BioWare promises "cinematic" gameplay for The Old Republic

Paul Marino, lead cinematic designer on BioWare's Star wars: The Old Republic, has opened up on the subject of how players can expect to interact with NPC's throughout the game - cinematically.

According to Marino, players will experience multiple instances of "directed camera action". In a similar vein to BioWare's other science fiction drama, Mass Effect, players will enjoy full voice-over dialogue, but with more dramatic cinematography than still-head or three-quarter shots.

Apparently the aim is to increase the dramatic impact of dialogue choices, as Marino explains:

"These choices are gameplay, presented in cinematic form. Sure, they could be made through the use of simple point-and-click, text-only interface, but the reward of our choices would be passed over and the player would never fully experience the impact of those decisions."

Star Wars: The Old Republic is due some time mid-year, after almost two years of feverish anticipation. It's the second MMORPG set in the Star Wars universe, following Galaxies.

Thanks, Big Download.