The first Knights of the Old Republic game in 2003 was, as a few people may already know, the first thing that really got me into Star Wars; to this day I still remember the amazed feeling of awe I had when I first set foot on Taris and looked at the beautiful city landscape, the shining sun in the game adding to the mood of the setting. The feeling was really cinched when I reached the ultimate twist in the game; that you are in fact Darth Revan, the apparently dead Sith Lord who was betrayed by his (or her) Apprentice, Darth Malak. There’s never been anything that’s really been able to replicate the epicness of this game – even the sequel, penned by game company Obsidian, wasn’t quite as good. I’m one of the few people who thought that The Sith Lords was actually a great game; sure,…
Author: Soeren Kamper
Know your Lore: Ajunta Pall
Ajunta Pall was a Dark Jedi, and later one of the first Sith Lords following the Hundred Year Darkness. His spirit was redeemed by the Jedi Knight Revan during the Jedi Civil War. Ajunta Pall’s tomb is one of the side-quests available in the Korriban segment of the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In the game, he recognizes the player character’s true identity. The main character can either help him become one with the Force (for “light-side points”), fight him and destroy his spirit (for “dark-side points”), or fail to take him to the light and let his spirit fade away. The statue of Ajunta Pall seen in his tomb is identical with the one seen in the destroyed Jedi Enclave on Dantooine in Knights of the Old Republic II, which could mean that Ajunta Pall was once a highly respected Jedi Master; however, this has…
Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode III – Force Unleashed Sketch
Starwars.com has posted a pretty funny Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III video promoting the release of The Force Unleashed II. The video has only been available at the official Star Wars site here, but doing xmas, it has found it’s way to youtube. As the shift change on the Death Star passes, Stormtroopers head back to the barracks and others head out to their posts. Their one stop in common is the Imperial Cafeteria. Here, one lone coffee maker sits. Empty. Used. Un-refilled. Destined to serve millions of cups of coffee a day across the space station, the promise of the device remains unfulfilled. And Vader is not a morning person.
Friday update: Trooper’s Unstoppable Force
This friday sends love to the Trooper. Ready as always the Troopers are willing to put the Sith on their @$$. The Trooper’s Advance Classes will allow you to cause massive damage as Vanguard or Commando. Play as the Defensive Vanguard, nothing will move these soldiers back, they will throw everything on the line to keep their position from the enemy. Or as the Crazy Commando, The Sith will run from the very sight as this Tank will mow down their defenses. Either way you can’t go wrong. See more details about the Explosive Ex-Military Tanno Vik, how Zabraks are known for their loyalty to the Republic, and how each Trooper are given a high-powered Rendili Hyperworks BT-7 Thunderclap, a heavily-armored starship powerhouse upgraded with state-of-the-art tech requisitioned by Republic Special Forces. If you don’t believe me, watch the Trooper video again. You can now read all about the…
While we wait : What to do with a real Lightsaber
What to know if you and your friends were given real lightsabers? Think no more, from FANBOYSPRODUCTIONS.COM is: Three in the Afternoon Six In The Morning (Part 1) Six in the Morning (Part 2) To Be Continued… Check out the site for the next installment By FANBOYSPRODUCTIONS.COM
Troopers Got Game
Bioware has released another fantastic trailer video, for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This time it’s of the ultimate muscle class “The Republic Trooper.” Even though the Troopers as a character are soldiers of the Republic following orders from a higher authority and personally I can’t follow the orders, but as I seen them throwing down in the fray of blaster fire as they reveal mini guns to sweep the entire group, man that was awesome. I have to say that the armor’s special ability to push back their enemies after being surrounded is one sweet move. I thought about favoring the Bounty Hunter or the Smuggler as my first choice, but this video makes me rethink my decision. Even if you choose a force user as your first choice I’d rethink that plan to take on the Trooper head on. May The Force Be With You All.
