Disappointing Graphics in New SWTOR HD Gameplay Video & Screenshots

The graphics quality for the SWTOR MMORPG gameplay video was really disappointing. And how could it not be after they released the Best Jedi Lightsaber Battle Since Darth Maul CGI video at E3.

In the below high definition video we see some interviews as well as a lot of great gameplay video from the Star Wars The Old Republic massively multiplayer online role playing video. It is about 5 minutes of video.

[kalebgray92]

if you expected the cg quality your a fool.... its like wow but bigger and the starwars universe

lols actually expected crazy graphics from an mmo lols indeed

[Briyen]

the cgi trailer hyped people up too much the wrong way

i already wanted this game from the start

i don't need a teaser to tell me what i want.

[TheAntiFanboy]

Yeah, really. It's am MMO, a HUGE one in scale. If you want good graphics, go play a more compact and intimate MMO, like Aion.

[Panthers]

This is my most anticipated game right now. I cant freaking wait. The graphics cant be high because that would destroy its potential with the public.

[Sanzee]

I can't believe people don't realize this situation. The game isn't even finished yet, not to mention it's an MMORPG, and the focus is on story and voice acting. Website's like this have no insight into gaming journalism. Very poor news article (the source I mean). Good job to the submitter though.

[El Botto]

The best graphics on MMO, is from SE called FF11.

FF14 will probably have pretty good graphics aswell.

[lilgringo]

FF11? An eight year old game? I think not!
Age of Conan has the best graphics for a MMORPG in my opinion

[Montrealien]

as long as the art is good, it should be fine. I like the look actually. Then again, I think the World of warcraft looks great also. And the first WoW CG trailers where just as bad a$$ as the KotOR CG trailer.

With that said, games like EQ2 and AoC bit the dust because they where to demanding. Bioware are clearly taking a page out the the Blizzard book here by making the game playable on as many PCs as possible

[JsonHenry]

Who in the world expected top notch graphics in an MMO?!

[Raf1k1]

You're right, it's an MMORPG afterall.

People seem to be forgetting that it's the gameplay that counts and IMO the graphics may not be what people were expecting but you certainly couldn't call them bad.

Also, full voice over? That's a "WOW" right there :O
For an MMO of this size, that's a really big thing.

Edit: I was going to just wait for the reviews and player's views on the game before picking it up but this video has got me really interested in the game. I might just pick it up day one.

[Christopher]

One of the top reasons current MMO players haven't tried AoC or other games with updated graphics? Their computer doesn't run it smoothly and if it does it looks really crappy because they have to use the lowest quality textures and the world looks lifeless.

What BioWare needs to do is provide a game that is highly scalable with computers 4-5 years old and current gaming computers. A multi-tiered texture and dynamic graphic system as it is.

The problem? It costs a ton of money to make multiple layers of textures based on the quality you have set in your options panel. Especially when you consider the need to make textures for everything you wear and see.

[dragunrising]

The game looks better than Knights of the Old Republic on Xbox so I'm a happy camper. The game looks great in some areas and others it needs work...did I mention its not out yet?

[yippie1234y]

the main character sounds like duke nukem

[pixelsword]

If people lambast games like HAZE or Halo 3 for not delivering on their promises graphically, then how much more for a PC's trailer, which is being produced on he most powerful gaming product?

[Tito Jackson]

Its not that bad. Lighten up peeps.

[morganfell]

I do not agree with the "It's a MMO so just deal with the eye burning graphical representations."

Utterly ridiculous and quite outdated. You can add it to the trashpile of outdated game engine comments. There is a spot right next to "graphics do not matter"

With next generation hardware there isn't a valid excuse. Even the Unreal III engine now has a remarkable streaming ability. We were in a private meeting at E3 with Mike Hines and Wyeth Johnson regarding their streaming engine. It is ready to use right now. I am not a Unreal engine fan but when Epic can pull this off with the Unreal III engine - a piece of programming that isn't exactly the latest thing - there isn't a valid excuse for Bioware.

