http://www.swtor.com/galactic-starfighter
GALACTIC STARFIGHTER!
(Since there is no NDA for early access, I am going to share with you my experience thus far)
When Star Wars The Old Republic, Bio-wares fully voiced massively multi-player online role-playing game was released in December 20, 2011,
Star Wars and MMO fans a-like flocked to the game, making it a 1 million subscriber game within three days of its launch, making it the world’s “fastest-growing MMO ever”.
Now, almost 2 years later, the game seems to be thriving; especially with the latest launch of Galactic Starfighter.
We’ve all wanted this from the beginning, instead of being in a space ship handled on rails, not guided by the player.
Better late than never I say… (although I’m not so sure about the Diablo III pvp debacle AHEM.)
Ship customization is rather bare in the beginning, although this doesn’t mean there are high values for customization. There are 14 different space ships, and countless numbers of mods, weapons, colors, and combinations to chose from. So you can BK have it your way.
You start off with a basic Gunner ship, and a scout ship. They both have their roles within the battle. Of course your gunner ship will be your “grunt” so to speak. Heavy firepower, and medium mobility, with acceptable armor.. In the right pilots controls, it makes a deadly starting ship.
The scout ship on the other hand, is strictly for the pilot on a mission (shoot the missile into the small hole and destroy the deathstar! thats what she said. )
You are equipped with a power regenerator, for bursts of speed. Shield Regenerator, for those intense “Im about to blow up your ship” moments, and of course… the barrel roll. Which actually comes quite in handy when you are outrunning Sith ships.
You can also choose your crew members, but choose them wisely. They can provide pivotal roles in helping you win your sci-fi top-gun fantasy.
I just roll with the R2-D2 looking droid, he makes me feel comfortable with his “beeps and boops”.
Once you get your poop in a group, after creation of your ship, you can jump into combat!
The PVP game modes I have played are your standard capture the zone-fare. But this is a good thing. You capture “satellite-esque” floating structures and then they become armed with turrets etc. for defense. You capture these with your team by hovering around them and shooting off any potential customers. It’s just Like –
‘
Boom. Warhawk on the Playstation? Remeber that? Yeah. It was awesome.
Controls are pretty simple. W , A, S, D keys move your ship, and your mouse is for looking around, holding down space bar will make you haul ass.
Your ship comes with abilities bound to the left and right click on the mouse respectively, one for your primary, and one for secondary lock-on weapons.
Controls are tight, a good thing, and there are indicators everywhere for what you need to be doing and where you need to be aiming.
At first its kind of alot to take in, but then you kind of just look at the middle of the screen and zone in.
One little gripe I have, which I HAVE NOT, experimented with yet is the camera. It seems to be too close
to the back of the ship. This might make some players un-easy with motion sickness, but I doubt it.
Combat is satisfying, and its nice when you are dog-fighting and have the upper hand (I am about to blow this noob up)
Come back here ! Mathias! (my enemy for the round)
Thus far, this is a welcome addition to Star wars, The old Republic.
We have all wanted this since launch, and it’s here. Now every geek with the dreams of being a starship pilot (including me) can frolick in space
while shooting laser-beams at other players.
Will update later with more.. stay tuned.
-JJ
Medioids 