The Star Wars Christmas Special
It’s Christmas time, and while today that means people grinching about whether or not you should say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” there was a time when the biggest issue people had was which televised Christmas special they were going to watch. We’ve all seen the one with Rudolph and that one with the Heat Miser, and I’m sure the amount of hours spent watching the adventures of Frosty the Snowman would be shameful. Though those were all enjoyable when we were kids, we haven’t had a real grown-up Christmas special in a long time. That’s where this video comes in. Because you guys have been so good to us all year, and because we know you all love Star Wars as much as we do, we just had to cut our own version of a Star Wars Christmas Special. So instead of getting a card in the mail,…
Wednesday Review: Red Harvest
Red Harvest is Joe Schreiber’s prequel to last year’s Death Troopers – did it live up to its predecessor, or fall prey to the zombie plot cliches? In essence, Red Harvest is, simply put, a zombie book. There isn’t an extremely good story to it, and it focuses so much on the zombies that it gets a bit tiring. The characters aren’t compelling, and with the rushed feeling of the entire book, I wish Schreiber would’ve added some extra content to the story, especially considering the short length of the novel itself. Red Harvest doesn’t reach its full potential, but hopefully future books of Joe Schreiber’s will, since his actual writing style is pretty satisfactory – maybe they won’t even focus on zombies anymore, something that, in this format, really isn’t scary or creepy. This video was also posted at NJOE and Man in Black Reviews, written by MizzeeOH with the Spoiler Free series being the creation…
The AT-AT Family Xmas
Oh the weather on Hoth is frightful, Echo Base on fire is so delightful, Shield generator is about to go, Let it Blow! Let it Blow! Let it Blow! AT-AT’s show no signs of stopping, And the sounds of Rebel heads a’ popping, Their will to fight is almost done, Let ‘em Run! Let ‘em Run! Let ‘em Run! When I finally get off this rock, Leavin’ a glorious blaster storm, Slip on a sock made of Ewok, All the way, home I’ll be warm! Oh the taun tauns are slowly dying, And soon, Vader and I’ll be high-fiving, An Admiral soon I’ll be, Let ‘em Flee! Let ‘em Flee! Let ‘em Flee! Via General Veers himself Created by Kody Peters, Andy Van Leeuwen, and Brendan. at:
SWTOR’s Lead PvP Designer talks about warzones and PvP
With every Star Wars fan eagerly awaiting the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic from BioWare, Ten Ton Hammer’s own Jeff “Ethec” Woleslagle traveled to BioWare’s favorite spaceport cantina to learn more about the PvP aspects of the game. Quaffing a few bottles of Tusken Banthan Sweat with Gabe Amatangelo, lead PvP designer, he learned some interesting tidbits about the Alderaan warzone and PvP in general. Gabe Amatangelo: The major thing is that it’s an immersive experience and that the Alderaan war zone has a visceral mechanic or it has a visceral coding to every MMOG mechanic. You’re seeing ships go down, you’re seeing damage to the ship, you’re retargeting guns. I’m holding that philosophy to PvP in general in The Old Republic. Learn more about PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic in TTH’s interview with Gabe Amatangelo.
Interview with Stephen Reid
SWTOR-ESP.com brings us an interview with Stephen Reid. Honestly Mr. Reid hasn’t said anymore than what we (the fans) already know, other than the fact he likes playing as a debonair smuggler as he woes the ladies at one of the local cantinas shooting one of Greedo’s ancestor right between the eyes than he does playing the celibate Jedi; although, wielding a lightsaber and the Force is super fun. Mr. Reid is from Britain who is the Senior Community Manager for The Old Republic and has only just moved into the U.S. last year, but has worked for U.S.companies for the past 2. He has had his hand in various game industries for the past 12 years but he’s been working with MMORPG’s for the last 6. To those that need TOR to be subtitled in another language other than English they’re currently working on French and German. Answering questions were tough, since…
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Launched for the Mac
The Force is Now With Mac Players PC and Mac Players Can Now Team Up with the Republic Online Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts, in collaboration with TransGaming announced that Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, a free-to-play family-friendly online virtual world, is now available for Macintosh Platform users at www.CloneWarsAdventures.com.Clone Wars Adventures is an action-packed browser-based virtual world where fans can live out the thrills and excitement of Star Wars®: The Clone Wars animated TV series on Cartoon Network. “The demand for game content on the Mac platform has increased significantly, and we are excited to bring our games to this growing audience,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “Through our collaboration with TransGaming, Mac and PC players are able to play together seamlessly on both Free Realms and now Clone Wars Adventures, and we will continue to look for opportunities with future games to do the same.” Clone Wars Adventures is the ultimate virtual destination for…
