I didn't have an appointment with LucasArts going in to E3 because I forgot to send them an e-mail. I know, it's incredibly silly, but for whatever reason I had forgotten that they were going to there. It wasn't until I asked about Monkey Island at the Telltale booth that I heard they were showing off The Old Republic, at which point I made it my duty to hunt down their room and force myself into a showing. Once I found the room, hidden in the middle of another dozen meeting rooms, they invited me in and sat me down in a theater (beautifully decorated like a Jedi Temple), where ten or so other members of the press were given a chance to see the game in playable form for the first time. I was a huge fan of Star Wars: Galaxies back in the day, so the release of a new Star Wars MMO by seasoned RPG developer BioWare was already high on my list of things to cry with excitement about. After being introduced to some of the game's producers, the demo began.

The first thing we saw was a video that will likely end up being the game's opening cinematic. In it, we witnessed an important event in Star Wars history: The Sacking of Coruscant. Over 3,000 years before the battle of Yavin, Sith forces made their move on the Republic, attacking the Jedi Council and effectively bringing an end to the Great Galactic War. Because of the surprise attack, the Treaty of Coruscant was signed, creating an extremely shaky cease-fire between Jedi and Sith that lead to a long Cold War. It's when the game is going to take place and is available online, setting the mood for The Old Republic's intended experience. Every single one of you should watch it as soon as possible, it's wonderful, Star Wars fan or not.



After the conclusion, we began to see the first gameplay, starting off with the Bounty Hunter class. The player walked into a room and met up with a few NPCs and began what looked like an interactive cut-scene. In The Old Republic, players will be greeted with something unheard-of in MMORPGS: voice acting. Not just greetings or emotes, BioWare is recording every line of dialogue, including anything the player says. The professional voicework is which is shocking at first - it's apparent that the goal of BioWare wasn't to create World of Warcraft with Star Wars slapped over it; it's more easily compared to Knights of the Old Republic if it were an online game.

After the conversation was over the Bounty Hunter, dressed in Mandalorian garb, made his way to Hutta's exterior. All who choose to play the most dangerous game will begin on this lawless planet, filled with enough scum and villainy to make the average Mos Eisley cantina-goer hurl. Once outside, the producers showed off some of the abilities of Bounty Hunters. They're a ranged class, with access to blasters, flamethrowers, and a jetpack. It all looked very Star Wars, ringing familiar with any fans of Fett. After a bit of combat was displayed they changed focus to a new class, introduced for the first time at E3: the smuggler.

In order to create each archetype, BioWare went back and re-re-re-rewatched the films, picking out what made each class so popular. When they arrived at the Smuggler they kept a close eye on Han Solo, and watched his style of combat. For the most part, he was running down hallways, shooting backwards, or hiding behind objects. Because of this style of combat, the developer decided to add yet another first to the realm of MMOs: a cover system. It's not like Gears of War, where players can stick to anything that might cover the bottom third of their body, but it's definitely a step up from other online shooters. It's an actual ability, which shows green arrows wherever cover can be taken, and unlocks a new skill bar with abilities only offered when taking cover. After taking cover the player fired a few shots at an enemy, and I saw the first thing that disappointed me about The Old Republic.

It's an MMO. I know, I know, that's expected, but it still has a gamey MMORPG taste in its mouth every so often. Enemies are still "pulled," there's still "aggro," and there will be times where the AI only notices a player once they're within X distance from them, even if they're shooting an enemy in plain sight. It's not a game breaker, especially since it's pretty much expected, but it still is a dissapointment. All negative feelings about it were washed away pretty quickly once the Sith section started.



It's not because of the fact that it was a Sith, per se, it was that the demo turned from showing off the general mechanics of the game to showing an actual mission, and how different The Old Republic really is. Early in the presentation BioWare explained their goal with the game: to add story to an MMORPG. The way they figured, past MMOs had combat, exploration, and progression. Story, however, was completely absent, and adding story meant adding choice, and adding choice would the game's action. This was apparent as two characters, a Sith and a Bounty Hunter, made their way towards the captain of a ship that had disobeyed a direct order.

After laying waste to the guards, the players made their way into the bay, where the Captain and his guards stood, waiting. It wasn't a traditional MMO encounter, they didn't rush at the player, the Captain wasn't in an orb of invulnerability. Instead, a conversation started, much like any of the dozens in Mass Effect. In fact, even the dialogue trees looked very similar to Mass Effect's, and the choices seemed just as important. The Captain looked at the attackers and asked why they had come, waiting for a response. Yet another first in MMO history began, and the players actually took turns answering, as they would in real life. They talked to the Captain and asked why he had disobeyed an order, and were eventually offered a choice: do they kill or spare him?



It wasn't a cosmetic decision. By sparing his life they, too, would be ignoring an order, but would gain the benefit of his knowledge. If they killed him, they might have to deal with his crew or other issues. The producer turned to the room of PR people, tired from the E3 floor and three days of work, and asked for us to make the call. Thumbs down were raised, and the player selected to finish off the captain: slashing him down with a red blur of energy. A little indicator fluttered above the players' heads, indicating that they had made an evil choice, earning them points for the Dark Side. How this will effect the game is unknown, but it's something that has been in BioWare games for years, and I was happy to see it return. After the captain's death the crew made their intentions known by submitting themselves to their new leaders. Before they had a chance to accept the honor,  a loud alarm went off: Republic forces (including an apprentice Jedi) has crashed through the walls of the ship, and the Sith and Bounty Hunter duo had to take them out.

After making their way down some hallways the two engaged in the first multi-person combat shown for the day. Commandos were flooding in through docked ships, and were easily taken out by the Sith and Bounty Hunter. From time to time, they would use their attacks in conjunction with each other, such as the Sith holding an opponent still as the BH fired. Before too long, the Jedi appeared, and began to fight the Sith in classic Star Wars style. It wasn't a long battle, and he was quickly taken down after yelling typical catchphrases such as "I've defeated worse than you!" Walking over to the corpse, the Sith looted the body and equipped the fallen foe's lightsaber, dual wielding the blades. With this, the screen faded to a logo, and the demonstration was over. 



There wasn't much time for questions, but the producers answered some we were likely going to ask in rapid succession. There will be PvP. There will be guilds. There will be raids. There will will be crafting. These are staples of MMORPGS that really shouldn't be changed, and BioWare isn't looking to. I walked out of the room, took my "I Spared the Captain" pin (they ran out of "I Killed the Captain" ones pretty quickly) and went on my way, somehow more excited for the game than I already was. It's still a bit of a ways off from release, but BioWare has already captured my heart with this game, and it's moved to being my most anticipated game of 2010 without hesitation or question.