E3: Star Wars The Old Republic
3,000 years before the Skywalker family fracas and 300 years after the events of the Knights of the Old Republic games, the galaxy is again imperiled by Sith forces intent on destroying the peace of the Jedi.
Fruit Brute and I sat through a brief but fabulous Star Wars: The Old Republic demo today, which debuted a number of firsts for LucasArts & Bioware's upcoming MMO. Welcome to the first fully-voiced MMO ever, filled with BioWare-style dialog choices, including the first-ever multi-character dialog system - in other words, two characters who enter a "flashpoint," the game's term for cutscenes, will both be able to participate in a story- and character-advancing dialog engagement that can drastically alter the outcome and reward of a mission.
We saw the first-ever showing of the planet Hutta, the Hutt homeworld (not the world of their origin, but a conquered world from which they run their operations).
Hutta is where the Bounty Hunter class begins, and LucasArts was quick to point out that every class will play as its own unique storyline, with unique missions, dialog, and so on. As a ranged fighter, the Imperial-affiliated Bounty Hunter picked off enemies from afar and immolated them with a flamethrower when in melee range.
We also saw the debut of the Smuggler class, a ranged warrior who fights for the Republic, and falls very much in the Han Solo category. He'll be able to use the first-ever cover system in an MMO, which gives him offensive and defensive bonuses, and when closing in to melee range the Smuggler will kick, punch, and blow away his enemies from point-blank range.
Other tantalizing hints about which we received few details from a tight-lipped LucasArts: a light/dark path system for all characters that further enhances character progression (we saw a Sith character earn light side points for sparing an Imperial captain during a flashpoint scene) and, in true BioWare fashion, romance possibilities. No word, of course, on same-sex romance possibilities.
We left tantalized but hungry for more details - SWtOR is shaping up to be absolutely epic, with a list of firsts of which the fully-voiced dialog is perhaps the most alluring. Long live the Sith!
tiny dancer
Posted to E3, MMOs, Video Games on 2 June 2009
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