Until now, the general public has only seen bits and pieces of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/swtor" target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars: The Old Republic,
but at target="_blank">E3 2009 LucasArts and BioWare are
finally showing off a brand new CG trailer, some gameplay, and the
Smuggler class for first time. Even though the game still
isn’t in beta, TOR looks great, moves fast, and definitely
takes a fun approach to MMOs. Having a very active story for players to
explore along with the MMO elements of PvP and massive Jedi vs. Sith
battles, TOR looks to deliver where other Star Wars games have come up
short.

Our first look at the game while at E3 2009 began with a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69099" target="_blank">trailer
of the sacking of Coruscant. Fast paced and action packed,
the Sith make it clear they are here to wreak havoc with the Dark Side
as their ally. As is the case in all BioWare games, story and character
choices make all the difference in the world. TOR will be one of the
first MMOs to use full voice over capabilities. Your responses are in
text but only briefly and help to drive the story line in the game.
BioWare uses its classic cut scene format to give players a heroic
journey in the Old Republic.

We got a first look at the planet Hutta, home of the notorious
gangsters the Hutts. The Bounty Hunter class was shown off and the team
was quick to explain that they want players to truly feel the badass
storyline, which can definitely draw some parralels Boba Fett. The
class has great features to blast foes, use jump packs, rockets, and
even fire a deadly flame thrower that works as a crowd control device.
We later saw the Bounty Hunter working in full effect with a Sith as
they took on an Imperial ships entire crew after the captain disobeyed
a direct Grand Moff order. Team work counts, but the two classes made
some nasty work of any opponents.

Our first look at the Smuggler class followed in the tracks of Han Solo
himself. Both the Smuggler and Bounty Hunter are ranged classes, were
the Jedi and Sith focus on melee. The Smuggler wears less armor and
works on a unique new system that allows the class to take full
advantage of cover in the game. The cover mechanic shows places where
primarily ranged fighters can jump or roll themselves into a defensive
bonus in the environment and is one of the first times a system like
this has been used successfully in an MMO.

In the Smuggler segment, we got a chance to see Ord Mantell, where a
civil war between the Republic and separatists gives the Smuggler
plenty of options to run guns and information . Bounty Hunters have all
kinds of weapons at their disposal with flash grenades and barrage fire
as well as close combat dirty kicks and point blank head shots.
 

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 style="font-style: italic;">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.