Star Wars: The Old Republic PC
User Score
5.7 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2285 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,157 out of 2285
  2. Mixed: 244 out of 2285
  3. Negative: 884 out of 2285

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  1. Jagtus
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    The title is surprisingly good. It has a weird hybrid between single player RPG and MMO but it is not a bad thing. Recommend trying, but it's not my money so use at your own risk.
  2. HET35
    Dec 21, 2011
    0
    this should have been a SP game,i loved kotor 2 and this should have been 3 and loll they expect me to pay every month to play?! NO THANKS to quoye somene I am not enjoying this game at all as a fan of KotOR 1 and 2. The animations are stiff, the voice acting is mediocre at best, and the combat is nothing original. Having the zones instanced makes it feel empty and devoid of life. And when you do actually see groups of people the game is so horribly optimized the game will completely crap itself.… Expand
  3. SHAMEFURDISPRAY
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    The game is essentially World of Warcraft in space.

    It is honestly amazing how Bioware is completely incapable of coming up with a single unique idea for themselves. Do not support horrible developers such as these.
  4. experienceddog
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    This is a world of warcraft clone. the graphics are bad and dumb as poop. I sometimes wonder why there are no many fanboy for this game. It is just an cheaper alternative to WoW, and that game is dumb also. I wanted action game, I got boring mess. Writing is on par with a harlequin romance novel. sorry for poor english not frist language. Hope helpful!! :)
  5. Kage2k1
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I've been waiting too long for an MMO to pull me in like this again. The crafting isn't as deep as I'd like, but its still engaging and if you want to be good at it,you must invest time into it. FP's are amazing fun and group dynamics in missions, especially story missions is absolutely fantastic.
  6. uvdodger
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    The game's story is very immersive and can be solo'd. It does encourage you to team up with friends in order to earn social points and complete flash points. The queue times are a little long right now and yet I'll continue to wait in line to play my character. Bioware did a great job of making you feel as if you own the story. Recommended for anyone who feels that story is important!
  7. canudig
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    This is one of the most well-crafted MMOs of all time. Never once did I feel as if I was grinding. The story is compelling and makes you want to work toward completing missions in order to see what the next step will be. Great job, Bioware. I look forward to seeing what the future brings to SW:TOR.
  8. Triplesec84
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Bioware delivered what they promised to deliver: a bioware-style mmo in the star wars universe. The environments are gorgeous, the stories are fantastic. Group content is fun, companions are useful, and crew skills are far and above the best new feature. This game has forever changed the landscape of MMO design.
  9. Remiwololo
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    truly a disgrace and terrible compared to wow. It tried to be identical to WoW but ends up worse. I wouldn't even THINK about THINKING of getting this game unless I was a huge star wars fan, which im not.
    Total garbage.
  10. RomyA
    Dec 20, 2011
    2
    What a disappointment this game is. As many others have noted, this game is totally linear, way too instanced, and sorely lacking in the feel of an open world, which is so important (to me, at least) in an MMO. The folks at Bioware are great storytellers (Mass Effect rocked) but it just does not translate well into an MMO setting, because it places so many restrictions on the game. For example, Wookies are a favorite race in Star Wars. You should be able to play a Wookie, amirite? Apparently not - I guess the folks at Blizzard were worried that Wookie players who chose to engage in romantic interludes with their NPC companions (no, I am not making that up - it was stupid in Mass Effect, too) would invite comparisons to bestiality or something. Dumb, just plain dumb.

    Nothing about the gameplay feels new. The cinematics are pretty, but after awhile, clicking through dialog menus gets tedious. And seriously, no open space combat? Sorry, but an arcade-style combat-on-rails mini-game just does not cut it in a in a Star Wars game.

    I guess it's back to LotRO until Guild Wars 2 comes out. Please don't let that one be as big a disappointment!    … Expand
  11. Sgtcrispy
    Dec 20, 2011
    3
    Had high hopes for this game, but today they were dashed. One of my biggest issues with the game is the morality system. It has the same issues I thought Mass Effect series had. There's no gray area, you're either a raging sociopath or a heroic god who can do no wrong. It's not even a morality system, it's a point grind. For example. In the game there is a quest where you have to find medical supplies that were taken from the military. You find the culprit, who actually took the supplies to help refugees at the refugee camp. It turns out however, that somebody took the supplies from her. She will tell you where the person that took the supplies went if you take the supplies back to her. At this point I had two choices if I wanted to get the supplies back to the military. Lie to her. Or put a gun to a nearby kid's head and hold him hostage. I chose to lie. Upon getting the supplies back to the military officer I was rewarded with fifty dark side points. Wait, what? Both sides are gray, and there's no real right or wrong answer I think. People are hurt and injured and both factions need the supplies. So, why do you get awarded with the obvious bad or good points? Especially since you need a certain amount of these points for gear. The entire system turns it from a morality game to a currency game. Why should someone be punished for being neutral or in the gray morality like most actual people are? Instead, you're forced to be a one dimension piece of wood. There are other issues I had with the game that generally just left me bored but that was one of the main ones I had. Overall this game isn't completely awful, but it's just so bland and dull I can't find it enjoyable. Hopefully BioWare will fix the numerous problems this game has. I find that unlikely however, as any legitimate complains are buried under pages of BioWare fans crying that they're just a WoW fanboy or console trash and this game is too difficult or deep for them.… Expand
  12. Multiverselol
    Dec 20, 2011
    2
    The gameplay feels and looks surprisingly cheap considering Bioware spent over 100 million to make TOR. To get an idea of how it plays, just imagine World of Warcraft with less polish, 75% less content and way more instancing. Big swing and a miss by Bioware.
  13. Hadrijan
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Excellent game in my opinion, tops WoW hands down and i am comparing the two because i have played Blizzard's game for quite some time and liked it.
    Bioware has done an amazing job with the Star Wars IP and i think the Star Wars fans will be pleased.
  14. Ama
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I can't believe the vitriol out there. Reviews of 0? I just can't believe that people can rate this 0, but I guess haters will always be haters.

    My experience has been stellar. The entry to the game is stable, I've never been disconnected nor has the game ever crashed for me. The gameplay itself is fun (shooting lightning from fingertips is just fantastic) and the Story is unbelievable    . An avid MMO'er myself, I have found myself slowing down to listen to all the story. It is an incredibly immersive and moving experience which I found to be really, really fun. I recommend everybody to try it out, if you have ever enjoyed a star wars movie, this is one to get.… Expand
  15. dspair
    Dec 20, 2011
    1
    This game is just a copy-paste of the World of Warcraft with the good voice acting. Nothing new, nothing special, even the interface is the same - another one soulless wow clone.
  16. Dangerous_L
    Dec 21, 2011
    4
    This game is hardly an MMO. It feels more like a single player experience that you could bring friends along with. I didn't find the grouping mechanics to be all that good, linearity is ridiculous, PvP is a mess, FORGET about exploration (especially levels 1-25)... People are comparing TOR to WoW. I'll tell you this much, I literally went back to WoW after playing this game. I'm actually telling you that WoW has better group mechanics, less linearity, and much better PvP. Not to mention overall atmosphere. SWTOR lacks any atmosphere, I didn't click on any of the worlds I played. Anyone who says this game has more polish needs to get their eyes checked. SWTOR may be worth checking out, like, 6-8 months from now when they work out the kinks. However, it is NOT worth $60+sub. If you're looking for WoW-type gameplay, go play WoW. It's established, cheaper, and works better. God knows I wish they would have just made this a single-player game.… Expand
  17. rucknrun
    Jan 2, 2012
    5
    I just can't get into this game. I put 30 hours or so into it. I am almost lvl 20 and there is very little to explore. Where is the next area? The space combat feels like an after thought. I really wanted this game to be great. I don't mind that is feels like WoW a little bit. I love WoW. It just isn't good enough to pay 15 a month for, 60 for the client is way too much too. They need to start giving us the clients if they are going to charge a monthly fee.… Expand
  18. Tridus
    Dec 22, 2011
    8
    Some of these complaints are just silly. I swear people buy a game without doing any kind of research on it. They didn't promise some revolutionary new gameplay. They pretty much promised WoW, only with Star Wars and a better plot. They delivered that. If you're disappointed because you made up wild expectations and then didn't get them, that's your problem and not the fault of the game. I'm docking some points for the UI being clumbsy, but the game itself is quite fun and the story is great (particularly compared to the disaster that is Cataclysm).… Expand
  19. lockedigitalus
    Dec 21, 2011
    8
    I've played a lot of MMOs (starting with the original EQ, and including every AAA and AA MMO every released), and I really like what SWTOR brings to the table.

    Your class story is the central feature -- and most of them are at least interesting. A few are quite good. Related to this is the companion system, which is like having a really shy person in your group at all times that might hav    e quests from time to time.

