Friday, October 24, 2008

Star Wars: The Old Republic

A press release came in from Lucasarts during the week....

OCTOBER 21, SAN FRANCISCO — LucasArts and BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game set in the timeframe of the Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ franchise. Star Wars: The Old Republic, being developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, represents an innovative approach to interactive entertainment, featuring immersive storytelling, dynamic combat and intelligent companion characters.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat.

You can read the rest of the press release here but suffice to say this is big news even if it was one of the worst secrets in gaming history. The news may effectively kill any possibility of a KOTOR3 but knowing that the franchise will continue on in some form is gratifying, even if I can't be a part of it - I've never been much of an online gamer, favouring the narrative and character development of a single-player RPG. But I wish those that pursue it the best of luck.

I have collected a host of links here that will tell you all you need to know about the new Star Wars MMO.

http://www.swtor.com/ [Official Site]
Star Wars: The Old Republic story details from IGN
Screenshots from Gamespy

Source: Lucasarts, Gamespy, IGN

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If it's along the same lines as KOTOR: who'll actually play as a soldier/scoundrel/etc when Jedi/Sith are playable options?
My guess is the playable universe will become insanely highly populated by force-users in short order.

Anonymous said...

Sithy, have you finally offed your predecessor?

Anonymous said...

I've no idea what you mean :)

Anonymous said...

Does that mean that you have an opening in the bottom of your organisation?, I'm sure the Lt.Col would delighted to fill it.