It is Star Wars. It has the backing of Lucas Arts and EA. With those available resources it is unforgivable for this game to be a step back in the realm of MMOs. Age of Conan actually knows what a texture is compared to what I have seen in this title. In comparison AoC is light years ahead and the last time I checked it is a MMO as well.

[GameGambits]

I don't expect this game to reinvent the wheel for what we know about MMORPGs right now, but I do think it will be a great success---especially for the legions of Star Wars nerds.

It's weird though that the MMORPG compared to the single player experiences are completely different art styles. I may be alone on this and get bombarded with disagrees, but I would have preferred the same graphical art style from the other KOTOR games, but of course being amped up to be much improved graphics.

I expect FF14 will be the mmorpg though that will get other developers talking about pushing the envelope to make MMOs do crazy things graphically. In the FF14 trailer they show you in game footage at the part where they fight on the pirate ship...I mean IMAGINE if KOTOR MMO had those kinds of graphics and polish. WOW!

Again there is nothing wrong with this art style and choice, but for me I would have preferred the original KOTORs looks but improved. :)

[RememberThe357]

But the game looks epic. They're voicing the entire thing! I don't even play MMORPGs but I would seriously consider giving this a try.

[ThanatosDMC]

HAHAHAH! I knew it. If anyone remembers me bashing the CGI movie and disagreeing with me, well there you go.

[onlinemmo]

don't be a simpleton. Everyone knows that CGI quality and gameplay are two completely different things. The difference is clearly spelled out in the titles and content.

The point is THE GRAPHICS ARE DISAPPOINTING.

I guess you would say that the closed beta test of AION Online doesn't look any better? Oh I guess we can't compare those because they would make your statement look silly....

[Chris399]

And no streaming/ frame-rate stutter either.

This game looks like it needs work. I'm concerned that it's the engine though. Anyone know what framework they're using? (KOTOR)

[kaveti6616]

They're not disappointing for me. For an MMO it looks very well done. And to be honest, I'd rather have performance than graphics when it comes to an MMO. I don't want slowdowns and crap like that. And Bioware's games are NOT about graphics. They're about a truly immersive experience, and whoever made this article or whatever it's called is just downplaying greatness. Let's see what reviews this game gets instead of talking about graphics.

[TheAntiFanboy]

Aion is built on a much more compact scale. That's why they can afford to have gorgeous graphics, because they're not attempting to render kilometers of land at once. Look at the zone size differences between it and World of Warcraft, for instance. WoW has huge zones. Aion's is more compact, more intimate.

[INehalemEXI]

Aion character models alot of em look ghey in there animations and the gfx of the levels look like WoW style its not even that impressive graphically the art style is pretty good though with the abyss and all.

Its a step up graphically from WoW but not a major one, VGSoH or EQ2 might be just as impressive graphically but It's been awhile since I played either of those cause neither felt as great as EQ. Hopefully Blade & Soul gets done ASAP.

[Redempteur]

i don't get it ..
WHat so disapointing ?

5 planets to explore ?
the first fully voiced mmo ?
A mmo of starwars that doesn't suck ?

BUT i guess yet again all that matters for a game are the graphics ...

[dragunrising]

@ 2.5

Exactly. With that said, I've never played an MMO before and SWTOR may be the first. It looks just as good as the Xbox originals. Lets not be too critical about graphics k?

[Cacolaco]

They're using the HeroEngine, by Simultronics. It's the same one that's being used on Hero's Journey. It supposedly allows devs to make changes to the game world in real time, as people are playing.

So versatility, and the capability to alter the game world as required trumps visuals here. Imagine devs being able to alter the game world in real time, based on what the players are doing...

[JonnyBigBoss]

I'd much rather gameplay than graphics, but I don't disagree that the game looked pretty last-gen. Really though, a good balance will mean a great game.

[Panthers]

Its an ENORMOUS MMO game. The graphics are going to take a hit. Not to mention they want this game to be able to work on all kinds of computers, even ones made from toasters. So yea, the graphics are a little bad. But the game will be AMAZING.

