BioWare is as busy as ever, with several promising projects on the way - Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins and, of course, Star Wars: The Old Republic. They keep telling us that Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to be the first MMOGs to effectively integrate storytelling into a persistent game world, with thousands and thousands of active players. What we didn't know is how it all looked and worked in actuality. Well, now we are finally about to find out.

Lightsaber, eh? Deflect this!

Fancy, new armor.

I'm sure you're all aware by now which setting BioWare chose from the huge Star Wars timeline. Regarding the story and general history of the era covered in the game, there's ample info included on the game's official web site. In addition to that, you might want to have a look at the E3 cinematic trailer for The Old Republic (impressive to say the least).

This time, the crew showed off a few classes such as the Bounty Hunter (specializes in ranged damage). Also shown were the Sith, a Rogue-like class, and the Smuggler, heavily inspired by the SW character Han Solo, with shooting being his most effective means of dealing with enemies - foes that get close to the Smuggler can be.. err.. stunned with a swift kick in the crotch (ouch!) before performing a clean headshot. Another interesting fact about characters of this class is that they can use cover, which, in this case, allows access to new character abilities.

So, how does it all work? It's simple really. During gameplay Star Wars: The Old Republic feels very much like a successful mix of games like World of Warcraft and Knights of the Old Republic, with a bit of Mass Effect thrown in (the dialogue being the strongest element similar to ME). When the combat starts, players will be able to use a menu/hotkey scheme similar to what we've seen in most MMO titles. Okay, another important point for this game is the much-touted narration. During the presentation, a story segment took place and the dialogue began. You should know that TOR is going to be the first MMOG where all NPCs (and player characters) are fully-voiced. Believe it or not, cinematic cut-scenes are carried out in Mass Effect style while players chat with voiced in-game characters. Sweet! The created character was a Bounty Hunter and his initial dialogue offered him a chance to respond modestly or with arrogance or greed. The story actually unfolds depending on the manner of his responses in dialogue.

Once again, the combat features the standard MMO hotbar system, which works perfectly even at this stage. But unlike most MMOGs, TOR feels a more fast-paced and action-oriented; rather like a single-player game, which we found quite fascinating. Oh and I almost forgot; Force powers are in the picture too, with players being able to use various lightsaber attacks, depending on how far they've advanced their character. For this demo, we only got a chance to witness some low-level action. We're still keen on checking out the action with high-level characters.

Star Wars: The Old Republic looks very good, although there is a possibility that the new art style may not agree with every gamer, especially those who are used to the more classic Star Wars look. It's more than apparent that the developers stuck with a visual style that's very similar to the latest generation of Star Wars CGI cartoons (i.e. the Clone Wars series). From our perspective, this doesn't look very appealing. In the end, it's all a matter of taste, I guess.

Gameplay wise, there's going to be a huge number of ways to experience this game and we're happy that BioWare is devoting so much attention to making the story work for everyone. No specific release dates were mentioned, but we do hope the developers continue the project with such diligence and we look forward to seeing how things progress from here.