    If you like a game experience similar to Mass Effect and Knight of the Old Republic, but with added cooperative and PvP features, you should give SWTOR a try. It isn't for everyone, certainly, but for me it has been a fresh, story-focused take on the typical MMO grind. A slightly different flavor, if you will, one that will please some and irritate others.    … Expand
  20. Apz
    Dec 24, 2011
    1
    It's a decent game if you still like playing MMORPGs. Sort of angry I let myself get hoodwinked by friends again. As far as I'm concerned, MMORPGs will never be "real" games. And what I mean by real games are games that offer actual content and experiences that aren't just tedious and repetitive.
  21. Snipestrifer
    Sep 13, 2012
    8
    Top complaints: 1. OMG SERVER QUEUES ARE SO LONG! Lol every MMO launch has these and by MMO standards TOR's launch has been incredibly smooth. 2. OMG LAG. Again, every MMO launch has this and it will go away soon after launch, new servers have already been confirmed to be added very soon. Also, it could be your Internet, and if it is, you may need a better service provider. 3. OMG NO INNOVATION. Ok, complain about every single FPS then. Complain about the consistency of the Elder Scrolls series and the Mass Effect series, as well as Pokemon (Among many more, especially Nintendo titles). Didn't think so. Bioware EXPLICITLY said that they weren't redesigning the combat, something people over-centralize on, and what they did say was that they were adding a fourth pillar (Story) and making exploration more rewarding, something that this game succeeds at very well, with meaningful decisions within the quests. That and there are very long questlines, which personally for me, is awesome. Holocrons located within tricky to reach areas (No doubt the wiki will have the guide to reach them all already down by now though) makes exploration more rewarding, as well as receiving a generous amount of EXP for every newly discovered location. 4. OMG BAD GRAPHICS. Really? Firstly graphics are one of the least important aspects of a game and treating them with more importance than the basic mechanics instantly makes you a moron. This is a game, not a movie. Secondly, the graphics were DELIBERATELY downgraded so the game could run on slower computers, so Bioware is actually doing you a FAVOR by making the graphics wors, to a degree, it would've been nice had we been given more graphic options to the game though. The style will age better than more realistic graphics however. Examples of this include WoW and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker which still looks awesome despite being around a decade old now (At the time of this review). Besides, the animations are far better than any I've seen in an MMO (That was needed for story character animations and Bioware's "Cinematic" combat, which they talked about a lot). 5. This isn't how a Star Wars MMO should be (Something along those lines anyway). Star wars Galaxies fanboys sad about how their game is being shut down around the release of this one. This isn't another SWG, and if you thought it was you didn't listen to Bioware. It's not their fault that they decided to go in a different design direction than you. Doesn't make the game bad, it would only be bad if their design was sloppy, which it isn't. In conclusion everyone who complains about these "Issues" are stupid or didn't listen to Bioware. You can't judge an MMO at launch (I got early access and played it for around two weeks straight now at the time of this review) because there is so much in it that you can't judge it within a couple of hours and launches are particularly stressful periods for MMOs. WoW's servers literally died at their launch. Now that I;ve finished ranting and gushing over this game, let's get a little more objective and calm. The combat and skill trees are nothing new, and even though BW did let us know this in advance to be honest I did epect SOME level of innovation. The combat has style, but the same substance that WoW had, and I honestly expected some differences that I failed to find. Crafting, is... Bad. Just leave it there. Otherwise i will rage my sad little heart out. At the end of the day however there is only one flaw that matters: The lack of endgame content. I have nothing to do at the end of the game other than couple of dungeons and PvP! The meat of te game is in the story so they seem to have forgotten the endgame content, leaving me bored and frustrated after the story ended. Perhaps they should have given us some endgame story missions or something, because there's not much to do after the grind is over. My advice: Pick this up, do the class stories, then cancel your subscription. Because the stories are amazing, but there's not enough endgame content to justify sticking around after that.… Expand
  22. DerpGames
    Dec 23, 2011
    0
    Terrible, terrible game. Basically a less polished, ultra glitchy, 100% instanced, not open world revision of World of Warcraft with a crappy Starwars skin placed over everything. The graphics are hideous, much like every other Bioware game. The dialogue is hilariously bad even for an MMO. Every race of character is just a slight variation of humans, ie humans with red skin, humans with blue skin. The game is lobby based like Guild Wars, yet Bioware is trying to charge people monthly for this game. Don't support it.… Expand
  23. Kaptain
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    This is a masterpiece of a Star Wars experience set in the MMO genre. Bioware has done so many things right with this title as an epic saga that you forget your playing an online game. Action, adventure, group content, multi-player conversations, epic large group world bosses, gear progression, gear customization, etc etc etc. It is what you expect an MMO to be with some seriously nice surprises. Though I do not dispute the fact that this game is not for everyone (because its an MMO and play as such), I also know trolls will be trolls, and some of the reviews for this game were only created to instill doubt and conflict. I'll lay it out honestly. SWTOR doesn't do a whole lot to push the genre forward with this game, however, what Bioware did, they did beautifully and a fully voiced experience should become the new standard for AAA MMO titles. If you are a fan of MMO's, you'll feel right at home. If you're a fan of epic star wars adventures with interactive cinematic storytelling, you'll be in heaven. This is a well produced, well developed MMORPG with all the trimmings.With the amount of interest in this game, the impossible was accomplished. Bioware managed to launch this behemoth with no downtime, no server lag with the occasional queue for some of the highest populated servers. Smoothest MMO launch this fella has ever experienced. Their do-diligence really paid off here for the customer, and I appreciate that Bioware found success where 99% of MMO launches have failed. This game is worth every penny right out of the box, and I can not wait to see what's coming by way of future content patches. Hold on to your seats, this is going to be one long and epic ride.… Expand
  24. tallanx
    Sep 21, 2012
    1
    let's see here, animations are basically the same stock animations from the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Mechanically the game is practically an exact copy of WoW (not necessarily a bad thing, but certainly not innovative in any way). The story and cutscenes are nice in a way and the VA is generally decent to good quality, but it does get a bit tiring after a while. Is this a horrible game? no, is it a great game? no. It's a mediocre game. And for me it also feels very much like a single player game with optional multiplayer elements, which may very well be what Bioware was going for. For me, personally that means the game is not worth subbing to.

    But the biggest problem, is Bioware's attitude. This game by itself deserves a 6, but Bioware blatant lies, broken promises and just general asshat behaviour towards their customer makes me drop the score down to 1. If they hadn't lied so much about the game prior to release maybe people wouldn't have been as pissed that the game did not live up to what was explicitly promised multiple times.    … Expand
  25. GhostStalker
    Jan 24, 2012
    4
    This is my second review, and this time, I'm downgrading the score to 4. Seriously, those Bioware people are a bad, bad joke. First, they release a game that is not finished (see the Legacy system, as an example). Second, the game has got terrible bugs and graphic glitches, that are (to this date) still to be patched. "Update your drivers", that's all they say. Seriously? That's the standard excuse game developers give when their product is so broken they don't know how to fix it. How come I have 14 other games installed (including the latest and ultra-demanding Skyrim), and none of them show the same graphic issues? Do I really have to bother adapting my computer to the needs of ONE single game? I don't think so. Besides, I am always updating drivers, so... And don't even get me started on gameplay and combat system: Sith are overpowered, Jedi are ridiculously weak, and the skills are so complicated and hard to use, with their different focus/cool down requirements, that I simply cannot enjoy the battles because I have to keep my eyes on the skill bar to see when are the attacks going to be unlocked for use again. But wait, it gets worse: now I get disconnected every 30 minutes because of a certain error 9000, and even Bioware's developers admitted not knowing what is it about, saying that the error is "pretty generic" (see for yourself in their forum, Customer Service area, they have posted something about that)... What a bunch of amateurs, to say the least. For 60 Euros a copy, plus 13 Euros for subscription, I can say I was ripped off, and so was everyone else who bought that piece of scrap of a game. Shame that at this point I cannot get my money back. Very clever of you not releasing a demo, Bioware. Very clever.… Expand
  26. HodGod
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    These gloopy lewdies keep govereeting about how this game has starry mechanics and a baddiwad raskazz. Well they are some real lying grahzny brachnies. I'm just here to say that the game is real horrorshow and good like. Don't listen to these shoots and try it for yerself.
  27. Egomaniacal
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    The MMORPG is one of the most stagnant genres in gaming. New features usually revolve around social or aesthetic elements rather than trying to alter game play. The Old Republic falls victim to this as well. While it's interesting on your personal quests to hear dialogue, the generic quests you run into while you race towards the level cap are entirely unnecessary. They tend to bog down progression and quickly become a nuisance rather than a treasured feature.

    The claim of being a hero in a game full of heroes was never a great premise; you end up doing what you do in every other MMO: fighting a gigantic boss with other people. That's fine. That's what you're supposed to do -- play an MMO with people. The focus on your character and your character alone doesn't work with such a large crowd. Stunted animations, boring looking gear, oddly balanced PvP brackets and of course a community that seems to want to be the immovable object in regards to shortcomings and you have a game that feels entirely sophomoric.

    If you were looking for something exciting and refreshing, this isn't the title for you. If you were looking for a quality MMO to leave Rift or World of Warcraft for, give The Old Republic a few months or better yet.. don't.    … Expand
  28. freacrou
    Dec 20, 2011
    1
    I waited for this game since KotOR 2, however I don't care if they wanted to make it an MMO, at least they should have done it properly. Just everything in this game sucks, after 5 minutes the voice overs begin to suck. I know it, don't try to deny it. Here you can hear my review as voice over:
    http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?tl=en&q=Star%20Wars%20the%20Old%20Republic%20sucks

    (-    -----------------------------------------bottom line---------------------------------------------------)
    SWTOR sucks. BioWare sucks. ElectronicArts sucks. LucasArts sucks. YOU sucks.    … Expand
  29. Witto
    Dec 20, 2011
    1
    I am really disappointed with this game. I was looking forward to it, and yet it fails me so badly. I am a former WoW player, where I know WoW is nowhere near good these days, I hoped SWTOR would save the genre. It doesn't, with ton of bugs and bad voice acting, SWTOR is really a letdown.
  30. AirshipGirl
    Dec 20, 2011
    1
    I came into this game hoping we'd finally see a decent new mmo based on a great IP. Instead we got more of the same - but less! Bioware said they were using the model that made World of Warcraft great, yet I don't see anything that resembles WoW in this game other than the boring kill quest and fed-x quest dressed up in fancy dialog. Also where is the great worlds we were promised? I log into Tython and what do I see? A gorgeous green world that is devoid of life other than the quest mobs we run around killing in packs of three. It is like that throughout the whole zone it seems. When I go into a game world I expect it to resemble a world...at least you know...pretend to be a world. Where is it in this game. I am so disappointed. Let's not forget the running. OMG the running. This is insane. I do not know what it is about this game but I have never played an mmo that made me run so much. The game is by far the worst mmo I have come across in all my years of mmo gaming. Really - so disappointed. :( I will be getting a refund and sending this game back. Do yourself a favor - save your money! This game is not worth it.… Expand
  31. lastcigarette
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    In SWTOR Bioware brings something back to the Star Wars universe that has been lacking since KOTOR and Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. Story. And unlike another MMO that promises Legendary Items, SWTOR actually has weapons and armor that can stay with you throughout the game.
  32. redfish53
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    There is an obvious attempt by someone (usually just follow the money) to cripple SWTOR out of the gate. I've played the game (about 40 hours so far) and I've barely scratched the surface of the content. If you liked Knights of the Old Republic you will like this game, a lot.
  33. mickeysood
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Best Star Wars MMO? yes. This is what i have been waiting for. RPG is finally back in MMO and thanks to Bioware i actually care for role playing part.
  34. amateurdude
    Dec 20, 2011
    4
    What can you say about this game which hasn't been said about every other MMO out there. Everything this game does.. There's other (you know what ones) that do it better.

    It's.. Just the same old regular crap that every other MMO to exist has already spewed out. When you have a terrible developer such as Bioware of Dragon Age 2 infamy and the pants on head retarded EA publishing this was     doomed from the get go.

    And they didn't disappoint.

    If you're looking to play an MMO either stick with WoW, check out Rift, or give DCUO a go. Other than that avoid this if at all possible.    … Expand
  35. Littlebomb
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    The best word to describe this game is mediocre. They straight copied WOW and spent way too much money on boring Voice Overs. I wasn't interested in why Timmy the NPC needed 6 bundles of wood and I most certainly don't want to listen to 5 minutes of why he needs bundles of wood.

    Also the corridor's are crazy. I spend so much time running. The game is mostly empty space. Even the mobs hard    ly move at all. The wolrd feels very dead. The cities are even phased so you don't have the feeling of a mmo.

    Really it bums me out because I want ot like this game.