[Chimerhazzard]

I agree...

When I saw this interview, yesterday before reading this article, the graphics quality issue didn't even cross my mind. I think the game looks fine the way it is! It's an MMO, neither it needs really stunning graphics, nor it should have them. A balance between solid presentation and not too demanding graphics is the way to go, since it will appeal to a broader audience : people with mid-to-low hardware and high-end hardware alike.

I am happy with the way the game looks. I am not disappointed at all with the graphics. I am more concerned with the gameplay elements and the subscription, I hope it is not too much expensive.

[ChickeyCantor]

O NOEEES now this gemm iz goinna sacks guyyyys.

Still looks cool =D

[Xi]

... Is that they seem to be quite a large step away from what was in the original kotor.

I would've been so enthusiastic if they just kept the same look as the last kotor games, but up some poly counts, better textures, threw in some new effects and gave it the next-gen shine.

http://www.rpgfan.com/previ...
http://www.rpgfan.com/previ...
http://www.tech-hounds.com/...

But this new version isn't as bad as people make it seem. It looks like the CG episodes on tv, but toned down the point they could run it on every console.

[Dragonopolis]

World of Warcraft was originally released in 2004. Graphically computers have come along way. There should be a lot of improvement graphically to any MMO but not necessarily CGI quality. If the graphics are not that much improved than a game like WOW that will be 5 years old when it comes out then somewhere else in the game needs to Innovate to justify the cost of a new modern game. From what I see, the focus of the innovation is not necessarily the graphics but in the Voice Over and interaction with Sound and voice to give a MMO a more Movie like experience SOUND WISE!

The whole video is about the voice over technology and how they are using it to improve on the experience to make it more story driven and perhaps movie like than other MMOs

So sound is the INNOVATION here NOT the Graphics. Since there has never been this level of Voice-over interaction in any MMO then the price of a New "Modern" Game can be justified. The visuals are still better than WOW but don't quite match up to what is possible on current generation of Computers.

Again Sound is the Innovation here with special attention to voice-over technology - especially the Level of A.I. involved in knowing what level a player will be an adjusting the conversation to match that level of player - Truly astonishing - in a MMO.

Graphics can be forgiven at the expense of other innovations in the game but of course it never hurts to provide the best experience possible - again no release date so who knows maybe more graphical polish is possible with all this Sound A.I. going on. It will be interesting to see how smart the Non Player Characters (NPC)can be with all the A.I going on for Sound/Voice Over experience.

Give it a chance

[Theoneneo81]

if i remeber correctly this game is still in alpha testing so chill out geeze! anyway this game sounds epic im gonna try hard to get into this beta i really want to play it

[Fade_Walker]

There isn’t even a release date for The Old Republic yet, so I don’t think anyone has the right to complain about the graphics.

So far from what I’ve seen it has its highs and lows in the graphics department. But if Bioware can pull this off and it has everything they promise I can forgive them in the graphics department.

[bardler]

Do people play WoW for the graphics? no
Why would Bioware reduce the size of available customers?

[Azures]

It's Alpha stage you clowns.

[xGrunty]

You shouldn't compare SWTOR, with Aion. Too completely different focused mmo's and completely different games in the first place.

And how long as Aion been in development? yea...too long. I've been waiting for Aion since 05 when I first heard about it.

[Nihilism]

i hope the end result will be much much much better, because right now the original x-box kotor looked better...alot better

[Baka-akaB]

@kalebgray92

Even if you found flaws in Aion (like the average look of backgrounds as opposed to the level of details of the characters wich is pretty great) , pretty much all major future asian mmo do looks close to CGI (blade and souls , terra , Continent of ninth , kindgom under fire 2 (yes it's a mmo) , Final fantasy XIV etc )

In comparison indeed , most current and close future western mmo looks pretty meh in the graphics departement , a trend i hope they'll change soon enough .

However i dont sweat , Kotor was never the prettiest game and my interest for the kotor online game lies elsewhere .

