What does Penny Arcade think about SW:TOR? Now you can find out because Mike Krahulik, known as Gabe on PA, has had access to the friends and family beta of SWTOR and now we has permission to share his impressions with us via the Penny Arcade Blog. Gabe starts off, “Honestly they had no idea what I was going to say which must have been a little scary considering this is PA, but lucky for them I actually really like their game.” That’s good news for TOR fans as well. Gabe tells us he thinks TOR will live up to its expectations. We know the PA guys can be pretty critical so this is a positive for BioWare/TOR. He compares the questing in TOR to other MMOs: “Turning the quests into an interactive experience makes me care a lot more about them. A quest is still a chance to get…
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The Lost Suns Comic Review
I was super excited to get my hands on my own copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic- The Lost Sons comic and just as excited to meet Alexander Freed himself. On the ride back home, I was already reading my comic. I can see why they said the comic would be of interest to anyone planning to play TOR as well. This is the first of a five-issue comic book series about Theron Shan and it contains a lot of lore and background for the game. As Freed said on the official TOR forums, “”I like to describe The Lost Suns as our ‘ninth story’ — every class in The Old Republic tells its own Star Wars epic, and Theron’s tale intersects with the other eight and pushes the greater game story forward, just as they do.“ Right from the first page of beautiful artwork, the comic sets up…
More E3 SWTOR Previews/Impressions
As E3 information continued into a new week, more preview and impressions were out for us to digest. There is just so much info out there that one could spend many hours dissecting it all and determining what is really useful and what is the same old thing we’ve already heard before. Lucky for you, I did the dirty work and reviewed them all for you. Here is a recap of what you can expect from each set of impressions: Tecca Hands-on- Too much WoW-referencing in this preview for my taste. It’s a really dumbed-down write-up that reads like it was written for people who have never played an MMORPG before. (It has a section titled “an introduction to online role playing games). It doesn’t say a lot about the game itself but keeps making references to WoW and how popular it is and the Star Wars franchise and…
Star Tours is Awesome – Just Ask LAWeekly
One thing that perpetually annoys me about living in the UK is that we don’t have a Disney theme park here. Perhaps it is because the typically grey skies, liberally dotted with even greyer clouds, pregnant with rain showers wouldn’t exactly provide the best backdrop to the magical kingdom? Who knows. But what I do know is that my geographical distance from the true home of the Disney theme park (and not that Euro-lite version in Paris), means it is unlikely I will get to see the revamped Star Tours attraction any time soon. Doesn’t help that I’m petrified of flying… Anyway, because of such circumstances, and also because I’m obviously a fully paid-up Star Wars fanatic I have been feverishly reading up on the attraction, as well as losing myself in some of the awesome videos and pictures circling around the web. What luck for me then, that we…
SWTOR Gets a Negative Preview from Bit-Tech
What’s that? A negative review for SWTOR? That’s right; you read it correctly. Who would dare such a thing? Bit-Tech has something to say about our beloved SWTOR. We’re all anxiously awaiting the game that promises to “keep players engaged” for hours on end. However, according to Bit-Tech, this may not be the case. In fact, they give SWTOR a negative preview and express disappointment in the game after forty-eight hours of solid play. You have to take notice with comments like “It’s plain and staid and deathly dull” and “it’s one of the most boring titles we’ve ever had to endure”. This is just two of the negative things that Bit-Tech had to say about Bioware’s new brainchild. It seems that one of the things that Bit-Tech believes makes it so bad is the fact that Bioware makes so many promises about how they have “infused a series of…
Wednesday Reviews: The Old Republic: Deceived
Deceived tells the tale of Darth Malgus, a fierce Sith Lord who lived during the time of the Great Galactic War as he deals with the coming peace treaty between the Empire and Republic, his Sith “allies”, and his own conflicted feelings on the events transpiring. Deceived is a novel that does its job perfectly; being a tie-in to a huge upcoming game (Star Wars: The Old Republic, of course) it had to be not only a separate story that could stand on its own two feet, but a novel that ties in with the events of the SWTOR so that it makes the readers curious about the game itself. Luckily, it does just that, dragging you into the universe the game takes place in while making you curious enough to check out more. Deceived introduces us to the situation of the galaxy and the important characters making an impact…
Pax East 2011: SWTOR Reviews/Previews
More and more SWTOR Reviews are coming in now. So far the verdict have been mixed, but some reporters are not MMORPG fans – so it don’t have to meen much. Below you can read a small snip of each review, and find a direct link to the source. Generally a harsh critic, I’ll admit that I had a hard time finding things that I didn’t like about the Old Republic. I mean, it’s Knights of the Old Republic, except prettier and with more classes, powers, and party members (that are human, no less). That’s a winning formula. If I had one gripe, it’s that Bioware still can’t seem to nail down an official release date, tentatively citing a Q2 2011 release. g4tv.com: I have to say, I was expecting something very different to anything I’ve ever played before, and it seemed that the classes we played (and the way their talent…
Unknowing Compition For SWTOR?