    I do enjoy the pvp though and the class design though they need duel spec ASAP. (tons of features missing that are very basic like chat bubbles)    … Expand
  36. adamtm
    Dec 20, 2011
    3
    SW:TORs biggest problem that it can not decide what it wants to be, an MMO or a single-player KOTOR3. At every turn the games MMO aspects tread on the toes of its single-player roots and features. While the story is quite enjoyable for example it is a nuisance to play with people in groups.
    Most quests are shared for classes so if you ever roll an alt (and maxing out your current characte    r takes around 2 weeks of casual play, so you will) you will be forced to sit through most of the cutscenes over and over. If you are playing with someone else that didn't see the cutscene yet, it will become a menace to always let them watch the cutscenes that you already saw, maybe even twice.

    Skipping the cutscene is not an option, because either you will end up ruining someone elses experience or you will be forced to watch things play out over and over. Its loose-loose.

    Thats just one of the negative aspects. The archaic MMO combat system doesn't fit with the games heroic feel and story. The world is sterile and empty, feeling unpolished with static NPCs and barely any ambient sound effects, obviously limitations of the MMO engine they are using.

    In short the game has a severe identity-crisis. It excels in no aspect but isn't a disaster in either of them.

    If you are looking for the signature Bioware experience with deep story and interesting plot, SW:Tor is not for you. Their single-player games have higher quality and more depth.
    If you look for an MMO different from WoW in its mechanics, its not for you. The design of TOR is WoW from 2005, not a 2012 rendition of an MMO.

    Who is this game for anyways?    … Expand
  37. Altairzq
    Dec 20, 2011
    3
    This game is half single player and half mmo but doesn't seem the MMO part will be enough to keep it intereseting in the long run. Since i'm mostly interesetd in the MMO part and not the story I give it a 3.
  38. Stargate476
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Please do not listen to most of these 0-4 raters because most of them never actually played the game, they simply are wow fanbois who come here to hate on a new MMO, before rating this or hating on this try it out, Not going to lie and say its the best of all time but certainly holds my interest a hell of alot more then wow did, and leveling is actually FUN no walls of text. Sure there are bugs and features we would like to see fixed/added but what mmo doesn't especially at launch. Overall a great game and you should definitely give it a shot.… Expand
  39. Robbathehutt
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    This game could of been so much more, but ultimately it is simply World of Warcraft clone set in space. Nearly every aspect of the game can be found in WoW down to the UI, the spells (just with different names) even the classes are WoW clones. However, being a WoW clone isn't necessarily a bad thing as WoW was a great game, but SWTOR is like going back in time and playing WoW from 2004. It's missing many of the core innovations that other MMOs have made since 2004 like a group finder tool, phased zones, and dynamic questing. But things aren't all bad in SWTOR despite the graphics being lackluster for a game released in late 2011 the one key innovation is that the entire game is fully voiced and the story is often very compelling as you would expect from a Bioware game. As much as I wanted to completely dismiss this game as another WoW ripoff when I first played it, the more I played it the more I was drawn into the story and more my character and the supporting cast meant to me. So even though I am disappointed by the missed opportunities of what SWTOR could of been I can't deny that WoW clone or not the game is still FUN and that's all that really matters. I don't know if I'll subscribe or play for 6 years like I did WoW but I do feel like my money was well spent even if I only decide to play for the first free month.… Expand
  40. Triggerhappy
    Dec 21, 2011
    8
    An old-school mmo rpg with largely unappealing graphics, many traditional features and several great twists that create a genuinely new experience. The role-playing storyline allows for a solid level of immersion; the accent has clearly been on the levelling aspect rather than a rush to endgame raiding. For mmo newcomers it may be a bit rough; for veteran mmo grinders and achievers it will be mind-numbingly easy; for someone who´s had a few short brushes with the genre like me, it is thoroughly enjoyable.

    For people who were expecting this to replace wow, this will be a sore disappointment; there is not even a fraction of the endgame content that Wow has to offer, and there certainly is nothing of the reputation farming, honor points farming, achievement hunting, Arena muscle-flexing etc. This game will never become an "e-sport" and for a large majority of wow fan base who need "competition" it won´t deliver. Yet it is worth the money; I expect to comfortably play it for three to four months, enjoy a few storylines, revel in the grouped instances with group conversation choices (awesome!) and, well, sign off.

    It´s a game for a few months, well worth the money in my opinion. It´s not a wow replacement at all.

    On a side note, when comparing to Wow, consider how much Blizzard is earning every month for its 10 mio+ subscriptions: three months worth of Wow subscriptions would fully cover the SWTOR development costs. The gap between Wow and TOR is huge, and this game will NEVER come even close to that budget. Bioware are still essentially a basement developer squad compared to the behemoth that is Blizzard. Modify your expectations accordingly.    … Expand
  41. Jingo
    Dec 25, 2011
    4
    This was a big disappointment. Sure, it's great that Bioware has inserted a ton of voice-acting in the otherwise text-based genre, and a bit more story in questlines. But that's it. For the most expensive game in history? It's a real shame. The graphics are so 2002, the environment is utterly lacklustre. But the worst thing was the combat. You just click on your enemy once then select some hotkeys. Ugh. In a world when a cheap game like Mount and Blade gives you the immersion of timing and aiming your sword-swing while galloping past on your horse, why is it that the most expensive game fails so miserably? A bit of innovation, some modern game-play controls and up-to-date graphics would have made SWTOR a real hit for me, but there's no way I'm shelling out subscription money for a game that could have been made when Saddam Hussein was still ruling Iraq.… Expand
  42. ThomasVII
    Dec 31, 2011
    4
    I'm enjoying the voice acting and the graphics are great (except for the lack of AA?). I'm finding it very difficult to get immersed and thats very important to me in an mmorpg. Seeing 'my' companion everywhere I go, running along side another 'chosen one' really ruins the personal aspect of them and the story line.

    I'm playing a Jedi Consular, master of the force. Except I'm pressing one     of the three buttons to strike with my lightsaber or throwing dirt in my opponents eyes coupled with a ming vase to the face, that happens to be buried under the hull of a spaceship? That, to me, doesn't feel very 'Jedi like'. I expected to be throwing NPC's and other players around the room, jumping ridiculous heights or at least feeling like I have some degree influence over the physics around my character. I will try out other races and classes during the 20 days I have remaining of my sub but I shouldn't have to work at enjoying a game.

    The story is single player orientated and it shouldn't be. An mmorpg for me should feel like you are part of something bigger than you are, like every player around you is important and not for the most part background/ tools to be used. Being surrounded by the 'chosen one' ruins it for me. The story doesn't suit the genre. If I wanted a great single player adventure with a social aspect, I could play Final Fantasy 7 with Skype running indefinitely, with no subscription costs. I'm really disappointed. I wanted SWTOR to really shine.    … Expand
  43. shadus
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    This game is a disappointment. That being said It's not a bad game. First the good points... The sound is one place the game really shined, but sound alone doesn't make a great game... and when I say sound I mean ALL of the sound. The music is very good, the voice acting and cut scene sounds are top notch productions as far as I've played in the game. If top end sound is a priority for you give this a try, it really does show where the future is headed and what can be done with a good budget and being willing to put forth some budget on the sound. The crafting system is also an improvement over the sit for 15m and watch a bar repeatedly zip to the top 400 times system that has become common place in many games. The downside is the combat and feel of the game is pretty much carbon copied from another large aaa game with a sci-fi skin pasted on it. The choices you have with your character feel contrived and limited as far as real skills go. The instancing level the game exhibits with 300 carbon copies running around doing exactly what I am doing being "the one" is a complete disappointment and is highly immersion breaking. The problem is, in my aspects it copied from another aaa game, but failed to innovate on the same formula. After the previous attempt with making a mmo with this ip it's easy to understand Bioware wanted to be more conservative, but they exceeded the bounds of reasonable in the degree of conservatism they are exhibiting. People have been playing games using roughly the same formula and style since the mid/late 90s and many are beginning to tire of the exact same formula. The biggest issue is that the game lacks the innovation you would hope to see in such a big aaa title. The game also lacks the polish you feel in the older games in the genre that it is similar to. The game already feels dated because of the many choices they made with regards to combat and core game play with many of the free to play games showing better feature sets even. However, if you're looking for a very well designed game that is largely a sci-fi re-skin or you're looking to be a part of the star wars universe as your primary concern, look no further-- this is the game for you. If you're looking for something different, something unique, and a change in functional way a game plays, this is not the game for you it fails completely on that front.… Expand
  44. iminay
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Trolling aside, this is the NEXT BIG MMO, and is a good game. Ignore all the negative reviews who are scared their MMO of choice is going to be a wasteland in the next few months due to people jumping on the SWTOR bandwagon
  45. philwinkel
    Dec 22, 2011
    0
    Had SWTOR been released 5 years ago, it would have been great. Unfortunately, this mmo basically boils down to the things we've all done 100,000 times already. Kill X mobs, retrieve Y items, hand in the quest, rinse repeat. The voice acting sounds really stiff, suffers from lackluster enthusiasm, and the script itself sometimes makes me shake my head. There should really be an option to install the game WITHOUT the voice acting, because it's so bad.

    The only way you would enjoy this game is if you're a HARDCORE star wars fan who hasn't played MMO's to death already. If you've spent any significant amount of time playing MMO's you're probably going to get bored of this one pretty quick, because it's the exact same thing.

    I thought I'd at least get a month out of it... at this rate, I doubt I'll make it a week. Rather disappointing.    … Expand
  46. chainzor
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    This game is getting a LOT of heat for being a dull WoW-clone. Fair enough, they copied a lot of what -works- in WoW. In my humble opinion, a lot of the criticism completely misses it's own point - this game IS, in fact, innovating. I don't think they 'wasted a lot of money on voice acting', I think it's money well spend. When i first got into the game, I was very chilled, my expectations were super-high, and met by an according cinematic - that thing rocked. I was taken to the character-creation - no Eve Online creator, still, more customization than World of Warcraft ever offered. The first 10 levels were amazing, when I moved from the tutorial-planet I felt like I did after playing the first part of Age og Conan - difference was the good stories and awesome voice-acting didn't stop here, the whole thing didn't just turn in to 'go out and do whatever, kill some boars if you like or something'.. Nope, I find even the side-quests interesting, and grinding very optional. Then there's the combat system. Well.. They didn't exactly re-redefine.. well anything. BUT, people tend to look back at the games that did, and forget why they're not playing them. The locked-target ability system does offer some things, it's clearly not very confusing (although targeting could have been sneakier), and it makes it more important how you prioritize your skills, then how well you make a headshot, make wierd combos, or whatever innovative fantastic combat system that for some reason isn't popular enough to beat this classic in popularity. The 2 points from 10 comes from a couple of things - the gear, for once. Ouch. I got my sweet jedi-robe at lvl 14-15 and then it just kinda went down from there. PvP-gear was much harder to get, but made me look like a silly homemade halloween-costume aiming for a mix of Superman and Julius Caesar. Very weird, and not very cool. Another thing that disappointed me was spaceships. I'd hoped for an implementation where you could be a group manning a spaceship, and it'd matter, and you could buy new ones and such, but in reality the 'locked on route'-type spaceship missions made me wanna get it over with and get back on land. However, overall I'm having a splendid time, and I really think it's worth the while. Maybe even worth the queue-times.… Expand
  47. Alkanine
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    Think about Hell Gate London, but now place yourself in the Star Wars universe. Now take away all of the fast paced action and clear the nostalgia out of your eyes. What you are left with is a WoW clone based in space where clicking on an ability equates to a long tiring grind in a universe that was once alive and is now dead. This MMO is **** the hype makes it worse. Thanks for nothing Bioware.… Expand
  48. cgron
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    As a long time MMORPG gamer, SWTOR is a breath of fresh air. I hate reading quest text, in fact, I never bother with it. I just can't get interested enough in whatever kind of BS lore the game team came up with. However as a huge fan of Mass Effect, the dialogue choice BioWare chose to go with was a major selling point for me. Not only can you choose what your character says, but if you're in a party with a friend, both of your characters (up to 4) are featured in the cut scenes and have a chance of speaking. I love that.

