If you honestly think that you will get an intro paragraph for this review you are sadly mistaken. I will go out and say it quick, this game is not a roleplaying game, its not very good, it is not very fun, and it sure as hell is not very Star Wars. I feel taken advantage of as my love for Star Wars is so damn deep it leaves me subject to being extremely naïve. I heard all the horror stories of MMORPGS, those that have played Everquest tried to warn me that there really was no premise, nor would you find anyone to roleplay with. I brushed aside their warnings as I was drawn into the allure of being a somebody in the Star Wars universe. Again I was taken for a ride.

What do I do? What is the point? Two perfectly legitimate questions to ask yourself once you start playing. The world is yours to take on, but hell if anyone knows how? The character that you just created has no reason for existing. In the roleplaying universe you can make up a background story to fit your characters very existence. You will find no such luck here, as you more then likely will not have a chance to tell anyone a damn thing about your character. The very concept of the game is to level up. Your purpose is to take on missions, complete said missions, level up, then take on more missions. It is a vicious cycle, a very boring one at that.

If for one second you aspire to roleplay then I suggest you pick up Neverwinter Nights. This game has no roleplaying whatsoever. As a matter of fact from what I have heard, there is no roleplaying at all in any MMORPGS. This is my biggest issue with the game. When I play a game I immerse myself into the game. If I play a turn based RPG, my decisions are based upon what my character would do. When I play a online roleplaying game, I am my character. I make a background, I have a purpose, I have a reason for living, breathing, eating, sleeping and just being. While there are roleplayers on the servers, they are few and far between. Names like "Darth Trogdor" or "Hightimes Jedi" are what you will most likely run into. These are not the people I want to spend time questing with.

I don't get this, in an open world you would think there would be more to do. In the very rare instances get some R.P. sessions in with a group of a few folk, there was some fun to be had.. Some of the times that stand out to me are when there was a hunting group gathering about and we just went out hunting for game. That was great as one of our members was a klutz and shot at an imperial officer, well the whole thing turned into a shoot out, when I only wanted to pluck off some space rabbits. There are people I find that seem pretty occupied which leads me to ask the question, "Am I playing this wrong?". SWG is my first attempt at an MMORPG, as such was I just clueless as to what to expect?

This game looks great. A reason I never picked up the previous MMO games is because I am a stickler for character models. The characters look fantastic. I have many screenshots that I have taken out in the wilderness or open fields. It really is a site to behold as the sun comes up over mountains or you set up camp in the middle of no where. Cities are tremendous, the buildings are to scale with many nooks and crannies for you t o explore. Character models can reflect tremendous animations that are captured wonderfully. You can wave, dance (the robot no less), sit, relax, do most anything with the commands. The graphics are really this game's saving grace.

You know, I loath this game, but I eagerly anticipate many MMO games that are about to come out, I have a hard time understanding this. I was told what to expect when I got SWG, and through the warnings I still bought the game only to prove the neysayers right. I would stay away from this game if I were you. The only way to have any real is to either meet up with a group of pals you know or make friends with a group of regulars that know how to roleplay. During all the painstaking running about and doing nothing, there were spurts of fun. If you are able to identify what aspect of this game is fun for you, then maybe you will enjoy it better then I. My idea of fun is roleplaying, especially in the universe I have grown up loving. Alas SWG did not give me that opportunity. I would not suggest you get this game, but like me I know you will let this warning fly over your head. This game truly is a find out for yourself, I guess it's a good thing that the first month is free.

Sep 1, 2003 | 11 comments
Mike Carabajal