Grumpy Old Nerds

Well I blew the 12 days of Christmas riff. Not entirely my own fault. Holidays sort of sucked my life away. Between work, spending time with my son, more work, and trying to get things done around the house in preparation for Christmas... I sorta didn't get to do what I wanted. So I'm sorry. There. I said it. Never again, though. So take this as everybody gets one, and you just got yours.

However I feel like I should post something now that work and life have slowed down, and what better thing to post than a review of The Old Republic's Jedi Knight? Now in the beta weekend I played a Knight, and I reviewed the Bounty Hunter's story for the site here because I felt it was due a lot of praise for how well it was handled. Now that I'm actually getting some playtime into TOR, I wanted to do the same for the Knight, but with a more expanded venue. So with some spoilers in coming, I'm here to review Act 1 of the Jedi Knight.

Story

As you start off your character has handed on Tython, the new home of the Jedi Order, and is suppose to begin his trials to become a fully fledged Jedi Knight. However the academy is under attack from local primitives now armed with blasters, and doing a pretty good job of stressing out the blaster deflection skills of the Jedi Order. Not to mention attacking and killing Padawans fairly regularly.

So you are thrown into helping since you're one of the most advanced students while the more advanced Jedi Knights are doing more heroic things. This... leads to a long road. Not because you're a chosen one, or that you're so extraordinary that the stars bend to your will, but because your story follows you being in the wrong place at the right time repeatedly. You're a hero, to be sure, but you're not some crusading uber-Jedi. You're just the guy who the Force picks on to do the dirty work. And it shows.

From helping save padawans from flesh raiders, to helping a local Twi'lek village with their issues, to unlocking secrets from the ruins of Tython (swarming with old droids), you just happen to be where you are needed. Really given credence to the whole "will of the Force" thing. In fact this whole planet may be a bit bland, but it's the sort of non-galactic threat that makes it more entertaining. You're not saving all of creation, your just doing something good (or maybe bad) with your own back yard. Of this: I approve.

Afterwards you go on to Coruscant to begin, what I like to call, the decent into hell. Not because Coruscant is bad, in fact it's really entertaining. From helping a guy find his kidnapped girlfriend, to resolving corruption in the Senate, there are dozens of things to do and not a lot of it really seems to affect the galaxy as a whole as an impending doom hanging over someone's head. It's the sort of thing you expect Jedi to do when they're not on some super task they write novels about.

However at the end you seal your own fate by facing down a Sith Lord who stole super-weapon plans and was nice enough to e-mail them to his dad. A REALLY high ranking Sith Lord you'll know well if you read the Deceived novel. Darth Angral. Now... let me make this clear, here. You were just doing a random assignment and you were just the closest one to the issue when things broke bad. Not that they thought a ranking Jedi Master couldn't do it and you could, but you were sort of the Obi-Wan Kenobi of this scenario. You were the only hope. The only one who was close enough.

After killing this Sith in front of Daddy and his home-boys (a whole group of Sith Lords) you've now got a mark on your head. One you keep finding as you travel from planet to planet to recover the Super-Weapon data that was stolen while the Masters take on more dangerous worlds. So they're not at the sidelines, in fact they give you the light work. Again: You're not Jedi-Jesus. Keep this in mind.

With every planet you get to face down another of the pantheon of Sith Lords. All of them are right royal bastards in their own right, and all of them want you dead because Angral says so. But does this really feel heroic? The short answer: Damn right it does! Through the play you never feel like you're some Chosen one, or that you're some unstoppable juggernaut who can do what the Jedi Council cant (though from time to time you can), and as you get closer to the end of the act every boss fight has more and more twists behind it. Mechanics or story, it doesn't matter. The fights aren't just "beat x guy down", there's something going on. It's not like Luke trashed Vader by standing in 1 spot and doing a rotation, you actually fight it out by knowing when to dodge and sometimes when to just hit them extra hard. And often times things get pretty interesting.

