It’s here now- the Galactic Starfighter expansion! Well, it’s almost here. It’s still in beta but the NDA for beta testers lifted and now those who tested it are able to talk about it and tell us all what we can expect. With these hands-on reports from those who had early impressions, we can learn a little more about Galactic Starfighter and why it’s awesome. Massively talks about their hands-on experience with Galactic Starfighter: Combat in Galactic Starfighter boils down to match-based PvP within a set zone, but everything in that zone is as rail-less as combat gets. The 12v12 matches are set in one of two maps available at launch: the Lost Shipyards and the Kuat Mesas. The shipyards lie in space with large stations that can be captured for points as well as in detailed space terrain full of debris and various sizes of ship-crushing asteroids. By contrast,…
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Hands-On SWTOR Review
My pal Jason Thibeault has a great hands-on SWTOR preview to share and with the pre-launch only a few days away, it’s a great way to pass the time and get yourself in the SWTOR mood. This is also an excellent preview for anyone who missed game testing or is just now hearing about the game (have you been under a rock?). We have brought you a lot of SWTOR previews and reviews here and I guarantee you I have read tons and tons of them but there are some things in particular that I really like about Jason’s review. For example, he has a lot of screenshots. These aren’t just typical gameplay shots- he has some great shots of the character selection process and appearance customization which is great for those who did not have a chance to see this in the game for themselves. He also explains the…
SWTOR Review and Cool Stuff from ZAM
Have you had enough SWTOR reviews yet? Now that the beta testing phase is over and we are counting down the days to the eventual launch of the game, it’s a great time to read over all the good reviews and previews we can find. We’re going to continue to bring you some of the best ones, as well as our own SWTOR guides and strategies to keep you informed and entertained before launch- and beyond. In yet another SWTOR review, we have this from ZAM.com. This is a very long 2-part series of a review/preview of SWTOR based on their beta experiences. Editor-in-Chief Chris Tom talks about what makes SWTOR unique and gives some final thoughts on his experiences. He says: “Yesterday, I went in-depth with SWTOR’s story and gameplay, as well as how it all fits with the MMORPG genre. Today, I’ll be talking about some of the…
Massively Has Some Early Thoughts on SWTOR: SWTOR Preview
Massively had a few things to say about SWTOR and they offered us all this “early thoughts” piece the other day. As far as first impressions go, this one was fair and many gamers want to hear the An excerpt: “I was taken aback by BioWare’s lifting of the NDA on Star Wars: The Old Republic last Friday. Few of us saw that coming. I highly suspect that wasn’t when the devs originally intended to drop the NDA.” Ok really Massively? Because I predicted that one the day before it happened… But anyway, on to their impressions: “I am happy to tell you that I have a Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor on Dromund Kaas and Smuggler on Nar Shaddaa with a peppering of other characters on various other planets. I have PvPed alongside one of the best PvPers I’ve ever met, and I have plenty to talk…
Smuggler hands-on from MMOSite
The Smuggler class in Star Wars: The Old Republic is a classic piece of Star Wars lore but what we see in SWTOR is an interesting take on the Smuggler class story. It will be different from the archetype you’re used to and BioWare has some fun things in store. If you want to learn more about the Smuggler, short of being able to play it yourself in game testing, then check out the hands-on from a site that’s been able to play and share (within the NDA, of course). MMOSite.com has a great hands-on SWTOR review of their experience with the Smuggler. If you were trying to make up your mind about whether or not to play a Smuggler, check out this SWTOR preview: Here is a snippet: “Things start to get exciting by level 10 after the “tutorial” aspect of the game comes to an end and players…
Intergalctic Intel: Jedi Consular
“Republic or Empire?” I stared at my friend with a look that only a rage face could express. “What shirt am I wearing?” “Oh…Republic…” We stood in silence for a while. “What class?” “Consular. Jedi Sage to be exact.” Last week as many of you know the press NDA was lifted for levels 1-16 for The Old Republic testers. So this week we’ll be going over the Jedi Consular, and it’s advanced class the Jedi Sage. We’ll try and cover all of the classes before release, but there is a lot to do so let’s dive right in shall we? Story: The Jedi Consular’s story is rumored to be the best one in the game. The story starts you off by doing various padawon duties, until your master falls ill and you find yourself thrown into the status of Jedi and stumble upon something much greater than you had anticipated….
A New SWTOR Flashpoint – The Hammer – Has Been Released
More big news about SWTOR from IGN; a new flashpoint has been released and they are here to tell us something about it. IGN writes today about The Hammer, SWTOR’s newest flashpoint and what we can all expect from it: “The Hammer, a separate Flashpoint set on an Empire-controlled superweapon, is more focused on the cooperative aspects of group play. The Flashpoint is set on a massive weapon designed to fire gigantic asteroids indiscriminately at planets, and you have to shut it down.” If you want to learn more about The Hammer and dungeon runs in SWTOR in general, you will love this 1,000+ word write-up from IGN. They give us a complete, honest walk-through of The Hammer. If you’ve had an opportunity to play a flashpoint already, we’re curious what you think about the potential of the newly announced The Hammer, as well. Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want…
MMOSite Previews SWTOR
As we get closer to the eventual release of SWTOR, we see more reviews and previews coming out. For those who have not yet had a chance to beta or review the game, these previews and write-ups are a great way for us to learn more about the game. But as I always warn here, you have to take it for what it’s worth, which is another person’s opinion. As far as opinions go however, we can usually rely on the gamer sites like MMOsite to give us good reviews and previews of upcoming games and that is exactly what they’ve done here. Their preview is a great overview of the game for those who do not have the time (or desire) to want to go through all the videos, trailers and other information out there about SWTOR. Here’s a snippet: One of the most prominent aspects of SW:TOR is…
Hands-on Preview: Star Wars: The Old Republic
In this article, Leo Stiles of Joe.ie tell us about his hands-on preview of SWTOR. Now that more and more players are getting access to the game, we are hearing a lot of different reviews and previews but it never hurts to get another opinion on the game. From the moment Leo chose his class as a Bounty Hunter, he got treated to a wonderful cut scene displaying some graphics he can only describe as “remarkable”. If the cartoon style graphics have you on the fence then you should really see them in action as everything flows perfectly together. According to Leo, the questing is so well done you won’t feel like your simply “gathering” materials or “counting kills” because they are minor parts to the larger story. Fulfilling the quests in the game are so in depth to the story line that they are entertaining and not a level…
The Lost Suns Issue 3 Preview
If you’re following the SWTOR: The Lost Suns comic series, you’ll be excited to hear that Newsarama has a full, 6 page preview of the comic so you can check it out for yourself. I have been hooked on the series since I got the first issue, hand-signed, in person from Alexander Freed himself. You don’t even have to be a traditional comic fan to appreciate the story of these comics. The series is written by BioWare Senior Writer Alexander Freed and it follows the story of Theron Shan, son of Jedi Master Satele Shan. It follows Shan’s quest to stop the war from restarting and the series gives us a good back story to the game, SWTOR and an idea of the type of storytelling we can expect from BioWare in SWTOR. Even if you have yet to read the first two issues of the Lost Suns, then you…
EA: 200 hours of play per SWTOR class
When it comes to SWTOR, many would-be players are asking about its playability. EA has helped clear up some of the confusion by revealing there will be 200 hours worth of gameplay for each of the six playable classes. This whopping amount of game play will come from the questing and storyline itself and will not include crafting, raiding or the “multiplayer” aspects of the game. They say it’s a “gigantic” game and if what they’re telling us is true, then it sure seems to be. We’re talking endless possibilities in terms of what to do in the game. With that much playability, SWTOR will be well worth its cost for the game and any subscription fees. Gamers of all types, particular MMOers, are looking for more from their games. Technology has come a long way and while snazzy graphics and interactivity are cool, many of us still…
E3 SWTOR Previews/Impressions
As E3 continues and more hands-on demos and reports go around, we find out more and more about the game we are all so eager to play for ourselves. Here are three very different impressions from the E3 hands-on experience worth checking out: PC Gamer Tim Edwards from PC Gamer jumps in with his own first impressions of the game. I love the PC Gamer guys. I have them on my Steam account and play on their servers when they have fun events. I was curious what they would have to say about SW:TOR. This preview begins: “The E3 presentation for Star Wars: The Old Republic is about two things: showing raids for the first time, and pulling together all the disparate threads from a PR campaign that’s lasted nearly three years.” Thank you PC Gamer, tell us more! They go on to give us info about raids in TOR…
IGN editors flashpoint recap
If you’re wondering what the flashpoints are going to be like in SW:TOR, two IGN editors set out to give us a recap. As we know, all great MMOs need group content and flashpoints are one way that SWTOR will bring that to the players. There have been a few early impressions about the flashpoints already but no one can tell exactly what these instances will be like until they have tried them for themselves. Two IGN editors give us an honest, inside look at the world of Flashpoints that’s fun to read and revealing at the same time. IGN Editors Dana Jongewaard and Nick Kolan spend some time in the first Imperial player Flashpoint encounter and they write about it in a 1200-word article on their site. Here are some highlights: Nick: The first thing that sticks out to me is how the flashpoint began. We’re in this big…
Ten Ton Hammers latest impressions after a story-driven six hours with the Jedi Knight
Ten Ton Hammer donned their Padawan robes for their first feature length, hands-on, ten level preview of the Jedi homeworld, Tython. They tell us about one of the game’s most anticipated classes, the Jedi Knight, whether SWTOR’s story-driven approach is fun or frivolous, offer you a first-ever hands-on glimpse of how multiplayer works, and give you the low-down on the first round of SWTOR morality missions like this one: “And just like that, I stumble into my toughest morality mission yet. It’s not because my job is to break up the happy Jedi couple – Jedis lead a hard knock life – but because Moracen offers me a sweet crystal for the lightsaber I hope to build soon. In return I’d simply go off and tell the Master that everything was nice and passion-free again. Grimacing (in real life), I stuck to my guns, imagining I’d just turned down one…
GamespotUK Hands On – Jedi Consular and Multiplayer Flashpoints
The press embargo holding back details from BioWare’s recent “Hands-On Days” in Europe and the US got lifted yesterday. This means we can expect tons of articles through out the rest of the weeks, showing new game play etc. Yesterday we had the pleasure of reading IGN’s 5 hour game experience of Star Wars: The old republic and today GamespotUK brings us a “Hands On” of the Jedi Consular and Multiplayer Flashpoints. On our quest for artifacts, we encountered an illegal colony of Twi’leks–the Star Wars universe’s tentacle-headed humanoids (the same race to which Return of the Jedi’s Bib Fortuna belonged)–who were missing their village protector, a reclusive Twi’lek wilderness expert who had apparently discovered the most ancient secrets of the Sith and nearly killed us by collapsing his remote cave home down onto our heads. We tracked him down to a hidden Sith shrine inhabited by Sith disciples and…
Jedi classes hands-on preview
Eurogamer, Gamespot and pcgamer weren’t the only gaming websites visiting this years EA Winter Showcase. Apparently the frensh gaming website jeuxvideo also took a trip to London to cover the show. Hopefully there will be even more media outlets reportingfrom the show the comming days. The entire article on jeuxvideo is in French so you have to turn on the google translator if you don’t read this language. I wtill recoment you to check it out, as it gives lot’s of new info on the Jedi classes: The impression of power generated by his avataris in fact what immediately jumps to the face. Graphically, the game is doing quite well indeed. The lighting effects and animations accompanying the blows of the Jedi give thanks to their power. Special mention to one of Knight’s attack which allows him to make a leap of fifteen feet with air to spin the key…