    I think as far as gameplay goes, it is standard MMO gaming. NOthing was reinvented except for the way quests are accepted. Storyline seems like a useless addition to most MMO's. In SWTOR - it's prevalent.

    I believe this is setting a new bar in MMO storytelling, and I expect future games to follow this successful path.    … Expand
  49. Thaltom
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Star Wars: The Old Republic's biggest features are it's class stories, companion, and alignment systems. A special runner-up prize will go to it's crew skills, but I'll get to that later. Bioware's claim to fame as always been it's writing and story. Characters and stories really seem to flow together and I frequently found myself doing quests because I wanted to keep the Imperials at bay, NOT to get to level 20; as a veteran MMO player this astounded me. Your companions are much more than pets. Though they do help in combat, they are also mini-chapters of the story themselves with priorities and personalities. Of course you cannot have a Star Wars game without the mention of the Light and Dark sides of the Force. Your character will travel down these paths frequently becoming either a bastion of good or an unholy terror on the universe. Whatever gripes I have with this game are very minor. In fact, my biggest concern has been the UI customization and that it being implemented in the next content patch.… Expand
  50. DeathTouch
    Dec 20, 2011
    7
    Can use some more polishing, but have been enjoying myself quite a bit. All I can say is get a friend(s) to group with and have fun, better yet get into a guild with like minded people.
  51. MasterPJ
    Dec 21, 2011
    0
    The year is 2007 and Blizzard release a star wars MMO skin. They decided to concentrate on awesome audio...skipping all the other key elements: Graphics (Cartoon which makes the game lack any serious appeal), Gameplay (Wait...I watched the movies...is this really Startrek?...no wait it's meant to be starwars right?), Storyline (This game should be a racing game...why? Same loops different scenery), Uniqueness (Did I mention the year is 2007 and Blizzard make a startrek skin for WoW?...dammit I meant Starwars!). So all in all - If you are 12 and fresh to the MMO's world, you'll be highly impressed if you had a lack of any education. If you have had at least half an eye open over the last 5 years and watching even just gaming adverts you'll see this game is just a 'cash cow' with little new or even an appealing environment. This is what is wrong with today's MMO gaming (SSDD). I think even some of the hardcore Starwars lovers will fail to see the appeal of this game. But it's new, it's shiny and it isn't Azeroth and this is the only reason why this game gets any ratings.… Expand
  52. Cameirus
    Dec 26, 2011
    2
    Disappointing. Very. Servers feel dead due to instancing and planet only chat channels, the storey based focus means you cant play as a group as the amount of people allowed in instanced storey areas is limited. balance is way off with some classes dominating pvp. Lack of MMO features such as group finder. Numerous graphical bugs, random disconnects, and bugged resource nodes, and options menus dont remember settings through loading screens.
    Travel times are high, which feels like a time sink, and yet worlds are very linear, you cant explore at all without hitting an "exhaustion wall". The voice acting is ok, but far too much, you spend alot of time just watching it, or skipping it, and its very repetative using the same phrases over and over and over again, plus the option you choose for dialogue sometime bears no resembalance to what your character actually says.
    Combat feels clunky, and targettting is a nightmare.

    All in all its a mediocre single player RPG, with a very bad and poorly implemented lobby feature. Feels half finished and very dated. Servers feel like a dying mmo not a new one.    … Expand
  53. Deadalious
    Dec 21, 2011
    1
    Shouldn't be marketed as an MMORPG, feels mostly like a single player story driven game. The elements which make this an RPG feel very thin, the graphics are outdated and bland, the combat is repetitive and does nothing new to reinvigorate the same mechanics games have clung too for years.
  54. Esoteric
    Dec 31, 2011
    4
    This is bugged just like Warhammer Online was [same devs] at launch. Apart from completely broken animations and combat responsivity this is just another generic online game with awful graphics. Character customization is even more primitive than in WOW [which is quite an achievement]. Also, this game have very high pc requirements, so if you don't have top RIG then stay away.

    5/10
  55. Malefactor
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Easily the best Themepark MMO on the market today, all the familiar trappings gamers have come to expect from the themepark model, plus a new take on questing and the biggest addition to the genre to date: STORY. Highly polished gameplay with the trademark BioWare cinematic storytelling is a match made in heaven. Excellent game would (and have) recommend to everyone who likes MMO's (themepark), Star Wars, and BioWare.… Expand
  56. Vervayne
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Fully voiced quests, class quests spanning 50 levels, group quests, open world PvP, battleground PvP, space games, missions, flashpoints..there is a ton of content in this game. Other exciting features are social points, legacy levels, and the flashpoints are a new take on dungeons that make them so much more engaging than dungeons in prior MMOs. It really is a top notch MMO.
  57. goopie
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I found this to be one of the most enjoyable games I've played in a long time. Each class has an engaging storyline that draws you in. It ties the strengths that Bioware is known for to well established MMO concepts. The execution is good, but not perfect. Is this a WoW killer? No. Is this able to stand the test of time as a great game? From what I've seen so far, yes.

    I have mostly conce    ntrated on PvE and Flashpoints (Instance group actions). I have found both to be a lot of fun and they don't feel grind'y, which is my largest complaint with WoW.

    Regarding balance issues that some people seem to complain about, well, the game JUST got released. There are always some tweaks that need to be made. Give it a short while to test the waters.

    I love the Voice Acting. It makes this engaging instead of reading the same text over and over again. Is it perfect, no. Is it more engaging than a game like WoW. Yes.

    Everyone has their favourite MMO and everyone wants this to be better. Give it a bit of time to evolve. These things tend to be organic based on how people play it and what they enjoy most. Feedback is the best way to improve this game. For now, I'm enjoying this game for what it is. In a year, my opinion might change.    … Expand
  58. LedBetter11
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    ToR is a really polished, deep, well made game that I think is not only a fantastic MMO but is a fantastic SP RPG as well. The story is so engaging and is as well written and voiced as Bioware's single player offerings. Give it a try if you enjoy MMO's or just RPG's you will really enjoy this game!
  59. jayishere
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Awesome game, everyone giving it low scores is absolutely trolling. It has everything I look for in an MMO, and more. It is actually original and has an amazing story behind it.
  60. Hobnobb
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    An excellent MMO with so many different aspects included. The story and voice-over are just two fantastic things about this game - crafting, space combat, PvP, morale system, and flash points; everything is a blast.
  61. Darkstlkr
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    If you go in to this expecting it to be like galaxies you will be highly disappointed. This game has more star wars feel to it than galaxies ever had I love this game.
  62. ShinKagato
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    Its hard to say what makes this game so incredible, is the the stylised clone wars graphics, the orchastrated music or the fantastic narritive? I think its a combination of all of this and more. The game itself dosent feel like an mmo, from the very beginning if feels like you are playing your very own rpg based in the star wars universe and there just happens to be other people running around in the same world. It feels very much like the original KOTOR games right down to the companion quests and the combat. The standard bioware dialogue tree is there and it allows you to make decisions that will not only effect your alligent between dark and light, it also effects how your crew look at you and both are not always tied together. For instance, its possible to be a Sith making dark side choices but loose the respect of your crew because of it. This makes playing the game a unique balancing act, as a Bounty Hunter i feel no pressure to lean one way or the other and i make choices that i feel are appropriate to the situation, on the other hand a friend of mine is struggling to always make dark side choices as a sith because he feels he should, but they are not always things he agrees with.

    A lot has been said about the graphics of the game, some love them and some hate them, the styleised approach is a wise one considering the type of game it is. Keeping the look away from realism stops them from dating as quickly as Galaxies did and allows the facial animation to shine through. The bold and colourfull environments do a great job of reflecting the Star Wars lore and never once do you feel that you are looking at something that could look better in a different engine.

    The controls are standard mmo and that is perhaps the one thing about the game that isnt unique, you use your mouse to control point of view, ASWD control directions and the number keys are your attacks. The actual combat however looks great, as a bounty hunter you can engage your jetpack and fly Bob-Fett style above your foes raining rockets and blaster fire on them. As a Sith you can fire lightning from you finger tips and watch your enemies squirm in pain, the game feels authentically Star Wars.

