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

A few new tidbits of information came out of gamescom this year for Star Wars: The Old Republic. As press gathered into the dark BioWare show room we watched the Hope trailer which was revealed earlier this year at E3.

Blaine Christine, Producer at BioWare Austin demonstrated the trailer and began highlighting why the team believes SW:TOR to be a truly epic MMOG.

First, we took a look at the advanced class system. While the system is still in development and subject to change we were able to take a look at some of the specializations of the classes that players will get to choose as they level up.

If the player wants to be a character like Darth Maul, they would select the Sith Assassin specialization from the Inquisitor class. This would allow them to wield a double bladed sword and provide a stealth element to their gameplay. The contrasting specialization for the Inquisitor is the Sorcerer. As a Sith Sorcerer the player would be more like the Emperor and have ranged abilities like force lightning.

Moving into the Republic classes, Jedi Knights get a choice of Sentinel or Guardian. The Sentinel is an Anakin Skywalker type specialization (before he turned to the dark side) and is able to wield dual sabers. The Sentinel is a melee DPS class. By contrast, the Jedi Guardian specialization puts the player into a melee tank role. They can wear heavier armor but only wield a single light saber. This role was likened to Obiwan.

We also saw the Trooper Commando specialization, which is a damage-dealing tank class with heavy armor; the Smuggler Gunslinger wielding dual pistols, and the Consular Wizard which is a healing specialization.

Christine reminded us that every class has companion characters which can affect the combat system.

Next up, we were treated to a little more information on space exploration. As uncovered at E3, every player will have access to their own space ship which serves as a base of operations and a place to interact with friends.

However, new to gamescom, we also got our first peek at space combat. Space combat is optional content that is complimentary to the story of TOR. In order to participate, one needs only to open their galaxy map to find the space combat hotspots. There will be specific rewards for participation including upgrades to the player ship.