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TOR is a game alot of people have been waiting on for years, and alot of folks have really high expectations for the game 'including myself", so its only natural that it will not live up to every single Star Wars Nerd fantasy out there "BUT", that does not mean it will not be good for what it is. Lets begin....
PVE: After playing a ton of MMO's over the years, I will be perfectly honest; Reading a ton of freaking text and running off to kill 10 of this or that bores me to tears, however, with TOR that was not the case. The story immediatly enthralled me from the get go, and had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was gonna happen to my character next. Of course the game still has missions of collecting 5 of this, or killing 10 of that, but those missions are placed brillantly, and everything is on the way to your main story quest. I found myself surprised by the story in this game, and im not easily impressed. I give PVE in this game a "9.5".
PVP: Honestly I do not PVP 24/7, but I did do it enough in TOR during beta to give it a honest review.I found alot of the Warzones to mimic the Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft, but with a sci-fi flare. That is not to say they were not any good, because I had a blast, and I enjoyed the fact that every class had a role and was viable if played correctly.Not to mention the game has territory the Republic and Empire can fight for in the open world, adding another layer to the system, and if owning people in the face with a flamethrower is wrong, I don't wanna be right....I give PVP in TOR a "8".
Companions: I really enjoyed companions in this game, and it felt like a breath of fresh air being able to interact with them, and have them share in my adventure and choices. At times they could be very annoying when they repeated things alot, however, I loved the fact you could gear them out, change how they looked, and even select one that best complemented you based on how you play, and your spec. I give companions a solid "9" for this game.
Voice acting: Not alot to say here guys, the voice acting in this game is as good as it freaking gets period.Alot of the actors you will recognize from games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and other titles that relied heavily on superior voice work and animation movies.I give Voice Acting in this game a "10".
UI: I liked how the UI looked and felt in this game, however, it really annoyed me that I could not move things around the way I wanted. Things are set up in a familar way most MMO veterans will be familar with, and they deffiantly did not try to recreate the wheel, but it worked for the type of game they were making.I would like to rate UI higher, but due to the fact it was not adjustable, and the fact there were no chat bubbles, I have to rate UI with a big "7.5" I hope when the game releases these issues are addressed by then.
Character customization: Comming from games like City of Heroes, Champions Onlines, I have to say the customization is sorta "so/so. Its good enough to work in my opinion, and gives many more options then World of Warcraft in terms of body dimentions, size ect, but there are not a ton of options. I give customization a "7".
Crafting: Having played SWG and Vanguard, I gotta say that if your looking for a extreamly complex crafting system, then you might wanna skip this game, however, I will say I did enjoy how they implemented it, and having your companions helping with collecting resources and making things was awesome! Im gonna go out on a limb here and give the crafting system a "8" due to the fact they tried something new and it worked out nicely!
Space: Well folks no BS here, its deffiantly not Rogue Squadron,Wing Commander, or any of those uber space shooters, it felt more like "Starfox" to be honest. I will say for what it is, that I had fun blasting things, and it gave a nice break from questing.I hope in the future they add more complexity to space, and make it more open ended so we can explore, mine resources ect, but im not gonna hold my breath. I give space a "6".
Combat: I gotta say I loved the combat in this game. The action was really fast paced, keeps you on your toes, and was really fun to watch, and lets face it, whats "NOT" fun about force pushing a opponent off a ledge or into a pool of acid? And I gotta admit, kicking a guy in the nuts and watching him bend over in pain was the icing on the cake. Good times my friends, good times...I give the combat in this game a "8.5".
Sound: The sound in the game was just what you would expect from a Star Wars game "GOOD!" I will keep it short and sweet here, the sound effects are awesome, however I feel they need to add more enviromental sounds and stuff to the game to make the world feel more alive. I gotta give the sound a "10" though, its that good.
Graphics: The graphics are not state of the art in this game. nor were they ment to be. They were designed to allowed alot of people the abiltiy to access the game and to have alot of folks in the same area pvping ect without a ton of graphic lag. I liked the fact they gave it a timeless feature, so 10 years from now it will not look completly horrible like "EQ 1" does for example. I give the graphics a generous "8" due to the fact that for what they were striving for in the game, they pulled it off, and it works nicely!
My total score for this game is a "9" Due to the fact it has a few areas I feel it can improve on. The story, sound, and the fun combat will make this a title many will enjoy, and I hope EA and Bioware continues to polish and improve upon its weaker areas as time goes on.With several Operations (raids),PVP areas being released with the game, and over 200 hours of story per character class in this game, I think it will keep many of the players busy long enough for Bioware to add more Operations(Raids) more Warzones, and other end games features. I hope to see you all in Star Wars:The Old Republic.
Comments
That was a well put review.
Here come the haters. A negative review is the only honest one man didnt u know that lol. U like the game u are a fanboi u dont like it u are a hater.
i dont totally agree some negative reviews ive respected as they were the players honest review. they just didnt like the style of game and said so
Of course u can never get the ones who post lie after lie after lie to agree wit u they will flame u for ever for likgn tor cause in there opnion they are the only ones who are allowed to pick what games the rest of america likes or doesnt like
How dare u like games they dont like u know the ones im talking about. The ones who call us simple minded bafoons for liking tor. then cant belive we are upset with them.
You liked most everything about the game. That's not a balanced review!!!! Fanboy!!!!
Please, someone hurry up and tell him why he is wrong for liking something. I'm pretty sure the world will explode soon if you dont.
I agree with every score but sound, I give a 9, and graphics I'm more generous and would give a 8.5.
