is the best thing since sliced bread. I won't bother going into all the technical details as to why this game is a waste of 300 million dollars, because plenty of reviewers with a lot more MMO knowledge have already done that. I'll let them tell you how the graphical style is terrible, the character creation sucks, the endgame content is extremely lacking, and so on. I'm just going to tell you plain and simple: if you're a diehard KotOR fan, like myself, you will hate this game.

    Forget all the crap about "Bioware's brilliant storytelling" and this game containing "KotOR 3-12". None of that is true. Much of the individual class stories are shared, so you aren't going to be playing 8 unique stories. Not only that, but the stories are filled with typical Bioware tripe. If the original KotOR games were the original trilogy, TOR is the prequels; a ridiculous, uninspired story that retcons much of established KotOR knowledge and is filled to the brim with typical Bioware cliches at every turn. For an MMO whose main feature was supposed to be story, you would think Bioware could find something better to devote their resources to than 20 GB of voice overs. VOICE OVERS. Most people will eventually skip them anyways, because they won't care about the elaborate backstory made up for why they have to go kill 10 droids.

    But whatever.. many will surely disagree with me and claim that the story is amazing. That's fine. But what really bothers me about what Bioware is done with the KotOR franchise is how they have ruined two of the best characters ever written in SW EU: The Exile and Revan.

    Not only are both characters given faces, voices, and personalities (a big no-no), but their stories are wrapped up in the most awful way possible. Revan is turned into a mediocre raid boss for thousands of players to kill over and over again. The Exile... becomes a force ghost. That's it? I don't think Bioware really understands just how much fans were emotionally attached to the characters of the first two KotOR games. For them to close their stories in such a shallow, unsatisfying way is a slap in the face to those who have been waiting almost a decade now to see the end. Between TOR and Drew Karpyshyn's absolutely awful "Revan" book, they have successfully ruined what was what a great franchise and story. Congrats.    … Expand
  29. Avvannosst
    Dec 24, 2011
    0
    It makes absolutely no sense to me that people are calling this game polished. The story is sloppy and poorly written, the graphics are horrible both on a technical and artistic level, suffering from texture pop-in and lighting issues, etc. if this were ANY other game from ANY other company it would be getting slaughtered in reviews. But noooo this is bioware, they can do no wrong. TheIt makes absolutely no sense to me that people are calling this game polished. The story is sloppy and poorly written, the graphics are horrible both on a technical and artistic level, suffering from texture pop-in and lighting issues, etc. if this were ANY other game from ANY other company it would be getting slaughtered in reviews. But noooo this is bioware, they can do no wrong. The game shipped without tons of essential features that an mmo needs, but oh wait, this is basically a single player rpg with an excuse to gouge star wars fans. The hype is not earned. At all.… Expand
  30. Ryha2000
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    The game play in not game changing if you'll pardon the pun, but the sum of the game is greater than the parts. The excellent storytelling reinforces the pacing of the missions and instances, it keeps everyone in the story. I hated questing with friends in WoW, I missed all the story and always felt pressured to click through the walls of text and dash off after my companions. The voicedThe game play in not game changing if you'll pardon the pun, but the sum of the game is greater than the parts. The excellent storytelling reinforces the pacing of the missions and instances, it keeps everyone in the story. I hated questing with friends in WoW, I missed all the story and always felt pressured to click through the walls of text and dash off after my companions. The voiced dialogue and cut scenes fix that problem. Also the introduction of a social skill that you level through doing group dialogue keeps all the talking interesting from a game mechanics perspective. So, strong single player. Strong multi-palyer. Even the PvP which I have rarely even liked in other MMO's is quite fun. It feels more like a FPS to me, particularly the kind of ridiculous Hutball. I'm only 12 levels in so I can't speak to the end game, but so far I have to say that yes, it's a lot like WoW but the core game is better in pretty much every way.… Expand
  31. zaekeon
    Dec 26, 2011
    0
    Basically the game is wow with voiceovers and WAY WAY less features...it's sad that a game like RIFT came out with more features/customization than this blockbuster that has been hyped forever did...the even sadder part is all of the stuff people complain about now, are things they had been complaining about in beta for almost 2 years....the future of this game really scares me. It's goodBasically the game is wow with voiceovers and WAY WAY less features...it's sad that a game like RIFT came out with more features/customization than this blockbuster that has been hyped forever did...the even sadder part is all of the stuff people complain about now, are things they had been complaining about in beta for almost 2 years....the future of this game really scares me. It's good for 1 play through for a KoTR type experience, but after that, it's pretty dull....don't even get me started on how stupid advanced classes are (locking you out of 50% of your class, why do i want to play the same damn character again, with the same exact story, sharing a lot of the same exact skills and even a whole talent tree...yet you want to say it's a totally different class....yeah right, more like they already getting started on Rehasing like wow did.)… Expand
  32. enrogae1
    Dec 21, 2011
    4
    I see the smear campaign has begun. I will try to be as subjectively objective as I can. This is no Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, or Shadowbane. It is as much a theme park game as every other "AAA" MMO to come out in recent years. It looms as a shadow over other titles, such as Age of Conan or Star Trek Online. It is supremely better than anything modern except for the one datedI see the smear campaign has begun. I will try to be as subjectively objective as I can. This is no Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, or Shadowbane. It is as much a theme park game as every other "AAA" MMO to come out in recent years. It looms as a shadow over other titles, such as Age of Conan or Star Trek Online. It is supremely better than anything modern except for the one dated title that everyone likes to compare it to... I won't even bother saying it because we all know which one.

    Does it share elements to this grossly successful "other" title? Of course it does. Just like "it" did, The Old Republic has copied elements from what worked in other, successful MMO titles. Is it a clone or a copy? I would have to say maybe, but it is something new and refreshing in many other ways. It is a theme park MMO... and that type of MMO hasn't changed much since Everquest (except to remove that pesky sandbox, which many of us still lament).

    Does it deserve a 1 or a 0? Of course not. It's better than Dragon Age 2, and even IT didn't deserve a 1 or a 0. I doubt any of the people posting such scores have played much of the game, and if they have then I'm not sure why they rate it so low. 1 or a 0 is reserved, in my mind, for a game that is unplayable or total garbage. That isn't even close to SW:ToR. Here's my quick breakdown:

    The Good:
    1. Voice Acting is Sufficient. You won't hear anything as well-done as the Mass Effect series, but it is adequate... and in places, pretty good.
    2. Stories are Adequate. The story lines in this game won't compete with a half-decent novel, but they are as entertaining as your run-of-the-mill prime time show.
    3. Group Questing is Actually Entertaining. I have always hated being in a group for questing in any other MMO. It's a penalty, curbing reward possibilities and just making everything take longer. The conversation and dialogue with NPC's makes grouping with a friend much more enjoyable.
    4. Instancing is at least Well-Done. I hate instancing... with a passion. Something ought to be said, though, about the way it was done in a way that is less immersion breaking here. Walking through a glimmering force field into a private instance with NO load screen is a step forward, to be sure.
    5. Art Quality is Good. Sure, the graphics aren't top-notch (see "The Bad"), but the environments are often beautiful nonetheless. You don't need Arkham City graphics to be pretty (Arkham City was beautifully ugly), and ToR shines here. Worlds like Taris and Nar Shadda offer stark changes in artwork that is easy to appreciate.

    The Bad:

    1. Character Creation is Severely Lacking for a Modern MMO. In the days of character models such as those in any Cryptic game, Aion, or even EvE's new generator, the customization in SW: ToR's character creation system is pretty much a joke. The mesh/textures on character models are also very "flat".
    2. Engine is Poorly Optimized. There are many posts on the forums about bad FPS. Personally, I run an AMD x4 Phenom II Quad-Core 3.2ghz, 6gb Corsair RAM, and a GTX 580 (GTS250 for Physx, which doesn't apply here)... and I'm lucky to average 30fps on max settings (ironically the same average as people with far lesser systems). Considering the lack of technically advanced graphics, something is amiss here.
    3. The first several worlds are very "corridor-ish". The worlds don't seem very big, there is little exploration at the onset of the game. You are funneled from point A to point B to completed objective H. 4. It doesn't feel "alive" the way an MMO should. The only critters in the world are occasional HUGE monsters that are too busy grazing to attack. This seems like laziness, to me.
    5. Sometimes combat does seem clunky, sometime it doesn't. Most of the time I have fun with it, and I suspect a lot of people's issues stem from timing issues with abilities that can be corrected at some point.

    These are just my highlights. There are other issues I have, such as it not being sandbox (they always said it wouldn't be, so this was expected), and lack of immersion things like being able to sit in chairs or sit on the ground without looking constipated. Despite the flaws, there are many good qualities here... so don't let the zero's, one's, and two's on here dissuade you from trying the game. At the end of the day, I have fun when I log on... for now. I'm quite certain, having been in the beta since early on, that I will get my money's worth before I stop having fun. Give it a try.    … Expand
  33. some_guy
    Dec 25, 2011
    0
    This game not only was and is awful, but (if you don't like giving websites your credit card info) requires $120 non-refundable before you even start playing. The multi-player interaction is severely limited and, while fully-voiced quest conversations are a new twist, this is very annoying for people who are not interested in what is being said all the time or who don't have the time toThis game not only was and is awful, but (if you don't like giving websites your credit card info) requires $120 non-refundable before you even start playing. The multi-player interaction is severely limited and, while fully-voiced quest conversations are a new twist, this is very annoying for people who are not interested in what is being said all the time or who don't have the time to sit there and wait for the dialogue to play out. The universe itself is very limited and linear and combat is no better than other MMOs. I will not be surprised at all if the User Score for this game continues to decrease rapidly until the game stops requiring a subscription. After years of development, this is a sad excuse for the newest MMO. Personally, I have requested a full refund from the game's costumer service.… Expand
  34. Cameirus
    Dec 26, 2011
    2
    Disappointing. Very. Servers feel dead due to instancing and planet only chat channels, the storey based focus means you cant play as a group as the amount of people allowed in instanced storey areas is limited. balance is way off with some classes dominating pvp. Lack of MMO features such as group finder. Numerous graphical bugs, random disconnects, and bugged resource nodes, and optionsDisappointing. Very. Servers feel dead due to instancing and planet only chat channels, the storey based focus means you cant play as a group as the amount of people allowed in instanced storey areas is limited. balance is way off with some classes dominating pvp. Lack of MMO features such as group finder. Numerous graphical bugs, random disconnects, and bugged resource nodes, and options menus dont remember settings through loading screens.
    Travel times are high, which feels like a time sink, and yet worlds are very linear, you cant explore at all without hitting an "exhaustion wall". The voice acting is ok, but far too much, you spend alot of time just watching it, or skipping it, and its very repetative using the same phrases over and over and over again, plus the option you choose for dialogue sometime bears no resembalance to what your character actually says.
    Combat feels clunky, and targettting is a nightmare.

    All in all its a mediocre single player RPG, with a very bad and poorly implemented lobby feature. Feels half finished and very dated. Servers feel like a dying mmo not a new one.    … Expand
  35. Beevman
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Everyone knew what this game was gonna be like and now that it's released and not what they like, people act shocked and try and give it a bad name. It's a great game and only going to get better.