Holiday Sale on KOTOR
Hey Star Wars Fans, do I got great news for you. http://Store.steampowered.com/app/32370/ is selling Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for 4.99 that’s 50% off. That is a great deal for all of you that spent 20 to 30 dollars on the X-Box version recently or if you had to spend 40 bucks on the Star Wars Pak. Except for the pak there is no hard copy of KOTOR for the PC anymore but I’m assuming it’s a holiday special price. ( It’s on Amazon though) I never really played the PC Version but I hear with the DC you get to were your old robes, probably not the best fighting wear but it is still awesome to run around the Jedi Academy looking like Darth Revan. I love the KOTOR games always making difficult decisions on what to slay next, well unless you liked being on the light…
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived Chapter 3 Excerpt
It looks like the guys over at Rebelscum.com has a nice treat for us: As a special holiday gift to the readers of Rebelscum.com, you can now read a sample of the new title Star Wars: The Old Republic–Deceived months before it hits stores. Thanks to all our friends at Del Rey for making this happen. In conjunction with SWTOR.com (Chapter 1) and StarWars.com (Chapter 2), Rebelscum.com presents the third chapter of Deceived. You can read the PDF right here! This book is due out on March 22, 2011.
BioWare Doctors To Become AIAS Hall Of Famers
The Founders of Bio Ware, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, are to be included in the AIAS Hall of Fame (The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences) which sounds like an awesome way to be praised. The two are worthy of this awesome achievement, for they accomplished so much in the past 14 years. BioWare has shot out impressive game titles the equal the level of baddest @$$ RPG’s. They will be presented the award on the 10th of February, 2010 in one of the brightest city in the world or possibly the Brightest, Las Vegas. This will be held at the D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) which basically translates to a gathering of gamers, a Convention, or An Emmy for the truly gifted. While a gamer is earning Achievements on his or her Xbox 360 while Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk and others like…
Know your legends: Marka Ragnos
Marka Ragnos was a half-breed Dark Lord of the Sith who was immensely powerful, both physically and in the Force. He defeated Simus in combat, proving himself worthy of the mantle of Dark Lord. The tomb of Ragnos on Korriban appears in the games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. However, the tombs in each game are dissimilar to the other. This was likely for reasons of game structure, rather than a suggestion of the tombs being at different locations. The same phenomenon is seen with the Valley of the Dark Lords as a whole. Another theory is that his tomb underwent a renovation after being desecrated by Revan and his followers. While a figure of importance in Sith history, Marka Ragnos has actually never appeared in a story in which he was alive, much like another influential Sith Lord, Freedon Nadd….
The twisted mind of OneMinuteGalactica
Back in October we showed the hellerius fan movie “What to do on a space date” The movie was created by a user who calls himself OneMinuteGalactica. Now, If you are a Star Wars Fan like me, and like to surf around Youtube for funny movies, you must have come by OneMinuteGalactica quite often. He seems to be one of those hyper active producers that always put out new stuff. I had a quick chat with him the other day were he told me about him self: I’m a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica and the original Star Wars trilogy. I started making videos about two years ago when I started watching YouTube videos regularly. Before that I never really watched much of them and thought the whole YouTube craze was kind of stupid. I think that video of “Darth Vader Being a Smartass” was one of my…
Kill Chewbacca & Han Solo with The Force Unleashed 2 DLC
It’s no secret that both Harrison Ford and writer Lawrence Kasdan wanted to kill off Han solo in the last act of Return of the Jedi. George Lucas was against it though, so Han Solo stayed alive, and got the girl in the end. Since then George Lucas has changed his mind. Star Wars: The force unleashed II: Endor bonus Mission, let’s you – not only slaughter shit loads of Ewoks – you also get to cold blooded murder of Han, Chewie And Leia. The video is below, if you needed something to scream “nooooooooo” at. I heard there’s also downloadable content which lets you play a character who looks like you as a child, and then an NPC who looks like George Lucas rolls in on a golf cart and rapes your character. Just what I heard.
