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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Hands On With the Smuggler
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller got some hands on time with a Smuggler during his recent visit to the Star Wars: The Old Republic folks at this year's E3.
Class Overview By Garrett Fuller on June 21, 2010
In playing Star Wars: The Old Republic there are a few things that continue to stand out. The storylines that are created for characters are by far the most intricate seen in a game, especially in an MMO. There is also the Star Wars feel to the game. The sounds, the music, the planets and design, heck it reminds me of Star Wars Galaxies in that respect. So in this hands-on article we wanted to talk about the Smuggler class. Personified by Han Solo and viewed as one of the most iconic Star Wars characters in the universe, the Smuggler is a rogue of sorts that relies on quick reflexes and duck and roll combat techniques to get the job done. I wonder if there will be any actual smuggling in the game.
The Smuggler we had a chance to play was doing missions on Ord Mantell when we stepped in to run around. The character was female and Twi'lek.
advertisement So we got our mission to take-out a cannon that was being held by the enemy. All of this in order for us to fly off the planet and deliver some goods. The dialogue was a bit tedious, something we have found throughout the game. Though it is Bioware's style and has served them well in the past, I am just not sure how well it will do in an MMO when you are trying to get your work done quickly. Just remember speed gamers, the space bar is your friend.
Once you get through the discussion, it is time to go and knock out that cannon. With my trusty blaster by my side, I set forth. The use of cover is one of the biggest gameplay techniques for the Smuggler and it is critical to how the class plays. The prime combat style of the Smuggler is to pick a target, dive and hide behind some form of cover, and blast away. If you want to move up and find more cover, go for it. The trick is getting a target first. I found myself constantly looking for cover with no interface coming up because I did not have a target already selected. This got tricky until I finally figured it out. Still in the heat of a major fight or especially in PvP this could get really annoying.
The cover interface was not bad. As soon as your target is selected, green images appear in the area around all of the potential cover spots you can occupy. Pick one and you will move to that spot. Once there, start shooting. There are a range of shots you can do, wit more powerful shots requiring a cooldown. The action moved pretty fast so I really only used my normal blaster attack and another more powerful blast which was able to knock NPCs down to about 50%.
In the boss fight we saw as part of the demo, the Trooper really held agro on the attack droids while the Jedi Knight took out the adds and the Smuggler blasted the heck out of the boss droid from cover. It was definitely a good group running through the encounters. However, it started my general feeling on the Smuggler which was, all I get to do is duck and cover? As I continue through my hands-on section I tried to find other tactics to use. There were not many, but then again it was only a demo. I went back and read the class description on the Star Wars website and saw that they mention stealth several times. This may be true, but I did not use any stealth skills other than the cover interface when running through the demo. I'm hoping to see a little bit more of it next time so that the experience is a little bit more varied.
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Overall, I really like the idea of the Smuggler class. I mean, really who doesn't like Han Solo? Ok maybe Jabba and Boba and a few others. Still the character and concept is awesome in the game. If stealth and dodging for cover work out really well in the combat interface then the class should prove fun for players who enjoy that style. Keep in mind the Smugglers are the Republic's class, not the Empire. Once I got the hang of the class and the use of cover I definitely wanted to play more. I only hope that in the game you can actually work on building up credits by actually smuggling something. If Smugglers somehow have an impact on the in game economy that would be incredibly cool. I am not sure how this would work, and putting things like the player auction house into actually player's hands based around a class is extremely dangerous in design, still there is potential there, let's hope the team sees it. The Smuggler is fun even though it takes a little getting used to, but that is what new classes are all about. We will also be looking at the Sith Warrior in my next Hands On later this week.
There's a smuggler in this game? Hurrahhhh!!!!
I was only just posting in another SW:ToR thread how much I like smugglers in the Star Wars universe.
Well this game still has me interested. Hopefully I will get a beta invite one of these days. I need something to do thats new and fun
This is going to sound like ancient Galaxies talk, but I'd like to see the smuggler doing some smuggling as well. Combat is cool and all, but Bounty Hunters need bounties, and smugglers need to smuggle.
I am hoping they making it easier to find cover without having to have an enemy targeted first.
Do those pistols look like little hair dryers to you?
I read in another article that the the destruction of this cannon is midway trhough a mission chain that starts with the smuggling of weapons so you may get your wish.