    Also i read a guy who gave a zero saying it's a WOW clone and how Star Wars Galaxies didnt copy wow, which proves people dont know what they are talking about seeing as Star Wars Galaxies came    Everyone knew what this game was gonna be like and now that it's released and not what they like, people act shocked and try and give it a bad name. It's a great game and only going to get better.

    Also i read a guy who gave a zero saying it's a WOW clone and how Star Wars Galaxies didnt copy wow, which proves people dont know what they are talking about seeing as Star Wars Galaxies came out before WOW. But honestly great game worth playing.    … Expand
  36. Apz
    Dec 24, 2011
    1
    It's a decent game if you still like playing MMORPGs. Sort of angry I let myself get hoodwinked by friends again. As far as I'm concerned, MMORPGs will never be "real" games. And what I mean by real games are games that offer actual content and experiences that aren't just tedious and repetitive.
  37. tallanx
    Sep 21, 2012
    1
    let's see here, animations are basically the same stock animations from the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Mechanically the game is practically an exact copy of WoW (not necessarily a bad thing, but certainly not innovative in any way). The story and cutscenes are nice in a way and the VA is generally decent to good quality, but it does get a bit tiring after a while. Is this alet's see here, animations are basically the same stock animations from the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Mechanically the game is practically an exact copy of WoW (not necessarily a bad thing, but certainly not innovative in any way). The story and cutscenes are nice in a way and the VA is generally decent to good quality, but it does get a bit tiring after a while. Is this a horrible game? no, is it a great game? no. It's a mediocre game. And for me it also feels very much like a single player game with optional multiplayer elements, which may very well be what Bioware was going for. For me, personally that means the game is not worth subbing to.

    But the biggest problem, is Bioware's attitude. This game by itself deserves a 6, but Bioware blatant lies, broken promises and just general asshat behaviour towards their customer makes me drop the score down to 1. If they hadn't lied so much about the game prior to release maybe people wouldn't have been as pissed that the game did not live up to what was explicitly promised multiple times.    … Expand
  38. Jingo
    Dec 25, 2011
    4
    This was a big disappointment. Sure, it's great that Bioware has inserted a ton of voice-acting in the otherwise text-based genre, and a bit more story in questlines. But that's it. For the most expensive game in history? It's a real shame. The graphics are so 2002, the environment is utterly lacklustre. But the worst thing was the combat. You just click on your enemy once then select someThis was a big disappointment. Sure, it's great that Bioware has inserted a ton of voice-acting in the otherwise text-based genre, and a bit more story in questlines. But that's it. For the most expensive game in history? It's a real shame. The graphics are so 2002, the environment is utterly lacklustre. But the worst thing was the combat. You just click on your enemy once then select some hotkeys. Ugh. In a world when a cheap game like Mount and Blade gives you the immersion of timing and aiming your sword-swing while galloping past on your horse, why is it that the most expensive game fails so miserably? A bit of innovation, some modern game-play controls and up-to-date graphics would have made SWTOR a real hit for me, but there's no way I'm shelling out subscription money for a game that could have been made when Saddam Hussein was still ruling Iraq.… Expand
  39. EndOfRine
    Dec 22, 2011
    5
    I miss the days when reviews weren't paid for by the publisher of the game being reviewed. This game has some good points, to be sure, but any knucklehead giving it an 8-10 is deluding themselves, or flat out trolling. Personally, I didn't enjoy the game, as it was way, way, way too similar to WoW, but if that's your thing, more power to ya, but PLEASE don't try and obfuscate the factI miss the days when reviews weren't paid for by the publisher of the game being reviewed. This game has some good points, to be sure, but any knucklehead giving it an 8-10 is deluding themselves, or flat out trolling. Personally, I didn't enjoy the game, as it was way, way, way too similar to WoW, but if that's your thing, more power to ya, but PLEASE don't try and obfuscate the fact that it IS a WoW clone, and they STATED that straying from the WoW formula was bad business.… Expand
  40. Dolar
    Dec 20, 2011
    3
    This is a very well done WoW like mmo. The combat is a little more active, but not by a great deal. This is a game that feels like a MMO made 10 years ago. It is missing most of the modern MMO player convinces like a group finder, dual specialization, and several other features.. This is more like 8 single player games than a real MMO.

    Now the launch issues are numerous, 2 to 4 hour    This is a very well done WoW like mmo. The combat is a little more active, but not by a great deal. This is a game that feels like a MMO made 10 years ago. It is missing most of the modern MMO player convinces like a group finder, dual specialization, and several other features.. This is more like 8 single player games than a real MMO.

    Now the launch issues are numerous, 2 to 4 hour queues. Origin issues many people bought the game and were never set cd keys. CD keys not shipping with boxed copies of the game. There is a whole world in the game that will instantly crash the client and put you at the end of a 4 hour queue over and over. And the kicker? This has been known for more than a week and was never affress at all. CS when you speak with them have no idea what you are even asking them to do, and it can take up to 6 hours to get a phone reply, 2 hours in live chat, Forum you will be ignored, and I was told the Email support had a 4 week backlog as of tonight. Tons of technical issues, this game was not ready for launch. It is sad because a little more work and I think it could be great.    … Expand
  41. aragorn18
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    This is the game for you if you like mmorpgs but are bored of world of warcraft., very inmersive and fun, bioware has to do lots of thing to improve it, but as it is now already is a very solid game. My score would be a 8, but seeing that people only use 0 when they want to criticize i have to give a 10 for it to balance out.
  42. Ib2deadly
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Great game! Huge rush of fresh air for us long term MMO players. Do not be dissuaded by the WOW/Blizzard fanboys who have been driven into a life of stale complacency. SWTOR has had the best launch of any MMORPG I have ever tried. I have experienced few bugs and barely any lag for the 7 days I have played so far. I see only good things to come from here on out.
  43. Finrandojin
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Star Wars the old Republic is a good MMORPG experience focused on storytelling, plot and involving characters, Through the use of unprecedented amounts of voice-acting and in-game cut-scenes the player is immersed in the game to degree not found in other MMO-type games. Often when playing I found that I cared more about advancing the plot than the rewards or XP I gained from them, a hugeStar Wars the old Republic is a good MMORPG experience focused on storytelling, plot and involving characters, Through the use of unprecedented amounts of voice-acting and in-game cut-scenes the player is immersed in the game to degree not found in other MMO-type games. Often when playing I found that I cared more about advancing the plot than the rewards or XP I gained from them, a huge improvement over old-style MMO's, where quests and grinding were just the means to reach endgame and left little to no impression on the player. At launch SWTOR is a solid game with some deficiencies in UI customization, hopefully future patches will remedy this.… Expand
  44. Sharuko
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    The only MMO on the market that is worth a subscription fee. A true masterpiece from BioWare. The attention to detail and the unique aspects of the game are mind blowing. I am hooked.
  45. Lunarosi
    Dec 24, 2011
    2
    I'll begin with character creation. I was expecting a hefty load of options in the creation of my character such custom face shaping. Also I have to point out that the choice of facial hair is beyond a joke and it also looks so bad, almost like it's super glued onto the model's face. You can either have no beard and moustache and or an ugly thick one -- there is no in between. The sameI'll begin with character creation. I was expecting a hefty load of options in the creation of my character such custom face shaping. Also I have to point out that the choice of facial hair is beyond a joke and it also looks so bad, almost like it's super glued onto the model's face. You can either have no beard and moustache and or an ugly thick one -- there is no in between. The same goes with the bodies, infact there is not one normal looking body for the jedi archetype -- it's either too skinny or too bulky.

    Not including the true cinematics, the gameplay graphics are deceiving. After creating my character I get some true CG cutscenes like you would see in a motion picture (money at this point that would have been better spent) which is great. Then I get to the cutscenes that appear to be the game's graphics engine.

    My character lands into a spaceport with crisp, colourful graphics -- im thinking woah, they really went all out here as well as with the voice acting which is superb. Shortly after being told what I need to do and who to talk to, I am thrown in to a world that looks hideous and completely different than the rich vibrant cutscenes.

    Compared with the mission/NPC cutscenes, everything just looks flatter and less vibrant. I was also informed after walking around the environment just how linear and lifeless everything is, something I wasn't expecting from a game this long in development.

    The envrionments outside the cities are also very linear. I found myself being restricted to certain paths where there was hilly terrain. Why can't I just walk up and around this? Dragon Age had the same issues too. This game has been hyped so bad that alot of KOTOR fans will think it's for them, but after EA/Bioware/LucasArts grabs their money they realise it's just another MMO, nothing special.    … Expand
  46. Sethisto
    Dec 20, 2011
    3
    SWTOR is very much a WoW clone, but not of the current version. This game seems to emulate somewhere near the end of Vanilla WoW. The quests are pretty much all "kill x creatures/ kill x boss/ click x items", there really isn't much variation. This, I usually don't mind though. It's a system that has worked multiple times. SWTOR throws a wrench into the equation though, by giving youSWTOR is very much a WoW clone, but not of the current version. This game seems to emulate somewhere near the end of Vanilla WoW. The quests are pretty much all "kill x creatures/ kill x boss/ click x items", there really isn't much variation. This, I usually don't mind though. It's a system that has worked multiple times. SWTOR throws a wrench into the equation though, by giving you absolutely ridiculous distances to run between each objective. Be prepared to enter/exit the same MASSIVE jedi temple 10 times for a single quest line, and the NPC you need is always in the farthest room in the back. While the environments are excellent looking, this is not an enjoyable experience, at all. The PVP Is pretty much the same as what you have all done for years. I played a Jedi consular/shadow, and it literally was my rogue in wow, no different at all aside from a few ranged force powers. The queues are quick though at least! They added voice overs and cutscenes to every single quest, but you can only make "go collect 5 elixirs" so interesting. It's a nice touch, but by level 20, I was just spamming space bar and selecting dark side responses to get through them. The main story quest is neat, but be prepared to grind if you want to focus on just that. Space fights are fun, and a neat addition, but it really doesn't make up for everything else. The game is just so ridiculously linear. If something like this is allowed to be successful, we are doomed to another decade of really bad WoW clones.… Expand
  47. ref
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    A modest attempt from BioWare. Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't an awful game -- but it is a game we have all played before. This is basically every other MMORPG with voice overs. Quests are what you expect -- fetch 10 of this, kill 20 of these. It is one of these MMO's. The thing people like to bring up is how it is voiced -- the voice work for these fetch quests for the most part isA modest attempt from BioWare. Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't an awful game -- but it is a game we have all played before. This is basically every other MMORPG with voice overs. Quests are what you expect -- fetch 10 of this, kill 20 of these. It is one of these MMO's. The thing people like to bring up is how it is voiced -- the voice work for these fetch quests for the most part is average and not inspiring. Where this voice acting does immerse you is in the class stories. Most of the class stories are interesting, while others are predictable and subpar. A step above Dragon Age 2 writing quality, in my opinion. The classes themselves, are alright. All of these abilities you will be using should be familiar as they mechanically similar to every other MMO out there. This game has dungeons, raids, standard run of the mill features in an MMORPG. Basically, SWTOR is "meh". The voice acting and story does not make up for this reused and worse done game play that we have all seen before.… Expand
  48. Sevvy88
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    For years many gamers have watched and waited for a game that would pique their interest in the same way WoW did (and for many continues to) did years ago. The MMO market has been a dreadful one, and Bioware promised alot with this game. Did they deliver? Early signs are pointing, for the most part, yes. The game is extremely well put together. The zones flow well, the story clicks along,For years many gamers have watched and waited for a game that would pique their interest in the same way WoW did (and for many continues to) did years ago. The MMO market has been a dreadful one, and Bioware promised alot with this game. Did they deliver? Early signs are pointing, for the most part, yes. The game is extremely well put together. The zones flow well, the story clicks along, and the combat is solid, albeit traditional. If WoW expanded upon Everquest in all the right ways, then I believe SW:TOR continues this trend. MMO veterans will feel comfortable immediately with the UI and combat, but before you walk out, give it a chance. The story is what Bioware has been pushing HARD for this game, and at first I was skeptical. Let me tell you, the story in WoW never interested me, and I am an AVID reader to boot. Not the case with SW:TOR. I find myself "stepping into my character's shoes" quite constantly. The voice overs add immersion and, get this, Bioware did a FANTASTIC job of making sure that even if you are grouped, voice overs can be seamless. The voice acting is not Hollywood level, but for a video game, it is certainly above standard. Bioware is famous for their storytelling in games, and SW:TOR absolutely shines here. Gameplay wise the game strikes a fair balance between fairly easy and challenging. The game will require you to group at times to complete certain missions, many of which your companion will not be enough to make up the difference of lacking another player's help. I welcome this return of group questing. Fear not though, group quests are not overdone. There are far more solo quests than group quests, and while the solo quests are fairly easy, they are not insulting to the player's intelligence. That may be because I am still learning my class. :) Those who claimed this would be a "single player MMO" are only imposing that on themselves at this point. The most fun I have had in game has been in groups, and I find FREQUENT opportunities to play with others.

