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Doug Creutz, analyst for Cowen and Company, has stated that BioWare’s upcoming MMORPG is a “highly derivative” clone of World of Warcraft and could miss its 2011 launch date, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
He explained after playing the title at E3, The Old Republic is “competent, but hardly breathtaking.”
“We got hands-on time with the game, and were largely unimpressed. Despite promises from EA/BioWare that the title represents a major step forward in MMO design, what we saw was essentially a World of Warcraft clone with Star Wars character skins and the BioWare RPG nice/nasty dialogue tree mechanism bolted on for non-player character conversations.”
Creutz went on to say: “Granted, we were playing in a desert area, so other areas may be more impressive-looking… on the other hand we question why EA chose a desert level to showcase the title.”
Star Wars: The Old Republic is rumoured to be EA’s most expensive game ever made.
Creutz isn’t the only person who has been sceptical about the game. The MMORPG market is a beast to crack, particularly while WoW is still top dog, and many think The Old Republic will fail to find an audience. However it’s worth mentioning that the game’s Mass Effect-like dialogue trees and morality system create a clear identity that sets it apart from WoW, as detailed in our Star Wars: The Old Republic preview.
