In depth review of SW:ToR beta.

[ultimar235]

First of all, I got to 50 in the beta as a commando trooper. I also have a 30 Jedi Consular and another 30 trooper from another build. I was valor rank 50 on my trooper so I have PVP'd extensively so I will touch on PvP. I appreciate this is the Beta and will not touch on aspects of the game that I think are obviously going to be improved for live (such as proc animations).

Story/Questing:
I'm not a story man but I can appreciate good story and the game is very interesting in this area. The choices although almost always lead you to the same outcome are amusing. You can be nice or a complete douche. Sometimes in side quests you can choose options which effect the outcome. For example you may get more or less credits depending if you chose the dark or light option. Everyone has voice overs though I will say sometimes the NPC's have alien jibber jabber voices which for me breaks immersion as they aren't speaking a made up language.

Questing is entertaining. Often your class quest will ask you to go to a location far far away from where you are. On your way there you'll meet characters and quest givers and end up getting sidetracked until you magically find your way to the story quest area and realise you've completed about 10 other quests. It's smooth and well thought out. However there isn't more variation than talk to X guy, kill X mobs, interact with X objects, collect X objects from X enemies. Stuff is marks clearly on the map so you can never get lost or wonder where to go next.

Exploration:
Exploring can reap benefits. You can find things called Datacrons which are usually hidden in places you wouldn't normally go. There are many of these scattered on every planet. Finding one gives you a permanent boost in stats and I believe some are components for creating Relics which are powerful items.

Flash Points:
These are basically instances. They all have a story attached. Each player chooses a choice when in dialogue and a dice roll decides who's choice is taken. If there is a dark/light side option, other players can't force you dark/light points. Often they award commendations that can be spent on gear. So if you didn't get loot that run, the chances are you can buy something anyway at the end. This does mean there are a tonne of commendations a bit like it was before justice points in WoW. Design wise, the FP's I did were quite standard. Some packs requiring CC, bosses doing pretty standard stuff. It's really the story aspect that makes them stand out. There is story from start to finish, perhaps this gets annoying if you've done it a few times before.

Companions:
This is a major part of your solo play. Companions are what makes ToR great. They are kind of like pets but their power is equal to an average skilled player. They comment on areas you go into and have their own companion quests. You can equip them with gear with mostly same number slots as yourself. It's essential that you do though as leveling without a geared companion is significantly harder. Some people may hate this, but I love it. A good geared companion with a lot of tactics invoked can help you solo quests designed for 2-4 people. They can also replace people in a flash point. So if you can only find 3 people you can use your companion as the 4th member and if geared they won't be gimp.

They are a great for the solo player. They have a full set of abilities which you can toggle on and off. Their only bad points is you can't tell them exactly where to move. So if your companion is standing in fire, the only way to stop them is to change to passive so they run back to you. This is what makes them weaker than other players.

Combat and Space Combat:
The combat in ToR is highly similar to WoW. I think it was designed this way. The moment i entered Beta I felt at home.Once i had everything binded, etc, everything felt the same. It's smooth and sleek and different types of enemies like weak, strong, elite, boss require different approaches which is entertaining. There's nothing here that's new though, it's quite archaic. I was hoping for a Mass Effect/Global Agenda style where you could dodge bullets, etc. but nay. It's a shame it's not like that but you can understand that it's Biowares first MMO so to take risks is not a great idea with a game this expensive. They did take the safe route with combat. It works, it's entertaining but it won't blow your mind.

Space combat is disappointing. Some people like it and yeah it's entertaining but when you get your ship you are kind of expecting to be able to fly to planets manually, etc. shoot down baddies maybe other players. Then your presented with an on-the-rails shooter which kinda leaves you feeling a bit hollow after completion. Yes it's fun, but it's not what it should be so the feeling is hollow for me.

