SWTOR offers great value in eight unique voice-acted stories, with each taking (a normal person) several weeks to complete. Stories include unique characters and events, are well told for a computer game, but are heavily burdened by being in an MMO themepark, and by the weight of established IP which cannot be corrected or varied for business reasons. For example: the game is set around 3000 years before the events of the films, but the art, sounds, factions and events are almost exactly the same, as they constitute 'the brand'.
Mechanically the game is pure old-fashioned MMO, where you push buttons in sequence (aka 'rotation') instead of using skill or intelligence. Otherwise its a standard grindfest of kill-x-emenies, collect-x-items, set in a themepark where nothing changes so that everyone gets a turn at slaughtering the natives. Here players choose to run errands for NPCs (or make no progress), with no effect on the game world, and which often entail fighting unrewarding spongy battles against a vast herd of mindless NPCs, who usually just respawn again.
There's minimal player direction to the stories, absolutely no emergence, and no way for the player to eventually emancipate themselves from their NPC masters. The game has a means for the player to issue tasks to NPCs, but it only extends to their crew, and is just a list of pre-made repeatable missions. Players are unable to choose their crew, with some inviting themselves in with no option to refuse. Players are also unable to choose where to go, with available destinations being decided by their current NPC master.
There's minimal accomplishment besides 'levelling' which is mostly nullified by magic per-location upper-limits on your stats; it may as well not exist. Given the lack of reward and agency, it takes a certain pathological misery to persist with the game beyond a certain point, despite the entertaining stories. I gave-up most stories around half-way to read a transcript instead.
Character classes are mostly balanced, which results in absurd situations like a Sith ineffectually basting a leotard-wearing security guard with a lightsaber. Each class is flattened to a consistent direct/dot/aoe mediocrity: Similar numbers under the hood, dressed in different animations. The abstracted MMO mechanics also render certain combat styles (sub-classes) thematically useless, like the sniper who can't snipe, or the operative who can't complete missions without combat.
Characterization had a notably vulgar aspect to it, to an almost viciously grotesque level in some cases, like there's a lot of personal inadequacies leaking into the game, eg: Vacuum-sealed clothing, girdles, implants, dragpaint & MirandaCam... you get the idea. This kind of tackiness feels out of place for StarWars, or at least quite different to older LucasArts games.
Graphics are standard Western-MMO stodge, characters not as stylized as CloneWars, interior lighting just as good in some places. Outdoor lighting often flat & uninspired. Heaps of design/rigging issues with armor. Very basic effects. Player driven animation a significant step backwards from Jedi Academy.
Music is as expected for a StarWars game and has both location and faction specific themes, however it lacks iMUSE (1991), fails to properly react to what the player is doing, sometimes glitches with double soundtracks and periods of silence.
Game contains: Problem-solving through violence, no blood/gore, no swearing in English, modest nudity, implied sex and prostitution, explicit scenes of torture. Player can commit massacres (including Jawas), torture and/or execute captives, enslave other characters in some stories, and inappropriately harass certain subordinates and captives.
This game doesn't test skill or intelligence. Nor does it reward experimentation and curiosity. Nor is it educational or morally instructive in any way that applies to real-life. Some light-side dialogue almost kinda goes there, but is usually contradicted shortly after, for example: A Jedi may preach the power of trust through forbearance to some besieged colonists, then head out to methodically slaughter 20x aborigines for experience-points and a new pair of boots. The game is amorally instructive in that it heavily preaches abusive master/slave relationships, and the dangerous fantasy that killing someone you disagree with will end the matter.
Ran smoothly on Linux via Steam Proton. Requires a SWTOR account.