All of the fights are memorable, and you get exiting dialog of some sort every time. So it's not a "he's dead, go turn this in" sort of thing, you actually get invested in how things played out. And that's not including the fact that there is at least 1 Sith Lord you can turn into a Jedi. Yeah... I said it. JEDI SITH PUREBLOOD! But I digress... The story sometimes pulled me forward so much I had to leave to go level just to have a prayer of seeing what happens next. You wanted to keep going. And honestly it's just that good. There is no doubt in my mind that this story is so well written it could have been a series of novels and people would have read them gleefully. I know I would have.

Even David Hayter's voice not sounding like his usual Solid Snake didn't slow me down. At first I may have been disappointed, but after a while it grows on you. So much so that if I goof around on a Consular (voiced by the wonderful Nolan North) I feel like he's just too loud. And honestly those moments where ole Dave smarts off with a snarky comment are priceless. He doesn't do things by half, that's for sure. Like telling a "Jedi Killer" that he thought he'd be taller, or cracking a joke with a soldier about which way the gun points, it's well done, even if it takes a little while for it grow on you.

Game Play

This is where things get bad, kids. Not that I don't love the gameplay myself, it's great. But mechanics... ey. Let me start by saying you get a lot of tools in your kit to handle a lot of situations. Damage from built focus points, damage on cooldowns, tanking cooldowns, stun removers, knock backs, channeled damage abilities... you have a sizeable kit. And you can work through a lot of various issues. The problem is one of two things depending on your advanced class.

I've played a Maurader (Sith's version of a Sentinel) and my most beloved character a Jedi Guardian specced for Vigilance. However if you're a dual weilder you're squishy. And I mean REALLY squishy. Pretty much anything can blow you in half, so you have to hit hard, hit fast, and pray to God it dies before you do. On the other side the single saber... well it doesn't hit very hard. You can live through a long LONG string of betting pummeled, but you don't have the power behind you to cause massive damage. So you're slowly dying while barely scratching a boss.

And I've had some pretty epic last stand saber fights, I admit to that. But the talent tree for the Guardian doesn't get interesting until later levels, making all the early choices barely able to keep up with current content, much less shine. Now I'm the first to say I don't want easy content, but I don't want to be button mashing and praying for the stars to align so I can manage that perfect crit streak to win. There has to be a happy medium. And so far it's just not there.

The game is just out, it was released early (they admitted to that) and I hold out hope. So there will be no class changing for me, but throughout Act 1 I felt lack-luster. My story was so good it kept pulling me on, but by gameplay was horrible. Often times so bad I wanted to punch a wall and scream when I had to out level my class quests by 5-ish levels to have a chance to beat certain bosses. And I wont lie... I called in backup from a friend a few times. He wrecked all my stopping points with minimal effort, and I felt good for progressing along this amazing story, but I felt terrible because I needed help to do it. So you can see where a lot of mixed emotions come in with this game.

The Verdict

Between a lot of polish needed, some balancing required, and honestly just some bad design choices, this class is fun. You may want to bring a friend as you take on those big story fights to help you along, but you'll never feel like you're shorted on pure cool factor. If you're wanting a PvP review then I'm not the guy to talk to. I'm a very casual PvP player and honestly I may be good at being the underdog in a PvP match, but this class lacks to compete without support in PvP. At least from what I've seen so far.

People will cry foul for me smashing the difficulty, but you ARE talking to a guy who plays all his console games on easy for a reason. When it comes to this class, I think you'll have fun, and if you can get past Tython, get your ship and apprentice, then you're in the golden age. However just keep in mind that you'll have to be patient with it. Time will bring it where it needs to be, but until then? Enjoy the ride. And some day you can look back at newer Jedi Knights and say, "I beat Act 1 before the nerf bat sent it into orbit!"

And that's always a good thing.

Papa Mimic's Final Score: Under Construction

Never score something that's a work in progress, folks. And this class is just that: A work in progress. When things change (or Act 2) comes along I'll throw you another review, but until then enjoy your gaming, and I hope you had a great Christmas and a safe New Years.