This month’s Free to Play Game of the Month is ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’, more commonly known as SWTOR. SWTOR was released back in 2011 by Bioware and was planned as a subscription based RPG, similar to World of Warcraft. However the game failed to gain significant momentum within a year and it shifted to a Free to Play model. Therefore, most of that triple A content is now available to anyone with the PC specs to run the game .

To start, Bioware’s trademark storytelling prowess shines here. With multiple dialogue options, cut scenes, and a personalized story for every class, the world is incredibly immersive. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the other players running around, I’d probably forget it was an MMORPG altogether. One could be satisfied playing through the story campaign without ever dipping into the multiplayer.

However, like most MMORPGs, it is in the multiplayer that SWTOR really shines.  PvE encounters are set around ‘Strikes’ where teams of five enter your game area and progress on a nonlinear path. The game has streamlined things a great deal, phasing players of different levels onto the same one, so despite the low player count you’re never left too long looking for a group.

This isn’t to say the game is a masterpiece. The combat system has a fairly steep learning curve. The low player population also results in PvP waits that are bit longer than one is used to in this day and age. That said, for a Free to Play experience, I found it enjoyable enough to continue playing for the foreseeable future.