Not to mention that i dont find it ugly , just a bit too cartoony .

[bunfighterii]

this game looks really really bad.

[Sanzee]

I can't believe they expected this to have amazing graphics. Are you people retarded? It's an MMORPG. Even for modern day ones though, it still looks pretty good. I don't think you realize how big this game is going to be. Do you have ANY idea how huge the voice-over project is? And PLUS, it's not even out yet! God knows what kind of polish Bioware will give it before it's released. Give them a break man.

[smilydude13]

This whole argument about the reason the graphics are garbage is because it needs to run on peoples severely underpowered computers bought from walmart just seems flawed. I thought the reason they gave the option to change the graphics to well... VERY LOW was for people with garbage PCs like that. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like they could appeal to both ends of the spectrum and allow people who know how to build a decent computer the option to turn on some damn eye candy.

I personally think that people wouldn't be so forgiving towards these things if the development studio wasn't Bioware though. Everyone has seemed to hold them up to some sort of perfect standard. Also it's Bioware Austin, not Edmonton so keep that in mind as we haven't seen anything from them to date.

Whatever though. The art style is the biggest problem though in my opinion. Post clone-warified trash.

[Jdoki]

Only an idiot would be disappointed with those graphics. They looked cool, and detailed - and exactly what would be expected of an MMO. Nice lighting and fire effects in one clip.

The important thing to take from that video is the combat looked fluid and dynamic.

Can't wait for this game.

[Andronicus]

whoever said that is retarded

[free2game365]

Age Of Conan looks a lot better and that game is over a year old now.

[LeShin]

.....and yet Age of Conan also looks miles better than WOW, but who has the most registered users? :)

[Perjoss]

but the reality is that AoC is a steaming pile of cack, not matter how good people think it looks. Eurogamer is even going to be giving it away for free.

[free2game365]

If you think Age of Conan failed because of it's graphics being good you're an idiot. It didn't even really fail, it had a bad launch and it's recovering from it. It's not like Warhammer Online, that's had a steady decline of users since it came out.

[Iceman100]

"I can't believe people don't realize this situation. The game isn't even finished yet, not to mention it's an MMORPG, and the focus is on story and voice acting"

They are idiots that's why, and don't know what a game is. Too bad people that think like that make games today, and just about 75% of them are crap.

[AndyA]

In-game footage doesn't look as good as CGI trailer?

Shocking.

[DragonWarrior_4]

I agree that the graphics look pretty good for an MMO. Thing is though the CG they put up @ E3 looks like a totally different game then what we see here. Just imagine how everyone would have reacted if Guerrilla Games didn't surpass their target render when Killzone 2 went gold. It would have been an epic failure. Bioware are capable of good graphics, I guess we will have to wait a long time before we get mmo's looking as good as the cg in the E3 coverage?

[xg-ei8ht]

I've never liked the films, i wouldn't like this.

[kraze07]

Didn't really expect much with the graphics with it being an MMORPG. Still can't wait for it to be released though.

[GrooveMachine]

but we've known what the games was gonna look like months before the awesome cg trailer. There was screenshots with the announcement

[kingdavid]

what a dumb article

[Counter_ACT]

That hurts my eyes after playing Aion. The graphics in Aion are awesome <3

[Natsu X FairyTail]

Crap

[Grandreaper9999]

It's an mmo. We don't know what kind of gameplay they have planned. do you fight alongside hundreds of other players or something?

MMo's don't usually look as good as single player games anyway.

[cygnuszero]

Looks like total garbage, but then again it's an MMO so it's not shocking. But I thought a time would come when MMOs would start looking great, and I guess this isnt it yet.

[Midgard228]

no excuse, aion looks gorgeous and its an mmo, also the character designs of this game are hideous, who wants to look lame? well game isnt out yet so maybe it will be polished

[Panthers]

This game is going to have huge environments and they want it to run on a lot of computers. You know the main reason for WoWs success? Most people do not have gaming computers.

