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Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan
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Graphics & Sound:
Since it's launch, Star Wars Galaxies has been the Millennium Falcon of MMO's. She’s battered, bruised and one thing or another is always broken or not working just right, but she still manages to keep flying. Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan is the third expansion pack to be released for the game and the second content expansion.
Unless you’ve recently switched over to a higher-powered graphics card, you aren’t likely to notice many drastic graphical changes with Trials. The only notable addition visually is the addition of a completely new planet, Mustafar, and a few new creatures to fight. Like everything else in the game, the volcanic Mustafarian landscape remains true to what was seen in “Revenge of the Sith” and fits within the graphical context of the rest of the game. Compared to the other planets, Mustafar is easily one of the better-looking ones. This is in part due to a nice haze/heat effect that permeates the entire world, giving it a dangerous, near lethal feel.
Geographically, the planet feels more open and in-line with other core planets (Tatooine, Naboo…) rather than one giant theme park, like Kashyyyk. Instead of having to follow set paths and run into invisible walls, Mustafar allows you to freely explore the planet (provided you have the proper transport). However, some missions will place invisible or impassible barriers in your way for the sake of the mission, which ends up hurting the experience in the long run. |
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Gameplay:
Not surprisingly, Trials of Obi-Wan is yet another “Episode III” tie-in, this time adding the volcanic planet Mustafar, the location of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s final duel. Trial’s structure once again takes Galaxies farther from the “official” timeline, something most Galaxies players should be used to by now. As suggested by the expansion’s name, most of Trial’s missions are doled out by the spirit of Obi-Wan who, contrary to the movies, is concerned more with watching over several random people rather than Luke, the “last” of the Jedi (last, of course, being used in the loosest possible sense).
Unlike other planets, Mustafar features no new space content. In fact, the only way to even travel to the planet is by shuttle, which once again really makes no sense at all – but few things do these days in Galaxies. All of the action in Trials instead takes place on the planet’s surface. The new missions are slightly more story focused than typical missions, though their objectives really don’t stray far from the “fetch” or “destroy” missions. Some missions are split-up into smaller missions and are rather enjoyable at times. Many of the missions take place in instanced dungeons, giving all players equal crack at certain missions and cutting down on lot camping. At the same time, some critical mission objectives aren’t instanced. You’ll have to wait the in-game timer out for a particular character/monster to show up again and pray that no one swoops in for your kill at the last minute (that is, if they already haven’t set up a small shanty town waiting for the spawn themselves).
Trials introduces a slew of new rewards, including the YT-2400 (AKA, The Outrider) the ship made famous by Shadows of the Empire's Dash Rendar, as well as some really silly ones like a “lava” crystal for lightsabers or a lava shooting cannon. There’s a lot here for Loot Hunters, but in the end, you’re not going to want much of it, except for the ship – but even that comes with hang-ups.
In addition to pulling in “Episode III” related content, Trials also brings in one of the more popular Star War’s game-related characters, HK-47, who you should remember from both Knights of the Old Republic games. HK-47’s presence in the game feels forced (similar to the appearance of Grevious in the last expansion). It is like when a big-name star does a cameo to help sagging ratings for a TV show. However, if you want to get your hands on The Outrider, you’re going to have to kill HK (multiple times) in order to loot the schematics off him. So, once again, Galaxies ends up contradicting itself and warping it’s own broken timeline. A more readily available ship (The Outrider) must be looted off a 2000 year-old assassin droid, yet more than a few players are walking around in dated armor from the Clone Wars and flying Jedi Starfighters. What’s next, lightsabers and Force powers for every player? Oh, wait… |
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Difficulty:
While you don’t have to be a Jedi to get something out of Trials of Obi Wan, you do have to be a combat class – so once again the non-combat classes are screwed. Most quests require killing or destroying something, which really makes you wonder since Obi-Wan was the one to always look for “alternatives to fighting”, but that’s not the point. If you’re not a high-level character who is grouped with others, you’re not going anywhere on Mustafar. Like most of Galaxies’ high-end content, Mustafar is best handled when in a group. Of course, Galaxies' slightly diminished player-base does make this task a little trickier now, but there are still enough players that you should be able to eventually find someone willing to help out.
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Game Mechanics:
While it is not a part of the expansion, per se, it is impossible to talk about anything Galaxies related without mentioning the recent overhaul of the game’s core combat and job systems. Yeah, not even a few months after the last Combat Upgrade, another one has come down the pipe, making the game’s core mechanics seem to be this Falcon’s faulty hyperdrive.
In an effort to add more action to the game, the “sit and wait” system of combat has been replaced with a “click to attack” one similar to World of Warcraft or Diablo. Abilities are still used in the same manner as the previous combat upgrade, though a few seem to have been reworked to fit within the context of the new system. Also, a new over-the-shoulder camera angle has been added (think Resident Evil 4). The new system takes some getting used to and frankly, just doesn’t feel all that right. It’s almost like the inclusion of HK-47; it feels like it was forced into the game merely because it works with other games. In my personal opinion, the system should have been held back and used for future iterations of Galaxies or a console version.
In addition, the 33 classes have now been reduced to a paltry 9 “Iconic” classes that represent the heavy hitters in the Star Wars universe. In other words, you choose which character from the movie you want to be and be him. These classes include Bounty Hunters, Diplomats, Commandos and even Jedi. Yes, that’s right – ANYONE can be a Jedi now, a decision that kills the core concept of Galaxies. No longer is the battle between the Empire and Rebellion about all the “little guys” who take part in battles on each side, it’s about who has the most Jedi.
Oh where, oh where is an R2 unit when you need one…
As far as expansions go, Trials of Obi-Wan isn’t a fulfilling one and isn’t likely to keep you entertained for too long (at least, not as long as the previous expansions). Unless you’re really looking for something new to do in Galaxies, there’s really no reason to pay Obi-Wan a visit. |
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-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker |
Minimum System Requirements:
933 MHz Processor, 256 MB RAM, 32 MB Video Card w/hardware Texture & Lighting support, 56K Internet Connection |
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Test System:
Windows XP, Pentium 4 1.8 GHz, Radeon 9250 256 MB, 640 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0, Cable Internet Connection |
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