Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed

Fly me to the moon

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, while the original Star Wars Galaxies was being completed, the dual empires of LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment already planned to implement spaceships into their online game. That time is upon us with the first Galaxies expansion, Jump to Lightspeed.

The world

As pretty much everyone over the age of 2 knows, Star Wars is one-third lightsabers, one-third weird Muppets, and one-third spaceships. Gross simplification, yes, but if you��ve ever wanted to be a giant Hasidic Wookiee (Darren) or a naughty Twi��lek dancer (the infamous Robert Coffey), Galaxies is the closest you can get to living in the Star Wars universe, outside of kidnapping George Lucas.

Thus far, there are 10 planned space zones adjacent to principal planets such as Naboo and Corellia, as well as some wild space zones. You can also look forward to large squadron-based raids on capital transport ships.

The hook

Spaceships! While a full list of all the ships available has not been released, rest assured that all the mainstays will be in the game, including the X-wing, the Y-wing, and various TIE-fighter models, as well as the Millennium Falcon. Cockpits and ship statistics will closely match the designs and descriptions set down in the movies, and ships will feature upgradeable shields and weapons.

Having your very own spaceship also does away with one of the worst problems of the original game: the shuttle system. When you��ve got a ship of your own, you can jet to those faraway galaxies on a whim. Concerning these space commutes, instead of using special space fuel, the ships will degrade part by part. Simply replace worn-out components to keep your ship in tip-top shape.

The promise of real-time twitch-action space combat in the vein of the classic X-Wing and TIE Fighter games incorporated into Galaxies�� fully realized player economy and society is tantalizing. Plus, there are no plans for an added monthly fee to play the expansion.

The snare

We hate to bring this up again, but the original Galaxies did ��win�� our 2003 Coaster of the Year award. Yet, people do learn from their mistakes��take, for example, Cinco Barnes, lead designer of Jump to Lightspeed.

��Since Star Wars Galaxies was so many things��so massive, so successful, so lauded, and so maligned, the lessons are endless,�� says Barnes. ��What we know now about prerelease hype, player design feedback, core-game necessities, experimental technologies, and original play mechanics is staggering. Bringing Galaxies to market was no walk in the park, but the experience is worth the challenge��a hundred times over.��

We don��t know about you, but we��re certainly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Word:Force-Ful

Publisher: LucasArts Developer: Sony Online Entertainment Genre: MMORPG Release Date: October 2004

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.