    Overall if you are a fan of Bioware titles, enjoy playing mmos or even just have a love for Star Wars this is the game for you. The strong story telling and excellent voice acting will keep you occupied when your friends are not around, and the execellent Flashpoint events (where everyone can have a dialogue option) will reward you for playing with others. I have no problem rating this one with a 10, its easily the best MMO out there today and is amoungst the best rpgs.    … Expand
  63. popo
    Dec 21, 2011
    1
    There are so many things wrong with this game, I don't even know where to begin. I know many how the user reviews have covered most the the flaws (unlike the obviously paid official reviewers), but I'll try to cover some as well. Character customization: For a game set around you being the hero who saves the galaxy, which in this very concept is already incredibly unsuited for an MMO, it does not offer to allow the player to design their characters the way the would like. First off, there are 8 races to choose from, but they are basically all human recolors, by which I mean they all look the same, except for the colour of their skin and occasionally a few extra features like horns or tentacles. This is unacceptable considering that Bioware had one of the most rich lore in terms of aliens to work with. I hope you are ready travel around with everyone looking almost exactly the same. Now on to the character models: there are only 4 and they are the same for each races. On top of that, you must select from premade faces. This is also unacceptable for a game released in 2011, almost 2012. Even low-budget Korean MMOs manage to offer a face maker to allow further customization. I'm not asking of ABP-like customization, but this is ridiculously below the average standard of RPGs these days. Story: This is suppose to be the major selling point of this game. We are supposed to be able to enjoy KotOR 3 to 11, but this turns out to be a deception, if not a straight out lie. First of all, class story-driven quests consist only roughly of 30% of all the quest you will do, the rest are repetitive quest shared between all classes. This means if you want to play multiple classes to enjoy each story line, you will have to replay a great majority of the same quests over and over. And the non-story quest are extremely repetitive in themselves already, since they mostly consist of fetch quests, kill X amount of creatures quest or "go active this control panel" quests. And these quest will not have any impact on the world you are playing in so you will often end up asking yourself "what was the point of that?", it is a very unrewarding experience. And quests of this nature should not be so present in a modern MMO, this is the kind of thing you expect from a game from the early last decade, not a big budget modern game. Now, the actual story isn't very better. The voice acting is pretty mediocre in the sense that its quality is very fluctuating. Some NPCs will have credible voices others will be painfully bad voice acting. In general, this will be average, but the voice acting clearly fails in critical moments where the drama is broken by horrible voice acting. It would have been a nice addition if Bioware had managed to do it right by keep a consistency in the quality of their actors. Now, about the moral choices, it is clear that Bioware is constantly dropping in quality in this area. Compared to their earlier work, this is absolutely unacceptable. The notions of good and evil are extremely childish in this game. For example: there is no room for arrogance or greed in the dark side, when you are bad, it means you are just plain evil and will kill everyone on sight. The writing resulting of your choices is pretty bad and often seems illogical. Not a very enjoyable experience if you intend to role-play, or at very least if you want a game that wont make you cringe at every line of dialogue. Combat: This is probably the weakest part of the game. I heard it's practically like WoW, but I have never played it. I hope you enjoy standing around click the same buttons over and over in the most uninspired manner possible. The gun fight is pretty horrible considering the game does not encourage any usually shooting related strategies. Forget about covering fire, relocation or dodging, this game encourages to stay where you are and unload everything you got on your enemy while he does the same. This often looks ridiculous when you are fighting another gun-wielding class and you just stand in front of each other, blasting yourselves apart until of you dies. Not fun at all. As for saber wielding classes, it's kind of the same flaws: there is no gameplay involving what you would expect from a sword fight. You just go to your enemy and click on him until he dies. This feels nothing like fencing, is extremely unimpressive adn you will get bored of it very quickly. I don't have much characters left and there are plenty of other things to write about. I suggest that you read other negative reviews so you don't get caught buying this game and feeling bad for wasting your money. Don't bother with the people who give 10/10, it seems they are the kind of fanboys that were omnipresent on the official forums. If you dared point a flaws in the beta (which is the whole point of a beta), you could expect a barrage of insults as if you had insulted them personally.… Expand
  64. jkerley17
    Dec 21, 2011
    9
    I played WoW for 6 years. I've played a lot of MMOs in between as well (AoC, Aion, Rift, STO, etc...). This is the first MMO I have played since WoW that I am actually excited to go home and play. Everyone is entitled to their opinion... but really??!! Of the absolute crap that is out there you guys rate this game less than average (a 5)?!?! I think this game will change MMOs much like WoW did.

    If you liked WoW but want something a little different with heavy emphasis on story this game is it. Companions are great, group dialog is cool (need more of it), solo story is great. Needs better character creation/options, fully fleshed out space combat/quests, and no queues. The real test will be if BW can continue to dole out content that keeps the end game going for PVE players (same with any other MMO, I don't PVP so I don't know what the state of that is).    … Expand
  65. theJexster
    Dec 22, 2011
    3
    After anticipating for 3 plus years this game was a complete disappointment. In beta, and on into launch this game has continued to underperform. Shallow unimmersive, limited, under underwhelming. I love Star Wars, and I love MMORPGs, and I wanted to love this, but the second I saw the pathetic attempt at character creation I knew this game was a shell of what it should be. From then on it was one let down after another as the game began to unveil itself. Planets felt dead, small, and tiny. Ships were big, but lifeless and completely stagnant. The classes had all been done better somewhere else (either in other real MMOs or in the Star Wars single player games). The story (which was said to be the most developed feature) was not the 8 unique experiences we were expecting. It is 8 starting stories that merge into the same overall story once you begin to level past 15. The PVP feels like any Xbox FPS, not a massive War. The animations were underwhelming. The space hubs make the planets pointless. It feels more like a game where you log in, pick your instance, load it, clear it and re-peat. It does not feel like a MMORPG.… Expand
  66. Darthultros
    Dec 22, 2011
    3
    This was supposed to be a great game, but Bioware fall short on this, here is why: Lazy

    This is perhaps the biggest misstep. Bioware and Evil Arts cut corners by licensing the HeroEngine instead of developing their own. Now, as a developer professionally, I would normally say "Good for them," but it is painfully clear not much money went into developing this engine into something for a AA    A MMO. As of 9/2011, the engine still does not support multiple cores nor a 64-bit client. Even WoW supports multiple cores and a 64-bit client.

    This is sloth, and the fact that BW/EA did not bother to invest in the backbone of this game. Players will burn through your content and dialog. And when they get into the routine of playing the repetitive parts of the game, they will really start to notice how little was put into this engine.

    Ignoring your users

    The community management sucks. The interaction is canned corporate responses. There is no detail, the only admitted problem is Taris and that's only because quite literally hundreds of players have fallen into a figurative black hole on that world. This is a poor way to treat your community. To treat them like children. As if giving them information is something they could not handle. Your customers are not asking you to cater to their every whim (well, most of them), but they do enjoy having information that allows them to make informed decisions... like... do they actually need to upgrade, or do you have a really crappy, inefficient engine that you'll eventually patch and do we just suffer or spend our money to get new hardware. Stuff like that. This smacks of pride.

    Being greedy

    Another major misstep here was the revocation of a grace period and only reinstating a small span of time after the community set you on fire for it. Given the insanity of the postal services during this time of year, the seven day grace period would have shown forethought and consideration. Can't let those players play an extra week! They could be giving us money instead!

    Given the fact that this is EA, if the cost of maintaining a viable player base, due to initial craptacular implementation or lack of project planning, costs more money, they are going to court the players until they at least make ends meet so they can save some face in front of the investors.

    One of the reasons WoW did so well was that Blizzard had all its eggs in that basket. SCII and D3 were not coming out for a long, long time and SC:Ghost was scrapped. They had to stick it out and make it profitable and look at it now. Be sure, if EA can figure out the numbers to make their enterprise more profitable that does not involve SWTOR (in the short term), they'll cut this project quick.

    Fostering anger in their community

    This one is on the community management again. They foster this environment. Poor details, poor handling of users, poor customer service. Closing duplicate threads with the snarky "Go here" as if to hide the sheer number of pissed off people. It all contributes to the community's anger at how this is being mishandled. Eventually, that anger is going to translate into people not staying past the free 30 days.

    WoW Clone, Family Guy Style

    This game is WoW without all the bells in whistles. It starts out sleeker than WoW, but is missing things that are pretty integral to WoW's success during the end of Vanilla and Burning Crusade. A solid end-game, both PvE and PvP. Better community tools like a group finder (I mean a group finder, not a cross-faction hullabaloo) and so forth. Three years and 100 million dollars for a watered down WoW clone with an exhaustible story and thoroughly abused IP.

    Engorging your servers

    I chalk this up to servers. Yes, everyone has launch issues, but given the fact that they put us through that painful EGA, you would think they would have put in the infrastructure to migrate your character to a different one, put in some server caps to prevent qs and everything else. Nope, not happening. So instead they have engorged themselves on players and we are all suffering for it.    … Expand
  67. ArcticF0X
    Jan 26, 2012
    4
    Level 50 Scoundrel - Valor rank 33 - Completed most Hard Modes.

    With all the money & development put into this game, one has to wonder where on earth it all went.
    To put it bluntly, the game looks & feels outdated. The combat is not very fluid. Ability delay which should have be fixed in BETA is still present.The HeroEngine is terrible. Why is it that i can play BF3 on max settings with 6    4 players with an enviroment that is destructible & get 60+ frames but in SWTOR, anything with 30+ people on screen it becomes a slide show? Shoddy.

    The planets are a major let down. Maybe because they don't actually feel likes planets. Most of them are lifeless & dull. Coruscant is a big living, breathing city. In SWTOR, Coruscant feels like a set of corridors with hardly anyone around. This goes for most of the planets, they feel lifeless. Mobs stand in one place waiting to be killed. There is hardly any ambient music whilst you're exploring the planets. Environmental sound is severely lacking. When i can hear my own footsteps in the middle of 'big city' you know something is wrong. Add all of that together with alot of 'loading screens' & you have a game world that feels bland & dull.

    No customizable UI.
    Unable to choose warzone maps.
    RNG end game PvP gear grind.
    The abomination that is Ilum.
    One of the worst character creation screens. A human with an earpiece = cyborg? Really?