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

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

    Overall, the game is solid, and I truly believe it has great potential to see success. Personally I am having a BLAST, and haven't enjoyed an MMO this much since my first journeys in WoW back in 2006. Great jobs Bioware, now just keep up the good work. That's going to be the hardest part... and the true test.    … Expand
  49. ufte34
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    hold on a sec, i see where this is going those people who are calming to reach max level, gave the game a rating of 0 on the first day, is that even possible (not even possible if you got access to the game before 5 days of release)?. those people who compares the game with XXX gave a rating of 1 or 2. those people who reached level 32 gave the game rating of 0(it's been 6 hours since thehold on a sec, i see where this is going those people who are calming to reach max level, gave the game a rating of 0 on the first day, is that even possible (not even possible if you got access to the game before 5 days of release)?. those people who compares the game with XXX gave a rating of 1 or 2. those people who reached level 32 gave the game rating of 0(it's been 6 hours since the game has been released). those people who are complain about a game being a grind gave the rating of 0-2, note to self if you are going to play an MMO it's a grind. those people who say it's a clone of another XXX mmo, every MMO has been an clone of others, get your brains examined. any one who compares this game to WOW gave a rating of 0. and most of those people never even played SWTOR.… Expand
  50. smk123
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I've been playing MMO's for years now and I can easily say TOR is the best I have ever played; it's such a refreshing change to an increasingly stale genre, the story-lines for the individual classes offer very unique experiences to each other and the full voice over for all the quests is extremely satisfying. I found the PVP combat to be very balanced, no class was superior and theI've been playing MMO's for years now and I can easily say TOR is the best I have ever played; it's such a refreshing change to an increasingly stale genre, the story-lines for the individual classes offer very unique experiences to each other and the full voice over for all the quests is extremely satisfying. I found the PVP combat to be very balanced, no class was superior and the various PVP game modes are not only fun but more rewarding than other MMO's PVP content is, you can level up solely from grinding PVP if you want to. I knocked 1 off the score for 2 reasons; the first is the shocking space combat, which in my opinion could have been a browser based mini game as opposed to an advertised feature of the game, it's not that it isn't enjoyable it's just very very basic, the second is the sometimes dodgy animations, /cry is basically your character covering his face with his hands for instance. The crew aspect and owing your own ship reminded me a lot of Bioware's Mass Effect series, which of course isn't a negative point at all, I've played the game for nearing 100 hours now and I have no intention of stopping; this is one hell of a polished MMO that deserves every success it gets.… Expand
  51. Scooped
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I made this account for the sole purpose of reviewing this game. It is such an amazing product by bioware, who have a near flawless track record (I'm looking at you, Dragon Age 2). Many people expect this to be just like WoW, but it is not. There are so many things right with this game, it's unbelievable. First, the biggest thing about this game is the way it immerses you, unlike manyI made this account for the sole purpose of reviewing this game. It is such an amazing product by bioware, who have a near flawless track record (I'm looking at you, Dragon Age 2). Many people expect this to be just like WoW, but it is not. There are so many things right with this game, it's unbelievable. First, the biggest thing about this game is the way it immerses you, unlike many other MMOs. Because of the - you guessed it - voice acting, it feels like you are playing a single player game, but with friends. The people who are giving this game poor reviews most likely are the ones that hate change. Trust me, this is a game not to be missed.… Expand
  52. Attricus
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Everybody who only knows WoW will say this game is bad. But anyone with more vision and who like good stories will say this game is good. I have been playing during Early Access and beta and I love this game. The mixture of traditional WoW mechanics, with KOTOR mechanics, Mass Effect and Dragon Age make this game a great one. The ambientation and feelings are great.

    I recommend this game    Everybody who only knows WoW will say this game is bad. But anyone with more vision and who like good stories will say this game is good. I have been playing during Early Access and beta and I love this game. The mixture of traditional WoW mechanics, with KOTOR mechanics, Mass Effect and Dragon Age make this game a great one. The ambientation and feelings are great.

    I recommend this game to everyone willing to taste something new in MMO world.    … Expand
  53. Volgamor
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I participated in a couple beta test weekends and the early access; fortunately I have had no issues with queues or lag or anything whatsoever except your occasional bug. Its launch day and all I see on the forums are aggressive comments and hateful reviews; which I say are horribly exaggerated. Compared to other MMO's launched SWTOR has been a smoother experience. I enjoy the gameplay andI participated in a couple beta test weekends and the early access; fortunately I have had no issues with queues or lag or anything whatsoever except your occasional bug. Its launch day and all I see on the forums are aggressive comments and hateful reviews; which I say are horribly exaggerated. Compared to other MMO's launched SWTOR has been a smoother experience. I enjoy the gameplay and I have always loved the Star Wars franchise. Bioware's take on the Star Wars universe has brought renewed life to the franchise and if we are all patient and 'real' fans the game will get better. I rate the game at 10 to oppose the low scores that I see here and other sites cause those are biased opinions made out of the spirit of the moment. I like the story, I like the dialogues, I like the operations& flashpoints,space combat is not that thrilling but maybe they will change that, pvp and Huttball, loads of content ( what else do you want from an MMO if you dont like the franchise then play something else dont **** about it after only playing a couple hours....). I will be playing for the months to follow to be sure even just to play every character to see the story to the end. Go Bioware and Lucasarts! and yes I also love Blizzard but it doesnt mean we cant share the LUV!… Expand
  54. seller137
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Just fantastic. Don't buy into the hate, enjoy this game for what is it ... one of the most enjoyable bieoware games yet. It wins on just about every level with great quests, fantastic PVP, and huge production values
  55. jzilla
    Dec 22, 2011
    10
    very fun game , i'm level 21 and loving it! I also have a level 17 Trooper and he is a lot of fun too!
    I love the Jedi Sage and I want to roll a Jedi Shadow soon!
  56. Superfly3176
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    Personally I like this game, it doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary but does some good things for the genre. Questing feels immersive, as a sith sorcerer every quest feels like I'm doing something to help win a war. The voice acting is above average, but it's new for the MMO genre. I can't count how many times I've accepted a quest in wow, and went right to the bottom where itPersonally I like this game, it doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary but does some good things for the genre. Questing feels immersive, as a sith sorcerer every quest feels like I'm doing something to help win a war. The voice acting is above average, but it's new for the MMO genre. I can't count how many times I've accepted a quest in wow, and went right to the bottom where it said "Collect x number of y". SW:TOR doesn't leave you feeling detached.

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

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

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

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

    Overall I'd give it a 6.5/10, it has potential but unless they come up with some endgame this is just going to be a leveling ordeal, in which case they should have just made it single player.    … Expand
  57. Alaskan_Pollock
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    I've played this game since August in BETA and was blown away at first. While the graphics are stylized, they can be breathtaking, just looking out over a city I had just visited on top of a cliff, well it can be staggering, the music, well that's fantastic too. You really have 8 single player story lines here as all the different classes have individual class stories, but really thereI've played this game since August in BETA and was blown away at first. While the graphics are stylized, they can be breathtaking, just looking out over a city I had just visited on top of a cliff, well it can be staggering, the music, well that's fantastic too. You really have 8 single player story lines here as all the different classes have individual class stories, but really there are 2 totally different games; Empire and Republic.

    It's standard MMO game play, coming from SWG the interface is nice and easy. The fighting, well you seem to be executing the moves in real-time, unless you look too deep into the system, so it's tight and fun. The quests are on another level to anything I've played before, yes it's all standard kill things, collect things etc.. but it's done in a meaningful way. The story grips, you as the voice acting and animation of the storylines is fantastic. There are lots of twists to the plot and it plays like an interactive movie, really beyond any other game I've played.

    I started Beta as a Sith Warrior, I didn't care to play this at live, so not spoiling the experience, well I quickly started enjoying being an evil so and so. After a while you unlock your companion (and get five more along the way). They are suited to what your character needs most, a healer, a tank or dps. They really are great in combat and have been written with fantastic dialogue. My first companion was Vette, very similar to Mission from KOTOR in many ways ;) You can have a lot of fun with Vette if you're evil but it came to a point where I didn't want to disapoint her, she changed my playstyle. Each companion earns affection by the choices you make and have their own stories, quests etc.. it's all very well done but what did you expect from Bioware. If you're in to a bit of Bioware romance, you can romance your companions and several NPC's. In particular the Jedi and Sith Warriors go around the galaxy getting more action than Kirk!

    Is it an MMO? Well there are plenty of people to meet if you want to, you can also just play by yourself and group up for the heroics and flashpoints. Really suits my casual, dip into to MMO but still have freedom to do my own thing.

    I always said I would tire of playing when the story lines ran out, well five months on I'm playing Sith Warrior for the second time and still having a blast. You can play the game so many different ways and while your actions don't have vast consequences if you look very deeply, they do seem to. You can play several quest by fihgting or you can negotiate your way out of many a fight if you want to.
    bugs, well I haven't seen too many since August.. it's very polished, yes they are there but nothing that will get in your way.

