The Old Republic Preview from PCGamer

“The Old Republic is a monster. I can’t wait to play more.” That pretty much sums up the 1880+ word preview experience from PCGamer.com.

These previews are the best things for those who have not been able to play the game for themselves yet. It gives us all a deeper look into SWTOR, what it is about, what others think about it and what we have to look forward to. Even when you think you’ve heard it all, along comes a new preview or review with info or perspective you didn’t know before.

This is a great review because it does more than just recap the things we already know (although it does a little bit of that, too). It also tells us what makes this game different or unique from others on the market. When you’re looking to invest in a game like SWTOR, especially one with a monthly subscription, these are the things you really want to know.

You will ask yourself “What’s in it for me?” and “Is it really worth it?”

This preview by PCGamer attempts to answer those questions plus more.

Some words on character selection:

I was surprised at the flexibility available in TOR’s character selection – there are far more examples of body types, haircuts, beards and random facial accruements than I’m used to in WoW, say. I was so surprised by just how fat your character can be, I’ve hereby vowed that every character in my menagerie will be artfully modelled on a lardier version of the Pillsbury Doughboy. Even the ladies.

Some words on combat:

Combat surprised me. When you’re levelling in WoW, you’re usually peeling off single baddies from groups, dealing with them one by one. You’re careful to watch for patrols, and if you get ambushed by more than one, you’ll probably have to quaff a health potion or blow a cooldown. Most monsters have one or two abilities that they spam. You’ll die if you take on more than two mobs. In The Old Republic, the default combat scenario is to face three or more linked enemies.

Dialogue and conversation:

I wondered how dialogue and conversation would work in practice: BioWare’s solution is pretty smart. If you’re about to have a story moment, you’ll pass through a glowing green forcefield – creating a separate instance of the game for you and your party. In there, you might fight a baddie, or talk to an NPC, but you’ll do it isolated from other players. All quests are introduced by dialogue and a cutscene, and when you’re talking to a quest-giver, the rest of the world will see a little speech bubble over your head.

Head on over to PCGamer.com to read the whole thing and learn more.

Lisa Clark

Lisa has been an avid gamer since she was old enough to hold her first controller and a game writer for more than a decade. A child of the Nintendo generation, she believes they just don’t make games like they used to but sometimes, they make them even better! While consoles will always be her first love, Lisa spends most of her gaming time on the PC these days- on MMOs and first-person shooters in particular.