PVP:
So i got to Valor Rank 50 and have full blue PvP gear. PvP is great fun. I enjoyed the war zones which were 8v8 style (pretty much conquest/rush from BF games). There is a lot of CC and in big group combat you will find yourself chain CC'd which can be frustrating. Everyone has a PvP spell which is the same as PvP trinket in WoW so it breaks all CC with 2 min CD. As a ranged it was fairly easy to kite most players but that was balanced by the fact that I needed to cast abilities to do real damage which required me to stop moving. It's hard to touch on balance because it's ever changing.

Two interesting things about PvP. First is medals. You get awarded medals during a War zone for things like doing 50k damage or getting a 3k heal crit, etc. This is a great addition as it means even if your team sucks, you can still do well and get decently rewarded. For every medal you get extra war zone commendations at the end of the game. There's also an MvP system at the end of the game which awards that player with extra marks if voted. It also encourages you to get into battle or defend a position or even off heal if your not a heal but have a heal.

There's also another mechanic which I have forgot what it's called. It basically scales your stats depending on the max item level you can attain at your level. This means a low level player in blues is actually stronger than a level 40 player in greens. They will have more hp, higher base stats, etc. The 40 still has the advantage due to more abilities, etc. but the playing field is more even. Even if your level 10 you can still fight someone lvl 50 and not get 2 shotted. For example at 50 in blue pvp gear I had 13k hp, my lvl 30 trooper in epics had 14.0k.

There's a lot of work needed to balance everything and make it competitive. Some classes like Consular are far better at Huttball than others because their AoE knockback and Sprint are invaluable. I don't think Huttball can be competitive unless every class has a clear role with little overlapping, but the other 2 definitely have a chance.

World PvP is still very much work in progress so I'm not going to comment on that.

Other aspects:
UI, Graphic effects, Crafting, Mods, and anything else I missed is likely because I feel they need some work but am confident Bioware will address the issues. I feel it would be unfair to judge the game on these.

Summary:
Overall If I had to score it I would score it 9/10 and yes, I'm still subscribed to WoW and I have been for 6 years and I still give the game 9/10 . It's a great game and is worth at least 6 months. It can get a little bit stale as it's similarity to WoW does make things seem quite familiar once the games sheen has worn off. I don't think it'll kill WoW or even bleed significant subs from it. You have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy this game. If you aren't then your love will die once the shininess wears off. Still, it's an awesome game. Just don't treat it like WoW. Take your time, enjoy the story/quests and don't rush for endgame.

Hope you enjoyed the read and am happy to answer any questions.

No TLDR version

[vizzle]

Very offtopic but are you Spectr from alterswtor? You have the same avatar.


OT: Great review, people are going to say it's "biased" and "subjective" (isn't that what a review is about, lol) though just because it's positive. Any time someone says a bad review that person is suddenly a proffesional critic.

Also, do you like Commando playstyle? That's what I intend my main to be.

[Redgoon23]

Can you go into a little more depth about the companions? Like, how many companion quests did you complete for the first companion that you get by the time you hit 50? Also, did the conversations with them feel like other Bioware games(Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KoTOR)?

I got to level 19, and was only able to talk to my companion once. I was really disappointed by it.

[Crusch]

OT: Great review, people are going to say it's "biased" and "subjective" (isn't that what a review is about, lol) though just because it's positive. Any time someone says a bad review that person is suddenly a proffesional critic.

This is kind of a moot point don't you think?

The exact same is being said if the roles are reversed.

[Rio]

I like how you added:

"You have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy the game."

In most cases this is true, and it saddens me. I am a huge lore nerd for Star Wars, and I definitly did not treat my Beta experience with ToR comparing it to WoW. It was a completely different game to me, but that is because I am a huge Star Wars fan and have been following this game for the better part of 3+ years.

It saddens me because I'd like to see more than just 800k subscribers playing, I'd like to see at least a few million. It seems ToR will die out in a year or two just because people who don't know the lore or who aren't Star Wars fans couldn't keep interest. Of course we won't know when it will die out... But I'd hate to see a game of this magnitude and promise to only live for a short while.

[vizzle]

This is kind of a moot point don't you think?

The exact same is being said if the roles are reversed.

