Not Dragon Age: SWTOR Reveals

Almost forgot there was another Bioware game in the offing (two, in fact - Mass Effect 2 also looms) amidst all this cheery chatter about Dragon Age. The Old Republic remains The New Hope of both Star Wars games and mainstream MMOs, and while we're all lacking a clear picture of quite how it's going to play, Bioware are at least providing a steady drip-feed of new info. This time, some of their thinking behind the Jedi class, and the revelation of what another class will be - boo-hiss-baddies, these ones...

The new class is... the Imperial Agent. Which appears to be like a Storm Trooper, but not shit. In fact, it doesn't really have any direct analogy to famed Star Wars characters/tropes, but it sounds like a neat way of shoring up the Sith Empire's ranks with guys other than evil Force-users. Here he is:

Check you out, Mr Frowny. Decent details are scarce until next week's promised bigger reveal, but here's a summary:

The Imperial Agent is heavily inspired by several classic Star Wars characters such as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin. Imperial Agents work behind the scenes to get the work of the Empire done. Specializing in high-tech gear, the Imperial Agent always has the right tools at the right time. They use abilities of subversion and subterfuge to infiltrate and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire with deadly efficiency. Players who choose to be Imperial Agents in The Old Republic (TOR) will see the underbelly of the Empire in a whole new light.

Like the sound of that, do you? WELL DO YOU? More piccies here, if you need 'em.

Also, here's that dev diary about the Jedi class. Which is guilty of multiple counts of purple prose, but offers some hints as to how playing the class that every bugger wants to play will be. There will be choice as to what kind of Jedi you are, by the sound of it, so hopefully the online galaxy won't be flooded with identi-Skywalkers. It also suggests there may be ways to deal with a Jedi other than pure combat, in which he would obviously have an edge. May just be wishful thinking or an excess of film reference, but it is an interesting idea for sure. The main source of conflict to Star Wars films' lead characters hasn't been mortal peril so much as the threat of corruption - to turn that into a prevalent element of SWTOR other than straight light/dark choice would be fascinating.