    If you love Bioware and Kotor, give it a try. I guarantee you will enjoy no matter what your playstyle is. You may not be into the MMO thing but you can play it as a single player game for a month and take it from there.

    There really isn't anything more fun than fighting a mob on top of a cliff or bridge somewhere like Alderaan. You're running low on health and suddenly the cooldown on your force choke or force push comes back in to play... pick the baddie up by the throat with force choke, then force push him over the bridge to his death....    … Expand
  58. Anubisan
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    A solid MMO with that special Bioware storytelling magic added on. SWTOR is a ton of fun and offers some of the most rewarding MMO questing to date. The addition of complex class-specific storylines and moral choices with light-side/dark-side points adds an element to the MMO questing experience that is unlike any other game.
  59. Kage2k1
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I've been waiting too long for an MMO to pull me in like this again. The crafting isn't as deep as I'd like, but its still engaging and if you want to be good at it,you must invest time into it. FP's are amazing fun and group dynamics in missions, especially story missions is absolutely fantastic.
  60. Robbathehutt
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    This game could of been so much more, but ultimately it is simply World of Warcraft clone set in space. Nearly every aspect of the game can be found in WoW down to the UI, the spells (just with different names) even the classes are WoW clones. However, being a WoW clone isn't necessarily a bad thing as WoW was a great game, but SWTOR is like going back in time and playing WoW from 2004.This game could of been so much more, but ultimately it is simply World of Warcraft clone set in space. Nearly every aspect of the game can be found in WoW down to the UI, the spells (just with different names) even the classes are WoW clones. However, being a WoW clone isn't necessarily a bad thing as WoW was a great game, but SWTOR is like going back in time and playing WoW from 2004. It's missing many of the core innovations that other MMOs have made since 2004 like a group finder tool, phased zones, and dynamic questing. But things aren't all bad in SWTOR despite the graphics being lackluster for a game released in late 2011 the one key innovation is that the entire game is fully voiced and the story is often very compelling as you would expect from a Bioware game. As much as I wanted to completely dismiss this game as another WoW ripoff when I first played it, the more I played it the more I was drawn into the story and more my character and the supporting cast meant to me. So even though I am disappointed by the missed opportunities of what SWTOR could of been I can't deny that WoW clone or not the game is still FUN and that's all that really matters. I don't know if I'll subscribe or play for 6 years like I did WoW but I do feel like my money was well spent even if I only decide to play for the first free month.… Expand
  61. 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
  62. ShinKagato
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    Its hard to say what makes this game so incredible, is the the stylised clone wars graphics, the orchastrated music or the fantastic narritive? I think its a combination of all of this and more. The game itself dosent feel like an mmo, from the very beginning if feels like you are playing your very own rpg based in the star wars universe and there just happens to be other people runningIts hard to say what makes this game so incredible, is the the stylised clone wars graphics, the orchastrated music or the fantastic narritive? I think its a combination of all of this and more. The game itself dosent feel like an mmo, from the very beginning if feels like you are playing your very own rpg based in the star wars universe and there just happens to be other people running around in the same world. It feels very much like the original KOTOR games right down to the companion quests and the combat. The standard bioware dialogue tree is there and it allows you to make decisions that will not only effect your alligent between dark and light, it also effects how your crew look at you and both are not always tied together. For instance, its possible to be a Sith making dark side choices but loose the respect of your crew because of it. This makes playing the game a unique balancing act, as a Bounty Hunter i feel no pressure to lean one way or the other and i make choices that i feel are appropriate to the situation, on the other hand a friend of mine is struggling to always make dark side choices as a sith because he feels he should, but they are not always things he agrees with.

    A lot has been said about the graphics of the game, some love them and some hate them, the styleised approach is a wise one considering the type of game it is. Keeping the look away from realism stops them from dating as quickly as Galaxies did and allows the facial animation to shine through. The bold and colourfull environments do a great job of reflecting the Star Wars lore and never once do you feel that you are looking at something that could look better in a different engine.

    The controls are standard mmo and that is perhaps the one thing about the game that isnt unique, you use your mouse to control point of view, ASWD control directions and the number keys are your attacks. The actual combat however looks great, as a bounty hunter you can engage your jetpack and fly Bob-Fett style above your foes raining rockets and blaster fire on them. As a Sith you can fire lightning from you finger tips and watch your enemies squirm in pain, the game feels authentically Star Wars.

    Overall if you are a fan of Bioware titles, enjoy playing mmos or even just have a love for Star Wars this is the game for you. The strong story telling and excellent voice acting will keep you occupied when your friends are not around, and the execellent Flashpoint events (where everyone can have a dialogue option) will reward you for playing with others. I have no problem rating this one with a 10, its easily the best MMO out there today and is amoungst the best rpgs.    … Expand
  63. HellzYeah
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    I'm enjoying the game a lot. There's definitely some balance issues that need fine tuning when it comes to PvP but overall I don't think its totally broken in that regard. Voiced quests are actually quite nice when you're leveling, makes it a more pleasurable experience. Quest flow is overall pretty good, not a lot of backtracking which is nice. Interface is well done and aestheticallyI'm enjoying the game a lot. There's definitely some balance issues that need fine tuning when it comes to PvP but overall I don't think its totally broken in that regard. Voiced quests are actually quite nice when you're leveling, makes it a more pleasurable experience. Quest flow is overall pretty good, not a lot of backtracking which is nice. Interface is well done and aesthetically pleasing, at least in my eyes. Overall I'm finding the writing to be well-done, at least for what I expected from an MMO. Its not too painful to read and the voiceover work is quite well done which helps a lot. I wish that there was more variety in the armor like they promised though. I was under the impression we would be seeing people walking around in many different armors and character types but I suppose that idea was flushed down the drain. Maybe they'll add more in future patches. Hoping they add more races to the roster at some point too.… Expand
  64. obviousguy
    Dec 21, 2011
    0
    I'm giving it a 2. It gets 2 points for the story and voice over. The audio work is fairly well done. Even though the stories themselves (went to level 35 and 22 on another) are really hokey. It is I suppose better than what mmos have offered in terms of story advancement before. And all of their resources appear to have gone into this. If that's your thing, this game is for you. HoweverI'm giving it a 2. It gets 2 points for the story and voice over. The audio work is fairly well done. Even though the stories themselves (went to level 35 and 22 on another) are really hokey. It is I suppose better than what mmos have offered in terms of story advancement before. And all of their resources appear to have gone into this. If that's your thing, this game is for you. However If you are looking for a next gen mmo, this game is probably not for you. It really is the most blatant wow ripoff to date in a star wars skin. I got up to 35 before calling it quits. I really wanted the game to be great, but it just falls flat. The worlds are very, very small. There is literally no free exploration, it is so linear you are always on a very narrow path. For an mmo this is a game breaker. This is a world I want to live in for years. If there is nothing off the beaten path from leveling, what am I supposed to do after I reach max level? I need places to explore and this game does not deliver that. It feels like a single player game aside from seeing a person running around here and there. But the way they have instanced the city areas, as well as pve areas, it seems no more than 50 people can be in an entire zone together. So the world feels pretty lifeless and empty. The UI functions and that's about it. You cannot customize it at all. Not even scale it. No macros, no mods, not even a target's target. Character customization is terrible. I can not believe how limited it is. Galaxies, a game that came out 7 years ago was so far beyond what came out yesterday. Bioware should be embarrassed. And I wasn't even a galaxies fan. The combat is same old wow combat. Animations are ok, but I wouldn't call them good. Lightning looks cool, not much else seemed worth writing about. The pvp is terrible, so much crowd control it's silly. Clearly an afterthought and nothing to offer for a player looking for good pvp. From what I've heard from the max level guys, there is no endgame content. One raid (8 people) with a couple bosses. That's it. Enjoy farming that one raid for 6 months or so until they release something else. This game innovates on nothing. It took wows model and added mass effect type story. They combined 2 games and came out with a terrible mutant of an offspring. It's clunky, predictable, and stale. It's now two days old and I have never seen a game that is about to bomb as fast as this one. Congrats Bioware. I think you are going to set a record with this game. Biggest disappointment in video game history. I know it is for me. Believe it or not I was a fanboy until I started playing it 3 days ago. Now I'm an ex player, who will never be purchasing a Bioware product ever again. Also I decided after writing this review, the game is getting a 0. It was a 2 for story, but after realizing how bad it is as a whole writing this, it doesn't even deserve that. What a mess of a game.… Expand
  65. Corppor
    Dec 24, 2011
    0
    One of the most colossal disappointments in gaming history, but then again it's bioware--I wasn't expecting much. For the amount of money and hype poured into this thing the result is absolutely pathetic. It has all of the innovation and design of an outsourced Chinese mmo but made in north America. All this does differently from wow is a poorly written and poorly presented story.One of the most colossal disappointments in gaming history, but then again it's bioware--I wasn't expecting much. For the amount of money and hype poured into this thing the result is absolutely pathetic. It has all of the innovation and design of an outsourced Chinese mmo but made in north America. All this does differently from wow is a poorly written and poorly presented story. Cutscenes and dialogue wheels actually make me feel less involved with anything going on, not that I care about the story in any capacity. Quite simply this game isn't worth your time any more than a game that you could download for free.… Expand
  66. Jazzie
    Dec 20, 2011
    2
    This game perfectly fits the downward spiral of quality bioware is pushing out these days, ME2 â
  67. Stogz
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    Best launch of any MMO in history!!! Unlike WOW and so many others, there was no server crashing on release day.

    This game is in keeping with Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) made by the same publisher. If you liked Mass Effect 1 and 2 plus looking forward to ME3 or if you enjoyed the KOTOR games, then you'll enjoy this game. Despite what people what say, this is a full fledge    Best launch of any MMO in history!!! Unlike WOW and so many others, there was no server crashing on release day.

    This game is in keeping with Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) made by the same publisher. If you liked Mass Effect 1 and 2 plus looking forward to ME3 or if you enjoyed the KOTOR games, then you'll enjoy this game. Despite what people what say, this is a full fledge MMO. Unlike the negative reviewers that NEVER PLAYED THE GAME, or if they did just for a short time, I was a Closed Beta Tester and I've been playing the game for more than 6 months. During Beta, I ran several character up into the 30s and 40s. As veteran MMO player, I've played EQ, WOW, Warhammer, plus many more. This game is solid and worth playing. Yes it is potentially an WOW killer. This game should do to WOW what it did to EQ.

    Here is some basic info on the game and review of some mechanics.

    Servers -- This is a true MMO. (The idiot MagusGrandios, below, stating the each zone is instanced is false.) Generally, there is only one area which is what you will experience 90% of the time. There is a possibility of "server sharding" which is similar to WOW-phasing. This only happens when there is a huge number of people in one area. During beta stress weekends, this only happened in the newbie zones (first two planets) and I never saw it anywhere else. The sharding is to lower lag. For example, instead of seeing all 200 people in a zone, you'll only physically see 100 but you can still hear and talk to everyone. Otherwise, this is much like any other MMO. Travel is what you would expect. You get your first speeder at level 25, second upgrade around level 40. Until then you can "sprint", quick travel (a teleport, which everyone has access to), or use a taxi to fly from one area to another. Plus you get your ship around level 18 that allows you to fly between planets and participate in space combat.

