Reviews// Star Wars: The Old Republic

In addition to voiceover acting, there is also the presence of dialogue trees. A trademark of many BioWare games, these allow players to choose the response they make when engaging with NPC quest givers. The choice made in these trees has consequences for the player. They can open up differing story lines depending on the choices the player makes and can in some instances alter the player’s alignment.

For, again, in true BioWare fashion there is a light and dark side to characters that have an effect on their features. The more dark deeds they perform the more twisted and corrupted the player’s character’s face becomes. Alignment also has an impact on what equipment players can use, with some items restricted and only available to those who follow the dark or light path.

But it’s not just storyline and alignment that’s affected by the player’s choice of response during these exchanges with NPCs. The companions of the player’s character are also affected by these choices. Every player in SWTOR has a selection of followers, one of whom can follow them as they go adventuring across a galaxy that is not only in the past but also quite distant from our own.

The first companion is granted when you hit level 10 and they are designed in such a way as to compliment the player’s class. A Sith Inquisitor, for example, will have a warrior who can fight close combat while the player stands back flinging lightening bolts from a safe distance. Companions’ affections towards the player can sometimes be altered during quests, creating conversations if they are present, and the player can quickly discover what kind of responses they prefer. Sometimes this can be in conflict with the player character’s alignment, which can lead to some interesting exchanges between companions and the player’s character.

Another gameplay feature that is unique to SWTOR is how it handles crafting. Most RPGs have some form of crafting within their make-up and SWTOR is no exception. The major difference with SWTOR is that the player does not do any of the crafting or gathering of materials themselves. Instead their companions do all of the work for them, in exchange for a small fee.

The player manages this by instructing companions to carry out mini-missions to gather materials and resources and then craft items while the player is out and about adventuring. This negates the need for the player to grind away at tertiary crafting skills exclusively for hours on end.

SWTOR also boasts an extensive skill tree system that allows players to specialise within their chosen advanced class. It only appears once the player has selected their class at level 10 and offers three branches of specialisation. At every level gained beyond 10, a skill point is awarded to the player which they can choose to assign to enhancements that make the player’s adventuring just that little bit easier.

The world of SWTOR is broken up into discrete instances. These are traversed either via shuttles, on foot or using the character’s own vehicle. Navigation through each environment is not difficult as the in-game map is very well sign-posted and quest markers are shown clearly, thus avoiding ‘hunt-the-quest trigger point’ mini game that can be the blight of MMOs.

At level 17-18, the player is provided with their own space-ship. This is used to travel between worlds and to take part in space-bound missions. These are single-player-only, one-off events that consist of the player flying a pre-set course and shooting down targets, not unlike Panzer Dragoon. They can be done at any time and are repeatable.

The player’s ship can be upgraded and in some cases, missions require the player’s ship to be of a certain level in order for the player to even attempt it. This is not dissimilar as to how the Normandy in Mass Effect 2 had to be enhanced towards the end of the game to prevent crew fatalities.