Zitat von Dr_Extrem

quasi lebuffed?

Zitat von Yardbird

Here's a rough translation that's a little less rough than the google:

The adventure begins on the wild planet Tython, a highly symbolic place where the Jedi Council has decided to establish itself in order to form a new generation of fighters. Even though we are but simple apprentices at the outset, the various tasks to be completed do not prove difficult. All of BioWare’s skills were put to carefully scripting each quest without them ever becoming overbearing. The result is that the player feels very quickly involved in the story, thus avoiding the monotony of [lower-level play] often experienced in most MMOs. Even better, the game quickly asks the player to make important choices through dialogue. If these are perhaps not as rich as those of Mass Effect, they still resume the multiple-choice system. Depending upon the questions asked and your responses to them, your path of adventure will change. There is little doubt that the future of the galaxy depends upon each of our actions, but the process and existence of certain quests are reassessed [according to choices (?)]. Like all BioWare products, The Old Republic goes even further than that in offering outright moral decisions. Little by little through actions and choices made in response to dialogue, one’s character may slide dangerously close to the Dark side of the Force. The line between good and evil is fine, and being a Jedi does not guarantee a bright destiny.

As for missions, the first two were concerned with saving unfortunate Padawans imprisoned in wooden cages, and checking into failed holographic systems. Along the way, you come across your first opponents. Again, BioWare has tried to stimulate the player’s imagination right from the go. Although endowed with initially weak powers, your character will face adversaries far more interesting than the usual snakes and rats found in other MMOs. This is the occasion to test the powers at your disposal and to use your saber, albeit not yet a lightsaber but one forged of more rudimentary metal. After dispatching a few baddies and looting their bodies, you are ready to learn new skills. A class trainer is provide for you. With each level a new skill, or improvement on one already known, is unlocked. Spending a bit of money will benefit you on the field of battle.

To differentiate between the two Jedi classes it is enough to observe their respective fighting styles. The Knight is extremely effective in melee, and possesses power and resistances adapted to close-quarters fighting. In spite of his saber, the Consular is more vulnerable to frontal assaults. It is thus endowed with ranged attacks. For example, a telekinesis ability that launches stones at the enemy, enough to keep them at bay before delivering the final blows with a well-placed saber. Very quickly, the attack combinations become clear. In order to counter multiple opponents at the same time, the Consular can, for example, send out an AOE shock wave. With opponents knocked down, it is enough to strike them from range before closing in to finish with melee. All of it feels very natural from the very beginning of play. BioWare has chosen to immediately equip the player with potent powers that are visually satisfying.

One immediately notices the impression of power generated by one’s character. Graphically, the game is looking better and better. The lighting effects and fighting animations lend grace to the powers. A special mention goes to one of the Knight’s attacks, which enables him to leap fifteen meters with a spin in the air before impaling an enemy with his saber. Exhilarating! The environments have also been carefully treated and filled of detail. As the character modeling is a little smooth, in a cartoon style, it will certainly generate debate, but it nevertheless remains convincing. In fact, the only worries concern unstable frame rate, a few collision bugs, and some problematic textures, but nothing at all very alarming as the version in our hands is far from the launch product. The epic music accentuates the intense action and perfectly underlines the Homeric nature of certain scenes. As for sound effects, they make the universe created by BioWare even more immersive.

If some still doubt that SWTOR is a vivid demonstration of know-how by the studio created in 1995 by Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, a simple glance at the interface shows just how far BioWare has digested and integrated the best of the competition while adding its own personal touch. While the action bar situated at the bottom of the screen, [with experience meter, and life and vitality gauges (?)] remains an old standard of MMORPGs, the map functionality is much more original. This clever arrangement makes the open map transparent when you move your character. It makes it possible to make one’s way to a desired location with eyes on the map and the real action at the same time. This will make life easier for those who spend lots of time on the galaxy’s different planets. As in all MMOs, you will be tasked with traveling great distances during the course of an adventure, with the numerous round trips that follow meeting and returning to NPCs in order to receive rewards and new goals.

Shortly before closing this long game session, BioWare also kindly let us explore an instance in a 4-man group. Though SWTOR can be played almost entirely solo, the possibility of grouping of course also exists. In just a few clicks we are engaged in combat, playing a Jedi Consular backed by a Jedi Knight and a Smuggler. Though the objective remained straightforward while progressing through the interior of an enormous ship, eliminating enemies, this brief time allowed us to learn more about the functionality of groups. During dialogue phases, each player chooses a response and the outcome is determined randomly. This caused some debate between players who wished to impart different twists to the quest’s direction. The various fighting powers seemed to compliment each other well. The Smuggler, in cover behind environmental objects, lined up his adversaries from range, accompanied by the Consular, while the Jedi Knight was in charge of finishing the job in melee. Unlike some competitors, BioWare has designed the instances to not spread out over too much time. This first special zone was completed in an hour and a half, and with the key some nice rewards to equip our avatars. Though we wished to continue, we had to stop our play session there. We’ll now have to wait several months before discovering the thousands of other secrets of which BioWare remains the abiding guardian.

Zitat von Ulrik

Die Franzosen haben angeblich von Level 1-10 gespielt und so gar nichts neues sagen können. Zu allgemein gehalten, keine Details, keine Analysen, das klingt nicht sehr professionell.
Hier sollte man wirklich auf ein Preview von erfahrenen Testern warten.

Zitat von reiniell

Hmmm wieder mal lustig... kommt was positives sind die schwarzseher sofort zu stelle und sagen: unproffisionell, schlecht, crap....
Machen wir, die nicht so schwarzseher, das bei z.B. den Bericht von 4players sind wir sofort fanboys und verfallen in nerdrage weil jemand unser spiel schlechtredet xD
Immer wieder lustig das zu lesen...

Zitat von reiniell

Hmmm wieder mal lustig... kommt was positives sind die schwarzseher sofort zu stelle und sagen: unproffisionell, schlecht, crap...

Zitat von Ilithien

Viel Ahnung hatten die jedenfalls nicht und ich muss auch ganz ehrlich sagen das man von Glück reden kann, da es ganz anders hätte kommen können wenn man solche Leute an sein Game lässt.

Zitat von Dr_Extrem

er wird zudem "unbefleckt" an die sache ran gehen.