Jedi knight Yoda Jedi knight Yoda
”Massively multiplayer” online games - huge worlds full of other players - are precision machines designed to grip us mercilessly. Keeping up with the Joneses in their thousands is utterly addictive, and I felt a chill as I found myself thinking “Wow, this is really good” about Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC) HHHHH.
Right away I knew what was in store for me: months, if not years, of unceasing gameplay.
In this unapologetically nerdy dive into the world of Star Wars, you don’t play as Luke Skywalker - it’s set prior to the films’ story - but there are lots of light sabres and exotic planets to draw you in.
You get to be a heroic Jedi or a boo-hiss Sith, choosing from the usual range of characters - such as warriors and wizards - but with light sabres and The Force instead of swords and spells. It’s superb, but Jedi players will feel like galactic Boy Scouts having to be good all the time.
But as a Sith apprentice under Darth Vader, it’s exhilarating the first time you get to hiss: “Death is a way of life.”
The spells and abilities are just like World Of Warcraft, as is the cycle of battling enemies, looting them and training.
Yet it adds panache Warcraft never bothered with. The faintly sinister lab-rat environment is familiar too from Warcraft, but this game is so dazzling and epic, you almost can’t see the walls of the maze you’re in. Almost. - Mail on Sunday