I have recently read an article that has stated an older game called RIFT created by Trion Worlds that is at least two years old has flopped in their previous trails to envelope the MMO community. But in these recent times Trion Worlds has seemed to be working on their game really well that ones that can beta test this game have really nice things to say, but can it compete with the release of the MMO that everyone and thier pets are waiting for SWTOR. RIFT is in the genre of D&D style, a truly fantasy like world, but can we accept a game like this with so many other games in the same world, Vanguard, LOTR, and DDO. I don’t know, maybe. I can say that I am intrigued in a game that rereleased itself so it can have fighting chance in our Massive Multiplayed World. I’m picking a copy, are You? Read more by Brian Rowe on RIFT vs Star Wars: The…
Harry Plinket has delivered! Revenge of the Sith review
Mr. Plinkett wraps up his video Star Wars prequels reviews with an epic Revenge of the Sith dissection! PART 1: PART 2: PART 3: He was actually dead wrong on the fact that the Millineum Falcon wasn’t in the prequels. Its right down at the bottom of the frame. I Think I am going to email him and demand two pizza rolls.
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.
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…
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:
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…
Five Hours with Star Wars: The Old Republic
IGN had the chance to play Star Wars: The old republic for 5 hours ( the bastards). From that came a pretty interesting article that’s worth a read: The setting for questing is Tython, the starting area for Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular players. As tends to be the case in many Star Wars games, you don’t start out with a lightsaber. The iconic Jedi kill stick must be earned. As the Knight class, my focus is combat. I have a training sword that buzzes with energy but doesn’t glow like the saber. Initially I can use a Strike skill to deal instant damage to enemies and build a focus meter. This can be followed up with a Slash attack that does more damage and consumes focus, which forms the central combat mechanic for the class. Earning experience through questing and killing opens up more skills that highlight the Knight’s…
First review of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived
The first reviews of Paul S. Kemp’s upcomming book Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived is starting to show up on Amazon. It’s interesting that so many people already read the book considering the considering the release have been moved to March 22, 2011. One have to wonder if it has be planted or it is a real honest review. Anyways. Anyways. Here it is: First of all, let me say that my biggest peeve with Star Wars novels is that too many authors seem content to fill their books with ridiculous plot devices, endless battle scenes, and shallow characters. I’ve had enough of superweapons – after all, we all know the good guys defeat them. Unfortunately, I thought Sean Williams’ Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, the first in the Old Republic series, exemplifies these problems. As such, I admit I approached Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived with…
Wednesday Review: Knights of the Old Republic Volume 2: Flashpoint
As Zayne Carrick and his allies continue their run from the Jedi and Republic pursuing them, things take a turn for the worse as they happen to find themselves on a planet being attacked by Mandalorians – and to make things worse, Jarael is captured by the brutal warriors, taken to a nightmarish experimenting facility. Zayne knows he must save the Arkanian woman, but the task will be far from easy, as he will have to venture into the very territory of the Mandalorians to find her. Knights of the Old Republic Volume 2: Flashpoint does a great job of both flowing well with the last volume and being a different enough story that it doesn’t feel like we’re just following strictly the story of Zayne – Padawan fugitive. We’re seeing the development of other characters and storylines, too – even the antagonists such as Lucian Draay. He gets a…
Knights of the Old Republic Volume 1: Commencement Review
Was Commencement a good starter for the entire Knights of the Old Republic series? Read on to find out! Going into Commencement, you may think that you need to have played the actual Knights of the Old Republic games to understand what’s going on in the comic. But almost as soon as Commencement begins, it becomes obvious that this is not the case; Knights of the Old Republic stands so well on it’s own feet that even if you have never heard of the games or played, you can read this and understand what’s going on incredibly easily. There are references that only the people who have played the games will get, but understanding these isn’t absolutely necessary – it’s only an added bonus. One aspect of Commencement I just loved was the characters; they were all so entertaining, and the interaction between them all is great. Zayne and Gryph…
Video Review: The Force Unleashed
A few days ago we posted Lord Iurus amazing review of Sean Williams new book: The Force Unleashed. “The Lord” has now put together a video Review of the same book. A excellent view, I recommend you to check out – if you plan to read the book or play the game. Edit: “The Lord” informs us that he’s only the editor of the review; it was written and posted by Sith Jammies. You can check out Jammies website Here. Lord Iurus of NJOE.com, maintains an ongoing look back at the Expanded Universe, “A Long Time Ago”, as well as providing Spoiler Free reviews a week before most major Star Wars releases, in addition to the other reviews found at his blog.
Review: The Force Unleashed II by Sean Williams
The following review was written by Lord Iurus of NJOE.com, where he maintains an ongoing look back at the Expanded Universe, “A Long Time Ago”, as well as providing Spoiler Free reviews a week before most major Star Wars releases, in addition to the other reviews found at his blog. The original review was posted here. “A Jedi can sometimes sense visions of the future.” “Have you ever done this before?” “I’ve never been a Jedi before.” I’m sitting here in an underground bunker on Malastare. The Hutts are ticked off. Not my fault they left a copy of The Force Unleashed II lying around where I could find it. Seriously. That’s just poor planning. Never mind how they got it; I’m sure Jabba had a few precogs on his payroll. Or, maybe he didn’t. Maybe Durg- no, no. Okay, well, maybe the copy I stole is a fraud. Or, maybe they…
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Fatal Alliance Review
For those of you waiting for the dirt, you can finally find out what Sean Williams’s Fatal Alliance is like. Beware, spoilers follow! A smuggler, an agent and a Mandalorian walk into a bar. Wait a second, that’s not a joke; that’s a scene from Fatal Alliance! When all eight classes from Star Wars: The Old Republic find themselves in the same place, at the same time, faced with the same threat to the civilized galaxy, each class has a chance to let their class features shine. But is the story any good? Is it possible for a novel to do what it must to showcase all eight playable classes and still maintain that Star Wars vibe? I turned to leave. Darth Chratis had learned his lesson about me- he would not challenge me again. I saw a young woman, obviously another Sith, running past me with fire in her…