"Hype" is a funny thing. Hype can make a bad game good, or a great game mediocre. Throughout the years, there have been many examples of games that were okay titles, but not the gaming nirvana that they were made out to be. One of those game was Star Wars Galaxies. You have probably heard bad stuff about this game, but let me tell you about my experiences with it. Keep in mind, though, that this game has changed dramatically since it's launch, so the version you played way back when may not have been the one I play.
I always wanted to play this MMORPG. However, the lack of a good gaming PC held me back…until last December, when I bought one that would suffice. SWG was one of the first titles I purchased for it, so I popped it in. After a ridiculously long six disc installation (SWG is begging to have a DVD edition), I got to register my name and create a character. The character creation system is very detailed. Anyone who has made a character in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will find much to like here. You can select from a number of races, such as Wookie (Chewbacca) and Rodian (Greedo), and even choose your profession. I made my character a Jedi, of course. After that, it was time to give my character a look, and start the game.
SWG answers the age old Star Wars question of
"Where does Jabba sleep?"
When it was finally time to play, I found myself running around a room, while C-3P0 told me the various controls of the game. After I knew the ins and outs, none other than Han Solo told me that he was going to bust me out of this ship, before the Empire got to me first. Before I knew it, Han, Chewie, and myself were blasting out our way through Stormtroopers, and made a break for the Millenium Falcon. Once we got in, Darth Vader told us to stop, but we got in the gun turrets and let his TIE's have it. Needless to say, it was a great Star Wars moment, and not one that I will soon forget.
I had played the starter space station to death in the trial, so I just told Han to take me to Tatooine. Tatooine has always been a funny planet to me, as you would never think such a crap world would host some of the most important events in the Star Wars galaxy. Anakin being discovered there, him returning to watch his mother die, then exacting vengeance, Luke's loss of his family, and his meeting with Han Solo, and finally, the whole Jabba and Solo thing in Episode VI…
Don't do enough missions, and Jabba won't
give you the time of day.
Anyway, I arrived on Tatooine, and started doing various missions. These missions always sound cool, but really, all you are doing is going to PLACE A and killing ENEMY B. Eventually, I just got tired of the whole thing, and cancelled my account. Yeah yeah, I can hear you gasp all the way from here. Mike Shaeffer, aka SnakeWesker, the guy who writes the Star Wars gaming feature every month at MyGamer doesn't even have an account for SWG? For the longest time, I didn't. But, a few weeks ago, that changed…and maybe for good.
I play Final Fantasy XI (Snakewesker on Gilgamesh), and have a White Mage at 56. It's not as high as you can go, but I was busy levelling up some other jobs. Anyway, I'm probably going to be playing it until the servers close down. Ironically, though, I actually quit the game twice before I started to get into it. For some reason, it was just hard for me to learn the various strategies and other ins and outs. Of course, once I gave the game a third chance, and figured out what was up, I was able to enjoy the game enough to keep my subscription going.
The same thing may have happened to me with SWG. A few weeks ago, anyone with a Jedi character was allowed to come back for a free trial. Check the news story out here. I gave the game one more chance, and I started to really like it. I started doing missions for everyone's favorite sleazy junk dealer, Watto, and even ended up working my way up to Jabba the Hutt. I'm glad I came back to this title, as once you get the hotkeys down and figure out what you're doing, the combat is pretty fun, and plus, it's just cool to be able to run around the various locales from the films. The only thing that bogs SWG down is the lack of a community. You can play it for a long time and not see too many real people. However, there is still a human presence in a lot of the towns, you just have to look for it.
I killed them…I killed them all..
So, if you used to have a Jedi character, and feel like giving SWG another shot, go ahead. It won't cost you anything (provided you log on before Halloween), and you just might like it! If you do, hit me up. I'm SnakeWesker on the Flurry server.
Also, check out my review of the latest Star Wars game, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, here. Also keep checking this site for our review of the Star Wars Empire at War expansion, Forces of Corruption, which is due out next week! Until next time!
Remember to send all questions and comments about this feature to: mshaeffer@forumwizard.net
-Mike Shaeffer