During the E3 show in Los Angeles yesterday, LucasArts and Bioware showed a sneak peek of their highly anticipated game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In case you’re one of the few not familiar with the game, here’s some details for you complete with a cool screenshot and trailer (after the jump).
The story begins 3,500 years before the rise of Darth Vader, when Revan disappeared into space, looking for a Sith Empire run by an Emperor determined to destroy his ancient Jedi enemies. Revan never returned. But the Sith Empire did. And now, they have plans to invade and take over our favorite galaxy far, far away.
According to LucasArts, this game is the first fully voiced MMO. Every class, male or female, and every single NPC or quest in the entire game will have a full voice-over. Like Knights of the Old Republic, the conversation tree in The Old Republic has three choices and every choice you make affects gameplay, sometimes drastically. But since this game is in real time, there is no chance to save and see what would have changed if you had made another choice.
The first class of player shown in the demo was the bounty hunter. Your bounty hunter starts out on the planet of Hutta, the homeworld of the Hutts. This is the first time Hutta has been fully realized in a Star Wars game. Your mission is to find your way into “The Great Hunt,” which is an event sponsored by the Mandalorians to find the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy. The bounty hunter is a ranged class, but he does have some armor and lots of gadgets.
Another class announced for the first time anywhere is the smuggler class, based, of course, off of Han Solo. You begin on the planet Ord Mantel, a place full of smugglers, mercenaries and scoundrels of all sorts. You mission is to run guns to the Republic. The smuggler is a ranged class as well.
In addition to the player vs. environment mode, there will also be a player vs. player mode — which should make for some interesting gameplay.
At the moment, Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s release date has not been announced. But according to LucasArts, it will be “released when its ready.” Until then, check out the trailer below.
Chris Ullrich
June 5, 2009 at 4:25 pmCould not agree more about ‘Phantom Menace.’ I don’t think games and films consult much except to be sure stories are all inline with the SW Universe.
From what we hear, the game should be avail for all next-gen platforms so this should include XBox 360. Don’t know about the Mac yet.
We’ll let you know more info as it becomes available. Thanks for reading.
The_GunSlinGer
June 5, 2009 at 8:15 pmThis is a great post! I have been waiting to hear some news about this – I know it’s been in the works for a bit! The trailer blew me away!!! I couldn’t help but think two things as I watched the sequence play out:
1) Why did LucasFILM NOT consult LucasARTS when they were creating that horrendous feature called The Clone Wars?! Is it just me, or would it be safe to say that 90 minutes of a story shown with this level of artistry and music would redefine EPIC for SW geeks.
2) On a personal note, I think the three minutes of story told in this trailer is better than the entire 2 hours of the Phantom Menace (with the sole excpetion of the 2.5 minutes dedicated to Darth Maul).
Thanks again for the update on this. Would love to know if there has been any discussion of platforming this (X360 in particular). Will this be MAC-friendly?
Cheers!
The_GunSlinGer
June 5, 2009 at 8:15 pmThis is a great post! I have been waiting to hear some news about this – I know it’s been in the works for a bit! The trailer blew me away!!! I couldn’t help but think two things as I watched the sequence play out:
1) Why did LucasFILM NOT consult LucasARTS when they were creating that horrendous feature called The Clone Wars?! Is it just me, or would it be safe to say that 90 minutes of a story shown with this level of artistry and music would redefine EPIC for SW geeks.
2) On a personal note, I think the three minutes of story told in this trailer is better than the entire 2 hours of the Phantom Menace (with the sole excpetion of the 2.5 minutes dedicated to Darth Maul).
Thanks again for the update on this. Would love to know if there has been any discussion of platforming this (X360 in particular). Will this be MAC-friendly?
Cheers!
The_GunSlinGer
June 5, 2009 at 1:15 pmThis is a great post! I have been waiting to hear some news about this – I know it’s been in the works for a bit! The trailer blew me away!!! I couldn’t help but think two things as I watched the sequence play out:
1) Why did LucasFILM NOT consult LucasARTS when they were creating that horrendous feature called The Clone Wars?! Is it just me, or would it be safe to say that 90 minutes of a story shown with this level of artistry and music would redefine EPIC for SW geeks.
2) On a personal note, I think the three minutes of story told in this trailer is better than the entire 2 hours of the Phantom Menace (with the sole excpetion of the 2.5 minutes dedicated to Darth Maul).
Thanks again for the update on this. Would love to know if there has been any discussion of platforming this (X360 in particular). Will this be MAC-friendly?
Cheers!