Bioware transforms their critically acclaimed take on the Star Wars universe into an MMORPG. Does it have a shot in the market?
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Jared Knabenbauer is the ScrewAttack.com Reviews Editor, Hard News host, and a host of our weekly video podcast, "SideScrollers". He has also produced several notable ScrewAttack shows, including Reboot or Retro, Nametags, and Control Issues. He specializes in RPGs, and has a great fondness for Dungeons & Dragons. A comedian at heart, he is one serious gamer. |
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» Tagged In: #BioWare, #Jared, #review, #star wars, #The Old Republic
g1 DISCUSSIONS
DJ Pon3
Personally I think that Hutt Ball is the best game, where as Alderan is the worst.
Longhaired1isin
This game looks pretty good, so long as they can keep the servers from getting too crowded and bogged down...
benvoliothefirst
From the publisher's perspective, that's a great problem to have!
Longhaired1isin
LOL Indeed :)
Krukmeister
This game looks like it's still in alpha. Not just visually, the overall feel of the game. With all the MMO's coming out soon, this one looks the least promising or interesting.
KingofMadCows
This is a great game but I am disappointed how they ignore basically everything that was established in KotoR2. I know KotoR2 was unfinished and had a lot of problems but it did deal with some very interesting themes that we rarely see in Star Wars.
It dealt with the long term consequences of war, stagnation and corruption within both the Republic and the Jedi, the problem of the Force guiding destiny, the light and dark side of the Force also being conceptualized as peace vs. conflict rather than just good vs. evil, etc.
Plus KotoR2 did came up with the idea of the True Sith. Although the True Sith were conceived as a much more devious behind the scenes type villain that manipulate others to do their dirty work. The True Sith weren't really set up as the kind of opponent who just attack with a massive fleet. It's implied that the True Sith slowly corrupt their enemies from within, causing them to lose faith in their own beliefs, so that they can be crushed psychologically and spiritually.
Grupt
I'm finding myself yell at the top of my lungs "PIMP SLAP" every time my juggernaut does a backhand and i'm starting to think i've lost my mind
mc11064moncler
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A great way to uncover of some of equipment is right for you would be to test this out sign in local health and fitness.Gyms will often have a range of different types which you could try.You would possibly like walking more advanced than riding a bicycle, so the treadmill could well be more appropriate for you
Danimaltl
This game really needs a demo or trial
rlix
this game looks like warcraft plus masseffect
BeKs1-BoY
Fantastic review Jarred, Keep up the good work :)
Quark
Yeah, I had about the same impression with the game as Jared back when I played the beta for a month or so. I managed to complete the Smuggler's campaign, and I really loved the story and most of the characters that went with that, but the side quests got REALLY irritating after a while. Extremely repetitive, especially if you're planning on completing every single one of them, but the story made me happy... though could have ended better than it did.
CrazyDuck
The graphics are indeed nothing mind blowing but well stylized. I like them except for one HUGE one. The draw distance, especially with bloom. It just looks so ... off ... to see all that grass and rocks pop literary a few feet in front of you're character.
But I do like me some Huttball !
And yes it's a "by the numbers" mmo, but I'm fine with that because it's a breath of fresh air to play some other classes and areas than wow (even if it's been 2 years since i played the game)
I'm certainly playing all the classes for the class story line quests and than I'll see if end game or something else was able to hold my interest.
ALLoY20
I would disagree with all the reviews, including this one, complaining about graphics.Sure they don't look cutting edge, but I would wager that 5 years from now they will be appealing to look at. Perhaps not jaw dropping but pleasant and this is never mentioned in any of the reviews I have read/watched. They have learned from one of (what I believe is) WoW's greatest tricks, looking nice by choosing a style over straight up realistic graphics. Take a game like Oblivion for example, I remember that game looking fantastic at launch but loading it up a few weeks ago on my PC it sure does show it's age. However anyone that has ever flown over Nagrand in WoW with a long draw distance can tell you how awesome a sight that is, fields of green and flowing water for miles around. From a game that on closer inspection is less than impressive. For MMOs particularly that is a great strength as personally I find a game like TOR or WoW easy to look at for many hours.
Edit: TF2 pulls this off well too.
Il_Exile_lI
Excellent point, and one that I wholeheartedly agree with. I'll add another example; remember all the people complaining about Wind Waker's graphics when it first came out? Well, looking at it now, it holds up better than pretty much any other game from around the time of its release. I actually think Wind Waker looks better than many of the second tier modern games that go for a more realistic look. Well done style will always make up for lack of technical proficiency, and will still look good long after the cutting edge hardware moved ahead.
TK-KHAN
first review I ever watched.
JinjaBredMan
Great review, Jared. Much of the same I've been experiencing with the game and though its very similar to WoW, the stories and their takes on the trinity MMO roles is enough to keep me coming back for more.... Also its been one of the cleaner MMO launches in recent memory with only slight bugs here and there.
Do it old school
Good review Jared but this game is boring as hell.
genemachine02
I was going to get this game, but not anymore. After watching this review, I realized what a huge time investment I'd have to put in to play it.
werdman24
Love the end score from Episode IV at the end. I'll have to get myself a powerful-enough PC so I can get this game.
scioneon
Hmmm I guess I was in ignorance into thinking Bioware could do no wrong. I have noticed a plethora of the same bugs that were not taken care, of but I am happy to see that even with the same cut past formula Blizzard made. Bioware can still perfect it. Great review.
Ben
Wow. What's up with all the negative stabs against TOR judging whether or not it's a WoW Killer? Of course it's not a WoW Killer, guys. You can't judge MMOs like that, not on the same level as normal games, because MMOs develop more than a following of fans. They develop a culture. The only thing that will ever be a WoW Killer is WoW itself. Or WoW 2.
fiddlebender
Agreed. For some reason people put WoW on a pedestal as if it was waiting for some other game to take its place and steal all its players. MMOs, despite having PvP, are often hardly competitive and unlike in many other multiplayers there is never the slightest need to prove yourself to other gamers. For me MMOs are much closer to something like PS Home than a fighter or a shooter. I guess what I'm saying is that people don't play a specific MMO because "it is the best out there" but rather because it suits them.
Double-T
Can't argue with anything said. well done review Jared, and nice touch at the end with the score screen lining up with the music.
smit
I'd paused the video for maybe an hour now, and after a moment of listening I accidentally mistook Jared from the guy who does GT reviews. I mean the maturity and character to his voice really has a show of "professionalism" and I'm not really sure I've insulted or complemented the man.
Lipnox88
while this is a super negative review I do have to agree anyone who has played wow has already been playing this game for years.
funk master fish
I hope this game sells well; something needs to take down War Craft.
FAWCUNPAWNCH
I hope you'll never get into politics.
DaRuckus
The video isn't playing for me :(
chinogam
i dont play pc game
CoffeeBlack
Then why are you commenting on, or even watching, a video for a PC Game? Hell, the game description or even the fact that it's an MMO should have tipped you off that it's a PC title, that genre only really works on PCs.
werdman24
DCUO works well on PS3.
CoffeeBlack
Not enough to make more people want to play it on PS3 and PC and justify a mandatory monthly fee. My point is that the MMO market is changing, hell the gaming market is changing and the PC gaming market is going to be the testing ground for whatever the new way of marketing, selling and distributing games is going to be because of the fact that PC games aren't tied to a specific hardware life cycle.
Big game developers may make most of their money on consoles by selling games at a set price in physical or digital form, but the profits on one console game are usually very temporary and that's how those companies market those games. The same reason why EA and Activision keep pushing out updated versions of the same games every year is why MMOs just aren't very profitable on Consoles. That market is all about immediate monetary gain whereas MMO's and many other PC based genres rely on their maximum profits being made over a long time. Hell, the new versions of the Wii, Playstation and XBox are probably going to be shown at this year's E3 and WoW has already outlasted the original Xbox, and will probably outlast the current one and the next one, even if it's last few years show a sharp decline. You can't have a game with that kind of life cycle on a console, so people who only play console games usually don't get as invested in their games as PC gamers do.
