Star Wars: The Old Republic - First impressions

Although the beta weekend (Nov. 11th - 13th) seemed incredibly short due to a busy schedule I was still able to play every class on both factions and get a general grasp as to what to expect come launch in December. Here is a brief breakdown sharing my initial impressions on SWTOR. Alas, I realize this is breaking the NDA but SWTOR leak sites have existed for a few months so I do not feel that my silence is necessary. To add to that fact, my opinions are positive & this article will only go towards promoting the game in a positive light & therefore I feel just in my cause. Note: article contains spoilers.

 First off, even though anti-aliasing was disabled for this beta the graphics were still exceptional & they gave a relatively clear picture as to how they will look at launch once the edges are further smoothed with AA enabled. The only place the disabled AA was really noticeable was on the edges of shadows and on certain armor textures or NPC's.  Beyond that everything looked really great.  I believe that Bioware has really listened to the feedback from the community initially criticizing the stylized, childlike graphics that were shared in the initial development stages of SWTOR. Many (including myself) did not like the Clone Wars feel that the early graphics exhibited and it seems that although not fully realistic, they have changed drastically from the first images that I had seen.  There is certainly a larger sense of realism with the characters and NPC's than I had expected. The environments were lush & detailed, with great care taken in regards to plant-life and the overall settings.

The animations and particle effects were second to none. On all classes I really felt great control over my characters and everything seemed fluid. However, although a cool feature, it was quite awkward how your characters torso would rotate towards your target because in certain situations such as running away from your target your characters torso would rotate in an impossible fashion (envision turning a G.I. Joe action figures torso the opposite direction).  It just looked really odd and a bit too flexible in some situations.

As you can see though, I am knit-picking. There really wasn't much to complain about as overall I was blown away by everything that I witnessed.  Even the performance was really great on my rig (GTX 570, Quad-core PC with a measly 3gb of RAM).  I experienced no crashes and very little, if any lag at all. There was no rubber-banding or anything of the sorts for me.  Regarding my fps they fluctuated between 30-100 fps with the lowest I saw in an extremely populated area at a peak time dipping down to 15 fps. Overall the performance as a whole was really great. I intend boosting my RAM for launch as well so that may assist in tweaking it even a bit further during the most strenuous of times but that is yet to be seen.

As promised, SWTOR has a stronger focus on storyline than previous MMO's and it was evident from the beginning. SWTOR features the classic Bioware choice system allowing you to guide your characters future by choices you make.  I feel that they have executed this really well and I found myself actually reading and deciphering every word spoken to me because it wasn't simply a matter of just accepting quests and carrying out the tasks but rather it was fueled by important choices that directed my characters progression towards the Light Side or Dark Side. If you do not pay attention to what is said to you then you might make a wrong choice when selecting your response thus resulting in Dark or Light Side points.  From what I understand these points will be used for items that require certain levels of these points.  So if you want to be using a certain Light Side only device or weapon, etc. you will want to make Light Side choices as often as possible.  Sometimes this can be tricky but with a basic understanding of the Jedi or Sith code you should fair well in making the correct choices.  Admittedly I was caught off-guard at times thinking that I was making a Light Side choice which would actually accrue Dark Side points. Upon reflection after the fact the distribution in these scenarios always made sense. After this happened a few times I began reading even more in-depth and really digesting what was presented to me to make the right choices to gain the points that my particular character was after.  My impression was that this meta-game is not only fun but an interesting change from previous MMO's.  This style of gameplay further engages players into their storylines and provides a bit of a challenge within even the simple task of accepting quests and making choices through dialogue.  I really think this system was implemented well and I commend Bioware for this innovative system.

 Coming into this beta I was certain that I had made my decision to roll with the Sith Empire at launch but mid-way through my opinions changed due to choices being made on the Dark Side.  I was playing on a Sith Warrior and I was attempting to be as sinister as possible to accrue Dark Side points.  As the story progressed I constantly found myself cringing at the decisions I was making to ensure that I could stay within character and rack up the Dark Side points.  This storyline will certainly not disappoint those that want to roleplay the epitome of evil. Of course one could also gain Light Side points even when on a Sith Empire character by not being as dirty as the character that I was playing, but my goal with this character was to truly embody the next "Darth Vader" and with that, choices had to be made as harshly as possible.  It was when I was faced with the choice of murdering a young child in front of his Father to turn the child to the Dark Side that I could no longer continue.  Of course I killed the Father and told the child that it was for his own good and I received a nice chunk of Dark Side points for this cruel act but it just didn't feel right. I felt dirty.  I felt evil.  I felt like Darth Vader.  This just goes to show that Bioware has really worked on these storylines.  To feel emotions from my actions in a video game is rare. Yet this situation really hit the mark.  At this time I decided that I could not carry on.  Even though I tried my hardest to deviate and be as evil as I could it just didn't sit right with me.  I knew right then that I would have to roll with the Republic faction aiming for the Light Side at launch.

