The Sands of Tatooine

In another big disappointment in what seems to be end endless series of them it seems that BioWare Austin have decided to include the most boring and over-used planet in the entire Star Wars setting in the MMO as well, namely Tatooine. And the planet they promised to unveil today happens to be that one. Great.

They also have a comic, which I must admit having lost all interest in as well (in my opinion it's drawn badly and the story doesn't seem to go anywhere). Anyway, here's the official news:

The twenty-second issue of Threat of Peace™ takes us to the long-abandoned Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, where Lieutenant Tavus meets the true culprit behind the efforts to undermine the peace treaty. It seems Master Dar’Nala survived her Imperial captivity after all, and everything that’s happened since has been all part of her plan. Despite his doubts, Lieutenant Tavus agrees to assist Master Dar’Nala in completing her plan by slaying the Sith mastermind, Lord Baras.

Check out the latest issue of Threat of Peace now.

And here's the official news for the planet; you can just hear them struggling trying to make the planet sound even remotely interesting:

Far in the Outer Rim, the sands of Tatooine bake beneath the glare of two bright suns. Small pockets of barely civilized communities dot the desolate landscape, surrounded by the endless expanse of barren dunes and rocky canyons that have silently slain so many of those who ventured out into desert. Among the small shantytowns and settlements that persist, travelers may find shelter from the brutal climate, but trust is as rare as water on this lawless world. Visitors and locals alike must constantly watch their backs in Tatooine’s townships.

Access the HoloNet records to find out more about the desert wasteland of Tatooine, and the mysteries buried in its scorched sands. Be sure to check out the Media section to get the latest screenshots, concept art, and wallpapers depicting this harsh, desert wasteland.

Anyone else shaking their head over how this nothing of a planet always seems to be at the center of pretty much every major event in the Star Wars history? Just because a planet happens to feature in the movies doesn't mean that you have to include it in your game as well. Part of what made Tatooine interesting, once upon a time, that it was such a remote corner of the universe that where the Star Wars sage (and I'm talking original trilogy here) started. But every time it's included in another Star Wars story it makes the original story less because now apparently it's the planet where everything always happens. <sight>

There are other "desert planets" in Star Wars you know; ones you can actually do something interesting with.

The one good thing to come out of this is that they've got a wallpaper of the planet as well; after all your desktop is kind of supposed to be boring, right?


I'm sorry for being so negative, yet again. But I was hoping that for once Tatooine would not be included in a Star Wars game. And it seems as if my hopes for this game are getting dashed one by one.

IGN's Star Wars: The Old Republic Clichés

There's a brief article over on IGN looking at the Star Wars clichés that The Old Republic has to have to be a truly authentic Star Wars experience. The article is clearly tongue-in-cheek and is as such a fun read. Here's an excerpt:

Affirmative Action: The Republic has always been a leader in providing good jobs to non-Basic speaking races and shown particular acceptance to those races who mangle the language by confusing word order or inserting an annoying "sa" at the end of every pronoun. This tolerance even extends to droids who communicate through a sophisticated system of beeping and shoving. All the human player characters will be required to have at least one non-human or droid sidekick that doesn't speak any Basic but is still able to understand and be understood by everyone else in the game. To keep these sidekicks in their proper place as defined by the traditions of the Star Wars universe, their promotion opportunities will be limited by the so-called "cockpit glass ceiling," leaving them stuck as co-pilots and completely unable to find work as main characters.

[link] to "Star Wars: The Old Republic Clichés" article at IGN.

Darth Hater: The Audio of Star Wars: The Old Republic

Over at Darth Hater they have an interview with some of the LucasArts guys responsible for the sounds and music in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The interview is split into three part; music, sound fxs and voiceovers. Here's an excerpt:

DH: The original score by John Williams became an integral part of Star Wars culture. How did the audio team approach creating new pieces with such iconic shoes to fill?

JH: We’ve assembled a team of composers for The Old Republic who are all well-versed in the language of John Williams. Mark Griskey, whose previous Star Wars work includes both KOTOR II and The Force Unleashed, is returning as our lead composer on the project. Joining him are composers Lennie Moore, Gordy Haab, and Wilbert Roget, II. Lennie comes to us with a diverse background in games, TV, and film. Gordy recently worked with us on Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings and Wilbert wrote new music for the recent DLC levels for The Force Unleashed. In addition, we’ve also hired composer Peter McConnell (Grim Fandango, Brütal Legend) to compose 90 minutes of original cantina music for us. We’re deep in the heart of writing material for the game right now and things are sounding fantastic.

DH: When will we find out about a Star Wars: The Old Republic Official Soundtrack and how can I preorder it?