    Classes - There are 4 basic or archtype classes for the first 10 levels, then you break out into one of two Advanced Class or AC. 8 total classes. Each class has 3 trees. One tree is always DPS and the other PVP/Utility. The third tree is considered the "advanced class defining" tree. (In WOW terms, the Shadow-Priest is a DPS tree that makes the priest like a mage, but it is the healing tree that defines the class.) There are 3 tanks, 3 healers, and 2 dedicated DPS advanced classes, albeit all 8 classes can DPS in thier DPS tree. The classes are relatively balanced.

    Companion -- One very cool feature is that EVERYONE is a pet class. Companions have thier own skills and ability bars that you can customize to your needs. Over the game you will get around 5 character (6 if you count your ship droid). Each companion represents a archtype of melee tank, melee dps, ranged tank, ranged dps, and healer. You get a new companion about every 5-8 levels starting at level 8. You can only use one companion in combat at a time. The other companions can be sent on non combat activities which can range from crafting (armsmech, armstech, cybertech, etc.) to missions (investigation, diplomacy, etc.) to component gathering (salvaging, bioanalysis, slicing, etc.)

    PVE & Grouping -- This game utilizes a basic 4 man grouping system. If you have less than 4 players, then companions can fill the wholes. Thus two players can each have a companion and make a four man group. There is basic content that is 1 or 2 person oriented. Plus there are 2 man Heroics, 4 man Heroics, and Flashpoints. End game raiding requires 16 man groups. The game features all of the looting features you've come to expect from an MMO.

    PVP & Battlegrounds -- The game features world PVP on PVP servers plus Battlegrounds on all severs. The Battlegrounds rely upon scenarios. If you've played Warhammer, then must of this will be familiar. Warhammer was one of the best PVP oriented MMOs, and this is the same developer.

    Crafting -- Crafting is different than most games. You are not the crafter but it is a skill set shared by your whole crew. Thus making a set of armor takes time. You go on missions while you leave your companions at the ship making armor. Companions can also be sent on gathering missions to get you the items you need. Companions can also go on missions which can receive rewards such as materials or schematics that are useful in crafting. Very smooth system. I currently have an Armstech/Scalvaging/Investigations character with the skills in the 170-200 range.

    Guild System -- The guild pre-launch program was flawless. For pre-existing guilds, they were organized pre-release and automatically added to their guild at launch. There are a few incoming features, such as guild bank, that is supposed to be included in the first patch.    … Expand
  68. Wireded21
    Dec 22, 2011
    4
    I had 8 days of free early access due ot cancelling my pre-order but EA forgot to remove my early access code so thanks EA. I'm glad I did, had a good 8 days but it's not worth £45 + a monthly sub. It should be F2P as it doesn't offer anything innovating to make a subscription worthwhile. It really is WoW with a StarWars skin. It's a good game in it's own right but not goodI had 8 days of free early access due ot cancelling my pre-order but EA forgot to remove my early access code so thanks EA. I'm glad I did, had a good 8 days but it's not worth £45 + a monthly sub. It should be F2P as it doesn't offer anything innovating to make a subscription worthwhile. It really is WoW with a StarWars skin. It's a good game in it's own right but not good enough to justify a subscription.… Expand
  69. dingoperson
    Dec 27, 2011
    2
    Whilst the game is passably enjoyable as a one-off casual romp through a Star Wars theme park, any person who has played MMOs before will find severe design flaws. There's really too many to list in full, but includes: 1) PvP rewards are enormous compared to PvE rewards, 2) PvP is seriously unbalanced (battlegrounds frequently have 80% of players as ONE class), 3) Classes that are supposedWhilst the game is passably enjoyable as a one-off casual romp through a Star Wars theme park, any person who has played MMOs before will find severe design flaws. There's really too many to list in full, but includes: 1) PvP rewards are enormous compared to PvE rewards, 2) PvP is seriously unbalanced (battlegrounds frequently have 80% of players as ONE class), 3) Classes that are supposed to be "mirrored" across the faction split are not, 4) There are no level brackets so lv10s get thrown in with lv50s, 5) botting, 6) cheating/exploits, 7) a range of other things, 8) Bioware not commenting on or doing anything to fix these issues. The company is completely unresponsive, simply throw out form messages, and doesn't discuss design decisions.… Expand
  70. Mozu
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    Rethinking my earlier review somewhat, I think a two is a bit harsh. A five is more in line with what you should expect from TOR. Mediocrity. It is simply a clunky WoW clone (in space!), with instanced zones, "romances", and tons of voice acting. I genuinely wanted to like this game, and for it to actually be the "WoW-killer". Instead we got a mediocre single-player game with MMORethinking my earlier review somewhat, I think a two is a bit harsh. A five is more in line with what you should expect from TOR. Mediocrity. It is simply a clunky WoW clone (in space!), with instanced zones, "romances", and tons of voice acting. I genuinely wanted to like this game, and for it to actually be the "WoW-killer". Instead we got a mediocre single-player game with MMO features that feel tacked on somehow. There's not much I can say that other reviewers haven't pointed out already. Bioware and EA took an IP with a ton of weight behind it, and a rabid fan base, and instead of making something that could've been huge and game-changing, as far as the MMO genre goes, they played it safe and lazy, frittering away time and absurd amounts of money, deciding that a WoW clone would be the easiest way to cash in on both the IP and the sense of familiarity that comes with being yet another WoW-wannabe. The only reason that I'm giving the game a 2 and and not a 1 is that the music really is excellent. My suspicion is that many of the 10s on here are either blind followers of all things Bioware, trolls, or shills for Bioware hiding behind false identities (which has happened before).… Expand
  71. RPGeeky
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    I am absolutely enthralled by this game. I love how story-driven it is, and how at several points during a quest chain, you have to make moral decisions and judgement calls that affect your own character's story progression. On a technical side, I think that the game play is very intuitive (I am an enthusiastic but not exactly pro gamer, having mostly played World of Warcraft, Dragon Age,I am absolutely enthralled by this game. I love how story-driven it is, and how at several points during a quest chain, you have to make moral decisions and judgement calls that affect your own character's story progression. On a technical side, I think that the game play is very intuitive (I am an enthusiastic but not exactly pro gamer, having mostly played World of Warcraft, Dragon Age, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Champions of Norrath and Baldur's Gate, along with some zombie shooters and racing games). I love that the "gathering" quests are completed automatically when you are done with the objective: no need to run back to the quest giver all the time to hand him over 10 pelts or something. I love that you can run with the map open (it fades out, but it is still superimposed over the game, so you can see where you are going). There are a ton of other details like that, little things that make this game a joy to play.

    On the MMO aspect, I suppose your experience will vary depending on what server you choose, but as for myself, on an RPPVP server, I have to say: I find the people friendly and helpful. I ran across some public RP already, and there was a huge wpvp event on our server just yesterday, on launch day. You can definitely play alone and truly enjoy yourself, but I find that having a guild is a nice bonus (if only to ask newbie questions).

    I would definitely recommend this game as a first experience to anyone who has ever wanted to try out MMORPGs: it is quite easy to get the hang of, the stories are rich and interesting, and there is so much to discover that you will really enjoy yourself. If you never played an MMO before, look at the user forums for your server, read up on various guilds, and apply to one that interests you. Playing with like-minded and helpful people will enhance your experience.

    As for a rating, I am giving this a 10, because I can't think of anything that I would like to change, so far. PVE, PVP, RP (and story content): I like it all! :)    … Expand
  72. JesusHKriest
    Jan 3, 2012
    1
    Well... It's World of Warcraft, that's for sure. But I think even then, there are things that The Old Republic tried to do WoW-style but didn't quite make it. I really hate the fact that world PvP is so meaningless or unbalanced (level 10 vs level 50, yay!). World PvP made WoW really good, and the death of world PvP in WoW kind of killed it for me entirely. But here in TOR, it's dead rightWell... It's World of Warcraft, that's for sure. But I think even then, there are things that The Old Republic tried to do WoW-style but didn't quite make it. I really hate the fact that world PvP is so meaningless or unbalanced (level 10 vs level 50, yay!). World PvP made WoW really good, and the death of world PvP in WoW kind of killed it for me entirely. But here in TOR, it's dead right from the get-go, which was a major let down. Plus, I think the most meaningless parts of WoW's endgame were kind of copied and pasted right into TOR, which also kind of ruined it for me.
    I thought the storyline was pretty weak, and then towards the end the story just kind of... dies off instantly, never to return. Personally I don't think trying to include story in an MMO is a good idea, and this game might justify that idea. The story feels more meaningless to me when it tries to "connect" with me, because every other single player in the game has had the exact same experiences. I am not a legendary Jedi who holds the fate of the galaxy in my hands, me and the other 50,000 players all are. I'm not really going to discuss the canon of the story, because I think it is Bioware's choice if they want to pretend KotOR 2 didn't exist. It was a good game, but I can accept it being non-canon. A lot of people were mad at Revan's place in TOR's story (don't worry I won't spoil), and rightfully so. It was a major disappointment, I wish it was handled differently.
    The thing that really made me stop playing was THAT LAG, MAN. I just can't take it anymore. To have everything I do be delayed by almost half a second is frustrating, and to have it happen consistently is maddening. Of course, that is more of a server thing than the game itself, and perhaps in the future the servers will be upgraded, so this might end up being irrelevant.    … Expand
  73. hailey
    Dec 26, 2011
    2
    A truly mediocre experience. If you want WoW with a different name, play Rift, as it is an infinitely better constructed game than TOR. This game has the quality of pre launch World of Warcraft with the storytelling of Dragon Age 2.
  74. Koninbeor
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    This is an excellent game. The storyline as you're questing is as good as any singe player RPG I've ever played, certainly a deeper plot than any of the Elder Scrolls games. The worlds and characters are unique and vibrant, truly immersing you in the Star Wars universe. When you play this game, you will feel like you are part of Star Wars.

    While there are only four character classes for    This is an excellent game. The storyline as you're questing is as good as any singe player RPG I've ever played, certainly a deeper plot than any of the Elder Scrolls games. The worlds and characters are unique and vibrant, truly immersing you in the Star Wars universe. When you play this game, you will feel like you are part of Star Wars.

    While there are only four character classes for each faction, the "ability trees" available give you a much greater difference than WoW. Going from one tree to the next completely changes how you play the class, giving you a different experience with each configuration that you try.

    Character creation isn't quite as deep as some games out there. That said, it is much deeper than the game that everyone is comparing it to, WoW. One must also bear in mind that the more you allow customization of characters, the more cutbacks you need to make elsewhere. 4 body types and up to 32 different faces, hairstyles, etc is much more than most games on the market. It's just not quite City of Heroes worthy.

    The controls are very responsive in this game and the animations are truly fluid. Combat has a faster pace than the original trilogy. Blaster battles seem epic and lightsaber combat is as good as the Jedi Knight series.