Look here: http://tor-aid.com/20100620234/TOROcast/brandons-hands-on-impressions-round-2-speeders.html
The previewer mentions (in the 7th paragraph) that there are bounty terminals that let you take on bounties. If those are unique to Bounty Hunter class, then it's quite probable that smugglers (and all other classes) will be getting some unique gameplay element for themselves too.
So, smugglers, you may actually get to do some smuggling :)
"Gah, my eyes! HOT AIR!"
If I can call it, I call this Hands On quite... normal? As i've heard pretty much the same stuff I read from here from other sites already. However, still excited about the game.
BW really should of made smuggler and a couple other classes apart of a neutral faction. Smugglers by nature don't usually choose sides and only using two factions is boring and cliche' to say the least.
LOOOL, yes indeed! XD
Well, I dont expect revolutions from TOR, but solid MMO gameplay with good quality and some cool novelties. If I defend myself with a hair dryer... it just adds to to fun. ^^
First having to select a target before knowing where you can look for cover makes sense. Because its dependant on the position of your target. Without a target, the game cant figure out what suitable locations for cover are.
Neither do Bounty hunters, this game is a non sandbox, why they call it a smuggler and bounty hunter? well because they know they will trick the 12-17 yr olds in playing it, but its just a combat profession in a themepark world.
thats my 2 cents
lol. now they do. thx!!
Since each class has it's own specific story arc, it is safe to say that yes, Smugglers will get to smuggle contraband, Bounty Hunters will take on bounties, Imperial Agents will spy and assassinate, etc, etc.
As for the Smuggler and/or Bounty Hunter being neutral in this game, I think it would be interesting. And as someone mentioned, having a 3rd faction would spice things up a bit, especially if that 3rd faction were able to play both sides of the conflict (think Clint's "man with no name" character in "A Few Dollars More").
But we have to remember that, for good or ill, some of, if not all of the classes in this game, are based on a particular character in the SW stories and thus are somewhat pigeon-holed into being on one side or the other of the conflict.
If stealth in this game is technology driven story wise rather thna some innate ability of a class...it would be awesome if for the Smuggler to get stealth technology they had to do a class quest to steal the tech from the Imperial Inquisitors or the Imperial lab rats that supply them.
Another interesting article on SWTOR. I love the constant barrage of information on this game, as of late.
Now, I do love the articles here at MMORPG. However, for the love of God and all that is holy, could you please hire someone to do some proofreading? If you currently have someone in that position, fire that person, immediately.
When there are so many grammatical errors and misspellings, it detracts from the article. Please understand, I mean no disrespect toward the writer, nor the company. I realize it's hard when so many articles are being written and added to the site in so little time. It is simply that I have noticed the errors becoming more of a problem as of late and figured I would give some feedback that may help to improve my favorite site :)
From what I have seen the cover system almost works too well. Crazy yes but bare with me. From the videoes we have seen, much of the combat appeared to be standing still and shooting or swinging, very standard MMO combat. People don't have the hands to worry about moving and targeting and using specials. The big difference to this appeared to be the two cover classes who rolled and dived and sprinted to cover through the fights. Suddenly you have the real action adventure combat from star wars for these two classes. Where as your trooper just stands up the front like a lemon trading shots your smuggler is ducking down and poping up with special attacks.
This is far more the sort of combat that makes the fighting good and fun. But will this detract from the other ranged classes. Where instead of being able to use the terain to your advantage this is restricted to the cover classes. And the none cover classes are going to be your more traditional stand and trade blows game play. Now not knocking the smuggler cause I think they look great but it is the sort of thing I would love to see more of, rather than the stand and get hit a lot combat.
"The dialogue was a bit tedious, something we have found throughout the game. Though it is Bioware's style and has served them well in the past, I am just not sure how well it will do in an MMO when you are trying to get your work done quickly. Just remember speed gamers, the space bar is your friend."
I don't get it. i often see people on this site even complain about the lack of immersion or story in most mmos where you basically skip all the quest text and jump right to killing X rats. Finally a game has the depth, hell more depth, and decisions than most single player games and now people whine about it?
Give me more dialog bioware. Set yourself apart from all the other EQ/WoW clones and make my character more than just a fancy barbie doll i collect gear for.
This!
Yes... now that you mention it...
It sounds to me like this is a compromise to MMO auto-targetting and skill bar. In a FPS, manual-aim game, you can take cover first, because missing is an option. In an auto-target game, the game needs to know the target first, so it can extrapolate what cover you can fire from and definitely hit with your auto-target skills. Make sense?
