...ok ok so I exaggerate a bit. Nothing can touch the unholy goodness that is Tie Fighter... but this game comes so...SOOOO.. close it's not even funny. It's practically everything I've ever wanted in a Star Wars RPG...
Now I'm going to avoid spoilers, and I'm sure anyone would like for those that reply to do so as well, so here's the official "NO SPOILERS, DAMMIT" warning.
The story is fantastic. Star Wars HAS to be a "save the galaxy" kind of thing for it to be effective. At least for something of the scope of an RPG like this. This is the first game in quite a while where I found myself staying up into the wee hours of the morning (we're talking 4 or 5am here), just to see "what'll happen next". The plot is really well put together, and there's always a surprise or two waiting for you around each turn. The BIG plot twist (which shall remain nameless, and everyone would remember), is especially unexpected, and that's why I want to refrain from spoilers.
The characters are all quite well put together. Carth is this somewhat paranoid but otherwise well-meaning Republic grunt, Canderous is the seasoned (Mandalorian!) veteran, HK-47 is the BEST. DROID. EVER., T3-M4 fills out the need for an R2 component, Zaalbar is about as different from Chewie as you can get without shaving him, Bastila is the buttoned up, prim and proper Jedi, Juhani is kind of unsure of herself, Mission is a sometimes overzealous teenager. They're all quite well done.
Malak is especially good. I really like how they managed to make him threatening and evil and all that, without resorting to making him a Vader ripoff. I'd love to know what forced him to use the mask thing he has. (I know why its there.. just not the reason why it must be... NO SPOILERS.) Malak is just a mean *******. It's great. It makes you want to see the punk get slapped around.
That brings me to my next point. The voice-acting is really well done. There's really no groan-worthy voice actors in this. I actually recognized a few screen actors in the voice cast as well. (One of the Jedi Masters...) Everyone sounds convincing when they say things, and the big deal is that everyone in the game SPEAKS. Even the frickin' NPCs on the street who mean nothing to the overall story. THEY SPEAK. Sure they may only say a line or two, but they do SPEAK. It doesn't sound like much, but it does immerse you in the game just that much more. Kudos to whoever voice Malak as well. His voice is great, same for HK-47.
I also love the general setting. Its recognizably Star Wars, and yet it's not. It's no the Empire vs. the Rebels, or the New Republic vs. the "random jedi and stock stormies" of certain other Star Wars games. *coughJO/JAcough* There's an actual reason for there to be this many Dark Jedi, and this many Jedi. The Sith/Republic war is just a great backdrop. The idea that the Republic is sorely losing and that you're the key to saving it is a surprisingly overreaching and compelling plot device. I had planned to play through the game on the dark side originally, but I just felt so compelled to help these poor saps that I ended up doing pretty much all the things to get me light side points. You know there's a war going on on a GALACTIC scale. The world really does feel alive.
The aesthetics are great. Everything looks futuristic and Star Wars-y, and yet it all looks older and less advanced than what you see in the movies and later games. The Jedi are recognizeable, but they're not evolved into Qui-Gonn and Obi on the Federation battleship. They don't look exactly the same. It's a logical "degeneration" of the look of the jedi established in the movies. The Dark Jedi Sith look a lot like the Reborn in JO. I suppose that makes some sense, or may have been unintentional, but somehow they seem more threatening, as you know there's thousands of the buggers out there. And you know that Malak could beat the crap out of Desann and his morons and still have enough oomph left in him to throw old ladies into the path of oncoming traffic or something.
The ship design is really quite cool. They're nothing at all like the ships in the movies, though there is some correspondence between what you see each side using and what their descendents will use, but it's all quite new (or old, as it were), and refreshing. The Endar Spire has a look to it that I love, the Leviathan is REALLY cool and it successfully blends a unique and original design with something that is vaguely reminiscent of a Star Destroyer, etc.
The design of the worlds is also really great. Everything is expansive, immediately Star Wars-y, and just on a huge scale. It's all gorgeous, and each world has its own feel. Taris is obviously urban and dirty (on the underlevels), Kashyyyk has a primitive feel, Dantooine is just kind of a backwater world, Korriban is very evil (duh), Manaan is very serene and simple and beautiful. Level design is fantastic. Bioware's people have managed to make a world that's more believably Star Wars than Raven's, and Bioware was working with a time frame 4000 years prior to the movies. The scale of everything is just massive. The ships, the fights, the worlds. Everything just FEELS big. That's definitely to Bioware's credit. They did a much better job of that than Raven, IMHO. Of course, Bioware was working with a custom engine, not a licensed one, and one that is 3 or 4 years more recent than what Raven had to work with.