Probably. People see what they want to see, regardless the review.

[Rio]

Probably. People see what they want to see, regardless the review.

+1 for trueness!

[Trollsbane]

I disagree Rio. Millions of people played WoW that were not Warcraft fans. They played it because it was a good game and they had fun. I fully believe TOR will do the same with people that aren't the biggest Star Wars fans.

[Gallahadd]

wow nice review no gushing fanboyism or 'lol it's not WoW/GW2/Skyrim/my momma's apple pie so it sucks', but a fairly balance, objective review

sounds like PvP is going to be fun, I'm not a huge PvPer, but with the lack of burst/Tanks being useful I may have to give it a try in Swtor, especially huttball

[Rio]

I disagree Rio. Millions of people played WoW that were not Warcraft fans. They played it because it was a good game and they had fun. I fully believe TOR will do the same with people that aren't the biggest Star Wars fans.

I certainly hope so!

[Higgi]

I disagree Rio. Millions of people played WoW that were not Warcraft fans. They played it because it was a good game and they had fun. I fully believe TOR will do the same with people that aren't the biggest Star Wars fans.

Agreed. And even if you have to be a Star Wars fan, the SW fanbase is bigger and wider than the WC fanbase to begin with.

[Drakiru]

very interesting to read.
Thanks for sharing

[Vexies]

I disagree Rio. Millions of people played WoW that were not Warcraft fans. They played it because it was a good game and they had fun. I fully believe TOR will do the same with people that aren't the biggest Star Wars fans.

Absolutely this. I can speak from my own experience as I watched my wife who a kind expression for her feelings about Star Wars after the prequels would be Hatred end up absolutely loving the game. The game play is top notch it will hit 3 million subs in its first two months that is almost a certainty. To say WoW wont lose subs to SWTOR is a complete farce ... cause it just lost me, my wife and my guild.. so yeah im sure we aren't the only ones so sorry bout that but its true.

What we will see is SWTOR settle confidently into the number two MMO slot with by far more subs than any other MMO currently out there with the exception of wow and thats great news! competition is good.. the game is damn good and the hate train it brings by those that for some reason cant possibly accept the idea of a world where there is more than one successful game besides the almighty WoW will just have to come to terms with it.

I just dont understand why foks who dont like it .. just do just that and not play it and be content to play the game they do like. There are plenty of folks that will play this game and more than enough to make it the most successful MMO game to come out in a long time so lets all just sit back and enjoy the games we each like.

[agnarr]

It's good to know that the impressions I got from the 1-20 game, carry all the way through to 50 and beyond.

Thanks.

[ultimar235]

Also, do you like Commando playstyle? That's what I intend my main to be.

Nah I just liked game of thrones :P

It's basically like a tanky Mage. You have to cast abilities to do any damage which can be interrupted or locked out and suffers from spell knock back. You have heavy armour though and can still heal. The ammo mechanic means to sustain your DPS you need to be careful with your attacks but if you want burst the option is there. That is the Gunnery tree, it's more aimed for PvE Dps. You can never run out of ammo, it just regens slower the less ammo you have.

There is the Assault tree which is more focused on DoT's and instant casts. It's very mobile but not really my style.

Can you go into a little more depth about the companions? Like, how many companion quests did you complete for the first companion that you get by the time you hit 50? Also, did the conversations with them feel like other Bioware games(Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KoTOR)?

Because it was beta I didn't really focus too much on story as I wanted to save it for the live, so I didn't do any companion quests. You basically though gain 'rep' with your companion depending on what choices you pick in dialogues. If you do something you companion dislikes you get negative rep. Basically you just need certain amount of rep to unlock companion quests and possible romance, etc. Feels just like it did in ME, etc. So when you pick a dialogue option you need to ponder how your companion would feel about it.

[Puremallace]

You left out some stuff.

Exploration: Datacrons..permanent stat bonuses? uhhh required..grind fest pop into mind here.

Companions: The Punish skill needs to go. It is pretty brutal and does not belong a T for teen game and I am not even a parent, but I am a adult and just being able to beat on a companion and watch her cry for the LULZ is ridiculous.

