Spent a good chunk of today playing around with my new Republic Smuggler.

The gameplay, almost right from the start, is completely different.

I expected that the gameplay mechanics would be different – since I’m using blasters instead of a lightsabre.  And I figured the storyline would be a bit different, since I’m not an evil Sith.  But I really wasn’t expecting just how different it would be.

The game starts off with my Smuggler character running a blockade over Ord Mantell – trying to deliver a shipment of guns to the Republic.  But then it turns out that my contact is actually working for the Separatists…  And he runs off with both my ship and my cargohold full of guns.  Which makes a local fellow who goes by the name of “The Butcher” rather unhappy.

I spent the first 10 levels or so running around Ord Mantell…  Helping the Republic fight off the Separatists, so that they could re-open the spaceport and I could go after the thief who took my ship.  Lots of missions helping the local Republic forces.  Fewer missions helping out some local smugglers.

The storyline is quite a bit different…  There really isn’t any central figure that I was reporting back to.  I mean…  There was that smuggler guy…  But he really wasn’t the same kind of hub character that Lord Zash was for my Sith.  It really felt like I was stumbling around, more or less on my own.

The gameplay mechanics are pretty fun.  A little weird.  I’ve got a couple quick attacks that I can use pretty much any time…  And I’ve got a couple melee things I can use if folks get too close…  But most of my abilities are designed to be used from cover.  And I have to actually hit a button to dive into cover.  It’s pretty neat.  Does a good job of replicating the firefight mechanics you see in the movies.

Around level 10 I picked up a companion…  And then headed off towards Coruscant.  Made a quick stop to run Esseles flashpoint – the Republic’s version of the Black Talon flashpoint.  It seemed fairly similar…  But just different enough to keep things interesting.  And I did this this one with a full group, so it went very quickly.

Now I’m on Coruscant, and the planet looks almost nothing like anything I’ve seen in The Old Republic so far.  Both the Empire planets I’ve been to are largely wilderness, with a few cities here and there…  Ord Mantell was fairly well-settled, but there were still signs of the natural countryside showing through.  I guess I’m saying that everything I’ve seen so far looked pretty much like what I’d expect from a sci-fi MMOG setting.  Coruscant, on the other hand, is pure city.  A city that spans the entire planet.  And it feels like it.

Towering buildings everywhere.  I took a taxi to a different part of town, and it felt like a traveled a long way.  It feels like one hell of a bustling metropolis.  Very cool.

I specialized my Smuggler into a Gunslinger.  More shooty, pure DPS.  The other alternative is a Scoundrel, which gets some healing and some stealthy aspects to it.  But I just wanted to shoot things.  And so far I’m enjoying that gameplay.

Posted on February 12 at 9:36 PM