Thirded.
Speaking as a pre-CU SWG vet, I can only hope & pray that Smugglers will /finally/ be able to smuggle. To the best of my knowledge, they /still/ can't over at that 3-legged mutant horror SOE still keeps on life support. Hell, I remember the in-depth information the devs posted on the forums, giving all kinds of info on "you'll be able to do this" and "it'll work like this"...only none of it was ever implemented, ever. (Not sure they ever intended to, honestly.)
I have ginormously high hopes for this game--but then again, Bioware has never let me down. If their Smugglers can smuggle, then SW:TOR will /automatically/, by that capacity alone, stand head-and-shoulders over SWG.
But... what would they smuggle? Why would they do it? And how would it be real?
You'd have to introduce trading as a part of gameplay, a bit like EVE, and have contraband. You'd then further have to give Smugglers special skills that other classes do not have.
You'd ALSO have to introduce a risk of being caught and implications of being caught, otherwise it would be completely silly.
So, it could be brilliant fun, but I can only see it happening in an artificial sense of being part of the storyline.
The smuggler seems to be the most interesting class for me so far.
I played Galaxies, and I played a smuggler who smuggled things...
Now, that being said I was not very far into the smuggler "tree". I was mostly pistoleer and Tera Kasi (sp? it's been a while), with just enough smuggler tree for a couple of fun abilities.
My skills did not make my a smuggler, my actions did. I was a mover a goods from planet to planet. I was a supplier for doctors, cooks, etc. I smuggled the finest hides, meats, weapons, brandy and whatever else would make me money on the market.
Unfortunately with this iteration of Star Wars I have the feeling that the "smuggler" will just be a clearly defined class who fights a certain way and dosen't really smuggle much of anything except for very specific quest related items.
The depth of an MMO is to be found in the communications and actions between players.
NPC's are mere fluff in any multi mass on line play.
NPC talkies and voice overs are even worse: they are vegetables spawning the same routine like coms in an extreme boring and irritating non intelligent way.
They are a nessecary evil in single player RPG and adventure games, because .... simply you are alone.
In an mmorpg they should only be used as window dressing. A stage for the avatars.
If you even remotely think they have a meaning in prolonged MMORPG pplay: you are in the same boat as Bioware.
The sinking one.
Harsh words, but you'll think of them in 2 years time.
I agree with this poster. There needs to be consequences of being caught as a smuggler, otherwise there's no real point to them. Perhaps there will be a system where notorious smugglers get put on bounties that BHs can take out. Or get chased around by angry guards if you get caught with contraband on you like in SWG.
It was a bit random though in SWG since I never got stopped and scanned once within a big city. It only seemed to ever happen out in the middle of no where. I almost always had illegal stuff on me though and only ended up dying once due to being caught!
As far as what would we be smuggling? Anything illegal! That's the point. So, there would have to be a system where some things are legal and others aren't. Or perhaps we're breaking trade laws that are agreed between two planets, or whatever. Why? To make lots of credits, or perhaps there's a cause that the smuggler believes in.
I don't think smugglers would need to have special skills. I see smugglers as being jacks of all trades or having skills from other non-jedi/sith classes actually. Wasn't Han Solo originally a stormtrooper before he began his life as a smuggler?
Smugglers would work well if Bioware allows for player-made content. If it's entirely artificially structured through questlines it would be disappointing.
i just cant wait to check out a fully voiced game! I have enjoyed the quest fottage they have released and cant wait for beta!
Please correct me if im wrong, but wasnt there talk about that you could change your faction, say if you chose the sith but felt that this wasnt your thing than you could do some missions to change you alignement.
If they scrapped the idea please tell me, cause i se alot of posts here and all over the net saying it is bad that smugglers and BH only can be one side and not the other.
P.S.: if my english is bad, i deeply apologize to all the internett, i am not that good at written english.
LOL. Fully voiced over motion pictures have been introduced massively since 1929.
Video games are about gamplay not watching an NPC talk the same 5 sentences from start to finish.
"I don't know Sir" , "You're welcome Sir", "Make a choice Sir".
At the same time - in an MMO - a few hundred players stand around you (in vain) to get an anwser from you because you are so "involved" with the prerecorded NPC and its minute long preprogrammed vegetable talk.
Forthed!