    While this game does have a couple of bugs, mostly with stairs, I have never once played an MMO that did not have a couple of kinks in the beginning. I dropped the cash for the Collector's Edition and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I've been waiting on this game for several years now and it has exceeded my expectations. In response to instances, it cuts back on server lag and makes leveling easier. If you're in "Kaas City 1" and your friend is in "Kaas City 2" then it literally takes less than 10 seconds for one person to switch to the other. Maybe the other reviewers would like to see so much traffic that the quest givers are no longer visible.    … Expand
  75. RammiXp
    Dec 21, 2011
    9
    I'm a level 40 and I can't understand some of the reviews on this site but each to there own. This game in my mind is fantastic. The story is so impressive, the combat is so much fun to watch even after 40 levels as well as engaging. I feel engrossed in the world and love playing warzones and can't wait to see what Ilum has in store. Are there things I would like to see in game like a moreI'm a level 40 and I can't understand some of the reviews on this site but each to there own. This game in my mind is fantastic. The story is so impressive, the combat is so much fun to watch even after 40 levels as well as engaging. I feel engrossed in the world and love playing warzones and can't wait to see what Ilum has in store. Are there things I would like to see in game like a more PVP focused Space system, Guild Functionality and much more character customization, YES. However Bioware have clearly stated they are working on this right now and some of those things will be coming very soon. They need to deliver but the game is 3 days old and it has a ton of content out of the gate.

    For an MMO launch its been exceptional beyond some queue issues which are common at every MMO launch as people rush to the same servers that are over populated rather than spread out as well as a small issue on one planet causing a memory leak. there has been hardly any systemic issues if any that i have seen.

    I can't wait for this game to evolve and what the future brings.    … Expand
  76. Nexmanus
    Dec 24, 2011
    3
    The game itself is ok as mmoâ
  77. 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
  78. Cavissi
    Dec 25, 2011
    3
    A very bland single player game trying to be an MMO. Bioware should have just made Kotor 3 and focused on story and cutscenes, instead you get a worse version of Kotor mixed with a worse version of WoW. The combat is very uninspired, the voice acting is pretty mediocre, and the conversation aspect of getting quests is interesting but the quest themselves are just fetch and kill 30 of thisA very bland single player game trying to be an MMO. Bioware should have just made Kotor 3 and focused on story and cutscenes, instead you get a worse version of Kotor mixed with a worse version of WoW. The combat is very uninspired, the voice acting is pretty mediocre, and the conversation aspect of getting quests is interesting but the quest themselves are just fetch and kill 30 of this quests. If you enjoy the story you will enjoy playing through the game, but as far as an MMO, it is a watered down WoW in every aspect.… Expand
  79. flimda
    Jan 1, 2012
    2
    If you defined the word "blunder", you would get a dictionary definition which stated "Lucasart's decision to let Bioware handle this game". The game feels souless and just comes across as an incomplete product which has been rushed. Star wars is a global cash cow and it really is being milked for all it's worth with such a terribly over priced game. The game is supposed to run on theIf you defined the word "blunder", you would get a dictionary definition which stated "Lucasart's decision to let Bioware handle this game". The game feels souless and just comes across as an incomplete product which has been rushed. Star wars is a global cash cow and it really is being milked for all it's worth with such a terribly over priced game. The game is supposed to run on the majority of systems, however many players (myself included) have experienced severe lag which basically makes any decent PvP redundant. For a game with a supposed $300m budget a problem which hinders the primary selling point of the MMO market is unforgivable in every sense. How can a game which brings computers to their knees have such poor graphics? It really is just WoW in space with terribly cringeworthy writing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7pgk7TZO_c& as an example of one of the horrible cut scenes - and no that wasn't even filmed during the beta, that's something Bioware want you to pay monthly to sit through) and regurgitated MMO game play which could be swapped with the game play of any of the last 10 or so major MMOs and would seem pretty samey. This game was intended for two sets of people: MMO players who wanted something different, and Star Wars fans - most notably those who were fans of the KotOR series. This game others NOTHING for either of them. During the prerelease interviews with Bioware employees they promised this game would innovate a dying game genre whilst appeasing Star wars fans by sticking to lore and basically being a continuation of the KotOR series. Without offering any spoilers I can suggest that this game has basically forgotten that KotOR 2 ever existed. In terms of end game so far there is only one raid which features a couple of tank and spank bosses and a brief extension of the PvP battlegrounds that players could choose to join from level 10. One of the key points of the star wars series is that it captures people's imaginations; Being evil villains in space! Being a hero of the republic! It is such a diverse series with thousands of unique characters it really is disgusting that every single player characters looks exactly the same. There are basically four body choices for everyone which is the only unique aspect of your character (everyone is a humanoid and exactly the same height - sounds really FUN). The four body types include - Child body (a mini version of the adult body - yes 10 year old children in this game have massive racks - gotta reach out to EVERY market haven't we Bioware? ) Japanese anime style body, steroid packed weight lifer body and of course morbidly obese fat man. The hairstyles are nothing like the star wars series and seem to have come straight out of the latest FF game. Another unique feature which TOR promised us was space combat. Although this is the favourite part of the game for myself... that isn't because it is good, just that every single other aspect of this game is horrible in every way, shape and form. It is fun for the first 30 minutes but considering the amount of time people put into MMOs the repetition of this particular aspect of the game would kill me. They even managed to make you grind mobs whilst you are supposed to be flying the ship! Another brilliant USP for TOR was the companions. Their two major benefits are supposed to be helping during combat and also skills. The skills in this game are a complete waste of time and any items you get out of them are dwarfed by those you find elsewhere. It is a complete waste of time in game to spend any time whatsoever crafting / picking / looking for herbs. subscir
    For the majority of time in game I have played a Jedi Knight Guardian. This is a primarily a tank class so what BIoware did was give them a companion whose main function is... to tank. This makes PvE and grinding mobs (Which are ALWAYS in groups of three no matter what) pretty boring (I can only say this is from a Jedi Knight Guardian's point of view - apparently Bounty Hunter is a blast). To summarise I simply cannot see how I could justify throwing more money at EA with a subscription fee for this game. It is so repetitive in every sense of the word - A bland copy of every past MMO with a script loosely resembling the tortured remains of one which was partially based on small aspects of the KotOR series.    … Expand
  80. mobius22r
    Dec 21, 2011
    0
    Bioware is the best at storytelling, and this is no exception. The Old Republic looks and feels like Star Wars, and is, while not unique in the MMO genre, very good. It has elements from many popular games, and the development team is working hard to improve things every day. The graphics are so much better than many MMO's on the market today. It's hard to make something everyone canBioware is the best at storytelling, and this is no exception. The Old Republic looks and feels like Star Wars, and is, while not unique in the MMO genre, very good. It has elements from many popular games, and the development team is working hard to improve things every day. The graphics are so much better than many MMO's on the market today. It's hard to make something everyone can play, but BioWare accomplished it. I think the timeline they picked is perfect. It's a good compliment to KotOR and doesn't step on K1's toes, nor does it interfere with the movies' timelines. I look forward to the future and can't wait to see what comes next!… Expand
  81. ReviewerX103
    Dec 21, 2011
    4
    This game is not all bad but overall not good. The soloplayer content is good for a mmo in my opinion. The content is story driven and keeps you moving. The group content... well saying just lacking would be an understatement. This is easily the most solo player focused mmo game in the genre. It is very obvious little went into designing content for anything above small group, and evenThis game is not all bad but overall not good. The soloplayer content is good for a mmo in my opinion. The content is story driven and keeps you moving. The group content... well saying just lacking would be an understatement. This is easily the most solo player focused mmo game in the genre. It is very obvious little went into designing content for anything above small group, and even that is limited. Really it is a mmo only in respect to alot of people being online at once... all other aspects of what you expect from a mmo are missing.

    Graphics wise the game is honestly really poor, it appears very little of the massive budget went into building a large world with unique and detailed elements. Even if realistic is not the goal ascetic wise the graphic related things such as texture detail and polygon counts are horrific for a late 2011 release. Animations are in the same boat. The graphics and animations might of been acceptable in 2006, but every other AAA mmo released since WoW easily outclasses ToR in the areas of Graphics and Animation.

    Voice overs are decent, better then any other mmo and most offline games I have played this is a plus. The storytelling lacks compared to the rest of the Knights of the old republic games. And the use of cut-scenes are overused for mundane events and just drags out the "Kill X mobs" quest. The whole lightside/darkside with quest gives a false sense of choice since the outcomes are the same no matter what you choose.

    Combat is a near perfect WoW clone same with the UI. While this is not a bad thing, It is not revolutionary or even remotely different. If you are tired of the WoW playstyle well this is more of the same in that respect.

    Instances are way overused for things that honestly have no reason to be instanced, and exploration is limited in the zones.

    In conclusion:

    If you are a Starwars and a big WoW fan you can probably get some enjoyment out of this game. If you are a Starwars Old Republic fan but not a mmo fan you will be applauded by what you see. If you are a mmo fan but not a Starwars fan you will probably play for awhile but leave once the new mmo feeling goes away.

    Those tired of group focused mmos should give this a try it might be up your ally. But for those wanting the group/guild focused mmo you should play another title and stay far away from this one.

    This game is still an infant atm, and no mmo should be counted out especially at this early stage, but this is currently a very unimpressive mmo, if it can even be called a mmo, compared to what else is out there. This game does not even close to live up to the rest of the Knights of the Old Republic series. BioWare has a lot of work to do and very little time if they do not want to lose the big population they started with.    … Expand
  82. motaclown
    Jan 22, 2012
    1
    Like others have said. This game is a failure.
    It has identical properties to WOW. And there is little reason to play.

    The voice acting gets old and boring after lvl 10 and its the same old grind over and over again.

    Zero reason to make the switch. GW2 is worth waiting for I think.
  83. HunterZolomon
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    The Old Republic is not a horrible game. It's just so mind-numbingly mediocre, average, bland. Bioware is one of the finest gaming companies on the planet with a proven track record. How could they release a game that not only feels unfinished in some areas, but also a game that disappoints you from the start?

    Character creation is a joke. There are only identical humanoid species    The Old Republic is not a horrible game. It's just so mind-numbingly mediocre, average, bland. Bioware is one of the finest gaming companies on the planet with a proven track record. How could they release a game that not only feels unfinished in some areas, but also a game that disappoints you from the start?

    Character creation is a joke. There are only identical humanoid species available, same body, different skin. I was expecting at least a few alien species in addition to much more customization. The Star Wars universe is so rich with alien beings, why settle for virtually unknown "races" that all look the same? Questing, boring. Combat, boring. Bland, boring environments, graphics and animation. Horrible UI, no really, you can't even scale it. No surprises whatsoever, nothing grabs your attention. It's a derivative, cookie-cutter mmo if I ever saw one. It should have been released 5-6 years ago.

