Issue 12 of Stencil Mag

As you can see, Bioware have stuck to what is commonly known as the ‘holy trinity’ of Tank, Healer and Damage – but more on that later.

So you have decided what you want to do in the game, now… what do you want to look like? There is a range of playable species’ available to choose from, including Human, Chiss, Cyborg, Miraluka, Mirialan, Rattataki, Sith Pureblood, Twi’lek and Zabrak. Some species are faction specific and in many cases class specific. However both Humans and Zabrak can pick any class. Anyone familiar to the STARWARS universe will recognize the races – and yes there are a lot of Zabrak Sith Assassins, some people just want to be Darth Maul….

The story in SWTOR currently makes up a large chunk of the game. Each class has their own individual story, which neatly takes you to the level appropriate planets - normal quests then accompany the core narrative. Each planet is very individual, offering a new aesthetic and feel from the icy barrens on Hoth to the war torn cities of Corellia. They are rich impressive places full of lore and interesting geography and architecture making a perfect backdrop to the numerous quests.

At this point I will briefly outline the MMO formula for anyone miffed by the process of questing, In MMOs, you gain ‘experience’ XP for killing things and doing quests for people in game, through levelling up you get stronger and in turn can do harder, ‘more interesting’ quests. Quests are everywhere in SWTOR and for the most part are narrative rich, which I have to say has been very refreshing. The game continually reminds you why you need to kill 10 guys giving context to some otherwise boring tasks, unlike its contemporaries.

I would have to say that the real strength of the levelling process is in the core story, which has some truly ingenious writing – leaving you wanting more and more.

Companions play a huge part in your development through the game, they are acquired throughout the story - meeting your first at around level 10. Every class gets different companions and depending on your play style, I recommend that you choose a companion that compliments your own abilities. i.e. as Healer I chose to use a tanking companion for most of the game, eventually you will have around 6 companions making up your crew.

In terms of Game-play the UI looks like that other MMO, you know, that one with the Orcs and Dragons and unsurprisingly plays like it too. However this is not necessarily a bad thing. It has come to be the look of the genre, action bars choose an enemy to attack and press different abilities until it’s dead. As I mentioned earlier, the game focuses around the ‘holy trinity’ Tank, Healer and DPS within group questing, you will need to make a balanced group to succeed, tanks will have to manage threat and healers in turn will have to keep an eye on health bars and people standing in an air strike etc…

Ultimately I could spend all day breaking down SWTOR’s gameplay, all I will say is that it works, it doesn’t break the mould or step outside of the wake of WoW, the addition of companions is probably Bioware’s biggest change from the ‘formula’ I only wish they had a little bit more. For example, they haven’t done much more to change ‘professions’, known as ‘Crew Skills’, you can pick up to 3 including 1 crafting skill such as: Armormech – the ability to work with hard metals and electronic shielding Armstech – constructing blasters, blaster rifles and upgrades Artifice – delicate work of constructing Jedi and Sith artifacts Biochem – engineering of chemical serums and biological implants Cybertech – construct gadgets and components for Droids and high-tech armors Synthweaving – the art of creating lighter outfits and armors As well as up to 2 gathering/mission skills including: Archaeology – seek out imbued items like Lightsaber crystals and ancient artifacts Bioanalysis – collecting genetic material from creatures and plants Scavenging – recovering useful materials and parts from old or damaged technology Slicing – a skill in accessing secured computer systems Diplomacy – the art of conducting and managing negotiations Investigation –following clues to discover valuable secrets Treasure Hunting – the ability to track down and recover valuable items Underworld Trading – expertise in the trading of illegal goods and services