SW: TOR - E3 Impressions @ Shacknews

Nick Breckon seems mightly impressed with what he saw of TOR's gameplay.

The Jedi combat in The Old Republic is perhaps the most engaging combat I've seen in an MMO yet. Showing off moves directly translated from the recently released cinematic, the Sith jumped forward and backward, deflecting laser blasts and blocking melee attacks. Finishing moves and saber flourishes were carried off at a perfect pacing.

The demo culminated in a final battle between our demo operators--playing the Sith and a Bounty Hunter--and an NPC Jedi Knight. The dynamic potential of party combat was highlighted as the duo went to town on the good-guy. At one point the Sith force-choked the Jedi Knight, with the Bounty Hunter stepping up to use his flamethrower on the hovering victim. At the end, the Knight killed, the Sith looted him, took his lightsaber, and equipped it for a dual-saber build.

The take away? A lot of money is being spent on this game, and it shows. And though it may not have the broad fantasy appeal of World of Warcraft, this is the first game that I can see challenging it. It's hitting a different genre, it's doing things that Warcraft is not, and it will still have all the MMO conventions--PVP, crafting, guilds and raiding are all planned.