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Yet another review of TOR

nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775

Since TOR is the biggest theme park mmo released this year, there will be comparison to wow. Stop reading if you dont like that. Plus, there will be some light spoilers for the sith inquisitor class. Just to put things in perspective, i started playing mmo with kingdom of drakkar, beta test uo, played eq for a year and my current main mmo is wow.
</p></p>
Story
</p></p>
First thing first, the biggest draw of tor is its story. For this, tor is succeeding with spades. The full cut scene/voice acting really made me take notice and cares about what is happening. The story is pretty well written (for games, not novels obviously) and can stand up to other games like skyrim. Bioware is obviously very strong in this dept.
</p></p>
Let me out it this way. When u play wow, how many npcs do u remember? May be thrall and jaina. And arthur? How many stories do u remember? May be that lich king is killed? Never anything to do with your char. In tor, it is all different. I remember the first overseer, the rivel initiate, and obviously my master. All are well fleshed out characters. I even remember many side quests.
</p></p>
While the action is pretty much standard mmo stuff (kill 10 of these, put this there...), the stories give a purpose. I also like how i can affect the outcome, even with limits.
</p></p>
Cut scenes are not new. Even wow has it for a long time, but tor takes it to a new level and integrating it into the gameplay. For this, tor deseved to be subbed just to see how the story goes.
</p></p>
Combat
</p></p>
Tor combat is very similar to wow combat. While the context & graphics r different, the basic mechanics are similar. There are dd, dot, procs, cds, cc and you need to work out your rotation/strategies just like in wow if u want to maximize your efficiencies. I have already read about theorycraft on tor dps classes.
</p></p>
So while it is not all new, it is good. Wow has great combat mechanics design and borrowing ideas from wow is not a bad thing. Plus, each tor advance class does feel like star war-ish.
</p></p>
So while i do not feel the comabt is very new, it is enjoyable.
</p></p>
Space ship
</p></p>
This is the other significant improvment over wow. You get your own space ship (like a mini player housing) with on rail comabr mission. The space ship missions r very fun, even though on rails and feel very much like a star wars fats pace shooter. I think it is the right choice to provide a limited but polished space combat gameplay.
</p></p>
Graphics
</p></p>
A lot of people are complaining about the graphics. I think they are fine althought not impressive. I think wow has better art direction and animation. It is not a gorgeous looking game but it looks star wars enough
</p></p>
Enviironment
</p></p>
This is the weakest part of the game. A lot of the environment does not feel very lifely. I finally figure out why when i compare it to a wow zone. In wow, there are a lot of animation even in a static scene. NPCs will figit and move aorund.
</p></p>
In particular, there are a lot of "war front" type scenes in both games. In wow, enemies mobs will spawn and came to fight with npcs on your side. Go to twilight highland for an example. While the whole thing is still static and may be on a loop, it makes the scene very lively. In tor, the enemies nor npcs move. They just wait on both sides. Small touches like that can makes the scene a lot more immensely.
</p></p>
Wow also use phasing better by transforming the world around you so you feel things happened dynamically in the world. In tor, phasing is limited to story zones. Wow zones r also more open.
</p></p>
Conclusion
</p></p>
Lastly, there r still quite a few bugs in tor. But i assume they will get fixed soon. Tor is a good game and share some similarities from wow (combat mechanics and some quest mechanics) but offers two major new features ... Good stories and space combat. I probably will at least play a few months just to see the stories.

Comments

  • PelaajaPelaaja Member Posts: 697

    I have a gift to you here *hands bag full of paragraphs*

    image

  • TalinTalin Member UncommonPosts: 918

    Wall of text wins... fatality.

    Sorry bud, but unless you break that content apart into nice, consumable sections, I don't imagine many people will read this. It literalyl hurts my eyes to look at it.

  • nakumanakuma Member UncommonPosts: 1,310

    Originally posted by Pelaaja

    I have a gift to you here *hands bag full of paragraphs*

    lmao. wow made me laugh. thank you sir. well played, well played. that made my day.

    3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.

  • RaoraRaora Member Posts: 243

    my eyes!

  • RobbHoodRobbHood Member Posts: 58

    When u cut a paste it deletes the paragraphs I believe.  Ya gota go in and edit that beast or no one will read it.

      If it's not a cut and paste, well....edit any way.

