PART 1 - Scouts of the Old Republic
This is the menu in case anyone is curious. The tall fellow there is Darth Malak, whom we’ll be hearing of very soon.
The Old RepublicKNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLICFour thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. DARTH MALAK, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada upon an unsuspecting galaxy.
Crushing all resistance, Malak’s war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith Master.
In the skies above the Outer Rim world of Taris, a Jedi battle fleet engages the forces of Darth Malak in a desperate effort to halt the Sith’s galactic domination…This is Taris. We’ll be spending some time there
This, meanwhile, is the Endar Spire. We won’t be spending a lot of time in it.
For, you see, we are under attack.
The Sith/Endar SpirePlease imagine the sound of explosions and shake your screen.
You may continue to shake it.
I’m glad I actually managed to capture this shot. Keep shaking.
Just a little bit more.
Ok, you can stop now.
For, you see, we’ve been interrupted.
I actually never noticed this head was missing one of the ears. That’s a pretty nice touch, actually.
:
Who are you?:
I’m Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet. I’m your bunk mate here on the Endar Spire. We work opposite shifts; I guess that’s why you haven’t seen me before. Now hurry up, we have to find Bastila! We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!:
Who’s Bastila?:
Bastila’s the commanding officer of the Endar Spire. Well, not an officer, really. But she’s the one in charge of this mission. One of our primary duties is to guarantee her survival in the event of enemy attack! You swore an oath just like everyone else on this mission. Now it’s time to make good on that oath! I heard what everyone’s saying about you: you’ve explored the farthest reaches of the galaxy, you’ve visited planets I’ve never even heard of. I know you’re a scout and not a soldier, but Bastila needs all troops at her side during this attack!:
Ok, let’s go help Bastila!:
So hurry up and grab your gear. You need to suit up so we can get out of here.:
Okay.This is Trask, our new best friend. He likes snazzy haircuts, oaths, orders and tutorials, while disliking dark jedi and insubordination. I’ll do my best to stay on his good side.
This level is pretty much the tutorial of the game. We can’t proceed further until we get our equipment, so let’s get it over with.
And equip all of that. I chose to go with the sword due to the enthusiasm over flurry.
This is our stats screen, if you are curious.
:
We should stick together; you’ll have more success with a party than on your own. Because of the attack this room is in lockdown, but don’t worry – I’ve got the override codes. You’ll have to use me to unlock the door.Wait, if the room is in lockdown, how did you get in? Did you use your codes to get in and locked it behind you? I know you love tutorials, but come on.
Our first party member. Trask if pretty much what we’d end up as if we picked soldier as the starting class.
I use Trask to open the door and we
finally leave this room, but, alas, we are intercepted by a cutscene.
:
If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to help Bastila!Droid:
Beep Boop.The door in the background is locked, and interacting with it causes Trask to drop another tutorial.
Pressing the lock button while controlling a character with the security skill will cause them to attempt to lockpick it. Since this is a tutorial, it is obviously a success.
Upon opening the door, we walk straight into a battle.
:
For the Republic!Our first combat. When you select an enemy, a small menu appears on top of them. There you can, from left to right: use a specific attack (in this case we can only use basic attacks and Flurry, but eventually we’ll be able to use Critical Hit and Power Attack. If we used ranged weapons, we’d be able to eventually use similar attacks), use force powers (we have none yet) and use an offensive item (usually a grenade). If you do not choose anything, it defaults to a basic attack.
Those two troopers are quickly mopped up, and we get to loot their bodies.
Credits are what passes for money in the Star Wars setting. It is a pretty stupid name for a currency (“you have a credit of 30 credits”), but nothing we can do about that.
We move on. We meet more sith. We kill them all. We loot them all.
Of note are a new sword, equipped immediately, armour and grenades. Due to a bug, I had to reload, and forgot to equip the armour (still looted it, though).
Proceeding, we find yet another battle in which we can’t interfere.
If you are confused as to what happened, here, the sith shot the barrel, causing it to explode.
The left trooper throws a grenade on the enemy combatants (and his squadmate).
And all the republic troopers are dead. Time to avenge them.
With boom.
More appear, and are easily dispatched. Of note is that Trask, despite being a ranged combatant, always runs in and only starts firing at point-blank. I have no idea what is going on with his AI.
More boom
Medkits cure organic characters, with the exact amount depending on the treat injury skill of the user. Repair kits are the same, except only for robots and use the repair skill instead.
Parts and their use will be explained soon, because moving on we happen upon yet another battle. Fortunately, we have an actual reason to sit this one out.
The jedi manages to kill her dark counterpart, but is then killed by incoming sith troops. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts, I couldn’t get that shot.
The jedi had some very interesting loot though (the vibration cell is a weapon mod for lightsabers, I’ll explain the whole weapon mod system at another time).
We finally reach the bridge. It is full of sith soldiers fighting the two republic troops in the back. The sith quickly kill them and attack us, and are, of course, easily dispatched once again.
:
The Sith want Bastila alive, but once she’s off the ship there’s nothing stopping them from blasting the Endar Spire into galactic dust.I’ll only show notable loot after this update. This is mostly to show the various kinds of items in the game. More importantly, we level up!
These are the stats after I’ve spent my points.
And my feats. I picked gearhead, giving me an extra bonus to repair and computer use.
The joy of level up was followed by a terrible premonition, so terrible I must take all of Trask’s equipment.
Sorry, but it’s for the best.
And so does Trask heroically save us. You will be missed, tutorial companion, you will be missed.
We head into another area, where we receive a message.
:
Bastila’s escape pod is away – you’re the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire! I can’t wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods!Some sith stand in our way, but not for long.
:
You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts. Or you could use the computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire’s security system against the Sith.We’ll opt for the robot.
This is the repair/hacking screen. You select options on a menu, which often lead to more options.
Some actions cost spikes or parts, with the amount depending on your skills. I select both options and send the droid on its way.
This room is pretty hard if you charge without hacking the security system or repairing the droid. The droid, however, is extremely overpowered and wipes the room by itself.
On the red sith we find some nice items.
:
Who are you?:
I’m a soldier with the Republic, like you. We’re the last two crew members left in the Endar Spire. Bastila’s escape pod is already gone, so there’s no reason for us to stick around here and get shot by the Sith. Now come on – there’ll be time for questions later![Use the escape pod]