Overall would also get a 9, unfortunately I think got to experience the fulness of the SWTOR pleasure within the two betas I played ((they reinvited the first weekenders)) since I'm not convinced that I would be experiencing anything new.
I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.
The sound is the only thing I would give a perfect 10. Everything else for me falls in between a 7-9. I can't think of anything they should do to improve the sound. What would make it a 10 for you?
There Is Always Hope!
Nice review, I agree with you on every score. I try not to compare it to SWG, but they did add some very nice features and you can tell they worked really hard.
The biggest reason I am very interested in this game is the questing and territory control. Every MMO I have ever played in my life (since Ultima Online), I've never read the quest text, I would just hit accept and see what my task was. I never got into any storyline but playing several betas of SWTOR, I enjoyed the hours I played just getting to level 10, which I would normally rush to get and feel like it's taking forever.
Tactical Terror
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No Mercy. No Remorse. Just Business.
If it made me go "hey thats a great song!" or "hey! I wish I made that!"
Gotta be something new to be a 10.. (feels good being the ruler)
I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.
I thought it was a good read.
The game is not perfect, and this review does reflect that. I think his findings are very similar to my own.
If you shave about 3 points off of each score, then that's about what I would have given it. SWTOR is not a terrible game, but it's also nowhere near a great game either. It's exactly average. Overall, a 6, and that's because the voice acting and single player story are really great.
Otherwise this is a completely and totally middle of the road, safe bet, no surprises, vanilla, average game.
Also... a SIX for space? A SIX? Maybe if the game had been released in 1995. Putting StarFox in a 2011 (heck nearly 2012) release is a scandal. I only shave about 3 points off the rest of your scores, but space gets a big fat goose egg with a "please take this out of the game before you embarass yourselves" comment to go along with it.
anyhow aren't they planning on changing space combat down the line?
IF.. so, think of it as a foundation for something better
"A SIX! !"
I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.
What exactly are you even trying to say?? Is something wrong with your keyboard??
yeah.....and I think the mods will figure out what you're saying too
I actually liked the space combat, I thought it was a fun change of pace.
Hater reporting in ;-)
@OP you can review a game :
1. According to your tastes.
2. As a professional reviewer (they do exist, but on a few good sites) i.e. know what you are doing and keep a cool head and analyse what you experienced and what actually the game *is*. Ideally, a good reviewer can give good marks to a good game even if he hates the game (or hates its category). A lot of so-called reviewers are wrong because they consider good what they like and bad what they dislike so they are stuck in their individual tastes and can't review properly FOR OTHERS. They will then attract "trolls" and "haters" who will counterattack with their own personal tastes. For instance giving 10 for sound when Bioware forgot to add ambient sounds is surprising.
3. According to what you could expect from the trio and budget behind it.SWTOR is a bit "special" if you consider that Bioware, EA and LucasArts are behind it and it had a high budget. Thus, for instance only humanoids or a weak customization can be considered a very poor decision compared to the potential and IP of SWTOR and could be legitimately judged more harshly than for a modest asian grinder.
Your choice is obviously 1. so I enjoyed reading it but I *can't* consider it a fair *preview* because btw you can't have a "real review" of a mmo if you played only a short time a few starting levels of its beta version.
You know the title of your post implies that those who disagree with you are offering a "non-real" or "fake" review. I tend to think that was your intention since you put it in all caps. Why was that necessary?
Seriously what game is GREAT? Millions of players world wide and we are all suppsoe to agree on one game!
I think you've got the burden of proof on this and I don't think you've done it. I only say this because you are telling the OP what he did rather than question or suggest (it didn't end in a '?'). Was that necessary?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GxXRbSFDg
I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.
Skyrim. 'Nuff said.
While i did find the mocking somewhat amusing (the themsong to the facts of life is just funny in general). I don't need to prove what "I think" as I put in there. I'm not convicting him of something so I don't need to prove it. I just need to read the title and then the "review." The way he worded the title and emphasized the word "REAL" (as he/she puts it) makes it seem as though those that disagree aren't "REAL." That may not have been the intention, but it is hard to find a different reason why someone would put the emphasis on "REAL" if they weren't trying to imply that otheres were "fake." A review is a review, they are all real, even those paid for by companies are "real" they just also happen to be bias. Bias has nothing to do with reality.
What you see as less than average will be more appealing to others. I love how many of you assume that what you say actually matters most, in reality many of these games will have a targetted audiance whether you like it or not. Great example, look at Funcom, dispite their reputation many still support their games like AoC. Is it a fucking huge smash it like WoW? NO! It doesn't have to be. Look at Cryptic,...
What I ment by the word "REAL" was that it was a review by someone that actually tested and played the game. There have been people posting reviews that its obvious they have nevr played the game, and was flaming it to keep others from being intrested. It also ment I was going to give my honest opinion, and not over hype it.Anyone that disagress with me is NOT wrong, we all have diffrent perspectives, but this one is mine. Have a good one.
Sigh... Space was never designed to be Eve or Privateer. It the Tor version of WoW's bombing run quests. It's a vehicle like system for Tor with a twist. That is all. That is all it was meant to be. It breaks the monotony of Fed-ex and kill 10 rats quests. It's a fantastic addition. I would love to see them do more mini-games like this to mix in with thier quest lines.
Thank you for clearing that up, it is appreciated. While I haven't seen any "review" that I would assume has been written by someone who hasn't played the game, I would agree that there are several people reviewing the game that wouldn't like any "themepark" and are pissed that SWTOR is one. This is pretty much how I view those that repeatedly say that the game is a CRPG or a Single player game.
Sadly I've seen so many of these 'reviews' that I don't even read them anymore. See you all at launch!