The character creator was more expansive than I thought it would be. It gave the choice of multiple races, body types and various other features that I did not expect. Although it does not compete with the choices in a character creator like City of Heroes or Aion it still far exceeds most creators in other modern MMO's.  I felt there were enough choices to create quite a lot of variation in the community and I am glad that it does not allow such ridiculous creations as Aion's character creator. For all classes I was able to customize a character that suited my tastes and this is a good thing.  I was also surprised to see an option to create an overweight character.  I can't really think of any other character creators that allow this choice and surprisingly I saw quite a lot of "Fat Jedi's" due to this, which was quite amusing.

I could probably write forever about my experiences during this weekend beta test but I will sum it up by saying that the game was surprisingly good. I feel zero remorse for placing an order for the physical Collector's Edition as I am 100% sure that Bioware has created a successful MMO.  Not only is the Star Wars universe something that already has a massive fan base but the game was executed extremely well.  I have still not participated in PvP and I have no clue what the endgame is like but I can say with certainty that regardless of those elements the solo, story-driven play itself will allow for countless hours of fun. If PvP and endgame is done as well then that is just icing on the cake.

In closing, I truly believe that the force is strong in Bioware and I must say that the execution of their first MMO experience is sure to set the bar high for game developers in the MMO market for years to come. I eagerly await the games launch and I am thankful for the opportunity to have seen what is to come in December.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Due to an extremely busy schedule I should probably avoid downloading this...but I can't resist.

Might be nice to check out, even if briefly, what I am to expect come December. Luckily I was able to forecast the demand and I ordered the physical Collector's Edition as soon as it was available for sale.  Copies were sold out within the first few weeks and unfortunately people are now reselling them on eBay for $400+. 

As they say, the early Jawa gets the scrap metal.

Can't wait to receive all of these goods:

Perfect Circle Arcane Mage PvP Sessions ~ 70-79 battlegrounds

Unloading everything accumulated from the hard drive in the past two years starting with this very long series of Perfect Circle Arcane Mage videos. This footage features my human mage "Mystero" who was leveling from 70-79 in battlegrounds. In total I think the series is over an hour long of straight-up mage player versus player action mostly against higher leveled players. There is a lot of flag capturing, flag returns, 1 vs. 1, 1 vs. 2, and 1 vs. 3. Contained in the footage is also a lot of hidden surprises. This is the ultimate PvP unload.

The band A Perfect Circle was affiliated with many old school PvP videos from the early days of World of Warcraft and therefore I initially wanted to use three songs of theirs for the first Mage video. I realized quickly that I had a lot more footage than I previously suspected and decided to just keep using the bands songs. Not only did it fit with the Perfect Circle theme but music by this band aligns quite well with any PvP footage you place it to.

Here is the quote from the video description on the youtube series for the Perfect Circle Sessions 1-5:

I called this series "Perfect Circle" because my first ever PvP video was a Mage video that was uploaded in 2007. I always wanted to come full circle to create a new PvP video in 2011 with that same mage. Hologram has come full circle and is now featured in this video as a Human Mage named Mystero. Here you find the secrets of the magic oval. "The Perfect Circle of Magi". Techniques of trickery and wizardry for your success as an arcane mage.

This is actually the same mage from my first ever level 39 mage video uploaded in 2007. Back then he was a Blood Elf mage located on Emerald Dream server. Considering I already had higher level Alliance characters on Tichondrius server (80 Rogue, 80 Druid, 80 Death Knight) I actually decided to change factions for my Blood Elf Mage "Hologram" for all of his rare enchants, gold, cool mounts amongst other benefits. He was my oldest character and therefore I transferred him to join my Alliance characters and share his World of Warcraft history of collectables.

Perfect Circle 1:




Perfect Circle 2:



Perfect Circle 3:




Perfect Circle 4:




Perfect Circle 5:

Bionic Commando: Rearmed

Over the course of the past few days I have been playing the remake of Bionic Commando (Rearmed) for the PC. I picked this title up from Steam last January during Mid-week Madness for the very low price of $4.99. Capcom released this updated version in 2008 & it is based on their popular 1987 arcade classic.

I remember playing the old version when it became available on the NES in 1988. This was one year after the title was coming off of a very successful year as Capcom's first arcade title. I was ten years old & at that time the simple prospect of having a bionic, grappling hook for an arm and swinging off of shit while fighting robots was the best concept ever.

