With the video game summer drought finally coming to a close, I can only think of the copious amount of titles coming to steal me away from my family this holiday, and I couldn't be more excited. Huge games like Uncharted 3, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Gears of War 3 are all on their way and I plan on playing them relentlessly. This was not my original plan, however. A couple of months ago I would have dismissed all these games as mere filler leading up to the release of Star Wars The Old Republic, the new MMORPG from developer Bioware set in the Star Wars universe. Being a MMO fan (mainly playing World of Warcraft) and a Star Wars fan, The Old Republic seemed like the perfect escape into a galaxy far, far away. At this year's San Diego Comic Con, I was able to get my hands on the game, playing some early level content and the game's PVP component (I chose the Sith Warrior class both times). I entered both demos teeming with excitement but left somewhat disappointed. Star Wars The Old Republic was unable to follow up and exceed my initial hopes. To be fair, I only got to play a very small section of the massive game and I hope that Bioware proves me wrong. I would still, however, like to express some of my concerns with the game, as well as compare it to my current MMO of choice, World of Warcraft. starting with the early level questing.

Once I finally make my way through the long line of eager players, I sit down, choose my class, and enter the game. The iconic theme starts to play, the Star Wars logo flies onto screen, and trailing it all comes the infamous scrolling text. Right now, I'm hooked. This game has got me on edge already. My starship lands on the planet Korriban and my badass looking Sith Warrior steps out. I'm greeted by a fellow Sith; he tells me I'm a promising apprentice and a valuable asset to the Empire. He took me under his wing and I became his student. The whole conversation utilized the dialogued system seen in other Bioware games such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. I chose my intent and my character responded to each question accordingly. However, the conversation mechanic was not alluring. My character came off as a cocky douchebag instead of a menacing powerhouse. After the conversation had ended, my new teacher sent me to a nearby ancient Jedi Temple to begin my training and aid the empire.

I descended into the enigmatic ruins with the task of recovering a lost artifact my teacher had told me about. Before searching for it, I talked to leader of the temple's reclamation. She tells me her squadron and she are pinned down and they need my help. I agree and she sends me off to kill.... slugs. I was told I was a rising Sith Warrior moments ago, and now I'm the Empire's exterminator. I would have liked something with a little more peril. The grief over my sudden demotion ends quickly and I'm off to kill some bugs. Before leaving, however, I notice that I can talk to one of the troops. He tells me there have been some tomb looters spotted in the cave and they were not making our operation any easier and I should look into the situation. Once the conversation ended, I was slightly confused. I was unsure whether I had accepted a quest or not, but I pushed on assuming I had. I never quite figured out how to access my quest log and bring a up a map that would not leave me every time my character took a step.

I finally got to test out the combat. With weapon in hand (I did not have a lightsaber yet) I went to kill the slugs and tomb looters. The combat works similarly to other MMO's I have played. Right click on an enemy to begin auto-attacking and use the different abilities at your disposal to deal out more damage. There is bar of slots with each one containing a different move or spell positioned at the bottom of the screen. Simply click on an icon of the move you would like to perform or press the number key associated with said move and your character will do so. The Sith Warrior uses a resource (the name escapes me at the time of this post) that is built up by the use of certain attacks and that resource can be spent on more powerful moves. If you have played an MMO before, this should all be very familiar and you should have no problem understanding the games combat mechanics. I initiated a fight with a group of slugs and dished out some serious damage. Even though Bioware had promised "heroic combat", I did not feel like it was anything new. The combat is tried and true formula that does not revolutionize but definitely works well.

I remained unscathed even when fighting multiple foes at once. The game did a good job of making me feel powerful but it took away from the threat of any danger posed to my character. Then again, I was only fighting slugs... that the Empire was having trouble deal with themselves. Fighting the tomb looters was a different story. While, they as well, did not pose much of a threat, they were very active on the battlefield. The thugs rolled in and out of cover, called for support from allies, and blasted at me from afar. Overall, the combat did not stand as neither a strong point nor weak point of the game; it satisfied but nothing more than that.

My demo ended after around 15 minutes and I felt cheated. After braving the long line, I felt I deserved something a little more along these lines as a demo:

Let's compare this to the starting quests for the Death Knight class in World of Warcraft. To start the quest line, I have to talk to and take direct orders from the Lich King - the main antagonist of the whole expansion pack. The game had already made me feel like a badass. For combat training, I have to execute captured prisoners and traitors. I do some reconnaissance through a giant floating eye that can send ghouls at my attackers. This all happened within the first five minutes and more  was on its way. I have no doubt that The Old Republic will have missions like these fairly early on and sprinkled throughout the rest of the game but World of Warcraft had them right off the bat. I know many of the races in World of Warcraft do not have starting quests with the same level of excitement as the Death Knight one's, but the recent additions of the Worgen and Goblin races do.

With Bioware putting such emphasis on story, it kind of makes the endlessness of an MMO seem out of place. All good stories end. Knowing that the game's story will have to continue, it kills off the opportunity for an epic story. Will my character ever experience his triumph after finally defeating the Republic and becoming the leader of the Sith? Or will he realize the error in his ways and destroy the Empire himself? (Without a big NOOOOOOOOOOOOO) Either of these would be awesome. Hopefully Bioware will put that much power into my character. But until they do, I guess I have to serve the Empire to no end.

The Old Republic demo left me wanting more, a sign of its potential or due to my short hands-on time. I do have some concerns with the story and the combat is not anything I have not seen before but both will surely be flushed out as the game progresses. It would have been nice to play as a character well into his level and to play through a more momentous sequence but I can see why Bioware showed off what they did.

I will have my thoughts on the PVP portion of my demo coming shortly.

Thank you for the read.