Revisionist History

Perhaps the most pertinent fact about Star Wars Galaxies is this: In early November, the first Jedi appeared��six months after the game launched, and only after the developers introduced Jedi/Sith Holocrons to nudge prospective Jedi in the right direction. Pacing has never been a strong point of Galaxies, and that��s putting it mildly. Upon launch, the game was about as engaging as sorting your change jar.

In the half year since its release, Galaxies has undergone the kind of maintenance and gradual expansion you��d expect of an MMO. Yes, the ��open beta�� stage (i.e., publication) has given Lucas/SOE a chance to tighten up the bolts a bit, refine the performance and engine, and iron out some of the more obvious problems. The graphics still clip like a mother, and once in a while, a building��particularly when you happen to be inside it��will kind of, well, vanish. But by and large, the game is in a decent-enough technical state.

The major additions are mounts and player cities. Pets such as dewbacks, falumpasets, and other beasties can be trained for riding by a creature handler or bought pretrained. With the player-city option, a politician can become mayor of his own city, adding structures and decorating to create a custom location.

Does this add enough to the actual gameplay to help you forget that the game��s predominant characteristic is one of drudgery? Not really. It��s a thuddingly repetitive game, and only those investing a vast amount of time can reap any real rewards. It still feels more like work than play.

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.