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Lifting the beta curtain: Larry's hands-on with SWTOR's beta
Many of my friends in gaming media have speculated as to why BioWare has allowed some media outlets to report on the heavily veiled Star Wars: The Old Republic beta, but frankly, I don't care. It doesn't matter to me that BlizzCon happens to be tomorrow or that there is a possible connection between the start of that event and the lift of this embargo. All I really care about is that I can finally tell you about actual gameplay for this new Star Wars MMO that I've been personally following for over three years now. However, it will be extremely difficult to contain all my experience of SWTOR within the confines of this one article. However, I will do my darnedest. Over the past couple of weeks, BioWare allowed us access to the Republic side of this highly anticipated MMO and pretty much set us free. We can report on nearly every gameplay aspect within the first two planets. Two weeks -- that's enough time for me to run more than one class! And that's exactly what I did. Originally, I wanted to run through two classes that weren't going to affect me much when the game goes live. I accomplished this goal with the Jedi Consular. However, when I started to play the Smuggler class, I just could not stop. I was completely engaged in the story. Jump past the break and I'll tell you all about that -- and more.
A certain point of view: Jef's hands-on with SWTOR's beta
Hey Star Wars fans, what say we recap my recent beta experiences in The Old Republic? I know what you're thinking (because it's the same thing I thought after BioWare's marketing folks sent along an unsolicited invitation): Here comes a giant anti-themepark rant and zomgwtf call someone who cares! Surprisingly though, I had a decent time. I managed to get a Republic Trooper off the Ord Mantell starter planet and firmly entrenched in a few Coruscant quest lines, and I logged over 10 hours of gameplay in the process (in the comfort of my own home, mind you, and not under the watchful eye of a PR droid at a convention). To be frank, TOR's not half bad. It's had a lot of money thrown at it, there's a ton of what passes for modern-day MMO content, and if you're into that sort of thing, you'll no doubt enjoy yourself for a time.
SWTOR impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2011, part 2
Of all the games I was excited to try out at Eurogamer Expo, Star Wars: The Old Republic was definitely the most disappointing. This was supposed to be a big week for fans of the upcoming title, with a firm release date announced during the expo's BioWare talk and a hands-on demo for attendees. The queues to demo SWTOR were understandably long, and with only a handful of PCs at the demo table, players were limited to around 10 minutes of gameplay.
PAX 2011: SWTOR PvP hands-on impressions
The Force was strong at PAX 2011, and BioWare's presence was unmistakably huge. Lines wrapped around the studio's booth at all hours of the day, with hundreds of hungry gamers itching to get their hands on Star Wars: The Old Republic. I was one of those gamers, and I got the opportunity to step into the shoes of a Sith Assassin for a short PvP match in the Alderaan warzone (of which we have some video, if you're more the a visually inclined sort). The devs stuck me on a team with a bunch of other members of the media and then pitted us against another team of a bunch of other members of the media. It was a media melee, you might say. At any rate, follow along after the cut for my impressions of my time with The Old Republic's PvP.
E3 2011: Hands-on impressions of Star Wars: The Old Republic
At this year's E3, four Massively staffers were on site for interviews, demos, and hands-on time with the latest MMOs. You've read about most of what we've seen so far, but now we're ready to tell you about our experiences with what may be the most highly anticipated MMO of the show: Star Wars: The Old Republic. A few of us have played the game before, or multiple times, while this was the first time for others. Our opinions are varied, but you'll notice a fairly obvious theme. Follow along after the jump for more on what we thought of our time with SWTOR at E3 2011.
E3 2011: Hands-on with SWTOR's Imperial Agent Operative
E3 officially kicked off today in Los Angeles, and I was lucky to be one of the first in line for the latest hands-on demo of Star Wars: The Old Republic at the enormous Electronic Arts booth. There were two different types of demo stations awaiting us: level 1 Galactic Republic characters for those who were new to the game and level 26 Sith Empire characters for those of us who were more comfortable with MMOs. I was hot to play the mid-level Sith characters, but first we had to watch a 10-minute instructional video on how to play each advanced class.
PAX East 2011: Hands-on with SWTOR's Taral V, page two
The flashpoint started with our party meeting a diminutive Jedi master who outlined our task. Presumably there would be more lead-up to the flashpoint in the full game, but as it stood, it was more than adequate for the purposes of giving players at least some understanding of what we'd be up against. A few moments later, we were off on the shuttle to Taral V, hoping to cut our way through Sith forces and get what we needed before reinforcements arrived.
PAX East 2011: Hands-on with SWTOR's Taral V
Star Wars: The Old Republic was an obvious hit at PAX East. Fans stood in line for hours just to get a chance to touch one of the most anticipated games of this year and to catch a glimpse of Taral V, the first publicly shown Flashpoint. The excitement to be one of the first to get hands on SWTOR group content was palpable. Our contributing editors Larry Everett and Eliot Lefebvre scored that opportunity to play the game last Saturday. Read on as our intrepid reporters showcase their experiences in the Star Wars universe. Draw your blaster and ignite your lightsaber as we head to a galaxy far, far away... Larry Everett: There are many things that can distract you from actually playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Who wouldn't be distracted by the incredible layered scenery? I'd think the spot-on animations would make you want to attack more, although it is possible that you could attack the wrong target. Perhaps it was the vivid facial expressions that would cause someone to not make a dialogue choice. These have to be the reasons behind the fact that the Jedi Knight on our team completely failed to do his job in one of the most incredibly polished games and easy-to-slide-into games I have have ever played.
Hands-on with SWTOR's Jedi Knight on Tython
Last month, Massively was invited to LucasArts for a whole day's experience with BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic. One of the perks of living on the West Coast is that I get to attend all these awesome in-depth Silicon Valley events and really expand on Massively's sessions at various conventions! For all my enthusiasm, I have to admit I approached this hands-on with no small amount of trepidation. I'm a huge Star Wars fan (I still play Star Wars Galaxies!), but I fell out of "expert" range on the saga a decade ago. Like many of you readers, I've been wary of the hype and even warier of delusions of grandeur on the part of game companies trying to do justice to the IP. I was really afraid that it wouldn't be as good as I'd hoped and that I'd walk away disappointed. And given the parts I saw, SWTOR's not as good as I'd hoped. It's better. %Gallery-108535%
Hyperspace Beacon: Testing the SWTOR waters
If you didn't know already, just over a week ago three writers from Massively, including me, traveled to Seattle, Washington for PAX Prime. During that time, besides catching the flu, we were able to catch a glimpse of some of the games that have yet to be released. We were able to play games like TERA, The Force Unleashed II, Guild Wars 2, RIFT, End of Nations, and many, many others. Some were pretty good; others, not-so-much -- but most seemed very polished and perfect for presentation. Of course, you all know I was there to see Star Wars: The Old Republic. I caught a lot of it. There were six of the eight classes available for demo at the gorgeous LucasArts booth. (BioWare did have a booth there, too, but the team was displaying some small game it was trying to get off the ground called Dragon Age 2.) Visitors had a chance to try out the smuggler, trooper, agent, bounty hunter, and both Sith classes. Because of the enormous lines that constantly encircled the booth, I was only able to play three of the classes: smuggler, trooper, and Sith inquisitor. For this edition of the Hyperspace Beacon, I will give you my impressions of the gameplay for those classes. However, I want to take a slightly different look at them. At E3, Massively's editor Seraphina Brennan was able to give her impressions of the smuggler class -- she covered the mechanics and so on. Although I will touch on the combat mechanics, I have decided to focus on some of the features BioWare is famous for: cinematics, character development, and overall storytelling. Follow after the break, and I will give you an honest breakdown of how SWTOR measures up to its predecessors.
E3 2010: Hands on with The Old Republic's smuggler class
What's the oldest profession? If you answered smuggling, then you're wrong, but you're totally on track for what we're going to cover in today's hands-on! At this year's E3, I had the pleasure of smuggling for fun and profit as I found my ship stolen out from underneath me in Star Wars: The Old Republic. I spent a decent amount of time learning about the game's world, the game's combat and quest system, and how cover works for the smuggler. I also got to witness a bit of multiplayer combat, to get a feel for how the game works in a party. Was it revolutionary? Was it solid? Was it a piece of junk that could do the Kessel Run in an odd measure of distance instead of time? Follow after the break for all of this and more!
GDC10: Hands-on with Star Wars: The Old Republic
I could easily spend this article telling you about the amazing LucasArts Presidio compound, its history and the incredible relics of the Star Wars universe adorning the walls and hallways. But I won't. I could also easily go on and on about how George Lucas and Star Wars inspired my childhood, and how even setting foot in the presence of such greatness was a bit overwhelming. But I won't. Instead, I will focus on the only reason you're reading this: my first impressions of Star Wars: The Old Republic and the Trooper class. Once we arrived at LucasArts HQ, we were introduced to a few members of the LucasArts and BioWare crew, then we each sat down to our very own computer with our very own Trooper class character set up to run through our very own test mission. Although we weren't playing together in the game, we were all set up in the same location to run the same mission. Interestingly enough, we weren't really given an overview of the game or an intro to the gameplay. They sat us down and told us to have fun. There was a print-out of a small cheat-sheet for help with the mission if needed, but I was honestly stuck to the monitor from the second I sat down.