    The ONLY thing that sticks out as good are some of the storylines and voice acting is really good. True to form, Bioware delivers on that count. But it simply doesn't blend well with the traditional mmo parts. The quests feel detached from the storyline.    … Expand
  84. c4nn1b4l
    Dec 20, 2011
    1
    They promised me content equivalent with ~10-20 masseffect. They promised great story. They promised heroic battles. All i got was a yet-another-mmog with boring gameplay (go kill 20 beasts, etc), bad story full of cliche'. I was lvl 45 when i cancelled my subscription.
  85. TwistedComplex
    Dec 31, 2011
    4
    I wish to retract my former review. After reaching max level, my guild cleared all the end game content in one night. Absolutely unacceptable, and coupled with the fact that Ilum is completely broken, this does not bode well for SWTORs future
  86. shikamaru31789
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    I have played SWTOR in two Beta Weekends, and every day since I got let into Early Access on Day 1. In total, I've probably logged more than 100 hours, and have played every classes origin world, as well as levelled 2 characters into the mid-high 20's, one in beta and my main now at launch. I've played maybe 5 MMO's previously. SWTOR is the best MMO I've ever played, but that doesn't meanI have played SWTOR in two Beta Weekends, and every day since I got let into Early Access on Day 1. In total, I've probably logged more than 100 hours, and have played every classes origin world, as well as levelled 2 characters into the mid-high 20's, one in beta and my main now at launch. I've played maybe 5 MMO's previously. SWTOR is the best MMO I've ever played, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. They've taken alot of the features that I didn't like about other MMO's and have fixed them. Crafting for one, no more wasting time doing it yourself, you can send your companions on missions to gather resources or craft for you. The crafting system is plenty detailed, it's better than any MMO I've ever played, though not as good as some other MMO's I've heard others speak of. You gather mats, you craft some greens, you reverse engineer them to get back some mats and have a chance at unlocking a blue quality recipe of that item, then you can make the blues and reverse engineer them for a chance at a purple quality item. There are crafting crits as well, which give you a chance at an extra bonus to an item, such as an extra mod slot. Many items can be modded, and certain crafting professions specialize in mods. The modding system, after having gone through several iterations in the beta, is finally as it should be, just enough mods for things to be simple, but still offer a lot of customization options for gear. Combat is your standard MMO hotkey fare, but Bioware has given abilities the best animations I've ever seen in an MMO, which really helps to spice up combat. Combat is responsive, unlike in many other MMO's I've played, when you hit a key, the ability is used almost immediately. Auto-attack has been removed, which also helps to liven up combat and make it feel more involving. Companions also help to liven up combat, but have much better AI than "pets" in other MMO's, so they don't require babysitting or micro-managing. Difficulty is pretty low throughout much of the game, but there are certain boss encounters in Flashpoints (SWTOR's story-driven version of Dungeons) and in certain points of the class story that are fairly difficult, requiring multiple tries. Death is made easier with an in place revive with a scaling cooldown. Death penalty is your standard item degradation, beware, items can degrade pretty quickly if you're dying alo, and repairig full degredation on all of your gear is somewhat pricey.

    Graphics are better than those of any MMO I've ever played. You'll see some people complaining about the graphics, but those people are generally comparing SWTOR to singleplayer games, an unfair comparison for any MMO, a genre known for lesser graphics. There are few areas that are sloppily done, but that's to be expected in a game SWTOR's size, it may have more total land area than any game ever created except for Daggerfall (which used recycled generated areas). Character graphics are a weak area, as is character creation (but they've steadily added more options to creation throughout the beta and have said that they will contiunue to do so after launch). Story. Now this is where SWTOR stands out. I've played every classes origin world story, and 2 classes well into Chapter 1 (mid-late 20's). There isn't a story that I'm not hooked to, and I find myself having trouble playing choosing which character to work on each day. Writing is pretty good on most quests, there are few awkward moments both in the class stories and in side stories, but in general, they're fantastic. The Side stories aren't quite as good as the Class Stories, but I still find myself engrossed by several of them. Bioware has succeeded in making me feel an emotional connection to many of the charcters, both in Class Stories and Side Stories, so I have major trouble trying to choose dark side choices, even on my Sith characters.

    PvP is amazing, better than in any MMO I've ever played. Combat is balanced, I find myself at the top of one leaderboard or other regardless of what class I'm playing. All the amazing Star Wars themed animations going off at once in a group engagement looks amazing, lightsabers whirring everywhere, blasterbolts and lightning flying past. The Warzones are varied and are quite entertaining. SWTOR's weakest area is social features. Right now, guilds are lacking features (high priority fix after launch), there are no social minigames to get people socializing in Cantinas (another post-launch feature), It's very difficult to find PUGs to run Heroics and Flashpoints with once you get out of the teens, the economy on the Galactic Exchange seems fairly poor (barely anyone are selling items there or are buying items from others). But all in all, SWTOR is an amazing achievement in MMO history. It's the best MMO I've ever played and I fully intend to play this game for at least a year.    … Expand
  87. nhpc
    Dec 22, 2011
    4
    It's World of Warcraft in space with better music. There is nothing revolutionary about the game, contrary to what the paid reviews and shills would like you to believe
  88. sindra
    Dec 22, 2011
    0
    I cannot express how much of a disappointment this game is. People saying that it is a WoW clone are incorrect - it does not even do that well. I'm a massive star wars fan and have enjoyed most of Bioware's previous offerings from Baldur's Gate to Dragon Age. The only thing in this game worth experiencing is some of the story, and that is definitely a finite experience - my advice is toI cannot express how much of a disappointment this game is. People saying that it is a WoW clone are incorrect - it does not even do that well. I'm a massive star wars fan and have enjoyed most of Bioware's previous offerings from Baldur's Gate to Dragon Age. The only thing in this game worth experiencing is some of the story, and that is definitely a finite experience - my advice is to play one of Bioware's previous games that is written better and offers the same story-style experience without forcing you to suffer through a pale imitation of WoW's tired MMO gameplay model - read: WoW has much more fun gameplay than this. Smoother combat, more involved quest mechanics that occasionally engage you - use an item to put on a disguise, sneak into a camp and kill target. SWTOR is - Kill X mobs. Get X items from dead mobs. Pick up X items off the ground. Talk to X. Aaaand that's about it. Customization is atrocious. To have access to the Star Wars license and only have humans with facepaint is such a missed opportunity it's a crime. This isn't Star Trek where you're limited to humans with stuff on their face! There's a rich background with amazing races! Use them, players love them!

    I rolled a bounty hunter, I wanted to use a rifle, or maybe a cool staffy pike thing. Hell, Bounty Hunters in the movies do it. Surely in a STAR WARS ROLEPLAYING GAME I should be able to do that, right? WRONG. You're a bounty hunter? You use pistols. Next. You're a spy? You use rifles. Next. Just lazy and inexcusable. Even in WoW, there are class limitations but within that you are free to pick! My warrior can use a mace, axe, sword, dagger, 2h versions of all those, bow, gun, etc! Pathetic when WoW lays your character's options low. Once players are finished with their stories, this game will not be able to stand up to the competition, period. There is one raid, and three battlegrounds. That's it for endgame, other than that I hope you like sitting in the cantina roleplaying because that's all there is to do. It's missing so many standard MMO features it's painful to think about! Day/night cycles are missing, NO GUILD BANK!?!? No guild progression system of any kind. Welcome back to 2003! Oh wait, SWG and games back then had those. Welcome to a bad MMO. No LFG, horrible pet AI (yes pets, that's all companions are), god-awful UI, no addon support, no swimming, nooo thanks.

    Standard features in other MMOs like limiting who can roll need on what is absent, have fun the first time some sith ninjas your bounty hunter armor because his companion needs it, because it will happen many times. I really hope GW2 comes out soon.    … Expand
  89. crowenson
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Every negative review complains that this game is a copy of WoW but with improved storytelling and voice acting. What did you give WoW then? A zero as well? No, this game is an improvement for the MMO genre and deserves a rating that fits. This game was everything I hoped for and I have only used one of the eight characters so far. This game is a success for Bioware and fans of RPGs.
  90. kendrickdk
    Jun 20, 2014
    7
    It is definitely a great game. The combat system is out of date but there is no denying that the voice over and story is top notch. If they would just update the combat system this game would be a real contender.
  91. cgron
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    As a long time MMORPG gamer, SWTOR is a breath of fresh air. I hate reading quest text, in fact, I never bother with it. I just can't get interested enough in whatever kind of BS lore the game team came up with. However as a huge fan of Mass Effect, the dialogue choice BioWare chose to go with was a major selling point for me. Not only can you choose what your character says, but if you'reAs a long time MMORPG gamer, SWTOR is a breath of fresh air. I hate reading quest text, in fact, I never bother with it. I just can't get interested enough in whatever kind of BS lore the game team came up with. However as a huge fan of Mass Effect, the dialogue choice BioWare chose to go with was a major selling point for me. Not only can you choose what your character says, but if you're in a party with a friend, both of your characters (up to 4) are featured in the cut scenes and have a chance of speaking. I love that.

    I think as far as gameplay goes, it is standard MMO gaming. NOthing was reinvented except for the way quests are accepted. Storyline seems like a useless addition to most MMO's. In SWTOR - it's prevalent.

    I believe this is setting a new bar in MMO storytelling, and I expect future games to follow this successful path.    … Expand
  92. BlasphemousBat
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    It's a refreshing change from WoW for sure. Really fun and it doesn't have a community full of retards unlike WoW. Everyone's saying this is just copying it, but that's not entirely a bad thing, you got space combat, Story Driven quests, full voice-acting, and much more! It does have it's flaws, but overall this game is pretty damn good.
  93. axias_v
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    Let me get my background checked off so I can properly explain to you that I will try to be as objective as possible when writing this review. For starters, I grew up playing duck hunt, and a Zelda: A link to the past. The first mmorpg I played was Everquest, and I have played almost every major release since then.

    Now to the meat of my review, about Star Wars: The Old Republic:. When I    Let me get my background checked off so I can properly explain to you that I will try to be as objective as possible when writing this review. For starters, I grew up playing duck hunt, and a Zelda: A link to the past. The first mmorpg I played was Everquest, and I have played almost every major release since then.

    Now to the meat of my review, about Star Wars: The Old Republic:. When I first heard about this mmorpg in 2008, I was one of the many with a distaste for the idea of a "Theme-Park MMO", as I myself, used to be a butt-hurt SWG Vet, who clamored of days long passed, of a highly buggy, yet incredibly enjoyable sandbox landscape where the adventure was defined by social interaction rather than mechanical.

    I've begun to accept Theme-park, as a different form of entertainment than a Sand-box MMO, as such to be as objective as possible, you must approach as so. Sw:tor has a few bugs, and is definitely not the "perfect" MMO, despite what many fanbois will claim. However, a week into the game and at level 30 on my Sith Assasin, It is an incredibly engaging mmorpg none the less. If you have realistic expectations, and have a guild or some buddies to play with, this should be a blast to play. As long as you can sort your way through some of the haywire of initial release, such as 500+ queue lines, and some common Guild interface bugs.