This new version Rearmed comes packed with updated graphics as well as more depth in terms of customization. For example, I don't recall having near as many item slots for upgrading armor, weapons, etc. in the old NES version. Despite the added depth one of the best features is that this new rendition stayed true to the roots & retains the trademark, side-scrolling gameplay from the old school NES version. This includes the mini-levels that encompass the Shoot em' up style of gameplay. These decisions connect old players with the nostalgia of playing the original version as children even though the adventure is in fact, entirely new. This is also a definite contributing factor as to why this side-scroller has a respectable metascore of 86. I am having a lot of fun traversing this tricky little game full of puzzles & often times, death being narrowly avoided by a well-timed grappling hook. Rearmed is not to be mistaken with the other updated 3-D version which was also released by Capcom one year after Rearmed. That 2009 version shares an identical title with the original, simply called "Bionic Commando" but it only resembles the original in terms of concept. That version is an entirely updated 3-D game & is not similar at all in regards to gameplay when compared to the original arcade, the NES version or "Rearmed" which does in fact retain a lot of the old school controls & gameplay.  One year after Rearmed was released, the 3-D version was released for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 & Microsoft Windows but for the most part received mediocre reviews. The more I play Rearmed the more I can actually see myself purchasing the new 3-D adventure as well despite the low scores.  Even though the 3-D version has a metascore sitting at 69 I think I will just wait until the title goes on sale, at which point swinging around in 3-D will be worth every penny.

I think one of the reasons this game has a cult status with 80's kids is that not only was the gameplay addictive in the 1988 release but the storyline was actually entertaining & in fact quite controversial. The Japanese Famicon version had the enemy bearing the Nazi Swastika, which was later changed for the North American NES release to the new, friendlier Avian symbol.  The fact remains though, you are indeed fighting the Nazi regime! Coincidentally the Japanese were allied with the Germans alongside the Italians in World War II. It didn't hurt that this game was also released at what some would call the peak of Arnold Schwarzeneggers' career. In fact, his hit movie "Commando" was released two years prior to the original game & "The Terminator" was actually released in 1984, three years prior to the video game. If you were to combine the Terminator with Commando what would you get? Bionic Commando, why of course!!  The game had some major changes when it was localized to North America from the original version released in Japan. However, the characters remained the same for the most part with the occasional logo switch & name change.

The following two quotes from Wikipedia nicely outlines the general controversy over Bionic Commando's backstory:

"One of the most prominent differences involves the ultimate antagonist of the game, who is meant to be a revived Adolf Hitler in the Japanese version (hence the title). For the English version, the character was renamed "Master-D", but his likeness to Hitler was unchanged. There is a notably gory ending sequence in which Hitler's face explodes, which was kept intact in the English version."

"The new version - Bionic Commando Rearmed borrows its plot largely from the Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game. In keeping with the North American release of that version, the references to the Nazi party found in the original Japanese title are not featured in Rearmed. However, as is the case in the original, the final boss of the game still clearly resembles Adolf Hitler, and is referred to as "The Leader".

As for the actual concept of swinging off of rafters with your arm, if you watch this old trailer for the movie Commando you will even see one stunt at 01:35 seconds where Arnold travels from a mall balcony on to the top of an elevator utilizing something that looks similar to the grappling hook from the Bionic Commando game. So it is easy to see where some of the modern influence was coming from without question. Regardless, as a massive fan of these action movies being released at the time (Predator, The Running Man, Conan the Barbarian, Total Recall) I naturally gravitated towards this video game as a young child & it didn't disappoint. Thankfully, neither does the remake!

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone but I would specifically aim my recommendation towards an older player that has experienced the first release back in the NES days. Though the game is probably quite nice as a first experience to a new player I think that connecting to the game through childhood has given this title a niche in my heart. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug!  As well as a constant challenge this game also carries an odd sense of humor that keeps you guessing at each turn. The dialect alone is so outlandish that you burst out in laughter on occasion. Check out this recent screenshot - "What?! A dwarf straddling a huge metal...thing!"

Keep your eyes peeled for this title during Steam holidays sales. I was able to snatch it at a discounted price and I have noticed that select titles seem to repeat sales on Steam. Perhaps this title will go down again in the near future, so when it does make sure that you have your grappling hook ready to snatch this title and swing into some old school action. (Oh yes I did!)

The GM (Garthim-Master) & First Person Mario

Besides the occasional one hour gaming session on Steam I have not been playing any video games at all due to the fact that I am hard at work developing a musical project with an artist called "The Garthim-Master (The GM)". I do have a boxed copy of WoW: Cataclysm still sitting on my shelf unopened and I do intend activating at some point to check out the new landscape after the earth quake that forever changed Azeroth. Another few motivators in resubscribing to WoW for one month is that I need to sample the Shadowmeld sound effect for a song and I am also now using the mobile authenticator using my wife's iPod Touch, so it will be cool to have my new corehound pup on all of my characters.

Join me on Steam:
 Secret Cloud Steam Account

By the way, check out this awesomeness: