I love Star Wars, and when Bioware announced their creation of The Old Republic MMO, I could not wait to get my hands on it and play till my eyes bleed. Now after playing the weekend test beta, I can say that my previous enthusiasm was understated, and this game could very well be the next evolution of the MMO. The style of game play in Star Wars The Old Republic is very similar to many of the other online games, where your character has activatible abilities to perform an action such as shoot a baddie or slice him to bits.
The real difference is the way Bioware has integrated their unique way of character alignment adjustment. You have an overall alignment, which is empire or republic, but your character also has his or her personal alignment which can change depending on the way your character responds to the NPC or non player character. This allows a player to be a Sith with a heart of gold or a Jedi who is cruel and harsh. Your personal alignment will also determine what items you will have access to. A character with a high rank of light side will be able to buy certain equipment reserved for light side and vice versa. So you can be a Jedi in all black menacing cloths or a Sith that looks like a former Jedi master and everything in between.
This new way of choosing responses is also accompanied by video quests. For example, when a character in World of Warcraft chooses a quest, a quest text box will appear, not so in Star Wars the Old Republic. Upon selecting a quest your character is substituted in for the protagonist in the clip. He or she interacts with the NPC in much the same way one would if you where playing one of the single player titles that shares a name with The Old Republic. Bioware has done a superb job at integrating the player’s character into the game dynamically, giving your character a voice and allowing them to have up to three different responses to a NPC. This gives the player a greater sense of involvement in the story allowing for much better RP or role playing sessions for those of you who love RP servers.
The players will also receive incentive to form and work together in groups apart from the obvious completion of the quest. While working and responding together, in what the game has called flash points, character players can interact with NPC’s together and the group can alter the way a story plays out depending on the responses of the players. So if you really like getting into your character but find that the lack of interactive NPC’s and quest responses to stifle your suspension of disbelief, then get ready to be swept up in this fun and inviting world of adventure and intrigue that is Star Wars The Old Republic. For more info please visit the official website, www.swtor.com.