Friday Update: Studio Insider – Experience Coruscant and Fan friday
So, Fan Friday. It seems that Bioware decided to split the “Developer Corner” out of the Fan Friday and give it its own thing, called “Studio Insider””. Last time we got a look at the work the development team was doing on Flesh Raiders, and this time we get to experience Coruscant. Read the full article here We are excited about sharing new work-in-progress art, special screenshots, animations, and other insights from the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ team. In this Studio Insider, World Designer Eric Young walks us through the process of building the city world of Coruscant. Also, we have picked some questions to answer in the Community Q&A section! Designing Coruscant They call me Eric Young. I’ve been a World Designer at BioWare for almost four years now; my job is to design the layout of planets, place buildings and mold terrain into mountains, valleys and roads. I work from the…
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived Chapter 2 Excerpt
The official Star Wars website have released a new expert for the upcoming book Star Wars: The Old republic Deceived: For those who can’t wait for the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, here’s another taste of the story with an excerpt from the novel, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived, by Paul S. Kemp. In the Del Rey Books novel due out in March, readers will learn more about Darth Malgus, the Sith Lord who brought down the Jedi Temple. Star Wars fans first experienced the devastating might of Malgus in this epic cinematic trailer to Star Wars: The Old Republic which depicted the Sacking of Coruscant. For an excerpt of Chapter Two, click on the cover below. The book will be available at retailers on March 22nd. Pre-order your copy right now at the following online retailers: Amazon, and other retailers.
Machinima Realm goes to the Jedi Immersion Event
I belive we are starting to see the end of the Jedi Immersion Event reviews, but I don’t wan’t to cheat you for Machinimas “Realm” were Hundar and Grit try out TOR’s Jedi classes:
Ten Ton Hammers latest impressions after a story-driven six hours with the Jedi Knight
Ten Ton Hammer donned their Padawan robes for their first feature length, hands-on, ten level preview of the Jedi homeworld, Tython. They tell us about one of the game’s most anticipated classes, the Jedi Knight, whether SWTOR’s story-driven approach is fun or frivolous, offer you a first-ever hands-on glimpse of how multiplayer works, and give you the low-down on the first round of SWTOR morality missions like this one: “And just like that, I stumble into my toughest morality mission yet. It’s not because my job is to break up the happy Jedi couple – Jedis lead a hard knock life – but because Moracen offers me a sweet crystal for the lightsaber I hope to build soon. In return I’d simply go off and tell the Master that everything was nice and passion-free again. Grimacing (in real life), I stuck to my guns, imagining I’d just turned down one…
TOROCast: Jedi Immersion Event
TOROCast as promised has published a wealth of information from the Star Wars: The old republic Jedi Immersion Event. The guys got an Interview with Daniel Erickson that you can check out below, and a great job collecting player stats and NPC info: Nothing is more important to any MMO players efficiency than their stats and understanding how they affect your character. Min/maxxers especially care about stats since it is through stat optimization that we can set ourselves apart. Below you will find a complete breakdown of everything we learned from our playtime. Each level, main and primary go up by 4, secondary goes up by 1. It is possible that their is a rotation we can see this by looking at the increase in primary stats. So they go up by 4, then they go up by 4, then they go up by 3, and rotate like that. Unfortunately…
More reviews from the big gaming sites
Reviews are still pupping up all over the interwebs. With in the last few hours, Massively, VideoGamer, Eurogamer, and some of the more “hardcore” Star Wars the old republic fansites such as DarthHater and TOROCast has posted their reviews of the Jedi Immersion Event. Here is an update and a snip from each site. Firstly we got Massively that spoils us with a long review plus a few ingame movies: And for the people worried that SWTOR is going to be a Star Wars-themed World of Warcraft, you can rest easy too. The dialogue system guarantees that returning to your quest-giver isn’t just a mad dash of clicks. Your quest choices actually matter. The NPCs talk to you, and you’re going to want to talk back. I never once had the urge to skip the quest text (in fact, I was terrified I’d miss something if I looked away!), and…