Fact Sheet

• Species: Human, Zabrak, Mirialan, Cyborg
• Starting Planet: Ord Mantell
• Combat Type: Ranged Damage Dealing/Tank
• Weaponry: Blaster Rifles/Blaster Cannons
• Armor: Heavy
• Ship: BT-7 Thunderclap
• Famous Troopers: Commander Cody, Delta Squad

Summary

The Troopers are the core and strength of the Galactic Republic military. Battle-hardened, intimidating and fearless, the Trooper stands as the ideal soldier in the fight to maintain order in the galaxy. Whether the Republic needs someone to lead the charge into battle or hold the line against overwhelming numbers, the Trooper is always up for the task. Boasting unrivaled firepower and the best battle armor available, the Troopers of the Galactic Republic are a force not to be trifled with. When push comes to shove, the Trooper will be there to retaliate with a rifle butt to the face. Read more»

With a release date of December 20^th in full view, I thought it would be wise to prepare ourselves for The Old Republic’s launch. So for the next eight weekends we will focus on each of the selectable classes in The Old Republic. Hopefully this will give you, as well as myself, more insight on which class fits best for you and maybe get those creative juices flowing. We don’t want to see Revan’s everywhere we go.

Fact Sheet:

• Species: Human, Chiss, Cyborg, Zabrak, Rattataki
• Starting Planet: Hutta
• Combat Type: Ranged
• Weaponry: Sniper Rifle, Blaster Rifle, Energy Blade
• Armor: Light/Medium
• Ship: X-70b Phantom
• Famous Agents: Zam Wessel, Grand Moff Tarkin

Summary

The Assassin of the Empire the Imperial Agent relies heavily on stealth, cunning and long range devastation. Masters of infiltration, deception and sabotage; any time the Empire requires a little behind-the-scenes action the Imperial Agent is the obvious choice. Lighter state-of-the-art mesh armor provides the agent with a stout defense without hindering their movement and flexibility, while their stealth upgrades and long range sniper rifle allow them to strike without ever being noticed. Read more»

Earlier today, BioWare streamed live gameplay along with a Q&A sessions with Daniel Erickson, lead writer on The Old Republic. This was the first time Tatooine had been shown playable in the game. If you weren’t able to catch the play session live, we’ve got you covered with what you missed.

Daniel played a Rattataki Bounty Hunter at level 26. The demo focused on showing off different areas of Tatooine, and we also got to take a look at player speeders. The main quest accepted had to do with finding out information on Czerka Corp., which you may remember from the original KotOR. There were also optional quests to kill Sand People.

One of the first reveals in the demo was the companion being taken along: Blizz, a jawa. Blizz seemed to be able to hold his own in combat, though it was jokingly (or not) noted that Blizz will not be a romance option in the game.

While zooming around on his speeder, Daniel answered some questions from stream viewers. The first question asked had to do with whether other classes would have access to Blizz or other jawa companions. Daniel reminded us that each of the companions in the game are class-specific and thus Blizz will not be available to other classes. He also confirms that there will, in fact, be no Ewok companions, much to the disappointment of many.

When it comes to player speeders, the one shown in this demo will not be the only one available in the game. There will be multiple speeder designs meant for either the Republic or the Empire, but by difficult means, players will be able to obtain the opposing side’s speeder. The reason for not going with the more traditional sit-down style speeder such as what was seen on Endor in Return of the Jedi is because they became too bulky in crowded areas. Remember that the more traditional speeder design is being used for fast travel in the game. In the current build of the game, vehicles are becoming available to players at level 25, but of course this is subject to change.

While Daniel was not super focused on combat in this demo as he was answering questions while playing, there were still a few interesting tidbits confirmed. For example, auto-looting is in the game by right clicking or shift-clicking.

Another point of note of this demo was that the graphics of the game were not set on high settings. Shadows were missing and other settings weren’t on full. This was simply to get as high performance as possible while streaming the game. So this was not a good example of the game’s looks. From the recent screenshots released, the game is looking great.

It was confirmed that once players unlock their personal ships, they will be able to travel to whatever planet they choose. “If you want to march off to Corelia and just run around the warzone and get completely destroyed, you absolutely can,” said Erickson. “Story is an important thing but we never want it to be something that limits the base use of an MMO.” Beforehand, elements like shuttle passes are required to keep you on the right track.

Later in the demo, death was demonstrated. After dying, players are given two choices: have a medical probe revive you, or return to the nearest medcenter. If the option to be revived by a probe is selected, after a few seconds the player will be revived and placed within a stealth mode to get to safety. The more often you die, the longer it takes for the medical probe to appear.

A few more notes from the stream:

• The game will have world bosses
• Ships and other objects in the game are to scale (read: ships are huge).
• You cannot completely level and progress with PvP.
• Mounts/vehicles will have different speeds, feels and costs
• Companions can be resurrected as long as the player lives
• Some companions such as Blizz will not change with their equipment, but instead will have several variant appearances. Human companions will usually change with their equipment.

Make sure to check out the posted video to hear all of what Daniel had to say and see Tatooine for yourself. You can follow all of our E3 coverage by visiting our E3 2011 page.

GameSpot has an exclusive pre-E3 hands on preview of The Old Republic where they got to play as 6 out of the 8 playable classes and gave their thoughts on each of them. The article also confirms the first playable alien race, Twi’lek. I suggest you head on over to GameSpot to check out the preview as it is quite lengthy and worth the read.

While Star Wars: The Old Republic was not shown at GDC, several BioWare developers were on panels discussing issues related to the game. There was also a event separate from GDC held at LucasArts that various publications were invited to where they got to check out the game.

We’ve seen previews all across the web today, revealing new information from hands-on play sessions with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Let us take a look at what we have learned from each of them.

Jedi Consular: Read more»

Jeff and I were the first to see this demo, and the only ones who were able to see the demo twice. Here is what we saw, as this was a watch only demo: Read more»

There is still a lot up in the air when it comes to The Old Republic. Fans are speculating to no end and BioWare is being careful to not release too much information about the game too soon. When the game was announced last October, not a lot was revealed about the game aside from the fact that it was set in The Old Republic and it was trying to add a fourth pillar to MMO gameplay: story. The game will replace any single-player KotOR 3 RPG that many fans were waiting for as it’s said to essentially be KotORs 3, 4, 5, 6, and beyond. Read more»

CVG has gotten the chance to preview The Old Republic as well as show off some new screenshots from the game. Their preview focuses on companion characters, other areas of Bioware’s expertise from previous RPG’s, and the art style seen in the game. The art style has been a hotly debated topic among fans awaiting the game, and Bioware has commented on this.

“We wanted to make sure we had a unique look,” says art director Jeff Dobson. “We didn’t want to look like anything else out there. At the same time we didn’t want to cross the line and become too cartoony or so stylised that people couldn’t relate to it. We really strive to make our game look like our concept art. Quite often I’ll walk past somebody’s PC and see some nice concept art suddenly begin to move on their screen.”

The preview also goes over the game’s combat system, as well as how the characters will visually progress so high level characters are distinguishable. You can read the preview at CVG.com.