The PC is the oldest gaming platform that is still going and it is also the forefront of change because it is a completely open platform. The PC gaming market has already gone mostly to Digital Distribution while consoles are still trying to hold onto disc format, and now MMO developers are leading the way in this country by showing that f2p or subscription optional payment plans are not only viable and highly profitable ways to breath life into games that couldn't cut it when competing with the juggernauts of the subscription MMO world (like wow), but it is also a good way to avoid competing with games like that in the first place by making new games with the same payment options. This concept has kept many decent games from collapsing and also given independent developers a chance to experiment and corner the market.
Look at what High Rez has done with Global Agenda, they are a small studio with a pretty decent scifi shooter MMO. They originally launched the game as buy to play, with a payment plan in mind for their territory control match system, but quickly realized that they might be able to grow their audience and make more money by going F2P and allowing people to either lvl faster with booster subscription options or get new/more stylish aesthetic gear through a cash shop. They have managed to not only expand a ton on the original game but have also expanded their company and have also bought the Tribes license. Right now they have GA working for them, Tribes Ascend is one of the most hotly anticipated PC shooters of this year and Smite (their next original property) is looking good as well. All of their games are either F2P or going to be F2P and they have shifted their corporate goals towards changing the way that F2P games have worked up until recently.
The same can be said for a lot of upcoming games and it's making the idea of a mandatory subscription fee look almost old fashioned by comparison. This is something that Blizzard has obviously taken notice of as Diablo 3 (while not really an MMO) will have an auction house that will not only allow people to buy things with real money (making their company some extra profit) but will allow players to make real money through the game too. This is a logical next step and I would bet that Blizzard's next real MMORPG project is subscription optional and that games in the future will allow people to actually make some real money by selling fake items, something that has been tried in the past with things like Second Life, but has also been envisioned in scifi films, television and books for years now. Hell, if you want to see a good example what the future might hold in terms of technology, I would look at the world of OZ as portrayed in the movie Summer Wars. I know, it's like Second Life on steroids, but as companies like Valve push for more integration and trading of items between platforms and games and tying them all together through one platform that also integrates gaming with social media I'm sure that something like that might actually come into being and be successful. It just might now have a user interface like Second Life or PSN's Home where you have a digital version of yourself that navigates a digital world from one game to the next, it's more likely that you will have one piece of management software that ties everything together on multiple devices and allows you to do things on social media that effects your games and vice-versa.
Sry for the long semi-phylisophical post. Read it if you want, I tend to go off on tangents like this all the time, maybe I should right a book.
werdman24
Or better yet, you could just blog about it and have the g1s read it. That can open a lot of eyes.
MaDdOg99
That sir, is just wrong.....
LordoftheDerp
chinaogram shall be my ally, and we shall fight this "master race"
DCDerekUSA
I have a feeling this is one of those few MMOs that will never go free to play.....Galaxies should have went free to play but if they did no one would have picked this up , or at least not as many people would have.
Lipnox88
i tried I trial of galaxies a year ago and they game was still completely unplayable. it was a poorly controlling version of home at best.
DCDerekUSA
You should, they're fun and most of the time,depending on your rig, look better then the console version. I have a PC,360,and PS3 because I'm a nerd and love video games.
dayoda191
I was playing the bata, and liked and hated this game. I like it because i don't normally play mmos but this one was a bit more fun than others. But i found it to very tedious and boring. It was way to repetitive and i had to grind way to much. Thats what i don't like about mmos and thats what i don't like about this game.
Korig
Jared that was a fantastic review. I was half expecting you just to say all the positives about the game but I agreed with the review 100%. I found myself saying out loud "Thank you!" to a lot of what you were saying.