Now, to finish this off, I have to add in something about the music. When I first heard that they weren't using the classic John Williams stuff (or at least not a whole lot of it), I was kinda puzzled. I mean, really, who could do Star Wars music EXCEPT John Williams? Answer: Whoever the hell did the music for this game. The score is fantastic. Everything is very much Star Wars music, and yet you'll go the entire game almost never hearing any of the themes from the movies. No Imperial March, the Sith have their own theme, no Star Wars theme for the heroes, the Jedi have their own theme, etc. etc. It's all just really well put together, and is a fine addition to Williams' music, if you ask me. In a way, it makes sense that they used new music. This is a time period altogether seperate from the characters in the movies. Luke Skywalker and Vader won't be ALIVE for another 4000 years. The Galactic Empire is nowhere to be seen. Hell, the Sith (and I mean the Force-wielders, although the term applies to the Sith Empire in the game as well) haven't even gotten to their "only two" idea yet. There's thousands of the *******s. The new score fits very well into the whole idea of separating the game from the movies in pretty much every area except the fact that it's still Star Wars.
All in all, the game is fantastic. Even if you don't particularly enjoy RPGs, you should really give the game a whirl. It's worth its weight in gold, if you ask me. 31 hours 52 mins for me on my first play through, as a light-sider. I've just started again and plan to be dark side this time...
Seriously.. go out and get this game. Now.
------------------
I'll admit to Reactor CTF, Duel Abyss, and even the CCCP, but not Sky High! (my first, be kind!) Ok so maybe I will.
Now I'm going to avoid spoilers, and I'm sure anyone would like for those that reply to do so as well, so here's the official "NO SPOILERS, DAMMIT" warning.
The story is fantastic. Star Wars HAS to be a "save the galaxy" kind of thing for it to be effective. At least for something of the scope of an RPG like this. This is the first game in quite a while where I found myself staying up into the wee hours of the morning (we're talking 4 or 5am here), just to see "what'll happen next". The plot is really well put together, and there's always a surprise or two waiting for you around each turn. The BIG plot twist (which shall remain nameless, and everyone would remember), is especially unexpected, and that's why I want to refrain from spoilers.
The characters are all quite well put together. Carth is this somewhat paranoid but otherwise well-meaning Republic grunt, Canderous is the seasoned (Mandalorian!) veteran, HK-47 is the BEST. DROID. EVER., T3-M4 fills out the need for an R2 component, Zaalbar is about as different from Chewie as you can get without shaving him, Bastila is the buttoned up, prim and proper Jedi, Juhani is kind of unsure of herself, Mission is a sometimes overzealous teenager. They're all quite well done.
Malak is especially good. I really like how they managed to make him threatening and evil and all that, without resorting to making him a Vader ripoff. I'd love to know what forced him to use the mask thing he has. (I know why its there.. just not the reason why it must be... NO SPOILERS.) Malak is just a mean *******. It's great. It makes you want to see the punk get slapped around.
That brings me to my next point. The voice-acting is really well done. There's really no groan-worthy voice actors in this. I actually recognized a few screen actors in the voice cast as well. (One of the Jedi Masters...) Everyone sounds convincing when they say things, and the big deal is that everyone in the game SPEAKS. Even the frickin' NPCs on the street who mean nothing to the overall story. THEY SPEAK. Sure they may only say a line or two, but they do SPEAK. It doesn't sound like much, but it does immerse you in the game just that much more. Kudos to whoever voice Malak as well. His voice is great, same for HK-47.
I also love the general setting. Its recognizably Star Wars, and yet it's not. It's no the Empire vs. the Rebels, or the New Republic vs. the "random jedi and stock stormies" of certain other Star Wars games. *coughJO/JAcough* There's an actual reason for there to be this many Dark Jedi, and this many Jedi. The Sith/Republic war is just a great backdrop. The idea that the Republic is sorely losing and that you're the key to saving it is a surprisingly overreaching and compelling plot device. I had planned to play through the game on the dark side originally, but I just felt so compelled to help these poor saps that I ended up doing pretty much all the things to get me light side points. You know there's a war going on on a GALACTIC scale. The world really does feel alive.
