Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Next we were taken into a Flash Point, which is similar to an instanced scenario where your group gets to make choices based on a story line. As mentioned above an Imperial transport ship captain has disobeyed a direct order from a Grand Moff. You are there to deliver the result. Do you obey your Sith tendencies and kill him, or let him live to help you in your quest? The choice is yours and impacts the gameplay to follow. In this instance the Captain lived and the ship was boarded by Republic troopers. While the Captain evacuates the ship out of the fight, it is your job to fight off the Republic troops who board the cruiser.

But of course it wasn’t easy; there were some Padawans and Jedi with them. A quick note: Making the choice to spare the Captain gave us points towards the Light Side, so obviously there are Dark Side points as well. Your Light Side / Dark Side standing can impact the type of loot you'll receive.

For the next few minutes of the demo we watched as a Bounty Hunter and Sith player characters took on the Republic forces. The action was fast paced and the two players moved through multiple opponents in full fury. The Sith is definitely a full melee character with loads of lightsaber attacks and Force Chokes. Also Force Lightning can be used as a crowd control skill, which then gave the Bounty Hunter some easy targets to blast away. The game play moved much faster than many MMOs and plays similar to console game speed. Once the troopers and Padawan have been eliminated a Jedi Knight drops in and fights both players in an epic boss battle. As the Sith triumphed we saw some serious loot drop off the Jedi that both classes could use. The Sith was now able to wield two lightsabers, while the Bounty Hunter got a powerful upgrade to armor.

After the demo the BioWare folks explained that Star Wars: The Old Republic is being made with all the trimmings of an MMO. Full PvP, groups, raids, guilds, auctions, and crafting will play major parts in the game design and have players building up their resources to battle it out across the galaxy.

After the demo we got the chance to sit with Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel to talk about the experience. Look for that video on Ten Ton Hammer very soon. Gordon and Richard both stressed that fun and heroic Star Wars fantasy is really what is at the core of The Old Republic. From what we saw, the game is fast paced and delivers where other Star Wars games have failed in the past. There is a lot to look forward to in the coming months with Star Wars: The Old Republic. The team continues to work hard on balance and gameplay to bring the best experience to fans, and they want everyone to feel a longing to play in a galaxy far, far away.