Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic is due out in a few weeks, and the developers have officially lifted the ban on sneak previews, discussions, and other bits of information related to the game, experiences, or mechanics. So sit back and dig in, let’s discuss what this game has going for it.
There are 8 total classes, 4 for the Republic, 4 for the Empire. The classes are similar in play style, with some minor cosmetic tweaks to make them feel different. They include:
Jedi Knight
Jedi Counselor
Smuggler
Soldier
For the Empire:
Sith Warrior
Sith Inquisitor
Imperial Agent
Bounty Hunter
The classes match across spectrum with Jedi Knights / Sith Warriors being your melee class. Jedi Counselors / Sith Inquisitors function as (primarily) ranged caster types. Smugglers / Imperial Agents are stealthy ranged assassins and Soldiers / Bounty Hunters acting as ranged tanks and (aggro) grabbers.
Each class has two “Advanced” levels that let you specialize how your character functions within group play, and to further individualize, each of these “Advanced” classes contains its own talent tree so a Jedi Knight isn’t a Jedi Knight isn’t a Jedi Knight. It allows for everyone to play the class the way they choose to the best of their play style and ability.
While there is an overall story to the game, each character has their own overall story arch that moves them from planet to planet (level zone to level zone) in pursuit of their end goals. Playing as a Republic Soldier my first time through in the Beta, I was betrayed by my squad who defected to the Empire and have been assigned to track them all down and bring them to justice.
Unlike most other MMOs out there, SW:TOR is fully voice acted. Any time you go talk to a quest giver a cutscene activates. It is fully voice acted and gives you dialogue option reply choices similar to their other games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and their older games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (1 and 2). Dependent upon some of your answers, your character will lean towards the light side or dark side which leads to how people view your character. Not to mention previous answers and actions to quest givers early on leads to consequences down the road as the game progresses.
One of the other things that stands out to me is the inclusion of an NPC companion that comes with you on missions, effectively giving you your own mini party as you go out solo in to the world. Your companion compliments your fighting ability, giving you extra damage and support. One of your companions coolest functions is to do all of your crafting for you. You can send your companion back to base or to your ship to craft items and have them neatly deposited in to your backpack upon completion. They can also do side quests to go out and search for crafting goods used to create more impressive items. You loose their ability to assist you while your out grinding mobs and doing quests, but this saves you from spending hours in a town combining materials to churn out hundreds of boots you’ll never use. The sweet part about crafting, if you don’t need it, deconstruct you made to give you some materials back, and also the possibility of how to make newer and better items.
I’m very excited for this game to come out. I think it brings a well needed breath of fresh air to the MMO experience blending extremely well between a single player RPG and a normal MMO. The game is extremely well scripted with a very high replay value. The voice acting is top notch and the epic, f ully orchestral background music puts you in the Star Wars universe as you plow through enemies with your light saber out. Look for this game to put World of Warcraft on its toes as it goes live on December 20.
Legends of the Fall
Fall (aka. Q4, aka Xmas) is always a good time of the year for Gamers. Not only is cold and wet outside so our excuses to sit inside and play all day seem less arbitrary, we’re also flooded with a mass of AAA titles all competing for the top game of the year.
And this year is no exception. In fact, when looking at the wide range on titles coming out this fall it isn’t too farfetched to consider this one of the best falls ever. Many of the biggest titles of the past few years are scheduled to hit between October and December this year. I’m here to take a closer look at all the big contenders for this year’s “Game of the Year”.
Review – Batman: Arkham Asylum
Review – Batman: Arkham Asylum
With Batman – Arkham City getting a lot of coverage as of recent due to its upcoming release this year my attention was drawn to the first part of the series, Batman – Arkham Asylum which was published in 2009. It was one of these games that came out of nowhere and got some pretty raving reviews, even on the PC. Normally console ports to the PC have input issues and don’t translate that well into keyboard + mouse controls. But Batman – A.A. made no mistakes there and the controls feel as good as you could’ve hoped for in any console -> PC port out there.
Anyway, I was curious about the game and picked it up for a mere 8 Euros at my local retailer. It’s actually quite revealing that you can get 30+ hours of solid entertainment for the price of a movie ticket or a McDonalds menu, especially if you consider that games these days don’t age very fast (mostly due to console-tech). So despite being two years old, Batman – AA still feels very fresh and original. You don’t feel like you’re playing and old and outdated game from the “Software Pyramid” (a place where they sell all kinds of old games for 5 Euros).
I be firing ma lasor – Star Battle, a Starcraft 2 custom map.
Trying helplessly to fill the void until the next big MMO I rediscovered my Starcraft 2 Desktop shortcut. It hadn’t really gone anywhere in the past year but for some reason after my initial interest and semi-competitive attitude I quickly left it to rest after dabbling with the Multiplayer for a few weeks.
Anyway, the great thing about Starcraft 2 is that is that thanks to the map-editor, it offers something for everyone. Even players like me, who at some point might have pursued competitive play but are now years behind current play.
ARAM’s: A lighter approach to competitive gaming.
With my game time pretty much taken up with practicing for Season 2, I haven’t really had much time to review any of the newer games coming out. Of course playing any competitive online game gets intense over time which can lead to some stress, so every online game needs a lighter mode for it’s players to wind down in my opinion. For League of Legends, this mode is ARAM, which stands for all random, all mid. Which means that no player gets to choose his champion, and they are only allowed to stay in the middle lane. Since nobody has a choice of who they play, and all ten players are clustered into the middle lane, this style results in many humorous battles and a noticeably lighter environment to play in. After all the tension in ranked games, it’s a nice style to just sit down and enjoy with friends for some laughs.
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine
For the glory of the Emperor! It was only a matter of time before there was a first person (or in this case, third person) shooter made based in the Warhammer universe and THQ does not disappoint.
You play Captain Titus, member of the Ultra Marines, one of the many space marine chapters in the Warhammer universe. The Warhammer universe is one fraught in war, hardship, and constant combat, and this game does not disappoint. Upon landing on planet you are immediately brought in to confrontation with the Orks (yes, with a K not a C).
Many people are comparing the game to Gears of War due to the large dudes running around in bulky armor carrying around chainsaws in a different type of weapon other then a normal chainsaw. The similarities end there. Mayne people are dismayed at the lack of ability to take cover actively and are stuck hiding behind crates and walls like older first person shooters. While I found this to be a minor hindrance, I found use of powerful melee weapons, the ability to stun opponents, and the regaining of health after executing an enemy a much more useful function. Space marines don’t hide from combat, they revel in it!
Deus Ex – Human Revolution Review
Being one of the few big games in the past months I picked up Human Revolution on my recent trip to the UK for a mere 30 pounds (about 35 Euros).
Deus Ex Human Revolution is one of these games that makes you proud to be a Gamer as it proves that video-games too can deal with adult and mature subjects without having to resort to cheap action or sex to sell the product.
Deus Ex in its core is a cover/first-person shooter with RPG elements set in the not so distant future of 2027. In this scenario, human augmentation, the act of enhancing your bodies abilities with the help of mechanical implants, has become commonplace and the moral debate is splitting society. As typical for a Deus Ex game, the plot is driven by strong elements of conspiracy and intrigue at which’s conclusion stands the fate of the human race.
