It’s been confirmed, “Star
Wars” fans: “Star Wars: The
Old Republic,” a new
MMORPG (massively multiplayer
online role playing
game) is being developed in a
joint effort by BioWare and
Lucas Arts.
Early expectations for the
game are going to be huge. It
was suspected that such a
game would be in development
when BioWare opened
a satellite studio for a thenunknown
MMORPG development.
While fans weren’t
surprised at the announcement
of a new “Star Wars”
game, the fact that the game
will try to take on the MMO
giant Blizzard Entertainment
is impressive. Many fans had
long expected a sequel to the
hugely popular “Knights of
the Old Republic” (KOTOR)
series, and a MMORPG is
exhilarating. The game will
be developed akin to that of
the KOTOR series that so
many “Star Wars” fans
enjoyed.
James Ohlen, lead designer
of the original KOTOR, said
in an interview with
gamespot.com, “Our fans ask,
‘Why aren’t you doing
Knights of the Old Republic
3?’ What we’re really doing is
Knights of the Old Republic
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12-
plus. We have that much content
and that many stories.
We really get to do a lot of
things we really wouldn’t get
to do in KOTOR 3.”
So far, some early details
about the game’s setting and
characters have been
released. The game is set
about 300 years after the
KOTOR games and about
3,500 years before the events
depicted in the films. The
story sets the game up with
the Sith Empire regaining its
power and control of many
Republic planets. After the
Republic signs a surrender
agreement with the Sith, the
Jedi are forced to relocate
their council to their homeworld
of Tython and deal
with the problem of the
Republic’s loss in the faith of
the Jedi Order.
Early screenshots of the
game show several kinds of
creatures and worlds that you
will be able to explore. It also
shows some of the content
that will be in the game, like
lightsaber duels and the NPC
“companions” that you can
acquire on the way, some of
which will help you or betray
you depending on how you
treat them.
As with the original
KOTOR games, the player
will be faced with a moral
choice as far as their character
goes. The player can either
become a champion for good
as a Jedi or join the Dark Side
and fight for greed and
power. Depending on the
path you will choose, the
game will branch out in that
way.
The 12 staff writers that
have been hired
to write the
game’s content
have confirmed
that updates or
e x p a n s i o n
packs will come
out after the
game’s release.
When asked
about the size
and content the
game will have
Ohlen said,
“This is a huge
game. Just to
give you an
idea of how
huge this game
is, we were taking
a look at it,
and it has more
story content than every single
other BioWare game that’s
come before put together.
That would mean Baldur’s
Gate, Baldur’s Gate II,
Neverwinter Nights,
Neverwinter Nights II,
Knights of the Old Republic,
Knights of the Old Republic
II, Jade Empire, Mass Effect-
and all the expansions.”
It seems like that with all of
the content that will be in the
game itself, along with the
updates, expansions, quests,
moral decisions and characters
inside the “Star Wars”
universe, this game will be
massive on a scale unlike that
has ever been seen before.
While the game is still in
development, executive producer
for Lucas Arts Tom
Nichols stated, “When the
content and the quality is
there, that’s the sign we’ll be
ready to go. We’re gonna
make sure we take the right
amount of time to make sure
it’s awesome.”
The game’s release date is
in question, but if the hype
that all of the developers are
preaching is true, perhaps
Blizzard will have to step up
its own content as well.