It's the key-tapping-for-hours-leading-to-eye-straining combat, its non-realistic difficulty that mashes this game.
Ah, Story over Combat games - where are you?...
I wish video games producers introduce a Settings feature for every game they make: let the player choose between different gameplay options, like for example:
1. Play the game normally, with a somewhat 50% mix of A and B.
(A. story/choices/cinematics and B. combat)
2. Play the game in a combat oriented mode, focused on fights and loot/gear improvement, with most dialogues skipped
3. Play the game story/choice oriented: the player simply follows their created avatar's story, while watching cinematics and making the choices that affect the story outcome; combat either non-present or very minimal and very eased on difficulty. Simply put: option to skip combat encounters.
I think this concept will please every player. Not all of us want tons of repetitive combat, thus waiting for hours for the next few minutes of voiced story/choices. It's just not right.
Now, since SWTOR went free to play (finally!), I've decided to give it a try. Of course, I've expected something of a KOTOR 3, but my disappointment was massive...
In KOTOR 1 and 2:
- you were a real, strong, legendary hero (in SWTOR you are a poor wreck, even as a lightsaber carrier, your arse being often and systematically kicked to shreds by even the most insignificant guerilla soldier...)
- you really made decisions that shaped the fate of the galaxy (in SWTOR you only shift some faction hierarchy, nothing else, you still remain their pawn...)
- you had plenty of emotional, philosophical and insightful conversations (while in SWTOR nearly all talks lead to where you should disconnect the next shield generator or throw the
next grenade, really very 'inspiring' and 'touching'...)
- you didn't have to buy the romance of others (greedy the SWTOR world become has...)
- you didn't have to fight the same mobs again and again, nor cover the same terrain for hours (SWTOR didn't use the proper vaccine against the rakghoul generic MMORPG disease...)
SWTOR's main problem is its MMORPG shallow infrastructure. MMORPGS have failed as a whole.
Massively failed. No wonder players walk off in disappointment, looking for better leisure time = emotional rich story with large scale choices that may change everything in a radical manner.
SWTOR brings very few innovative content beside the generic MMO disease: massive tons of boring to death walking and walking and walking towards... massive tons of hours of non-
realistic, difficult combat grafted on a rushed, repetitive, generic story. That is what ruins the game and makes players leave for sunnier realms.
PROS
- some very nicely done cinematics (very few though)
- multi-story (one per class)
- full voice acting
- existence of some moral choices
- decent graphics
CONS
- illogical difficulty for many fights
- too many fights, too little story
- shallow, generic main story, with no big difference in the end
- the story is too much war-focused, and is added artificially, lacking emotional resonance
- repetitive gameplay and side quests (too much war-focused)
- gear lacks aesthetic diversity
- some combat encounters develop hilariously unrealistic
- no same gender romances (why the discrimination??)
About the combat, shouldn't it be normal that when you are a lightsaber wielder and fight against a cotton jacket pistol user, that you slash the guy once and cut them in half? Isn't it plainly weird though that you get killed again and again (although you wear aprox. best gear for your level and have the skills maxed in level and using time...), after you kept slashing at them for hours???...
One more thing about SWTOR's combat: it is real time, skill based, true, but it gets reduced to nothing more than tired eyes and fingers performing annoying mouse clicks between skills'cooldowns. It may be a good typing or some sort of other technical dexterity eye-finger exercise, but not much else. Not for all those long, boring hours.
You don't even get to see your character's fight animations, you stop being connected to your
character's movements, you only follow numbers. Your eyes are either glued to the skills' icon bar or you are ripped to pieces by your opponent. Period.
Conclusion: As a MMORPG, SWTOR is great, even revolutionary. But that is only because of a
voice acted story, not because of the gameplay, which is horrible. Take out the voice acting and you are left with a poor, second hand generic MMORPG. It is clear then where things
went wrong with this one.