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Sorry was writing on an ipad, and paragraph breaks disappear .. I tried again and it did not work so well ... Oh well.
  • PelaajaPelaaja Member Posts: 697

    Originally posted by nakuma

    Originally posted by Pelaaja

    I have a gift to you here *hands bag full of paragraphs*

    lmao. wow made me laugh. thank you sir. well played, well played. that made my day.

    A pinch of RPing never hurts ;)

    image

  • PelaajaPelaaja Member Posts: 697

    Originally posted by nariusseldon

    Since TOR is the biggest theme park mmo released this year, there will be comparison to wow. Stop reading if you dont like that. Plus, there will be some light spoilers for the sith inquisitor class. Just to put things in perspective, i started playing mmo with kingdom of drakkar, beta test uo, played eq for a year and my current main mmo is wow.

     



    Story

     

     



    First thing first, the biggest draw of tor is its story. For this, tor is succeeding with spades. The full cut scene/voice acting really made me take notice and cares about what is happening. The story is pretty well written (for games, not novels obviously) and can stand up to other games like skyrim. Bioware is obviously very strong in this dept.

     

     



    Let me out it this way. When u play wow, how many npcs do u remember? May be thrall and jaina. And arthur? How many stories do u remember? May be that lich king is killed? Never anything to do with your char. In tor, it is all different. I remember the first overseer, the rivel initiate, and obviously my master. All are well fleshed out characters. I even remember many side quests.

     

     



    While the action is pretty much standard mmo stuff (kill 10 of these, put this there...), the stories give a purpose. I also like how i can affect the outcome, even with limits.

     

     



    Cut scenes are not new. Even wow has it for a long time, but tor takes it to a new level and integrating it into the gameplay. For this, tor deseved to be subbed just to see how the story goes.

     

     



    Combat

     

     



    Tor combat is very similar to wow combat. While the context & graphics r different, the basic mechanics are similar. There are dd, dot, procs, cds, cc and you need to work out your rotation/strategies just like in wow if u want to maximize your efficiencies. I have already read about theorycraft on tor dps classes.

     

     



    So while it is not all new, it is good. Wow has great combat mechanics design and borrowing ideas from wow is not a bad thing. Plus, each tor advance class does feel like star war-ish.

     

     



    So while i do not feel the comabt is very new, it is enjoyable.

     

     



    Space ship

     

     



    This is the other significant improvment over wow. You get your own space ship (like a mini player housing) with on rail comabr mission. The space ship missions r very fun, even though on rails and feel very much like a star wars fats pace shooter. I think it is the right choice to provide a limited but polished space combat gameplay.

     

     



    Graphics

     

     



    A lot of people are complaining about the graphics. I think they are fine althought not impressive. I think wow has better art direction and animation. It is not a gorgeous looking game but it looks star wars enough

     

     



    Enviironment

     

     



    This is the weakest part of the game. A lot of the environment does not feel very lifely. I finally figure out why when i compare it to a wow zone. In wow, there are a lot of animation even in a static scene. NPCs will figit and move aorund.

     

     



    In particular, there are a lot of "war front" type scenes in both games. In wow, enemies mobs will spawn and came to fight with npcs on your side. Go to twilight highland for an example. While the whole thing is still static and may be on a loop, it makes the scene very lively. In tor, the enemies nor npcs move. They just wait on both sides. Small touches like that can makes the scene a lot more immensely.

     

     



    Wow also use phasing better by transforming the world around you so you feel things happened dynamically in the world. In tor, phasing is limited to story zones. Wow zones r also more open.

     

     



    Conclusion

     

     



    Lastly, there r still quite a few bugs in tor. But i assume they will get fixed soon. Tor is a good game and share some similarities from wow (combat mechanics and some quest mechanics) but offers two major new features ... Good stories and space combat. I probably will at least play a few months just to see the stories.

     

    Let's see if this shows better...

    image

  • drbaltazardrbaltazar Member UncommonPosts: 7,856

    i have to say i agree!the rp part is well fleshed out,once the neutral faction is truelly in the game (cause lets face it right now it is an unknown factor and will remain so for a long time for obvious reason ,eq2 has a neutral faction ,i dont know today but back then they didnt have anything for it yet does it mean it is bad?unlikelly cause being neutral means you ccan be loved by both side and ahated by both side dont know about you but make a story line for this kind of epic content isnt has easy as doing a black or white faction .probably a future expension in a long long futur.but it open so many door that it is like in wow when you saw a partal but it was blocked!it meant:STAY TUNED!

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