    It seems to me that they wasted all their money on voiceovers & cutscenes that they forgot about the things that really matter.    … Expand
  68. TheangryOne
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    Well, after more than a year of waiting and all the hype Bioware put behind it, here it is, WOW:TOR. This game has truly become a shining example of Bioware's stagnation and ineptitude. To summarize: This game takes all the classic mistakes all gaming companies love to make and thrusts them into one giant $15/mo flop. The most obvious shortcoming is that gameplay is literally the EXACT same thing as WOW was; it even has the same problems (extreme lack of customization, massive grindfest, limited character creation, specialization issues, bad endgame). Considering how much was spent on this game, there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of laziness; it's 2011, Bioware. WAKE THE F*** UP! Next, is the stories which Bioware was basing all their success on. These stories are hit-and-miss, as are the companions (Some are epic, some just fall flat.). I've been saying for years that Bioware shows extreme favoritism in their character and story design, and if this doesnt prove it, nothing does. The only true saving grace here is that, despite everyone's whining about the voice acting, I actually thought it was pretty good. Still, would it've killed Bioware to make a few selectable voices for your character? They spent 300 million (yes, million) dollars on this. However, all of these things can be ignored, since it is a reliable system, even if it is outdated. I'll probably get alot of flak for that but it's the truth. I won't bother talking about the graphics for the same reason; ultimately, they make little difference in an MMO as long as they work. The one thing, however, that cannot be overlooked, and the one thing that kills this game (and killed WOW) is the monthly subscription. Not cool, Bioware, not cool. There are plenty of free MMOs out there that can more than match this, so close your wallets and open your eyes. Learn from SWG, learn from GW. You are not the powerhouse you once were, and Warhammer 40k's lore more than beats Star Wars'. Learn.… Expand
  69. elgringo
    Dec 22, 2011
    0
    Another half-done game release this year. Controls are unresponsive and the overall experience is pretty generic. I've expected more from this company, at least for this price here they charge from us. Priceperformance-ratio is pretty horrible. Never again, you failed me too much.
  70. shinjuo
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    The way people rate games now days is very upsetting. Most people are complaining that this is a wow clone and blah blah blah. Wow is the biggest MMO out there, so of course people are going to mimic it. I like wow and I like this game more. The reason I like this game more is the story elements and voice overs. It is much more engrossing to me. To complain that it is just like wow is ridiculous. I watched many previews of this game before I got to play and I knew it was going to be like wow. If you rate this game for how well they made an MMO then it is a fantastic game. They put a lot of time into the voice overs and the stories of the characters are good. You just have to remember before you buy it that it is an MMO, so if wow was not your cup of tea then dont buy this. If you liked wow and are looking for an alternative this game is perfect… Expand
  71. Nexusepona
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Now what do we have here? In my oppinion, which is subjective of course, this is a good game with a few minor flaws. Gameplay is not a great suprise, I would describe it like what WoW should have been. It is similar in many ways, yet made it better, less frustrating, less boring, less grinding. Also has nice voice acting quests, you can have your own ship (and that is free, you just have to reach that point in the story), the game has limited (but still fun) space combat, things like that. I would recommend it to any of my friends.… Expand
  72. zaekeon
    Dec 26, 2011
    0
    Basically the game is wow with voiceovers and WAY WAY less features...it's sad that a game like RIFT came out with more features/customization than this blockbuster that has been hyped forever did...the even sadder part is all of the stuff people complain about now, are things they had been complaining about in beta for almost 2 years....the future of this game really scares me. It's good for 1 play through for a KoTR type experience, but after that, it's pretty dull....don't even get me started on how stupid advanced classes are (locking you out of 50% of your class, why do i want to play the same damn character again, with the same exact story, sharing a lot of the same exact skills and even a whole talent tree...yet you want to say it's a totally different class....yeah right, more like they already getting started on Rehasing like wow did.)… Expand
  73. TheGhostAgent
    Dec 21, 2011
    8
    There is still a lot of work that can be done to turn this game from an 8 into a 10. Unfortunately like all MMOs, they are currently being plagued by the initial rush or a release and just because they're "BioWare", does not make them immune. If you can overlook the "drama" on the forums and naysayers, and really get into the game, you can appreciate how they've tried to put the RPG back into MMORPG. MMOs nowadays are stuck on a gerbil wheel of grind, grind, raid, grind, grind, raid, etc. Worse, some lack any coherent story or consistency, completely taking out the immersion factor. This is a game for RPGers, not someone that wants to blast off 1-50 in 1 day and blow through content on day 2. They are able to weave choices into your quests/instances that determines the outcome/reward at the end. They even tie up your quest and story lines with follow up in game mail messages, helping you feel that you've accomplished something and an additional reward. And people need to realize their customer service is being bomarded daily and yet, they're still able to deliver. For example, the Taris bug. Myself and many other players experienced it, reported it, and was fixed and patched in 2-3 days. The community manger responds promptly to twitter questions and the forums without speaking down to their players. Where can you get this kind of response time and level of civility and service? Sure as hell not from WoW, and I loved Blizz and WoW. Unfortunately, their hubris got the better of them, shunned the community, and almost all of their communication as of late reeks of arrogance. SWTOR still has a long way to go to become a top dog MMO, but I have confidence in them so long as they:
    A) Do not turn their backs on creating intricate story and lore
    B) Do not shun the community and let pride get to their heads
    C) Continue the level of communication with the community in the going future
    D) Provide more customization
    E) Provide robust end game content and not half-assed like some other MMO...    … Expand
  74. OneTimeReview
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Great game. There are some very innovative features, such as crafting and multiplayer dialogues, built on top of the proven success of a themepark design. BioWare is masterful in their storytelling and cinematic delivery of content. There's room for improvement, but in their first MMO attempt I think BioWare has done very well. I'm having a lot of fun!
  75. BlasphemousBat
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    It's a refreshing change from WoW for sure. Really fun and it doesn't have a community full of retards unlike WoW. Everyone's saying this is just copying it, but that's not entirely a bad thing, you got space combat, Story Driven quests, full voice-acting, and much more! It does have it's flaws, but overall this game is pretty damn good.
  76. Ishiwadede
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Incredibly surprised by all of the negative reviews. I find the game has recaptured my interest and personal involvement in a way that no MMO has been able to do since WoW - if that indicates something negative to you about my taste, so be it. The popularity of World of Warcraft shows myself to be in the majority, and just as I'm getting tired of that game this one comes out. Anyone expecting game-changing innovation was misleading themselves from the very beginning - no company that has invested as much as Bioware and EA have on Star Wars are going to cater to the fringe. They made a mainstream, easily accessible MMO with enough fresh aspects to make it still somewhat new and different, and I'm having one hell of a fun time.… Expand
  77. Ruscour
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    I have to wonder, have all the people who gave this game negative reviews actually played the damn thing? Anyways.

    I'm going to talk at length about this game and why people are idiots for considering it bad.

    This game is not, and never claimed to be, a revolutionary MMO. It is hotkey based, it is quest based, it is dungeon based, like pretty much every MMO ever. Like RIFT, and World     of Warcraft before it, and EverQuest before it, it follows the same formula. Different setting, of course, but I'm seeing a lot of people who are just like "hurr durr WoW copy"...do you know what the word "genre" means? That's how genres work. People say the same about WoW and EverQuest...WoW did not invent this genre, it is simply the most successful game within it.

    This game did not innovate as much as RIFT did, either. The only thing that separates TOR from the rest of the pack in any significant way (aside from the Star Wars IP, of course) is the voice acted story. And it is marvelous. As a lover of end-game, the dungeons and PvP and such, leveling is always the biggest, most boring pain-in-the-ass ever. I played RIFT and I loved it but I couldn't keep going because the grind to max level was just brutal. It's the same in WoW, I could never level another character because of the sheer boredom, the gameplay isn't fun.

    SWTOR fixes that, in my opinion. Sure, what you're doing is as bland as in every MMO, but there is real story there. It's incredibly immersive and you care about why you have to kill 10 rats (for the typical example).

    Everything else is just incredibly solid. The PvP is great, the group stuff is awesome (and there's story there as well), the combat is surprisingly diverse and there is actual thought process involved in combat in questing unlike most MMOs. Stun that guy, CC that guy, DoT that guy, knockback that guy, instead of mash damage abilities -> collect loot. The companion system is great in this regard as well.

    All in all, SWTOR is another MMO that hasn't really innovated, but take it for what it is; an extremely solid game with enough innovation to stand on its own. It has fixed the biggest problem in MMORPGs in my opinion, and I can see myself playing this game for years to come (until Guild Wars 2 at least). People seem to be expecting something completely different to what people perceive to be the "WoW formula", but why fix what ain't broke?    … Expand
  78. Valsung
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    This game is unexpectedly fantastic. Coming in as someone who is not a very large fan of the Star Wars universe (not that there's anything wrong with it) I am impressed. The graphics are quite fluid, a far cry from trailers in the alphas and betas that had me worried. The voice acting is superb, and the storyline while linear, is engrossing. I know I'll be playing more than one character just for this reason, which is more than I can say for any other mmo.

    There are some flaws however, the lack of a Target of Target, UI customization features, and support for mouse-over macros are unfortunate, but I expect them to be added in the future.

    SWTOR is easily the smoothest and most polished "WoW clone" (using that ironically to describe what all new MMO's are labelled as) of the last 5 years. For once, it feels like there is promise and I have renewed hope in Bioware. Here's to the next few months of polish and patches for an overall great game.    … Expand
  79. Whyudie
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Bioware makes great games. There is no denying that. The attention to story and immersion is unparalleled in this industry. I was hooked since Neverwinter Nights. Now with an MMO they have raised the bar. Voice Dialogue not just for the main quest but every little itty bitty one as well. Now they were bought out by EA games and this being the most expensive video game ever produced, there were obvious corners that were cut. Lack of character customization chief among them. Obviously in order to push for a launch before the end of the year, there are no wookies or complicated playable races in the game.

    During the beta, one of my favorite features was wearing a hood over a mask. This was taken out amongst other features due to bugs which apprently couldn't be fixed for launch. Here's to hoping they get put back in soon. An important attribute in a MMO is player vs player and this is limited to where you can find the other faction, which literally feels like small corners on each planet. The Warzones (Equivalent of battlegrounds in similar MMO's) number under 5 as of launch and is ok but definitely lacking more content and a real fun factor. Overall, the game is great one. Some of the best games immerse you in them, much like a good movie does. The story line for most classes drives the game and holds it up amongst any negatives. In the original Kotor, Jeremy Soule's music immersed you into a world you could not even imagine. His haunting rhythm on the same level as the excellent story. I was sad to see him not a part of this. It's also sad that the music it does have, does not play enough throughout the game. I am giving it a 10 because it has the potential to be a 10 once some of the many features removed for the launch are ultimately restored.    … Expand
  80. axias_v
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    Let me get my background checked off so I can properly explain to you that I will try to be as objective as possible when writing this review. For starters, I grew up playing duck hunt, and a Zelda: A link to the past. The first mmorpg I played was Everquest, and I have played almost every major release since then.

    Now to the meat of my review, about Star Wars: The Old Republic:. When I f    irst heard about this mmorpg in 2008, I was one of the many with a distaste for the idea of a "Theme-Park MMO", as I myself, used to be a butt-hurt SWG Vet, who clamored of days long passed, of a highly buggy, yet incredibly enjoyable sandbox landscape where the adventure was defined by social interaction rather than mechanical.

    I've begun to accept Theme-park, as a different form of entertainment than a Sand-box MMO, as such to be as objective as possible, you must approach as so. Sw:tor has a few bugs, and is definitely not the "perfect" MMO, despite what many fanbois will claim. However, a week into the game and at level 30 on my Sith Assasin, It is an incredibly engaging mmorpg none the less. If you have realistic expectations, and have a guild or some buddies to play with, this should be a blast to play. As long as you can sort your way through some of the haywire of initial release, such as 500+ queue lines, and some common Guild interface bugs.

