Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The problem with writing strategy guides for any game as of late, is that many times the strategy guide is written prior to the final release of the game so it can be ready for sale as the game hits the shelves. What ends up happening is that some information that is printed in the guide, has been changed, deleted, altered in some way from the actual game itself. Such is the case with Star Wars Galaxies.
The Strategy Guide itself is beautiful for the most part. Instead of grayscale pictures on regular stock paper, SWG Guide contains hundreds of gorgeous full color pictures on nice glossy paper. That's right, the 1st 386 out of the total 494 pages are in color. There is screenshots galore, highlighted tips, and tons of original and conceptual art. The back of the book is in black and white, but it's just the index, stat's and tables, and appendences (no reason for color here).
Also included is a large pull out poster with art of the 8 beginning species a player can play.
Now the meat of the guide itself: For the beginner MMORPG user or 'newbie' to Star Wars Galaxies itself, this guide really does a great job getting over the concepts of gameplay and actually does provide strategy tips and hints on how to acclimate yourself to this game. It describes in detail many aspects of the various menu's, choice's, do's and do not's a player can do much better that the 100 page manual included with the game.
However, there are a few sections I noticed (though sparse) that were more or less direct copies of in-game play text from dialogue boxes just reprinted here. That's not necessarily bad, as many gamer's skip these factoids while in game play, but ends up being very useful information offline.
The guide is pretty logically divided into various sections:
1) New Player Introduction: Well done, and offers a nice background to the SW Universe as well as player etiquette and online terms that you'll need to get familiar with.
2) Character creation: Very in-depth, but straightforward and self-explanatory.
3) Interaction in Star Wars Galaxies: Discussion's on groups, parties, chatting, chat channels, e-mail, character commands, etc.
4) City Life: Discussion on what to expect and what one can do and find in cities overall.
5) Combat: Discussion of PvP, Player vs. NPC's, missions, factions, guilds, joining the Imperials, joining the Rebel Alliance, etc. Choice of weapons either thrown, ranged, melee, hand to hand and concepts on what constitutes a hit versus a miss, how fighting affects your online character, etc. Well done.
6) Economy: SWG is a player driven economy and can be confusing to the new player. While this chapter is not the longest or most in depth, it does a lot of explaining concepts of why certain players will do the things they do, and how earning money id different for all players and their respective professions.
7) Crafting: Certain players (depending on their profession) actually make objects in the game. Whether it's weapons, food, clothing, tools, home's, etc...this is the chapter to read.
8) Professions: Easily the largest section in the guide well over 150 pages. An in-depth look at the paths of destiny a player can create for themselves, what goals to shoot for, and what they can do when they gain a level per-se. Can be a bit boring and all most of this information can be found in game. But there are some strategies that are worth taking note at.
9) Planets: An overview of the 1st 9 planets in the game. Background on their histories, topographies, geographies, etc. A few points of interest, and maps of main (but not all cities).
10) PvP, Appendices, other tables, reference materials.
Okay, with all that said on how rich this guide is, there are a few drawbacks:
1) The game is written primarily for new users. Once you get the hang of the game, you may only use this guide for some weapon tables, maybe a few maps, and a few shortcuts on setting up your in game interface.
2) Some information is incorrect as of printing. I already noticed that the game itself has made a few command changes, whether adding new ones, or deleting some that the guide fails to mention.
3) The nature of MMORPG's is that they always change. SWG's has already announced that in the future new items will become available, new planets, new cities, etc...Because a game like this always evolves, sooner or later, many aspects of this guide may become obsolete.
Hope my review help, the guide did help me!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Prima's Official Strategy Guide)
No comments:
Post a Comment