In order to make a game like this work on most comps, the graphics are not going to be pretty. I am fine with that. I am not going to go buy a new computer to play some damn game.

[smilydude13]

But why not give the option to people have built a gaming computer to turn on some decent eye candy? I thought that's why they have low settings for games on a pc for people with outdated and underpowered computers.

I used to go through this argument so often on the SWTOR forums and nobody ever got it. :)

[Panthers]

Dont get me wrong. As a Star Wars game, I feel it should look great. But as long as gameplay is fun, then I am happy. I would like a prettier game as I am somewhat of a graphics whore, but this game is an exception.

[XLiveGamer]

"The graphics quality for the SWTOR MMORPG gameplay video was really disappointing"

Hey jackass... You the one who wrote that... (Super Mega Big) FnCK YOU!!! for that comment.

Those graphics looks great and the game play its going to be interesting and great too. So please stfup!

But of course you like many other morons want a developer to spend hours making a game with super crazy mega gorgeous graphics and run super smooth but also want them to make it in just a few years.

Once again from the bottom of my heart Fnck YOU!

Its a MMO! Its Huge! Takes a lot of time to make it!

[vader1231231]

But the graphics are REALLY clean at least...

[john of the dead]

All of the sheeple saying bad things about the graphics now wont be saying that when it comes out and the world is all "omg this is the best mmo since warcraft." These same people in this forum will be saying "omg this is the best mmo since warcraft" faster than you can say last gen.

I trust in Bioware.

[smilydude13]

You have the audacity to call people who dislike the graphics/overall artistic style sheeple? From where I'm coming you just seem to be one of those "In Bioware We Trust" morons that plagued the swtor forums and still might. You're a sheeple for just accepting whatever mediocre garbage Bioware throughs your way. You're a sheeple for putting down people for expressing their opinion and dislikes of the game. You're a hypocrite and a moron. Get over Bioware because I guarantee if this was another developer making the game you wouldn't be riding it so hard. Also FYI, this is Bioware Austin and we haven't seen jack from them yet.

[Sir Pervert]

I don't think the graphics are as disappointing it actually looks pretty good. I just wish the game didn't have such a cartoon-y look to it.
Oh and yeah the combat looks goof and that's probably the most important part where lots of combat is involved.

[Jack-Pyro]

These graphics look pretty good actually, and the whole, COMPLETELY VOICED thing is big news! Sure it's kind of a dissapointment that they went with a "The Clone Wars" kind of graphic, but hey, it still looks good!

[Defiantmac]

Team fortress 2 a little bit, and I am fine with the graphics in that game.

People really need to get over graphics, I see in this thread Aion is soooo awesome graphically and Age of Conan is sooooooo awesome graphically... Last time I checked, AOC is pretty much dead and Aion's gameplay wasn't getting the best of reviews.

How many bad games has Bioware even put out?

[shysun]

It's an mmo and they still have plenty of time to improve.

[cyclindk]

Looks like they're going for a sort of Wii-ish, Clone Wars style (whatever that animated Star Wars thing was) with this one; hope they change it.

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

Especially when you consider how polished the E3 trailer was.

It looks like they're using the animation style for the clone wars, which is ugly as hell, it looks like some cartoon off of nickelodeon. I can't stand American Animation these days, I feel sorry for little kids, they are stuck w/ a bunch of idiotic looking cartoons.

[lucifon]

They've taken a smart art choice route instead which will allow them to make visually pretty areas without being technically outstanding. As much as some people hate on WoW this is a key reason for its success - the game can be run on a huge range of PC's yet the art style allows for areas to looking pretty stunning at times.

They want the game to be played by as many people as possible! If your trying to make an MMO graphically outstanding on a technical level you are at the same time severely limiting your consumer base.

[conswella]

It's amazing how much good information that video revealed. The game looks to be real interesting and impressive.

[Jrome]

Like blizzard...bioware understands that it's better to tone down the graphics so that EVERYONE can play and still have the game look good to them. Instead of having insanely good graphics and then when you lower the settings it looks like garbage.