If you don't want story line and just want a quick Quest so you can kill kill kill. Then this may not be the MMO for you.
You should watch the back story on the holonet before making coments like this one. The smuggelers joined up with the republic due to the on coming threat. I understand your point but they have already stated why they are on the republics side.
Any ideas how the smuggler will work in PvP when the enemy will be moving and trying to flank immediately?
Does the cover you took with someone targeted stay as cover if they move?
Can't wait to get my hands on a beta test or the actual game itself. Go BioWare! :)
No Faction change at Launch.
I'll admit that the pull to MMO's for me is interaction with other people rather than story content or quest depth. If that's what I was after I would only play single player RPGs...
but, "necessary evil"? C'mon. Mass Effect II (for example) was a great game where the "necessary evil" made the game and immersed you in the story. If it wasn't for NPCs, talkies and cut-scenes, you may as well be playing space invaders or a text-based RPG.
And lets be honest, there's not many examples of games out there with rubbish NPC interaction that are incredibly successful currently (WOW excluded). In my mind currently, pretty much all MMO's are in that sinking boat you're talking about...and it's not talkies or having options at quest time that's putting them there. Some type of innovation or change needs to be made in the industry.
Do I wish SWTOR had spent the voice-acting and conversation tree budget on development for a robust economy, professions and space combat? Yes. But I also think this is going to be the best MMO released next year, maybe for a couple of years...even if it does feel more like KOTOR online than a true MMO.
I space bar through text as much as anyone else, but do you know why? I don't care about the story in most MMO's. Most often they're the loosest of premise to get you to spend 100's of hours and $15 a month. I can promise you that the first character I play through SWTOR, I will listen to and read every single line of quest info. It's an IP I care about and a universe I want to become immersed in.
My only concern about the voice acting and questing in SWTOR is how the end game content will work. Will I feel like I have "finished the game" once I have exhausted all this content? Will there be any drive for me to continue? End game content, however, is an issue in every MMO..and at least I know there's 3 or 4 alts that I want to get to max level in SWTOR before I move on.
I noticed in some of the videos of SW:ToR I've seen that both PCs talk in the cut scenes. How is it determined who says what and when?
You failed to read or learn that SW:ToR is the first FULLY voiced MMO. That means every single peice of diolog that exists in the gme has already been voiced and its exactly like it is in the SW:KotOR. every dialog had already been [planned and set to follow certain responces or questions that you the play will ask while playing... its all in the way its been programed
fifthed?
tho to them, it might have just seemed tedious considering they had limited time to try the game and was more interested in skills/combat testing.
From the pic it looks like they have tweaked the player models a bit? The hands look less inflated, weapons a more realistic size and just better proportioned than the older ones.
I didn't fail to read or learn *anything*, so no need to try to put me down.
That only partly answered my question. KotOR was single player only, so it's easier to code in who says what when, but my question was pertaining more to when you have a group of players doing a storyline quest, who says what and when?
I'm guessing that it's possible to change the outcome of the entire story by what people say to the NPCs and if so, it could open up to an interesting set of new dynamics in groups where players ask other players to answer a specific thing at points in the story when they are grouped up.
My question was not merely on the mechanics, it was also about a more generalised who says what and when?
Is it lack of my English comprehension skill or is the article a bit inconsistent? At the first paragraph it clearly states how "there are a few things that continue to stand out. The storylines that are created for characters are by far the most intricate seen in a game" only to be followed by a statement how "[t]he dialogue was a bit tedious, something we have found throughout the game." Does the story of the game stand out as being tedious or is it only the fashion with which this story is transmitted to player(s)?
All-in-all, the hands-on experience echoes rather similar sentiments as we have seen by virtually every gaming site since E3: There is nothing particularily revolutionary in the game-play mechanics and most seem to politely state that they need more information before they give their final judgement. In a sense it is a bit worrying when the demo that is supposed to hook you to the game fails to do so. After all, Bioware are showing the bits and pieces they decided were the best way to showcase their forthcoming title. If even these (currently) best sections can't captivate those testing the game, they surely have lots to work on before the title is released.
sounds great! I can't wait for this game to come out, probably take a large chunk of the player base of a well known mmo.
Different cover options? Souds Epic. Stealth smuggler, awesome. Can't wait to see how this game plays out . Only thing is, if the dialogue is so tedious ... but you can easily hit the space bar key if it gets too out of hand right?