    In the MMO's current state, I give it an 8/10 for sheer Theme-Park enjoyability. As MMORPG's are always evolving, expect the true-score to change as the few noticeable bugs are worked out, and major content is added.    … Expand
  81. HellzYeah
    Dec 20, 2011
    8
    I'm enjoying the game a lot. There's definitely some balance issues that need fine tuning when it comes to PvP but overall I don't think its totally broken in that regard. Voiced quests are actually quite nice when you're leveling, makes it a more pleasurable experience. Quest flow is overall pretty good, not a lot of backtracking which is nice. Interface is well done and aesthetically pleasing, at least in my eyes. Overall I'm finding the writing to be well-done, at least for what I expected from an MMO. Its not too painful to read and the voiceover work is quite well done which helps a lot. I wish that there was more variety in the armor like they promised though. I was under the impression we would be seeing people walking around in many different armors and character types but I suppose that idea was flushed down the drain. Maybe they'll add more in future patches. Hoping they add more races to the roster at some point too.… Expand
  82. enrogae1
    Dec 21, 2011
    4
    I see the smear campaign has begun. I will try to be as subjectively objective as I can. This is no Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, or Shadowbane. It is as much a theme park game as every other "AAA" MMO to come out in recent years. It looms as a shadow over other titles, such as Age of Conan or Star Trek Online. It is supremely better than anything modern except for the one dated title that everyone likes to compare it to... I won't even bother saying it because we all know which one.

    Does it share elements to this grossly successful "other" title? Of course it does. Just like "it" did, The Old Republic has copied elements from what worked in other, successful MMO titles. Is it a clone or a copy? I would have to say maybe, but it is something new and refreshing in many other ways. It is a theme park MMO... and that type of MMO hasn't changed much since Everquest (except to remove that pesky sandbox, which many of us still lament).

    Does it deserve a 1 or a 0? Of course not. It's better than Dragon Age 2, and even IT didn't deserve a 1 or a 0. I doubt any of the people posting such scores have played much of the game, and if they have then I'm not sure why they rate it so low. 1 or a 0 is reserved, in my mind, for a game that is unplayable or total garbage. That isn't even close to SW:ToR. Here's my quick breakdown:

    The Good:
    1. Voice Acting is Sufficient. You won't hear anything as well-done as the Mass Effect series, but it is adequate... and in places, pretty good.
    2. Stories are Adequate. The story lines in this game won't compete with a half-decent novel, but they are as entertaining as your run-of-the-mill prime time show.
    3. Group Questing is Actually Entertaining. I have always hated being in a group for questing in any other MMO. It's a penalty, curbing reward possibilities and just making everything take longer. The conversation and dialogue with NPC's makes grouping with a friend much more enjoyable.
    4. Instancing is at least Well-Done. I hate instancing... with a passion. Something ought to be said, though, about the way it was done in a way that is less immersion breaking here. Walking through a glimmering force field into a private instance with NO load screen is a step forward, to be sure.
    5. Art Quality is Good. Sure, the graphics aren't top-notch (see "The Bad"), but the environments are often beautiful nonetheless. You don't need Arkham City graphics to be pretty (Arkham City was beautifully ugly), and ToR shines here. Worlds like Taris and Nar Shadda offer stark changes in artwork that is easy to appreciate.

    The Bad:

    1. Character Creation is Severely Lacking for a Modern MMO. In the days of character models such as those in any Cryptic game, Aion, or even EvE's new generator, the customization in SW: ToR's character creation system is pretty much a joke. The mesh/textures on character models are also very "flat".
    2. Engine is Poorly Optimized. There are many posts on the forums about bad FPS. Personally, I run an AMD x4 Phenom II Quad-Core 3.2ghz, 6gb Corsair RAM, and a GTX 580 (GTS250 for Physx, which doesn't apply here)... and I'm lucky to average 30fps on max settings (ironically the same average as people with far lesser systems). Considering the lack of technically advanced graphics, something is amiss here.
    3. The first several worlds are very "corridor-ish". The worlds don't seem very big, there is little exploration at the onset of the game. You are funneled from point A to point B to completed objective H. 4. It doesn't feel "alive" the way an MMO should. The only critters in the world are occasional HUGE monsters that are too busy grazing to attack. This seems like laziness, to me.
    5. Sometimes combat does seem clunky, sometime it doesn't. Most of the time I have fun with it, and I suspect a lot of people's issues stem from timing issues with abilities that can be corrected at some point.

    These are just my highlights. There are other issues I have, such as it not being sandbox (they always said it wouldn't be, so this was expected), and lack of immersion things like being able to sit in chairs or sit on the ground without looking constipated. Despite the flaws, there are many good qualities here... so don't let the zero's, one's, and two's on here dissuade you from trying the game. At the end of the day, I have fun when I log on... for now. I'm quite certain, having been in the beta since early on, that I will get my money's worth before I stop having fun. Give it a try.    … Expand
  83. Bates
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    It's funny how critics are praising this game and sore WoW faithfuls are mocking it because they fear the power of the Dark Side. This game is not a WoW clone. It's an entirely different entity in itself. Naturally it has aspects of WoW but EVERY MMO will. The fact is: WoW fans are scared that their reign at the top of the MMO world may soon be coming to an end.

    How can WoW compete w    ith the vast lore and rich story telling that can only come from the Star Wars Universe? How can it compete with Space missions and space battles, planet hopping, brave and cunning Jedi Masters, ruthless and powerful Sith Lords, and quirky droid companions? How can it compete with a fanbase that has existed for over 30 years! It can't, so naturally, the WoW faithful are scared. Their is a new player in town and these gamers have to get over it and accept that they had a run like no other game in history, but it is time to pass the torch. Better game play, graphics, an epic soundtrack, and great mechanics.… Expand
  84. RumDood
    Dec 21, 2011
    9
    Incredibly fun with engaging story that drives you to play additional characters, the game also include mechanics that make it actually enjoyable to play as a casual player rather than someone who plays several hours a day on a rigid schedule. Playing in groups is a great dynamic, and the social options for conversations make the groups even more engaging. There is a distinct lack of sandboxing, but considering that before the NGE the chief complaint among SWG players was the lack of content, it takes a conscious effort to not understand why BioWare chose to go the complete opposite direction. This game is ALL content. Storylines and conversations are fun and the voice acting is fantastic.

    As someone who never enjoyed WOW or EVE or AOC, this game has me completely addicted.    … Expand
  85. Sanguinous
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    The amount of negativity I see is staggering and honestly very unsettling. Many of the reviews are not only unfair, they seem written by people who have either never played a MMORPG before or actively find reasons to complain and give low scores.

    A lot of people come off a previous Star Wars game, Star Wars Galaxies which was a totally different monster - it was a "sandbox game" which fo    r those who don't know the terminology means a game that you can make your own. You could build a virtual city and live in it. Make a store and sell things. The worlds were huge and empty and built for players to create their *own* community. TOR is not a "sandbox game" - However it is the next evolution of the the online Star Wars genre. TOR takes the best aspects of several MMORPGs and combines them to create a totally new yet familiar beast. For example, some people are complaining at the lack of options during character creation. This game has a ton more choices then another successful game, World of Warcraft. That game has one body choice. TOR has 4. Then you get to the face and have a vast number of choices to craft your avatars face.

    Tor is like a corvette with a custom engine. They researched many of the things that "worked" in multiple MMORPG's, tweaked it, and improved upon it!

    The most amazing aspect of the game is the storytelling - not only is it all voiced (which is mind boggling), every storyline is well written and makes my experience in TOR one of the best I've had online. You have the potential to play through EIGHT different storylines (4 Sith Empire and 4 Republic) and you can also play a male or female character (with its own voice).

    The game adds something I have not seen before in any game - Flashpoints! Flashpoints are missions that are performed in a group and offer conversation choices that each player has a chance to chose. Once chosen, virtual dice are thrown and whoever gets the highest roll is the response the game uses! It makes for some very exciting and fun roleplaying (even if you aren't a roleplayer!) where the attitude of the party (and sometimes the story) changes as you make your way through the Flashpoint. At one point we had a choice to kill an important character or allow that character to live! Hope you roll high!

    Anyway, this game is amazing and the launch was one of the smoothest launches I have seen for an MMORPG in years. The developers promise tons of updates and with the money they are making with the successful launch of TOR and I believe they will deliver.

    Finally, despite the negative online responses here, there is a VAST majority who are having a blast with TOR and are currently playing the game as opposed to the very vocal minority that has found a soapbox to stand on and complain.    … Expand
  86. Chezwick838
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    This game is great. The combat system is fun and the story driven game play is entertaining. This game is what I have been waiting for.

    Great job Bioware.
  87. HyperionIV
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    I haven't been able to play this game enough, each class is amazingly fun, the plot lines are addicting and I have to know what else happens next. I was amazed at how well the pvp feels, you can jump right in at level 10 and still make a difference against level 30's and 50's etc. The crafting is somewhat unique for MMO's and while it feels slow its not annoying and I can see how it will be down the line will be engaging without feeling like a grind.

    I feel this game is well worth your time and money, very fun and with the entire thing scripted with voice acting it feels like you're really immersed in the game.    … Expand
  88. SpartanBlackman
    Dec 22, 2011
    1
    This game tries so hard, but falls short in every area.
    The game is instanced, the servers are horrible and here to stay. The game is empty due to instancing.
    There is no endgame content. The Companions are terrible and are lifeless. PvP is terrible, you just mash all of the buttons and win.
    The abilities are bland and it looks like something from 2003. Warcraft 3 looks better than this ab    omination.
    The lore is terrible. The lore from KotOR 2 was butchered and this has an abomination of a plot that would make any true KotOR fan cringe. It honestly sounds like poorly written fanfiction done by a lonely anime fangirl
    The game is the worst MMO I have ever played, and the worst RPG too. Bioware needs to step up their game. After Dragon age 2 and SWTOR, and with Mass Effect 3 looking more like Gears of War every time we see it, it looks like Bioware have lost their touch, something that is painfully obvious every second of gameplay.
    A 1/10 is generous.
    If you want to play an MMO or a RPG, pick something else, because this game will not be for you.    … Expand
  89. some_guy
    Dec 25, 2011
    0
    This game not only was and is awful, but (if you don't like giving websites your credit card info) requires $120 non-refundable before you even start playing. The multi-player interaction is severely limited and, while fully-voiced quest conversations are a new twist, this is very annoying for people who are not interested in what is being said all the time or who don't have the time to sit there and wait for the dialogue to play out. The universe itself is very limited and linear and combat is no better than other MMOs. I will not be surprised at all if the User Score for this game continues to decrease rapidly until the game stops requiring a subscription. After years of development, this is a sad excuse for the newest MMO. Personally, I have requested a full refund from the game's costumer service.… Expand
  90. Ludna
    Jan 2, 2012
    3
    The game is not bad, but only due to the story questline and voice over. The rest is hugely disappointing.
    The largest issue what drives me off is basicially no freedom in character development. The attribute mechanics is a joke, only one attribute determining everything. Force Power depends on Willpower ? Not for a Warrior, then your Strength determines Force Power. Silly. And the attribu    te is based on the class, no choice. All other attributes are worthless for a given class. I need to stick to a certain weapon type (single, double, or two-wiedled) again based on class. No free selectable weapon and armour feats, boring. The combat mechanics is to clicky, but that is maybe a matter of personal taste. In general the entire gameplay mechanics is to simple for me. I guess, Bioware wanted WoW players tp play SWTOR and I think that is what's going to happen. Straigtforward mechanics, no thinking required, clear roles. I have got some experience in Ultima Online, Lotro, DDO, EVE and 2 weeks trial in WoW. I like system in DDO most. Still tehre are classes and races, but a lot of options to shape a character. Also all quest run in the instances, so there is no kill x of y. Every attribute (Str, Dex etc.) has actually an impact on the Character. So, it's my Charackter after all. The dungeons are well designed. So, I would opt for more instances in SWTOR and more teamplay required. The graphics works for me, nevertheless the design feels steril. One don't need top nothc graphic to transmit the right impression.… Expand
  91. DARKWORLD
    Jan 18, 2012
    0
    Seriously? Innovative combat, new battle mechanics stunning graphics... Where all those things? They promised much and did nothing, literally - nothing.
    What we got - new WOW/LN/RF/etc. clone in SW universe, nothing new.
    Same boring-to-death combat mechanics, ugly graphics (of course to oblige all those low-end PC owners), nothing-new story/quests and all those things will cost you month    ly fees, its just ridiculous.
    This game is not worth a single penny from you wallet, believe me. I feel bad for those guys, spending millions on such low-end product, just to make profit out of it, unfortunately for them this is not how it done.    … Expand
  92. Phenie
    Dec 27, 2011
    3
    For Star Wars and Bioware fanboys alike I'm certain it's a pretty standard, yet fun MMO. But that's just the problem - it doesn't cater for anyone else. I'm partly both, but not a hardcore fan of either, and I don't personally feel like I had any fun in the ~20 hours I've put into this game.

