Review by: Keith Durocher
Published: September 4, 2003

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away!

These words would prove to be the catalyst of a cultural phenomenon, driving an entire generation to look to the stars, lightsabers glittering in their eyes. While many a game has been created within the structure of George Lucas’ space opera, none have been as ambitious as to attempt to create the day-to-day experiences of the Star Wars universe. None until now, that is. Sony Online, in conjunction with Lucas Arts, has answered the call of the masses with Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, the first persistent world, massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe. Grab your protocol droid; there’s a story to be told here.

Galaxies follows the gameplay model of EverQuest. That is to say, it allows players to create personas of varying race and profession, and gives them a daily existence within Lucas’ fantastical space opera. Taking place just after the events of “Episode IV: A New Hope,” players are thrust into an adventure rife with tension and danger. The Death Star has been destroyed – a major blow to the authority of the Empire, but by no means a fatal one – and the rebellion gains strength by the day; however, the Empire is still the dominant governing body, and it now carries a vengeful drive to crush all dissidents. Operating within this web of conflict are the smugglers, bounty hunters and free enterprise businessmen who choose to play off both sides for maximum profits. This melting pot of factions provides the backdrop of Galaxies.

Unlike most MMORPGs, Galaxies allows only one character per server, so one must place a great deal of thought into their selection of race. Eight races have been made playable: Human, Bothan, Mon Calamari, Rodian, Trandoshan, TwieLek, Wookie and Zabrak. The differences (aside from appearance) lie in how nine basic attributes are slotted. Each race begins with its own variation of health, strength, constitution, action, quickness, stamina, mind, focus and willpower. Humans, the most prolific race in the galaxy, are the most evenly distributed in terms of attributes; they suffer no bonuses or penalties. By contrast, Rodians have high bonuses to quickness, but suffer a penalty to strength. These statistics aren’t set in stone (they can be altered over time via the “stat migration” feature), but you’ll never see a Bothan with strength equaling that of a Wookie.

After race has been chosen, one must look to class. Galaxies relies upon a detailed skill-tree system. Six basic classes may be selected to begin with (Artisan, Brawler, Entertainer, Marksman, Medic and Scout), and each may be combined with the others, making personalization detailed in the extreme. Each class is based upon a certain set of skills. Using Marksman as an example, players who choose that class will have access to pistols, rifles and carbines. Each weapon is a path that gets better as you use it. So, use pistols exclusively, and you’ll gain experience in pistols and in general combat. You start at novice, and work forward through intermediate, advanced, expert and, eventually, specialist. After that, you either become a hybrid or an elite class. An example of a hybrid class is Bounty Hunter, a combination of marksman and scout. An example of an elite class is Pistoleer, the pinnacle of specialized combat using that weapon type. Doing the math, you see four paths per class plus another four paths for elite and hybrid classes, with four levels per path. There’s an awful lot of mix and match that may be done with the skills, so a clear idea of where you want to go is in order.