UI: can not be customized at all or moved

Outside of that the rest was nice. I say 6/10 honestly they got the RPG part right, but the mmo part is still lacking in my view with way too much single player rpg stuff tossed in.

[agnarr]

You left out some stuff.

Exploration: Datacrons..permanent stat bonuses? uhhh required..grind fest pop into mind here.

Companions: The Punish skill needs to go. It is pretty brutal and does not belong a T for teen game and I am not even a parent, but I am a adult and just being able to beat on a companion and watch her cry for the LULZ is ridiculous.

UI: can not be customized at all or moved

Outside of that the rest was nice. I say 6/10 honestly they got the RPG part right, but the mmo part is still lacking in my view with way too much single player rpg stuff tossed in.

The last I saw, there was a very limited number of datacrons in the game. Once they are all found, you will find them on "torhead" and that will be that, no grind in involved.

Punishing companions seems VERY dark-side to me.

My major feedback while testing is that, at the very least, I need to be able to scale down the size of the UI.

[colester]

Absolutely this. I can speak from my own experience as I watched my wife who a kind expression for her feelings about Star Wars after the prequels would be Hatred end up absolutely loving the game. The game play is top notch it will hit 3 million subs in its first two months that is almost a certainty. To say it wont bleed off subs is a complete farce ... cause it just lost me, my wife and my guild.. so yeah im sure we aren't the only ones so sorry bout that but its true.

What we will see is SWTOR settle confidently into the number two MMO slot with by far more subs than any other MMO currently out there with the exception of wow and thats great news! competition is good.. the game is damn good and the hate train it brings by those that for some reason cant possibly accept the idea of a world where there is more than one successful game besides the almighty WoW will just have to come to terms with it.

I just dont understand why foks who dont like it .. just do just that and not play it and be content to play the game they do like. There are plenty of folks that will play this game and more than enough to make it the most successful MMO game to come out in a long time so lets all just sit back and enjoy the games we each like.

Only time will tell personally. I am curious why swtor lost you, your wife, and your guild?

[Lumicide]

You left out some stuff.

Exploration: Datacrons..permanent stat bonuses? uhhh required..grind fest pop into mind here.

Companions: The Punish skill needs to go. It is pretty brutal and does not belong a T for teen game and I am not even a parent, but I am a adult and just being able to beat on a companion and watch her cry for the LULZ is ridiculous.

UI: can not be customized at all or moved

Outside of that the rest was nice. I say 6/10 honestly they got the RPG part right, but the mmo part is still lacking in my view with way too much single player rpg stuff tossed in.

What punish? Like the 'racial'/social, sith pureblood has? Or is there an actual feature? I don't see a problem with the social, I don't like Khem Val, so I slap him every time he opens his dumb mouth, I don't see what's wrong about it, gives me a good laugh.

It's certainly not as bad as killing people, planting explosives on bodies with the intent to maim/kill anyone, especially civilians.

[vissi the cruel]

You left out some stuff.

Exploration: Datacrons..permanent stat bonuses? uhhh required..grind fest pop into mind here.

Companions: The Punish skill needs to go. It is pretty brutal and does not belong a T for teen game and I am not even a parent, but I am a adult and just being able to beat on a companion and watch her cry for the LULZ is ridiculous.

UI: can not be customized at all or moved

Outside of that the rest was nice. I say 6/10 honestly they got the RPG part right, but the mmo part is still lacking in my view with way too much single player rpg stuff tossed in.

Datacrons are a godsent imo. it petty mush give a reason to explore in a game that people are calling a super theme park mmo

the punish skill is only for sith purebloods, who can only be siths ie the big bad, of corse they will be beating up their friends, hell darth vader mudered his own men in the movies, and the films are PG, make sence for the sith, and you can't do it as a jedi or anyone else.


to the OP, did you heal as a commando? if so what is there healing style like? i always love the idea of healing though tech since the combat medic in SWG and throwing healing bombs at friends.