Critical Consensus: Star Wars: The Old Republic

However, one of the key strengths of The Old Republic is that you don't have to play with other people. Instead, Bioware has created a wide selection of companion characters that add a new aspect to both the story and combat: you can win favour with each companion based on your actions, your conversations with them, and by giving gifts; in battle, a companion character allows you to add new skills and weapons to your armoury without the need to commit your character in a new direction.

"This may not be new for Bioware RPGs," Augustine writes, "but it's one of the most innovative and successful elements of The Old Republic as an MMO, providing you with an ever-present audience that reacts to and reflects your choices, via dialog and affection/romance options."

"Each class recruits different companions, each with their own unique quirk and backstory. As a level 35 Imperial Agent, I've gathered a violent anarchist, a grovelling robot, a diplomat who's merged with the hive mind of an insectoid species, and a doctor who can transform into a space werewolf at will."

Eurogamer's Oli Welsh is markedly less impressed by the addition of companions. In his 8 out of 10 review, Welsh describes them as "immersion-breaking" for an online game, and emblematic of a lack of understanding of the social aspect vital to any good MMO.

"I don't like seeing other players of my class running around with the same companion, and I feel these dogged animatronic servants devalue the presence of real friends and strangers in the world. Being with someone else isn't as special if you're never alone, and no amount of Social Points is going to make up for that."

The writing is flat, the staging and animation of the lengthy conversations is very basic and the subject matter is often dry, adult, cynical or plain boring

Oli Welsh, Eurogamer

Welsh acknowledges that this is a "philosophical objection" (a.k.a., a matter of opinion), but he isn't short of other problems. Indeed, his disappointment with the addition of Bioware's storytelling techniques and moral choices - the one area he sees The Old Republic departing significantly from World of Warcraft's template - is notably mixed.

"A single-player Bioware RPG has been bolted on to this stolid MMO template, with a typical focus on stories led by players' conversation choices. It's incongruous and clumsy, but not entirely unsuccessful."

"Unfortunately, the sheer volume of content Bioware has had to produce to tell these eight stories takes its toll, along with the studio's mechanical approach to human interaction. The writing is flat, the staging and animation of the lengthy conversations is very basic and the subject matter is often dry, adult, cynical or plain boring - all of which feel more appropriate to the sterile politics of one of Bioware's own universes than the high adventure of Star Wars."

"The game's light side/dark side morality is reductive and poorly handled, too. Interesting dilemmas are far outweighed by spoon-fed posturing that has no impact, and because rewards are unlocked for consistent light or dark side play, you're encouraged to game the system rather than go with your gut."

Eurogamer's review offers the impression of an MMO that easily passes muster in every way you'd expect, and falls short in the areas that make it distinct. Was EA expecting perfect 10s across the board? Perhaps not, and very few critics have seen fit to award one, but it was certainly hoping for more than damnation through the faintest of praise.

"Star Wars: The Old Republic is overwhelmingly competent [as an MMO]," Welsh concludes. "A studious and careful piece of work that rarely puts a foot wrong in imitating the best of the rest, and that just about manages to smooth the join between its ostensibly mismatched solo and multiplayer components. It offers a deep well of content, a spread of fun activities and a reliable service for as long as you want to explore its multiple storylines."

Yet Eurogamer asks the most relevant question of all. Regardless of the differences between critic A and critic B's opinions of its matchmaking features, The Old Republic is very much of a piece with what MMOs currently are, and therefore what they have been for the last decade or more. Does the fact that WoW's subscriber numbers are falling indicate a growing sense of fatigue for that formula? It seems that EA has bet big in the hope that it doesn't.

"Under the surface and behind all that talk, The Old Republic is just that, old: a deeply traditional framework for an online game that is in dire need of a refresh and is currently struggling to sustain WOW. It's well placed for success right now, but it might not be long before The Old Republic finds itself just as vulnerable as its inspiration to a hungry breed of more innovative games."