The aesthetics are great. Everything looks futuristic and Star Wars-y, and yet it all looks older and less advanced than what you see in the movies and later games. The Jedi are recognizeable, but they're not evolved into Qui-Gonn and Obi on the Federation battleship. They don't look exactly the same. It's a logical "degeneration" of the look of the jedi established in the movies. The Dark Jedi Sith look a lot like the Reborn in JO. I suppose that makes some sense, or may have been unintentional, but somehow they seem more threatening, as you know there's thousands of the buggers out there. And you know that Malak could beat the crap out of Desann and his morons and still have enough oomph left in him to throw old ladies into the path of oncoming traffic or something.
The ship design is really quite cool. They're nothing at all like the ships in the movies, though there is some correspondence between what you see each side using and what their descendents will use, but it's all quite new (or old, as it were), and refreshing. The Endar Spire has a look to it that I love, the Leviathan is REALLY cool and it successfully blends a unique and original design with something that is vaguely reminiscent of a Star Destroyer, etc.
The design of the worlds is also really great. Everything is expansive, immediately Star Wars-y, and just on a huge scale. It's all gorgeous, and each world has its own feel. Taris is obviously urban and dirty (on the underlevels), Kashyyyk has a primitive feel, Dantooine is just kind of a backwater world, Korriban is very evil (duh), Manaan is very serene and simple and beautiful. Level design is fantastic. Bioware's people have managed to make a world that's more believably Star Wars than Raven's, and Bioware was working with a time frame 4000 years prior to the movies. The scale of everything is just massive. The ships, the fights, the worlds. Everything just FEELS big. That's definitely to Bioware's credit. They did a much better job of that than Raven, IMHO. Of course, Bioware was working with a custom engine, not a licensed one, and one that is 3 or 4 years more recent than what Raven had to work with.
Now, to finish this off, I have to add in something about the music. When I first heard that they weren't using the classic John Williams stuff (or at least not a whole lot of it), I was kinda puzzled. I mean, really, who could do Star Wars music EXCEPT John Williams? Answer: Whoever the hell did the music for this game. The score is fantastic. Everything is very much Star Wars music, and yet you'll go the entire game almost never hearing any of the themes from the movies. No Imperial March, the Sith have their own theme, no Star Wars theme for the heroes, the Jedi have their own theme, etc. etc. It's all just really well put together, and is a fine addition to Williams' music, if you ask me. In a way, it makes sense that they used new music. This is a time period altogether seperate from the characters in the movies. Luke Skywalker and Vader won't be ALIVE for another 4000 years. The Galactic Empire is nowhere to be seen. Hell, the Sith (and I mean the Force-wielders, although the term applies to the Sith Empire in the game as well) haven't even gotten to their "only two" idea yet. There's thousands of the *******s. The new score fits very well into the whole idea of separating the game from the movies in pretty much every area except the fact that it's still Star Wars.
All in all, the game is fantastic. Even if you don't particularly enjoy RPGs, you should really give the game a whirl. It's worth its weight in gold, if you ask me. 31 hours 52 mins for me on my first play through, as a light-sider. I've just started again and plan to be dark side this time...
Seriously.. go out and get this game. Now.
------------------
I'll admit to Reactor CTF, Duel Abyss, and even the CCCP, but not Sky High! (my first, be kind!) Ok so maybe I will.
![[http://forums.massassi.net/html/confused.gif]](http://forums.massassi.net/html/confused.gif "http://forums.massassi.net/html/confused.gif")
![[http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif]](http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif "http://forums.massassi.net/html/smile.gif")
![[http://forums.massassi.net/html/wink.gif]](http://forums.massassi.net/html/wink.gif "http://forums.massassi.net/html/wink.gif")
![[http://forums.massassi.net/html/tongue.gif]](http://forums.massassi.net/html/tongue.gif "http://forums.massassi.net/html/tongue.gif")
![[http://forums.massassi.net/html/frown.gif]](http://forums.massassi.net/html/frown.gif "http://forums.massassi.net/html/frown.gif")
