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Play OverviewPlay Overview

Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011) (SWTOR) is a role-playing game played with hundreds of other players online, as well as complete single-player narrative-based experiences. It's set in the Star Wars galaxy thousands of years before the films. The game is a unique blend of huge player-versus-player fights, collaborative missions and open-ended stories that adapt to your choices. Star Wars: The Old Republic surprisingly deep commentary on the ambiguity of "good" and "evil" and 10+ years of content make it a unique experience.

The game continues the story of the Knights of the Old Republic series. A strained peace between the opposing forces of the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order leads the Order the relocate to their birthplace, the planet Tython. At the same time, the Sith regroup at Korriban, and soon launch a devastating attack on the Jedi temple on Coruscant, killing the grandMaster. A tenuous treaty is signed, giving control of half the galaxy to the Sith and plunging the galaxy into a cold war.

Play takes place in the aftermath of these events, with 8 fully fleshed out 3-act stories where you can choose your side, moral compass and the part you'll play in the emerging new galactic order. The overall story itself is so vast enough to accommodate 4 novels, 2 comic series.

You choose whether you want to be a part of the Sith Empire or the Galactic Republic/Jedi Order and pick a class of character. Play involves talking to characters, choosing responses that shape the evolution of the story and entering battles. Regardless of which faction you align yourself with, you can be anywhere on the spectrum of the force, in an effort to emphasise that personal beliefs don't always align with larger-scale ideologies.

Each class favours a certain type of gameplay, such as ranged or close-combat fighting, and you progress by levelling up, completing quests and missions, exploring the various open-world planets you visit which are populated with all the other players, and defeating enemies. You can also learn various skills in a highly complex and engaging combat system where each weapon and ability has unique traits and specialities.

Choices that you make will permanently open and close storylines (within a given playthrough) and affect other characters and your companions. Throughout the game, you can fall in love, make enemies and even capture slaves. Each new free expansion adds new story and narrative. You can also fly your ship between planets, and engage in dogfights and space battles. Multiplayer gameplay is also an integral part of the game, and there are many different game modes and locations to play in, each requiring intricate tactics and communication.

The myriad things to do, both alone and with other players, combined with continued and large updates and development, as well as surprisingly deep thematic meaning, have kept SWTOR relevant throughout its many years of release, and make it worth a look for those wanting a fresh online experience and fans of Star Wars, sci-fi and fantasy.

Our examiner, Ronald Brady, first checked Star Wars: The Old Republic 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 2 years ago.
Kids not old enough for this yet? There are lots of games similar to Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here are some similar younger-rated games:

Play StylePlay Style

This is an Adventure and Role-Play game with Action, Fighting and Narrative elements. You can play this by yourself or as a 1000-player online game. The most populated SWTOR servers have a population of about 1000. Within this, you can play with friends and other players in player-versus-player fights, and some missions also require more than one player.

Multiplayer Player-Versus-Player is varied, with 9 8v8 maps and 6 4v4 maps to choose from.
  • In the 8v8 game modes, your primary objective is either to capture and defend nodes (à la capture the flag), carry a ball to the opposing goal, or break-in and download a ship's data core.
  • 4v4 matches are deathmatches where the objective is to eliminate the other team.

There is significant strategy and planning in each game mode, and communication and collaboration is important within your team regardless of what mode you're playing or what your tactics are.

 
You can play this game in the following styles:

DurationDuration

Play Time: This game will take between 50 hours and 150 hours to complete. With a wealth of content available and numerous expansions, which are still being released to this day, there are countless hours of play to be had, and a single play session can easily last over an hour.

Age RatingsAge Ratings

Content Rating

Rated PEGI 16 for violence.
 
Users Interact: The game enables players to interact and communicate with each other, so may expose players to language usually associated with older rated games.

Rated for younger players in the US. ESRB TEEN for Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Sexual Themes, Violence. Players use light sabers, laser blasters, and telekinetic powers to battle a variety of human-like enemies and fantastical creatures (e.g., aliens, cyborgs); battles frequently depict characters getting shot with lasers, slashed with light sabers, or shocked with lightning bolts. During the course of the game, players are presented with interactive cutscenes in which their choices play a vital role in the outcome of their story (e.g., using electrical attacks on restrained characters to collect information; killing someone instead of letting him go). Some sequences depict brief instances of blood and gore: to complete one quest, players must dip a skull in a pool of blood; in another mission, players deliver a severed head to a specific location and place it on a pike. Players can freely explore many areas in the game, including clubs that depict scantily clad female dancers with exposed cleavage; some sequences include dialogue with sexual innuendo (e.g., “An hour. I think I'm insulted. We'll need the whole night,” “I'll be sure to make conjugal visits,” and “Come, dear, let's forgo the nuptials and proceed to the honeymoon.”). The words “damn” and “hell” can be heard in dialogue throughout the game.

Skill Level

12+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game. Still, it's important for parents and guardians to consider the maturity required to process the game content. It's also important to ensure children understand in-game purchases and have spending limits set-up.

Account Rating

You don’t need a platform subscription to play this game online.

CostsCosts

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Steam Store PC Free
This game is free to play, but there are other costs associated with this game:
  • In-Game Loot Boxes: Additional in-game purchases are offered for items that enhance the experience. These include in-game purchases of random items (known as 'loot boxes') that offer a chance of getting rare/higher-value items although common/lower-value items are more frequent.
  • In-Game Pass: Purchase a season/battle pass to gain access to limited in-game purchases, reward items and other aspects of the game.
 
The game is free-to-play, meaning that you can download and play for free, but there are several features locked behind pay restrictions. This article contains a full list of what you can do with a free-to play account.

If you want a subscription, the full benefits of which are listed here, for the first 60 days it costs £18.99 (non-recurring), after which there are several recurring payment options:
  • £8.99 per 30 days ($14.99 USD)
  • £18.99 per 60 days ($29.98 USD)
  • £25.17 per 90 days ($41.97 USD)
  • £46.14 per 180 days ($77.94 USD)

In addition to this monthly payments, you can buy Cartel Coins, which you can trade in for cosmetics, items and gear, sometimes in a loot box-style system. The prices range from £1.79 to £62.66 ($2.99 to $86.69 USD). After buying any amount of cartel coins, you become a preferred player, which increases your benefits and abilities in the game close to the subscriber perks. The full list of perks can be found here.

There are also 3 cosmetic bundles you can buy:
  • Galactic Leisure Bundle £3.99
  • Sith Bundles £19.99
  • Jedi Bundles £19.99 
 
It's important to set up your accounts and devices appropriately. More information is on our Financial Resources page.
 

DetailsGame Details

Release Date: 20/12/2011

Price: Free

Out Now: PC

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Players: 1 (1000 online)

Genres: Adventure, Role-Play (Action, Fighting and Narrative)

Accessibility: 32 features

Components: 3D Third-Person and Open World

Developer: Bioware (@Bioware)


Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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