My Beta Weekend Impressions

Suraknar

Hello all,



I have had the opportunity to play test SW:TOR this weekend and here are my Impressions from the experience.



I managed to play three different classes to about level 9 each, the Jedi Knight, the Trooper and the Jedi Consular.



1 - Graphics and Music. I find the environment graphics really well made, crisp and artistically balanced, frame rate was satisfactory, I averaged something like 35 FPS on my 3 year old rig (ADM X3, GF9600 GT, 4Gig Ram, Win XP 32bit).



The character Graphics I found also very nice, from Character customization to the animations which were very fluid. Some clothing is really textured on the character model and that gave a bit of a stretchy feeling, however I think it is fine, I assume later on as armors and uniforms become more elaborate these will feel more independent on the characters themselves. Overall on graphics side, props to the artists!



The music of the game and sounds were also great, mainly themes from Star Wars movies that I have come to love and recognize but there was also some themes from KOTOR in various moments, which was a nice touch. The music is well incorporated, fading in and out in an appropriate manner, volume, timing and it matches the situation. Props to the Audio people as well!



Overall I was impressed by the level of polish in both these items for a game that is launching.



2 - Voice Quest & Story. This aspect of the game is exciting I came in to the test wondering when am I going to start skipping dialog.



In the end I found out that this aspect of the game did appeal to me as long as I was playing a class who's theme was attracting to me. I, probably like many others, am most interested by the Lore surrounding Jedi, so no dialog is ever "boring", and I enjoyed the pace and even repetition of some of the quests while playing both the Knight and the Consular.



This got a bit different when I played the Trooper, I found that there were dialogs which simply did not interest me, it did not feel the same way and there were a couple of instances where I simply did not pay attention to what was said. And then just used the Log to find out what my mission was.



Overall, the voiced quests and story constitute I think a good feature, compared to text. They provide a flow of events which feels more natural and engaging. However I beleive there maybe some difference of opinion by the player base, due to taste preference views.



Also I am concerned about re playability value.



I mean, I could eventually see myself playing the game just so I can finish the story. But do not ask me to stick around after that point, and most importantly do not ask me to replay the story with a character which belongs to a theme that does not interest me.



In terms of Implementation, my hat goes off to the designers, voice actors and writers. The dialogs are pleasing and the system is very fluid and refreshing from a technical point of view.



Overall, voiced Quest and Story is a good feature, maybe a new standard in the MMO genre, it remains to be seen if a complete MMO's longevity can hinge on this approach still however, yet it is well made in and of itself.



3 - Gameplay. This is the element that makes or breaks an MMO for me, and my decision to play it or not, is based on the scope of the gameplay of a given MMO.



Unfortunately, SW:TOR's gameplay is what I have expected since I first read articles about its design a couple of years ago and watched the first gameplay videos. I perceived it as a copy of WoW styled gameplay.



And before some of you go up all in arms saying that this is the "standard" MMO's use today and not only WoW, let me stop you there and say that it is not the case even if it appears to be is a widely spread trend.



EQ was a themepark, and so was Lineage II and so is AION, and so are so many other games that people do not like when compared to WoW. Even within the Themepark approach there are differences of Game Scope and Implementation of certain mechanics and features, each of these games does things differently within the Themepark Design.



SW:TOR is a Themepark yes, and SW:TOR is like WoW yes, both statements are true. Actually it is more accurate to say that SW:TOR is a WoW style Themepark (if you think that WoW has established a standard of some sort).



Nevertheless, SW:TOR's designers chose that model for their own reasons and there is nothing wrong per se with that decision. However, that is not a Gameplay that appeals to me.



I think Bioware had an opportunity to do something different and something innovative here, yet chose to go with a "standard" model, I also know that Lucas Arts has had their sights on WoW ever since the failure of NGE with SWG.



SW:TOR is from a certain point of view a second chance to do what they wanted to do with NGE with all the elements in place for their IP. I wish them all a good luck, but this type of gameplay does not appeal to me, even if I love the IP and would enjoy a good story about it, which I am sure Bioware did a good job on.



In other words, the means that this story is being delivered to me is what holds me off.



It makes me feel like if I am a spectator in the grand scheme of things and not a participant within the Star Wars universe. And there are so manythings i would have liked being able to have the opportunity to do within that Universe. We shall never know as this is indeed a limitation of this the Themepark Design type.

And so regretfully, I cannot see myself playing this game in the long run, I will just have to read the Story in some Fan Website or ask someone who plays it to tell it to me, and just imagine the rest.

Conclusion - In my opinion, overall, the game has some very good elements, is well made in each respective area, but when bundled as a complete package it is but another WoW styled Themepark MMO, nothing new.



It is like if we have taken a Filet Mignon & Shrimps and bundled it with fries and a super size Coca Cola served to the masses at cheap price in a Fast Food restaurant.



I am sure that many others that enjoy Themepark MMO's will have fun in SW:TOR. I am sure it could appeal to many new players of the genre who experience an MMO for the first time, it is based on a model that has proven to be a good introductory platform to the genre so it has a chance of being a successful MMO nevertheless. And I wish fun to all that have decided to play it.



May the force be with you!

 

PS: My MMO experince covers 14 years of playing various MMO's (List in my profile) since Ultima Online 1997, at this point I look at the Scope and Big Picture of a game, and do not spend too much time on details that will get addressed as a new MMO matures.

Kuinn

Yeah, it's a well made game in it's chosen style, everything works very well (due to my own experiences at least), and if you like that kind of game and gameplay you play it, and if you dont, you dont play it. It's not a bad game at all like many makes it seem around here, it's just that it's a game that many people would like to be another kind of game. Not much more to say I guess.

Speedhaak

An enjoyable read sir. Nice to see some objective thinking floating about now and then. I think most people who've been playing MMOs for some time relised that Bioware were going to emulate WoW's 'model' to some extent. Like you say though, it's a good introductory platform. But for people who are experienced in the genre it maybe a little to 'holding hands' esque for their tastes. Myself included. 

Suraknar

Thank you for the comments.

Indeed there is not much else to say, the game is well made for what it is. Yet, it is sad that it was not made to appeal to all of us, or at least most of us and specially older players, who have walked the path for a while. It aims at newer players.

For the rest of us, we will just have to keep looking.

In my opinion, if I were to make this game I would have chosen an RvR model instead for this IP.

You have a War (conflict) premise, could have at least three main factions, it could have had full blown Space combat as well as ground Combat, with Fighercraft and Capital Ships, and on top of it all the complete package bundled within a Great Storyline!

Alas, it is not the case.

astoria

good review. An unusual attempt at objectivity. Please go into journalism or politics.

Suraknar

Originally posted by astoria

good review. An unusual attempt at objectivity. Please go into journalism or politics.

Thanks, I take that as a compliment

Candomble

Originally posted by Kuinn

Yeah, it's a well made game in it's chosen style, everything works very well (due to my own experiences at least), and if you like that kind of game and gameplay you play it, and if you dont, you dont play it. It's not a bad game at all like many makes it seem around here, it's just that it's a game that many people would like to be another kind of game. Not much more to say I guess.

Amen.