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Video Game Review: ‘Galaxies’ a hit, but often misses

illustration by Adam Omernik
illustration by Adam Omernik

by Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Managing Editor

Four hours into my career as a wookiee-for-hire, I was no closer to learning the Force and becoming a Jedi.

In fact, I couldn’t even figure out how to leave Tatooine.

I did, however, manage to barter for a decent blaster for hunting wamp rats, and soon I was hooked on the world of Star Wars: Galaxies.

Galaxies, launched in August, is the most recent entry in a growing list of computer games known as massively multi-player online role playing games, considerately abbreviated as MMORPGs.

While Galaxies offers an impressive experience, the entertainment value, or fun-factor, it delivers is inconsistent, and long-term appeal is questionable.

Much of its draw comes from its basis on the venerable Star Wars franchise.

Children of the millennium share a unique set of heroes from this modern mythology of a galaxy far, far away.

Han. Luke and Leia. Lando. Even Chewie.

Although players cannot take on the identities of these space-opera legends, they can pursue their virtual dreams of loyal service to the glorious Emperor, or as scrappy rebel scum in the same fictional world.

No points for guessing to which side I cast my lot.

There is a simple reason why everyone cannot be a world-saving hero in games like this.

Instead of simple multi-player games such as Quake or Counterstrike, which consist of one to two dozen players shooting the heck out of each other in a digital version of the Most Dangerous Game, MMORPGs such as Galaxies feature staggeringly enormous worlds that run 24 hours a day, and are populated by thousands of other players from around the world.

Once the game is installed and launched ­ it is currently only available for computers running Windows ­ a relatively painless character creation process allows players to select an identity and profession.

Eight species and 30 careers are available.

Among others, players can choose to be a dynamic human, a squid-headed Mon Calamari like Admiral “It’s a trap!” Akbar, a fierce vestigial-horned Zabraki (think Darth Maul) or try the head-to-toe furry life of a wookiee.

Among the professions are bounty hunters, scouts and smugglers.

The profession chosen affects which skills are available to you in the game.

Once your character is created, you are immediately thrust into the world.

And a great looking world it is.

Developer Verant Interactive, a division of Sony, produced a brand new 3D graphics engine to render the world in delicious detail.

From exploring vast expanses of sand dunes and wretched hives of scum and villainy on Tatooine, to Ewok tribal villages on the forest moon of Endor, to the dark jungles of Yavin 4, players are treated to a detailed and colorful game world.

“For the first two weeks I just roamed around Endor, trying to kill Ewoks,” said 17-year-old Eliza Sanchez of Pomona, who plays as a Twi’lek scout.

A powerful 3D video card, such as ATI’s Radeon or Nvidia’s GeForce, is required to play the game.

But looks are not everything.

Once the novelty has worn off, the game experience meanders between inspired and insipid.

While exciting adventure can unfold by taking on missions ­ the sci-fi equivalent of “quests” ­ they become redundant, running the typical gambit of kill-some-guy or deliver-this-package.

The enormity of the areas available to explore highlights one of several glaring omissions in the game.

As is often the case, games like Galaxies, which require years of development and millions of dollars, are shipped prematurely with several promised features left out.

One such painful cut was the removal of player controlled vehicles.

Without craft such as landspeeders to cover the wide open ground between settled areas, players are required to do a lot of walking.

A lot.

Travel between the 10 planets is possible, and I eventually learned how to book passage on one of the interplanetary shuttles.

Until then, however, I was trapped on Tatooine, and felt the despair of young Skywalker himself.

“It looks like I’m going nowhere,” my virtual wookiee lamented.

Advancement is a slow and tedious process, especially for the casual player who lacks dozens of hours per week to devote to their virtual life.

Part of this is due to the revenue model.

Because Sony operates the computers in which the game exists, they must incur the expenses of massive clusters of high-end servers, fat pipes to the Internet and an army of technicians to maintain it all. After purchasing the game, which comes with a month of playing time, players must pay a monthly subscription fee of $14.99.

Thus Sony’s incentive is to deliver enough entertainment to hold player interest, while requiring months of play to achieve much success.

It was only earlier this week, after four months of operation, that the first player advanced sufficiently to develop their connection with the Force, becoming the world’s first Jedi initiate.

Like the real world, successful players will need money, which is available through various means.

The developers tout a “player run economy,” meaning that most of the items available are crafted by players.

Developing skills as a tailor or weaponsmith, harvesting resources and creating items to sell to other players is the best way to get ahead.

For many players, whose virtual lives become more important than “real” life, this becomes an addiction of Matrix-esque proportions.

Until recently, Chuck Noble, a 32-year-old computer programmer in Pasadena, would log out of an eight-hour work day to rush home and log in to another eight as “Mr. Fur,” a skilled wookiee tailor. Instead of exploring the world having outlandish adventure, he would scramble to fill orders from other players.

“I started making hotpants and color-coordinated wookiee uniforms, both of which went like hotcakes,” Noble said. “The hotpants were irresistible to dancers, and the wookiee uniforms went almost as fast as I could (make) them.”

He had to consider buying a droid to conduct his business when he was not in the game.

After almost two months of intensive playing, Noble said he forced himself to delete his account and walk away from his thriving business.

“After a couple months of this, it began to get real old real fast,” he said. “This is Star Wars, and we are supposed to have vehicles and starships to play with, not run around killing furry animals all day.”

He said he will consider trying it again when Verant Interactive makes good on their promise to produce an expansion sometime next year that will add the ability to pilot space ships and engage in ship-to-ship combat.

Noble would have to start over from scratch, which may be difficult to do.

After all, by the time the expansion is released, it may be impossible to slip into a Mos Eisley cantina without bumping into a Jedi at every table.

Kenneth Todd Ruiz, Managing Editor
Kenneth Todd Ruiz
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Adam Omernik, Photography Editor
Adam Omernik
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