A friends thoughts on Star Wars: TOR

I'll begin by saying I can be much more critical, and likely more offensive in my reviews than what you may have read previously on Scarecrow Games. With that in mind, I bring my attention to Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The MMORPG to bring down the numbers of World of Warcraft? I sincerely doubt that. I concede that SW:TOR is polished and refreshing in comparison to the aging beast that is WoW, but to claim it will tear away it's fanbase in favour of lightsabers and starships is presumptuous at best and arrogant to boot. Quite fitting of EA, if I may indulge in the pleasure of slamming a company that was the mastermind of an atrocity such as Origin.

I digress. Having finished with my “EA is evil” rampage, we move onto SW:TOR.

Initially I was excited at the prospect of traversing the Star Wars universe as some kind of strange Lucas inspired being, beating on the Rebel scum and Force choking the life out of a Twi'lek. I was astonished to find my first companion was indeed an annoying Twi'lek female with a shock collar around her neck. The pleasure of pushing that buzzer to wipe the smug look of her face with every snide remark was gleeful, to say the least.

And then, I came to a sudden realisation. I had spent the better part of my week searching dark tombs, waiting for a decent level enemy to respawn to pick up another 20 credits and a fucking worthless datapad.

I realised I had already grown weary of the routine, the same routine I had tried to overcome in past MMORPGs. As much as I love the Star Wars universe, it just couldn't surpass the grind. Maybe it was my ADHD kicking in, but I felt bored.

Graphically, the game looks and plays like Warcraft. The combat system mimics Warcraft. The mechanics are Warcraft. I can't see past it! The true saviour of the game is the fully voiced conversations in your character prologue and Mass Effect style speech wheel, with a standard “Nice guy”, “Couldn't give a shit guy” and “Sinister, broody guy” options, to declare your Light or Dark side intentions. But the prologue only lasts around 20 levels and you're back to the grind!

To be dissapointed in this game is an admission I am, regrettably, forced to make. (No Lucas pun intended.) I wanted to love this game and pour hours into shaping a character that felt like my own. But in the end, almost all the level 50 characters look the same. There seems to be no individualism.

Put all this into a package without Australian servers and you have a clone (Am I pushing this too far?) of a decade old game with lightsabers, and enough lag in the Imperial Starfleet area to make your eyes water.

If you are a slave to the grind and enjoy lightsabers more than original gameplay, this truly is the game for you. If you were bored of DC Universe a week into it's free to play release, then steer clear. Perhaps the game will better itself through added content, but as with all added content in MMORPGs, expect a laundry list of bugs, glitches and patch updates to surely follow. Nothing special here, but surely enjoyable to true fanboys. 2/5

- Luke