Lipnox88
kinda funny he is honest with this one but he sucked nintendos dick with zelda. Skyward sword fucking blows and completely destroyed the entire review point scale. If good is removing everything that makes zelda the series it is and replacing it with a game completely linear and instead having you replay segments to increase the games overall length opposed to be enjoyable or fun. Skyward sword is a passable wii game due to the motion controls but take those out and this game rivals wii music.
werdman24
First off, take the motion controls out of Skyward Sword and it'll still play better than Wii Music. Second of all, Skyward Sword is still a good Zelda game. Besides, how many times can you reimagine the series? And thirdly, who's to say a game should have a high score from anybody without having to review it thoroughly? Jared played the game and has a great appreciation for it, so his opinions reflect his review.
Lipnox88
Just saying old republic is like 50x what skyward sword is and aside from graphics he seems to say the game is 10/10 in the review but then throws a really low score at it, I just see a lack of consistency and seeing as its definitely better then wow (the current 10/10 mmorpg) and at launch at that I really fail to see how the score is justified. And with skyward sword.... watch the zero punctuation review he seems to be the only person who actually played the game they were reviewing.
STAARScommando
Umm this isnt the first game where everyone is voiced. DC universe online was also completely voiced as well....with some of the voices we have come to expect from DC licensed characters.
This game was sold basically on the name, and while that can be a good thing, WoW style of gameplay doesnt do it for me. Just look at all those people taking blasts and lightsaber slashes to the face and barely reacting....
That being said, and even though it doesnt matter since DCUO went free to play, I believe that is superior game to the WoW formula with a very active battle system that rewards skill instead of quick button mashing right after a cooldown is up. It's a shame that it may never see its true potential.
DCDerekUSA
DCUO is a garbage game that had so much potential and then just fell flat on it's face. The reason it went FTP is because it failed right out of the gate.
Lipnox88
5 hours of each and so far the only reason I even would play the starwars one is the story and when the story was done I would never touch it again. DC universe gave you a huge empty city but the best combat engine so you spend all your time hunting for something to fight. and when you finally do 10 things spawn all at once and wipe you(where were those guys during the past 20 mins I spend flying around the city?)
STAARScommando
While I disagree with what you said about it being garbage, I dont think anyone would disagree that it was a disappointment to expectations. The game is way more fun than WoW and I'm sure TOR. Though the content will never as much as those games, I still have a blast playing it.
CoffeeBlack
F2P status doesn't always denote failure, although plenty of older MMOs have found new life in a F2P or Subscription Optional payment structure. DCUO really did kind of fail, it's not their fault though, they just didn't have the content to back it up. I also think they made a mistake trying to have it be on PS3 as well. They invested so much money in advertising for their console version and in the end console gamers aren't really that interested in an MMO.
Still, it does have a solid combat system and somewhat memorable scenarios involving DC characters being voiced by some of the best voice actors to have ever played them. There is a big difference between SWTOR and DCUO's voiced entries, that difference being dialog trees. In DCUO they have cut scenes and the characters talk to you, but in SWTOR you actually have input, you can choose how your character is going to react and it changes what dialog options are available to you over time. In DCUO you make a character, choose a costume and a side and then run off to do missions. In SWTOR you make a character, choose a class and choose a side and then you spend the entire rest of the game deciding what type of person that character is going to be.
Another thing, for both sides of this argument to consider. While they are both MMO's I would argue that they are appealing to people for vastly different reasons. SWTOR appeals more to people who like story driven content above gameplay and DCUO appeals to people who like fast-paced gameplay over story and substance. After all, SWTOR is more of an MMORPG and DCUO is very much an action MMO with RPG elements.
STAARScommando
I agree that they are for vastly different tastes, and I am more of an action guy, so I like it more. I am also more of a fan of comics and their storylines and characters. I would say that DCUO is more of an action rpg MMO than an action MMO with RPG elements. RPG elements make up half of the game, so I think its more of a hybrid.