"This game is going to change the way you look at the MMO genre," said Director of Production Dallas Dickinson as he began a presentation for media during the E3 2011 expo. It was a look at almost everything Star Wars: The Old Republic has to offer for gamers. And let me tell you, it's offering a lot.
The story behind Star Wars: The Old Republic is set around 300 years after Knights of the Old Republic, and around 3,000 years before the reign of Darth Vader. It's one that BioWare hopes will change the way we play an MMO. An experience where we actually care about the quests we're doing and the enemies we're fighting, not just the loot we receive at the end of our triumph.
This is being delivered by way of unique stories for every single class in the game. While the basic missions will largely be the same, each class also has a unique chain of missions lasting the entirety of the leveling process. A Bounty Hunter's saga is vastly different from that of a Sith Warrior, for example.
But it's not just the uniqueness of each story. BioWare is hoping to provide an emotionally compelling experience throughout the life of a character. Much the same as singleplayer BioWare games, choices you make in Star Wars: The Old Republic will dictate future encounters for your character.
One example that we were shown is the Jedi Knight. At some point you'll encounter a Dark Lord of the Sith; one you've bested and is now prepared to meet his fate. A Jedi, however, is above ending someone's life -- they believe in second chances. The question is, do you? You're free to lop off the Dark Lord's head; you'll receive a few Dark points for the alignment system and be on your merry way.
Or you can follow the code of the Jedi and allow the Dark Lord to live, suggesting to him that he can change the course of his future by defecting to the Light instead of following his current Dark ways. You'll eventually encounter this former Dark Lord, and sure enough he has seen the err of his ways. Your choice has not only removed a Dark Lord of the Sith, but has also created a new Jedi to fight for the good of the Light.
All of this is pretty compelling by itself, but the game being fully voiced -- in multiple languages -- takes it to an entirely new level. One we've never seen in the MMO genre. The conversation system presents a new way of acquiring quests that will actually keep you interested in the story behind them, not just your next objective. Fully voiced cut scenes with dialogue interaction are how you pick up your missions in Star Wars: The Old Republic, not the traditional way of opening a UI window and clicking an accept button.
If you're looking for traditional MMO progression, Star Wars: The Old Republic has that too. "We have that in spades," Mr. Dickinson said. But the progression is going to feel a bit different due to the focus on story. It might actually be fun. Likewise, the combat is going to differ from other offerings in the space.
"Combat has to feel heroic," he said. "It has to feel like Star Wars." And it does. The classes are all filled to the gils with iconic abilities you'd expect to see in the franchise's films. From the Sith Warrior leaping through the air at an opponent and greeting them with a slash of his lightsaber, to the Bounty Hunter lifting off into the air and firing a salvo of rockets on enemies below, combat in Star Wars: The Old Republic is like nothing you've experienced in an MMO before.
The crossroads of story and combat will come in the way of heroic content designed for a group of players. This is content you'd have no chance of besting alone, and it's all created with deep backstories for the characters involved, both friend and foe. Bouris Ulgo is one such enemy you'll encounter on the planet of Alderaan.
Ulgo is an ex Republic general that has gone rogue, and its up to you to bring him to justice. You'll have to fight your way to Ulgo and once you reach him, you'll begin a dialogue that culminates in Ulgo erecting a force field around himself thanks to multiple nearby shield generators. It's then your task to take out these shield generators, all the while fighting off Ulgo's minions.
Sadly, Mr. Dickinson stopped that part of the presentation before destroying all of the generators. If we want to know what happens next we'll have to play, he said. But he also wanted to stress this is simple group content designed as part of the leveling progression -- it's something for players about midway through the treadmill up to 50.
For veteran MMO players, you'll have multi-group content in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Traditionally called raids, BioWare has instead chosen the tag 'Operations' for their epic, challenging endgame content.
The Eternity Vault on Belsavis is one of the first batch of operations players will have access to, with BioWare planning to continually introduce more after release. The vault is an ancient prison, with players needing to breech its walls in order to stop a sinister threat from being released on the universe. First you'll need to take down giant turrets firing at you, then follow that up with the defeat of a massive robotic construct.
It's still at least three months from release, if not longer, but Star Wars: The Old Republic is shaping up to be the most complete MMO in the history of the genre.
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