Rumor: The Old Republic's Space Combat Lacks Freedom [UPDATED]

[Giftmacher]

Picking through the carnage on the toR forums it does seem the devs, talking via the medium of gaming magazine, are saying this is indeed a rail shooter; albeit a rubber banded rail shooter where you can control 2 axes of movement.

I'm not thrilled with that, I'd have preferred a battlefront/TIE fighter style mini-game, but I think the fact this will be single player is worse. Both M's get dropped from MMO in this mini-game, which seems a bit daft. It's as well these games will be optional I think because they won't do much for grouping. Picking up a space mission while questing and then having 5-10 minutes time out while everyone splits up to play in their own bubble? Sounds like a bad idea to me.

Following close on the heels of that thought is how amenable will this game mechanic to multiplayer when they do get around to implementing it, later(TM)?

Anyhoo, as many have observed already this is an RPG and I'm primarily interested in it as such so I'll still try the game. What I can't see myself doing is caring about this particular fringe feature (or indeed any announced so far) and that's a shame given the time they're putting into things many won't care about or will be disappointed with.

Gift.

 

[Moriarty]

I don't get what the big deal is supposed to be, it sounds like the Lylat Wars, which was awesome.

 

[gamefreakbsp]

If anyone is really that dissapointed about the space combat being on rails, allow me to point of to you that a fantastic game was all about rail based space combat. What was it called? Oh yeah. Star Fox 64.

 

[Aethren]

I like cheesecake.

There, I'm as up-to-date as many posters in this thread.

 

[Callate]

Honestly, this is probably more in line with what the Knights of the Old Republic games did with space: it's a way to get to and from the places where the real meat of the game occurs, with a little bit of minigame along the way to keep you from getting bored.

In short, you get to be Luke Skywalker screwing around in the turret, but forget about being Han Solo making a last-minute decision to help out on the attack on the Death Star.

Oh well.

In a sense, I can't blame them: a comprehensive space-flight game could be a huge distraction for players and developer time alike, away from the land-based portions where they're putting the bulk of their work. If it's done poorly, it's a waste of time; if it's done well, you most likely split the user base, and end up with a lot of people who don't bother with large segments of content you put thousands of hours of work into.

(It wouldn't kill LucasArts to release a new, twenty-first century Star Wars spaceflight game, though.)

 

[Calatar]

...and after all, didn't we all hate Star Fox 64?
oh wait

 

[Fidelias]

Oh come on! I mean, sure it would be nice to have something like Rogue Squadron or Tie Fighter, but it was no secret that the ground combat would be what the game focused on. I'm sure it won't be THAT BAD either, so quit judging it before they release the game.

 

[luckshot]

it is starting to feel like the entire game is on rails, what with all the pre-scripted scenes and 'cinematic experience' they want this game to be.

 

[stabnex]

We understand that it had to be done in Shadows of the Empire, BUT THAT WAS 14 YEARS AGO! WE NEED EXPANSIVE OPEN PLAYGROUNDS TO LAY DOWN COVER FIRE FOR A-WINGS!

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Space combat should be more like Freelancer. Freelancer did it right. Freelancer did it all right.

/fanboy response

Okay, now that I got that out of the way. I would like to see a third person (ship?) perspective when fighting in my X-Wing, like the battlefront games. Not that there are anything wrong with tunnel/rail shooting games... Its just in a game that has "Star Wars" in the title, it should have a decent space combat simulator built into it.

 

[RikSharp]

on rails shooter, limited movement to avoid asteroids etc...
anyone else thinking starfox?
that wasn't a bad game either.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

It's an MMO. Seriously, what did you expect?

Exactly. I wouldn't have expected anything like a flight sim from an MMO. Sure, it'd be a pleasant surprise, and would take the genre further, but I remain sceptical over MMOs, no matter how much I love Bioware and their Old Republic work, and no matter how much this game has tempted me to buy an MMO. I'd still prefer KotOR III.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Sounds rather lame... Space all big and open, but you have to stay within this 10X10 square of space.

 

[Antari]

If its a rumor good. If its not, so much for that game being great. Just another mediocre offering.

 

[RvLeshrac]

The space combat is meant to be a cinematic experience. I'm still waiting until I play it to judge.

Did they also say it would be "compelling"?

 

[drosalion]

IMO its turned me off the game a little bit initially because i was really looking forward to, and expected, a semi-full flight section of the game, but i have faith that bioware will make a great game

 

[TheBaron87]

Sucks for TIE Fighter fans.

Awesome for classic Starfox fans like me .

Still, I hate it when people change series I like :\ It should have been more like X-Wing or TIE Fighter, since those are Star Wars games. They set the precedent.