It’s no secret that I’m a huge SW fan. So when I first heard about BioWare developing an MMO in the Star Wars universe, I got really hyped for it. The following announcement was posted recently on the SWTOR forums which gave me the warm fuzzies:

While we have not announced a specific date, we can confirm that we are targeting a spring 2011 release for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

That aside, I’ve been doing some research on the game and the various classes thanks to their exceptionally good fan hub www.swtor.com. I’ve been mulling over which class I’m likely to play based on my gameplay style and characteristics. One thing I do know is that I’m more inclined to play for the Empire than the Republic. Whilst I love the idea of being a do-gooder in the Star Wars universe, the appeal of the dark Sith lords and all their nastiness and general bad-ass demeanor is too much to resist.

The Empire allegiance has the following classes (as taken from the SWTOR website):

1. Bounty Hunter
2. Imperial Agent
3. Sith Inquisitor
4. Sith Warrior

The Republic has the following classes:

1. Jedi Consular
2. Jedia Knight
3. Smuggler
4. Trooper

What I like about the Sith Inquisitor class is that it’s melee based with some magic (force power) thrown in. Primarily, I’ve played caster classes in other MMOs so playing a melee based class in this MMO would be something new and exciting. The Star Wars universe also appeals to me a great deal because I already know alot about the history and characters after having seen all the movies and read alot of the books. And BioWare are developing it with LucasArts which means that the storyline/plot for the game will be authentically Star Wars focused as well as interactive and immersive. So far this game is receiving alot of positive feedback from the beta testing public (according to what I’ve read so far on their forums) which is always good. But again, the proof is really in the pudding and as a game reviewer, I always leave the final word for when I’ve actually played the game.

I wouldn’t want to find myself in the same situation I am now facing after having played Aion for almost six months. I was also super hyped for Aion when it released but I am bitterly disappointed by alot of the end game content and I feel kinda sad to have to admit that I am liking the game alot less at 50 than I did at the beginning (before I knew what to expect at end game).

I guess that’s the risk you take when you sign up to play an MMO. I am just happy that there are other games on the horizon to look forward to playing otherwise, I think I might actually go a little crazy.

The Sith Inquisitor will be a popular class to play which is the only thing that’s making me have a few doubts. When a popular game releases, the last thing you want is to find a lack of groups to join because EVERYONE is playing the same character class as you. This has happened in many MMOs I’ve played when a new class was introduced and everyone was so bored with the game they couldn’t resist playing something new just to have fun again. Let’s hope that SW:TOR has the depth and staying power to keep the community interested without having to force hours and hours of meaningless grinding for very little reward.

We’ve got the first snippet of video footage from the upcoming LucasArts release Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron for PSP and Nintendo DS and it looks very cool.

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron will be releasing in New Zealand on the 27th of November.

Check out the trailer courtesy of Gametrailers:

The Sith Warrior reveal for Star Wars: The Old Republic was one of the biggest highlights of Pax 2009 this year. There’s no doubt that this MMORPG is gathering serious amounts of momentum during its development and being huge SW fans, we’re looking forward to seeing what LucasArts and Bioware have in store.

In the meantime, here’s the latest game trailer showing the Sith Warrior on the Ice planet of Hoth in action! Thanks to GT for the clip.

Check it…

The Penny Arcade Expo 2009 (PAX) was held last week in Seattle, USA. It’s a three-day event that features gaming and presentations by some of the world’s biggest game developers. It’s not E3 but it is kinda like E3 in the sense that it’s for gamers and about video games. E3 caters more to the media than the public whereas PAX is open to anyone that gets in to register.

So we thought we’d take the best PAX 2009 had to offer and highlight some of those presentations here at Game Culture.

On with the show!

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Here’s a demo video clip for Star Wars: The Old Republic as featured at PAX 2009, courtesy of GameSpot.

Twisted Pixel’s Comic Jumper

I hadn’t heard of this game before looking at the content from PAX this year. Here’s the video clip of gameplay taken from JoyStiq’s coverage of PAX 2009. Captain Smiley is the hero of this game along with his side-kick named Star who is stuck to the captain’s chest! Sounds rad? Check it out:

The Secret World from the makers of Age of Conan

I played Age of Conan and whilst I didn’t play it for long, it was still alot of fun. Here’s the latest and greatest title from the developers of AoC called ‘The Secret World’. The Illuminati class looks insane!

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Ratchet and Clank fans will be happy to see images of the latest instalment coming our way entitled Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time:

Highlights of PAX – Part 2 follows tomorrow!

Star Wars the Old Republic finally gets the new Sith Warrior class. You can view details about the Bioware and LucasArts game from the official website.

Wallpapers for the two confirmed classes are also available and the Sith Warrior looks bad ass! You can get some of the wallpapers here thanks to Holy Fragger.

Source: SWtOR