JH: All of the details are still to be determined but we’ll have more info on that soon!

Some new details to be gleaned from that, including that each class will only have two voice options (male and female). Of course I still feel that the player character shouldn't be voiced at all as voicing the player takes away player ownership of the character. But ah well.

GameSpy: An Inside Look at Star Wars: The Old Republic

GameSpy has a preview article up for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This looks to be from the November press event where they unveiled the Jedi Consular and the Sith Inquisitor (and the Imperial Agent IIRC). Here's an excerpt:

Before delving into the gameplay demo proper, BioWare unveiled the final list of classes. The approach that the developers are taking with class design eschews the traditional roles you've seen in most MMOs, where a balanced party is comprised of an aggro-generating tank, damage-dealers, and a healer. Instead, the intent is to allow players to live out their Star Wars fantasies, presenting familiar but flexible character archetypes. The eight playable classes are as follows, with noteworthy inspirations from the Star Wars universe.

It's a fairly brief article without anything new that I've noticed. In fact, some of their points are questionable (such as their list of iconic characters with each class; I would've thought Qui-Gon Jinn to be more of a Consular and the developers have already said that the Inquisitor has a Darth Maul-type spec; making Darth Maul an Inquisitor instead of a Warrior... though that probably just shows how the Sith/Jedi classes don't have distinct enough icons in the Star Wars movies; if someone said that Palpatine was a Sith Warrior because he was also one of the greatest lightsaber wielders then I would've completely believed that).


[link] to preview at GameSpy.

Sith Inquisitor Class Reveal

The eighth and final (not counting any possible expansions and whatnot) class reveal, the Sith Inquisitor:

The history of the Sith Empire is fraught with scheming politics and dark secrets—the lifeblood of the Sith Inquisitor. Treachery hides around every corner in the Empire’s dark corridors, and survival depends on an individual’s natural cunning and the will to manipulate and defeat enemies and allies alike. The Inquisitor experiments with forbidden powers to not only survive in this cutthroat environment, but to excel and seize authority.

Access the latest HoloNet entry now to see a full profile of the Sith Inquisitor, including footage displaying the destructive powers of the dark side! Also, be sure to visit the Media section to get downloadable screenshots, concepts, and wallpapers!

And wallpapers as well:

   

GameSpot Sith Inquisitor Hands-On

Though they already posted an earlier article talking about the press conference (where the Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor were unveiled) GameSpot has posted another hands-on article. Here's an excerpt:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, game developer BioWare, a studio founded by two medical doctors on the foundations of nerdy swords-and-sorcery role-playing, made the jump to deep space with Knights of the Old Republic, a Star Wars-themed role-playing game that told a story that predated the events of the motion pictures by several centuries. Some years later, the developer is now working on a massively multiplayer online game in the same universe--a game that will let you play as a Boba Fett-like bounty hunter, a Han Solo-like smuggler, or a Mace Windu-like Jedi Knight…among others. We recently had a chance to get a bit more insight on the game from its developers, and we also had our first chance to play the game using the Sith inquisitor profession, which we'll discuss shortly.

There's at least one inaccuracy in the article though; I'm fairly certain that the Dashade companion for the Sith Inquisitor isn't "a Sith inquisitor whose powerful lighting-based abilities provide excellent ranged damage" but in fact a melee character who is particularly resistant to the Force.

Anyway, the HoloNet page on the Sith Inquisitor should be up later today.


[link] to Hands-On at GameSpot.

Rumor: Star Wars: Legends?

In non Star Wars: The Old Republic related news, Kotaku has a rumor of a new Star Wars game in development (and likely to be announced soon). Here's their text:

There's a listing over on the website of the Australian Classification Board for a game we've never heard of. It's called Star Wars: Legends. And no, before you ask, it hasn't been banned.

The title was submitted for classification way back in June, and earned the game a Mature rating (for "fantasy violence"). Interestingly, it's listed as an internal Lucasarts project, with Activision down as publisher.

And it's not just the Classification Board making stuff up; "Star Wars: Legends" also appears as a recent filing with the US Patent Office.

A Star Wars game we've never heard of, developed by Lucasarts, mature content...anyone would think this was the game due to be revealed at the Spike VGAs later this month.

Has me curious what game that might be. Though to be honest, judging on the title alone (as that's all we have), it wouldn't surprise me in the least if this is a game trying to cash in (again) on all the popular Star Wars characters. I'd expect a game where you get all the "legends" (think "famous characters from the movies") together.

But who knows.


[UPDATE]

The Star Wars game revealed at the Spike VGAs turns out to be The Force Unleashed 2. Pity.


[link] to Star Wars: Legends rumor at Kotaku.