    Another thing is that is is very much a grind from the onset, and without buddies to play with it     fast becomes a drag.… Expand
  93. Cavadus
    Jan 4, 2012
    2
    If you're a veteran MMO player TOR offers nothing for you. All of the gameplay and systems are absolutely archaic and ripped verbatim from World of Warcraft, the graphics are unimpressive, and the combat gameplay is incredibly stale and dull.

    The game doesn't feature a single sandbox element and dictates every variable of your character's existence. Also, the character creator and space     combat are so bad that Bioware must be ashamed.

    The lone PvP world is horribly broken and routinely exploited. Open world PvP offers absolutely no rewards of any kind and the bulk of PvP is shoved into instanced warzones where a mechanic called "Bolster" allows low level players to get absolutely demolished by max level players.

    All in all there's nothing new in TOR and the gameplay is so old that you could read Greg Vederman articles and swear he was talking about this game.    … Expand
  94. Insert_Username
    Dec 23, 2011
    0
    Game is horrible, its nothing but a World of Warcraft clone only worse, the combat is not as deep as World of Warcraft and the story isn't even near as good as KOTOR or Mass Effect. Game is a big disappointment and the crappy voice acting the teeth cringing dialogue are the only things that set it apart from other games.
  95. Grazl
    Dec 29, 2011
    2
    This game lack of everything that make a game fun, it lacks of creativity, fun and diversity. The character customisation is nearly nonexistent, so everybody look nearly like everybody ... the game takes what worked for other big MMOs and doesn't change it at all, so if your MMO just get you bored, you'll get bored as well if you play this. the only thing that interests people is that: this is a star wars game.… Expand
  96. Vorcia
    Jan 2, 2012
    0
    Blunder of the century, there's no legitimate reason to play this. Almost any MMO is better than this POS. F2P Runescape is better than Star Wars TOR. You have to wait in a queue to buy the game on the website, and then another queue to eplay the game.But, the game does have great dialogue, but it's a waste of time when you could just read it instead of waiting for the person to speak, and the story is just mediocre. The lore in the game is flawed, for example, there's 1 move in the game that when used with a Lightsaber causes Bleed. You'll be banned for swearing, even though there's a chat filter, going to a location underlevelled since they think you're either twinking, or Real-world trading, if you attempt to flip items in-game, you'll be banned for manipulating the economy, if you try and farm credits or items, you'll be banned for RWT or credit farming. There's a delay in the move execution of about 0.5s which any good players will definitely be screwed up by. The customer support is awful and the crappy fanbase will go to any length to defend their awful game, writer, and company. Bioware blames their poor metacritic review on trolls and raids from **** as a believable excuse. The only reason that the Critic scores are so high are the same for Skyrim, they don't have time to play the game very much and while Skyrim and SWTOR will make a great first impression, they won't make a lasting impression, which is a HUGE problem for a MMO… Expand
  97. kaltes
    Jan 2, 2012
    6
    WoW in space. Oh wait, no, there is no space combat other than a little arcade mini game, so scratch that. Swtor is a WoW clone that does some things better and some things worse. - The "mass effect" cutscenes and dialogue are good at times, but the novelty does wear off, so I can't help but wonder if this model was a waste of resources that could have been better spent elsewhere. After a while, you just start spamming space bar to skip all the cutscenes anyway. - The companion system is great, but flawed. This system should have improved and built upon the companion systems from Guild Wars and Mass Effect, but it didn't. I got excited to level up my companions affection rating, but it was a big let down when I found out the game impact of all that effort is minimal. Swtor could do so much more with companions but it doesn't. Pets in WoW are easier to control in combat (by far) and heroes in Guild Wars are far more customizable and useful. Plus, the AI sucks. - It uses the exact same quest hub system that WoW does, only the hubs are planets instead of zones. The vast majority of quests are to kill X or collect Y. There is more quest innovation in WoW expansions than in swtor. It seriously feels like playing WoW, but...

    - I can't help feeling that WoW looks better. WoW's stylized graphics simply look prettier to me than the incredibly bland attempts at realism that Swtor makes. Swtor is not remotely as good looking as Mass Effect 2. Its art style is strange and unappealing. It tries to be realistic, but then a lot of characters look cartoony. Again, Im comparing it to Mass Effect 2, which looks much, much better. Swtor mostly looks bland, at least WoW looked varied, interesting, and pretty.

    - The combat in WoW is less boring. In WoW the different classes play very differently and you can play them in very different ways based on your spec. In Swtor, literally every class Ive played is based on boring, boring, boring cooldown management. All the good skills a bounty hunter gets have cooldowns, mostly 15s, so guess what folks? You're going to have to memorize scripted combat skill rotations if you want to have good dps in endgame! That was one of the things I hated most about endgame WoW pve, and it is a lot worse here in Swtor.

    - no auto-attacking only means your "auto attack" has been changed to a skill you now have to manually click and waste global cooldowns on. It basically exists to punish you with an inferior attack because you didn't follow an optimal rotation or didnt manage your "mana/energy" (heat, force etc) optimally. LAME. I think removing auto-attack could be a step up if it was executed right, but I think swtor's implementation is more an annoyance than anything.

    - The auction house on Swtor is much, much worse than in WoW. The searching and sorting options/interface are terrible. Whoever designed it should be fired. The crafting system is pretty pointless, because it suffers from the "money sink" design of WoW, but without the benefits. - Space combat is pretty much the exact same thing as the gummi ship in Kingdom Hearts but without the customization, variety of missions, or difficulty. In a MMO setting, IT GETS OLD FAST. I enjoyed it for a few days, but come on, am I really going to want to escort that imperial shuttle every day through the same level to grind up point to give my ship linear, slotted upgrades just so I can start grinding more missions? Ugh. Look, it was fun, but this kind of minigame is not a good fit for a MMO. MMOs are all about staying power. Id swtor did a great job with space and basically made a fully developed space system with tons of customization, ship upgrades, raids against capital ships, and pvp, I would forgive all the other flaws and love this game. Star Wars is mostly about SPACE and this game is all on foot!

    - Even though my server says it is nearly full, it feels pretty empty, much moreso than wow. The auction house is pretty dead by comparison, too.

    - I feel like pvp is far more no-skill than WoW, which was in turn a lot less skill oriented than Guild Wars. In swtor you basically sit there and blast eachother. In WoW, kiting, snares, and other tactics play a much bigger role. In Swtor you get a stun or two, but beyond that it turns into a pve slugfest where, again, you just spam an optimal rotation and hope to kill them first. SO. BORING.

    Swtor has a lot of potential if it stops trying to copy everything about WoW and focuses on leaping ahead. Develop companions into more. Develop space into more. Stop trying to make a WoW/Mass Effect love child. It is a dead end. Cutscenes dont make boring quests less boring.    … Expand
  98. redsuns
    Dec 21, 2011
    0
    Amazing great game. Anyone who think otherwise are just ignorant. They call every series of Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo and watever the game of the year even though it is always better graphics and new storyline and holding a gun shooting at enemies. But a mmo that uses standard genre mechanics get slammed to the ground. Fools.
  99. ktannen
    Dec 22, 2011
    0
    Been playing for about 15 hours, and so far I've found nothing in this game to really be compelling enough for me to continue to pay for it. I really wanted to give it a chance as I happen to have loved star wars since I was a kid during the 90s. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but I've put in about 200 days of game time into WoW since 2004 and my interest has been held. Generally, I find more life in the game through humor, story and art design. And I know that this is no fault of the game itself, but I would like to note that my experience so far with the game's early community has been atrocious, though I am hopeful this will improve. Overall, I am very disappointed. My high hopes were diminished, but the 15 hours I have spent in game is still a relatively small amount of time and I will not give up on it yet. Please, despite my bad review, it would be nice if some decent, intelligent people would strengthen the community to give this game a fighting chance.
    -An MMO enthusiast    … Expand
  100. Larux18
    Jan 26, 2012
    2
    I am so pissed right now with Bioware, I generally don't give games this low of a score but they screwed it all up! Everything that is story related is now completely screwed up! Every story element related to KOTOR here is awful, how they decide to show Revan in this game is also extremely disappointing! The gameplay here is good but now that the story has screwed up everything there is not a purpose to play this game, this game is no more for me. Thanks to this game KOTOR 3 will probably never be made! Thanks for nothing Bioware!… Expand
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 73
  3. Negative: 0 out of 73
  1. RPGamer
    Apr 23, 2012
    80
    LucasArts generally exercised greater quality control of Star Wars games than most licensed properties receive, though that didn't necessarily translate into titles that were actually good. I've played a few other Star Wars games in the past, and while the SNES platformers were pretty good, this one is even better. Knights of the Old Republic may just be the best game in the franchise, and succeeds at being a top-tier RPG even if one has no interest in Star Wars. BioWare did the license proud.
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  2. GameCritics
    Mar 31, 2012
    70
    I wound up bailing out on Star Wars: The Old Republic well before hitting the level cap, but not before digging into it more so than any other MMO I've played. Even if it is an unhappy marriage between two wildly different game types, the fact that it kept me hooked for so long at least counts for something.
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  3. NZGamer
    Mar 5, 2012
    83
    A good game. It pays excellent homage to the film series (even though it's set before the movies), and is a really solid MMO.
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