[smilydude13]

But the game already looks like garbage. So I don't see your argument. Are you saying if they let us up the settings for eyecandy that the game on the lower settings would look worse somehow than it already does? Maybe I'm just ignorant or something here.

[Jrome]

They are clearly going for a more WoW art style which allows for low but CLEAN graphics, meaning that they can still have a lot of detail but not be graphically insane.

Look at all those graphically intense MMOs out there...and look at how they fail compared to WoW. I'd rather this be a successul MMO rather than a graphically intense one where no one is playing.

[josh14399]

i dont see anything wrong with the graphics to be honest i think it looks good for an mmo. and i never thought id say this about an mmo but it looks awesome only thing i think that will spoil the game is high subscription

[Figboy]

Star Wars Old Republic: Dynasties

then it could have had the acronym SWORD. *sigh*

oh, i have nothing worthwhile to contribute to this story: it's stupid.

anyone naive enough to think an MMORPG was going to have Killzone 2 level graphics is ridiculous.

how many PC users, do you think, would have the rigs necessary to run this MMO had it features an insane level of graphics?

why do you think WoW is so popular? because pretty much ANYBODY can run it on a PC in the last 5 years or more. no upgrades are needed to run WoW.

hell, before my computer broke, i had trouble running Age of Conan! and that game is barely pushing ANYTHING, but i could run WoW with no problem.

in either case, the game looks very stylized and cartoony. i wouldn't call them disappointed, just in line with MMOs.

i'm sure more people interested will be able to run the game on their current rigs because of the choice to not deck it out with visual whizbangery.

well, i guess i DID have something to contribute afterall. dammit.

[Digital Commando]

This might be the most epic and most ambitious game ever made! And all this website could care about is graphics?!?

[Gun_Senshi]

<3

[farsided]

I still feel disappointed that this doesn't stick with the classic art style of kotor at all, which I think they could easily match (and that was for the original xbox!). I too was extremely excited about this, but everything feels a bit cartoony, which i find weird considering the company that's developing it is bioware (hello? look out how pretty all the character models in mass effect look!).

However, it is still an early build, so hopefully everything doesn't look so clunky come release. Just my two cents!

[smilydude13]

Nope they're sticking with this current style apparently in a futile attempt to have a unique look to the game when Star Wars already had a wonderfully unique art style. I'm sorry, but "heroiclly" proportioned characters with overly exaggerated features aren't my thing when supposedly story is the main focus for the game. At the very least they could change those horrendous character models into something more akin to a normal human being whom you can identify with.

[farsided]

Aw..sad day! You used your last bubble on a really good comment!

+1 for you!

[mega BIG time]

i really don't like the cartoony art direction in top shelf games these days. That's why i don't play wow. Hope to god Diablo 3 doens't follow suit.

[jdoge13]

I think it looks pretty decent for an mmo....certainly a lot better than that game that doesn't deserve the acronym "wow." And its good news for those of us with older pc.

[Conventional]

I don't think the environments look bad at all...maybe a little lighting might improve it, but nothing that can't be fixed pretty easily. The character models/armor however look pretty horrendous (do any of those people even have eyebrows?) and are in desperate need of a makeover if I'm even going to consider this game.

[Midgard228]

i hear garbage about "Oh if the graphics are too high then no one can buy it" its called turn the settings to low and thats it, also theres no reason for the characters to look so ugly, they look almost as bad as the cartoon network show.

why cant the character designs look crazy like force unleashed, sorry but with games like aion on the way graphics dont need to be shocking just decent since computers are the strongest gaming consoles, and to who ever doesnt wanna buy a new comp get over ur self, its like tryina stay with a Snes when the ps3 is out, stop the ignorance.

if games like wow can have nice art direction why cant this, OOOoooohhh wait its cuza its star wars fans dont care and are happy aslong as its called starwars, sorry but u shud want something awesome for ur awesome series, not settle for less.

being a fanboy only gets u so far