    In the MMO's current state, I give it an 8/10 for sheer Theme-Park enjoyability. As MMORPG's are always evolving, expect the true-score to change as the few noticeable bugs are worked out, and major content is added.    … Expand
  94. ImprovV
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    This is just unbelievable...the same people are bombarding this game with 0's over and over again. This needs to stop. It has happened with every big named game to come out and enough is enough. You are all a bunch of no life trolls. God PC Gamers are the whiniest group of people I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
  95. ManOfSteel
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    This game has been a bitter disappointment. The voice acting is ok, but everything else is extremely boring, uninspired and it soon becomes a drag. BioWare seemingly has lost their touch and I'm not expecting much more out of Mass Effect 3, which looks like a boring third person shooter. TOR massively underdelivers on all fronts, and for such a big project with such high aspirations, itThis game has been a bitter disappointment. The voice acting is ok, but everything else is extremely boring, uninspired and it soon becomes a drag. BioWare seemingly has lost their touch and I'm not expecting much more out of Mass Effect 3, which looks like a boring third person shooter. TOR massively underdelivers on all fronts, and for such a big project with such high aspirations, it fails miserably. Do not waste your time or money with this game.… Expand
  96. RivSteele
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I signed up for Metacritic as I felt the need for a more indepth analysis of the game, after seeing some of the user "reviews" already out there I would describe SWTOR as a Story Driven MMORPG and it has a lot going for it. As has been mentioned, all quest givers, main characters and even your own character are voice acted, and it a high standard as well. Accepting quests usuallyI signed up for Metacritic as I felt the need for a more indepth analysis of the game, after seeing some of the user "reviews" already out there I would describe SWTOR as a Story Driven MMORPG and it has a lot going for it. As has been mentioned, all quest givers, main characters and even your own character are voice acted, and it a high standard as well. Accepting quests usually involves a bit of dialogue, in which you use a dialogue wheel (such as in Mass Effect and Dragon Age 2). I find this makes "normal" questing that much more engaging, and it gets even better if you are in a group, either in normal questing or in dungeons as all the party are engaged. When a dialogue choice needs to be made, each will make their choice and a roll is taken, the highest score uses their dialogue choice. This happens for each dialogue choice. I think this is a fantastic piece of the game. While quests are generally Kill that, activate this, retrieve those, they are well done (which MMO does not involve these quests, they all do, it is just how well they hide it). Also, many quests branch out or give you alternative solutions to completing them (do you do what the original quest giver wanted or take take up the alternative option of another). Many quests involve choices that affect your rewards and light side/dark side standing. While there are two factions (Sith and Republic) both factions can choose Dark and Light Side options (and get gear for that disposition) meaning you can have evil Jedi or good Sith if you so which, adding in a lot of choice. Dungeons are very well done with good stories. In addition to the usual loot that drops from bosses, there are also things call Commendations that drop from dungeons, normal mobs while questing and as rewards. You can turn these in in exchange for powerful gear. So even if there was nothing that dropped for you on a dungeon run, you usually get enough commendations (or close to enough) to get good gear from the respective vendors which is an excellent touch. Crafting is very well implemented. Instead of you having to go accross the map to find materials, you can send out your companions to gather them for you and they also craft the items, free you up to quest. You can also find materials in the wild if you so choose. I find combat to be extremely fun. Gone is the Auto-attack. You have to activly use an ability to perform an attack. I was skeptical about this at first but have found it great fun as it is very engaging and the combat looks great! It makes for a very nice visual experience. Class are fun, although I am a bit disappointing that the Sith and Republic classes are pretty much the same, just with different skill names and visual effects (but the same basic function). Each Class has two Advanced Classes, making for a total of about 8 unique classes in the game. In addition, each Advanced Class has 3 talent trees (you get 1 point per level after 10 to spend here) allow you to customize further. The game is not perfect of course. For us RP'ers, at the moment there are no Chat Bubbles (they will be implemented at a later date) making /Say chat more difficult than it needs to be. In addition there are various bugs atm, most are merely visual glithces, but I have experienced one in an instance which made be fall through the floor and get stuck, meaning I have to re-logg and could not complete the dungeon with my group. Also, I ordered the Collector's Edtion, and for some reason there is no manual! So there is very little explanation on how things work, for example that planets are divided into instances. Normally this is fine, but if you want to group with somebody from another instance (think another copy of the world) you have to change. The issue with this, is that is warns me I will not be able to see if my friends are online in this new instance and I do not know how to change back (since I do not have a manual!). So they need to provide better instructions and maybe actually include a game manual. Also there are some server waits at the moment and there seems to be a grafical glitch that can slow down even high end machines (Note: Fix by Setting Graphic Default to High, then apply. Then set to Low and turn of shadows and if you, like me have a low end machine, turn off grass etc and it works fine). Over all, from my 5 days of playing early access I have to say this is a great game, the story telling are signature Bioware, the quests usually have different outcomes and twists and the combat is fun. A bit rough around the edges still, but I expect many of these to be fixed post launch. The Good
    - Story/Characters
    - Grouping
    - Instances
    - Combat
    - Crafting

    The Bad
    - Bugs
    - Wait Times
    - Lack of manual/documentation
    - Missing features (chat bubbles)
    - Instanced Planets (but this does help reduce quest ganking)

    Recommendation: If you like MMORPG's you should give this game a try.
    Rating: 9 (10 to balance Red;s)    … Expand
  97. celerity321
    Dec 20, 2011
    2
    When I heard about this I was disappointed by the fact that they would be turning my beloved KoTOR into an MMO, but, I gave it a chance. Sadly it proved my fears right. Gameplay wise it is a poor WoW clone at best, except it's even more dumbed down. The graphics are just pathetic for a game coming out in 2011, it barely looks like an upgrade over KoTOR. And don't get me started on theWhen I heard about this I was disappointed by the fact that they would be turning my beloved KoTOR into an MMO, but, I gave it a chance. Sadly it proved my fears right. Gameplay wise it is a poor WoW clone at best, except it's even more dumbed down. The graphics are just pathetic for a game coming out in 2011, it barely looks like an upgrade over KoTOR. And don't get me started on the "story". Grade school writing, combined with an utter mangling of everything in KoTOR just led to me hanging my head in shame with bile creeping up my throat.… Expand
  98. Adyon
    Dec 21, 2011
    9
    It's the voice-acting and story that saves this game! Gameplay, etc is very much like WoW. And truly...I don't care. If you can't come up with a better system, and obviously no one can, as WoW's combat isn't unique to it either. (Yes people liken things to WoW without comparing what they copied) But I could care less if combat isn't revolutionized if the game is fun to play. And soIt's the voice-acting and story that saves this game! Gameplay, etc is very much like WoW. And truly...I don't care. If you can't come up with a better system, and obviously no one can, as WoW's combat isn't unique to it either. (Yes people liken things to WoW without comparing what they copied) But I could care less if combat isn't revolutionized if the game is fun to play. And so far, it is. Don't get me wrong, I have my share of complaints, mostly due to imbalance of characters, server lag, a few glitches, and other few things they have to fine toon. But most MMOs launch with their share of problems. I was expecting this. The life-span of this game will be determined by how they smooth these out. My least liked thing will probably not be fixed, that of so many loading screen between areas, such as the elevators on ships, where I'd like to not feel a disconnect when switching to my ship. But this is actually where I give it a 9. I expected the other stuff. It's hard to launch a MMO without them, as you can test all day, but there's no way to be sure how things will work when you have millions playing at once. And until they do, the story should keep us interested.… Expand
  99. Bombadil
    Dec 23, 2011
    0
    Sorry but overused and worn out mmo mechanics from the last 8 years. A veiled attempt of EA and their new lap dog Bioware to cash in on the Star Wars ip. Poor Star Warsians
  100. DarthPadme
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    Let me preface this by saying I love the Star Wars universe, and love Bioware as a developer. I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this MMO for some time now. Now that it's out, and I've played it extensively, I cannot quite express my severe disappointment with this title.
    You've probably noticed my score of a 0 by now. You don't have to take my word for it, but this game    Let me preface this by saying I love the Star Wars universe, and love Bioware as a developer. I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this MMO for some time now. Now that it's out, and I've played it extensively, I cannot quite express my severe disappointment with this title.
    You've probably noticed my score of a 0 by now. You don't have to take my word for it, but this game truly earned that score. The other things you may have read about SW:TOR are all true: it copies directly from nearly every other MMO, essentially ending up as nothing but a "skin" for WoW, and doing nothing to innovate save the addition of voiceovers. So, maybe I'll start there.
    The voiceovers, to their credit, aren't all bad. But, if you're anything like me, you will skip the dialogue because by the time they're done speaking two words of text, I've finished reading the on-screen subtitles, and will skip ahead. This feature, while highly lauded, is wholly unnecessary and only serves to get in the way and waste time - lots of time. Once your class-specific line is over, be prepared to be bored to death by questgivers touting the same monotonous and repetitive fetch-quest speeches, with only very minor variation thrown in.
    Now, you might be saying that in such a story-driven game, voiceovers are required, and Bioware obviously thought so, spending exorbitant sums to try to add value to what is nothing more than a carbon copy. Frankly, they failed. The story is something I was the most excited about, and while the class quest lines are somewhat interesting, everything else can be seen as nothing but a failure. I couldn't bring myself to care about anything, ANYTHING, in the game, least of all my own character's progression.
    To begin with, character creation options are the most limited I've seen in an MMO, and that includes WoW. As expected, this is how you start the game, and right away I felt like I was missing something - surely the game wouldn't fall so short on something so integral (after all, the cutscenes show you (and your friends) prominently quite often). There are only four body types, and you had better get used to seeing them, because they are all very distinct. I can't tell you how many people I ran into that used the "big" body type, and all looked visually IDENTICAL in EVERY WAY. There is no individuality in this game, no personalization of your character to make you feel like you're in any kind of RPG. It's tragic how many corners they cut here.
    I'll gloss over combat only a little, because I feel like that's where Bioware really glossed over in development as well. In a word, it's BROKEN. Glitchy, mindless button-pressing, cooldown-watching tedium. It's your typical MMO fare - tanks, heals, and DPS, fights that require you to move mobs away from explosions, or bosses that suck you in for an AOE you must escape. PvE is brain-numbingly repetitive, to the point it might actually drive some insane. For the record, I tried playing Aion, notorious for being 99% grinding, and to be blunt I do not see anything separating it from SW:ToR. PvP is another story - I don't even think they attempted any semblance of balance, because there certainly is none. Pray you didn't roll a bounty hunter, or else you'll be using one of 3 different types of blaster abilities the entire time. Characters have no collision, so there is constant overlapping of people fighting literally inside each other, spamming their abilities willy-nilly, needlessly circle-strafing in place as if it even matters what direction you're facing. Again, this is very reminiscent of WoW. If only that was a good thing.

    I could say more, MUCH more, but I will spare both myself and you. This game, I am sad to say, is a complete **** disgrace, and there is no chance in hell they will ever get another cent out of me, regardless of any expansions or "improvements" they make in the coming months/years. I have been let down in such a powerful way, there is no question of this. Rest in peace, my hopes and dreams of an even halfway decent Star Wars MMO... rest among the stars with the rest of Bioware's broken promises.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critic Reviews

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