Introduction
If you never played this game or you don't play games but you LOVE Star Wars you might want to read this review. Explore the Galaxy and experience the diversity of choices this game offers.
Old Republic is not 1st trip to the MMORPG universe for Star Wars franchise. Before this one there was Star Wars: Galaxies, a game that SW fans loved but it was one of the 1st ever MMO's so it did not perform well with general audience. Old Republic changed that. Even though this game have some issues it is well worth it to give it a shot. Bare in mind that this game's story is 10k years before original movies.
Gameplay
This is your standard MMO process, pick your faction (Empire or Republic), pick the race you want to play with (Human, Cyborg, Sith, Zabrak...), pick your class and customize the looks of your character.
Every class has it's seperate main story so when you start a new game with the new class, you will have completely different experience. Essentially there are 8 games in one. Everyone in the game is voice acted so it is an extremely large game.
Republic classes
- Gunslinger
- Jedi Knight
- Jedi Consular
- Trooper
Empire classes
- Bounty Hunter
- Imperial Agent
- Sith Inquisitor
- Sith Warrior
Once you are done with your customization it is time to dive into the game. Every class starts on a different planet where you learn about the lore and your character gains his/her first levels.
Once you progress trough the game you will get to your own space ship (each class has a different one), and you can start playing space missions, arcade version of the game to relax you from planet fights, nice change of pace. There are also PVP space fights where you can fly your fighter against other players.
Crafting is big part of this game. Your character can specialize for many crafting specializations like Cybertech, Biochem, Weaponsmith, Armoring etc., it is an interesting pass time in the game. Those crafted items you can sell on Galactic Market and earn some credits.
Once you get further into the game you get companions, every one of 8 classes has it's own seperate companions with their own backstory and personality, they grow in power just like you and you can customize them to fill different rolls. They range from Droids to Yawas, you can even have your own Ewok compantion, luckily no Gungans.
Moral choices are big part of this game, you can be a golden boy or the worst douche in the galaxy and the story reacts depending on your choices.
With lvl 20 you can train to ride many different mounts in the game, from simple speeder up to your own Rancor mount.
This would not be a serious MMO without group action, so you can form a group and play flashpoints or operations, harder quests where you need many players to beat them but you also get better rewards and more xp, and best of all you socialize with other players. All that looting will bring you many nice gifts so you can even have your house that you can upgrade, and your guild can get a huge star ship where your guild members can socialize.
If you prefer Player versus Player action or PVP you can participate in Warzones, big arenas where two teams battle it out for supremacy. Anything you can imagine it is possible to do in this MMO.
You can also buy special items for real money from ingame shop called Cartel Market.
Final Words
Star wars The Old Republic is a HUGE game. You can spend time for months or even years in this game and you would not even scratch the surface.
Free to play model in this game is kind of restrictive so you would want to subscribe for one month to experience the game without restrictions. Those restrictions when you are free to play player are reduced experience gain, you can't equip artifacts, some customizations are not available. You can play with those restrictions and still have a great time in the game though.
If you love Star Wars universe install this game you scruffy looking nerf herder!