Star Wars fans the world over are buzzing in anticipation of what promises to be a defining moment in the history of multiplayer online gaming: the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The game follows the escalating war between the Jedi and the Sith thousands of years before the events of the Star Wars films, and its innovative design allows players to choose sides and help shape the history of the galaxy. This gorgeous, full-color volume features the detailed art behind this highly anticipated release from BioWare and LucasArts. With character sketches, interviews, and artwork featuring the game s new weapons, starships, and previously unexplored worlds, The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic is the ultimate chronicle of the newest Star Wars experience.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"The format is unique, drawing you into this collection with ease almost like you are watching a story unfold. Highlighted with poignant writing and dynamic font usage, the layouts are equally compelling to the content itself. 4 out of 5. " - The Daily Blam!
About the Author
Frank Parisi is an editor at Lucasfilm, Ltd. He was the co-author of The Art of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, editor of Star Wars Insider magazine, project editor of The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and has contributed numerous articles to GamePro and ALARM magazines.
Daniel Erickson is writing director for BioWare's Austin, Texas studio. He began his gaming career as an intern with Next Generation magazine and is currently lead writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Daniel Erickson is writing director for BioWare's Austin, Texas studio. He began his gaming career as an intern with Next Generation magazine and is currently lead writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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Length:
1:38
Mins
The book collects mainly character designs, environment art, and some spaceship designs. It's also a making-of book that explains at length on the production of a game with scope this big. I like reading insightful productions stories. The remaining text serve as commentary on the concept art.
The art is sci-fi art, of course, for the Star Wars universe. For the character designs, you can see some design clues that are distinctly Star Wars, such as armor and helmet. Sometimes they are also quite different. What you can see are the eight character classes with their few costumes and sometimes weapons. Creature and spaceship designs aren't a lot.
The main draw of the book would be the environment art for the different locations and planets. They are beautiful and gives a nice idea of the place, although I'm not sure if they are the actual place the game characters can run on.
The downside of the book is layout. There are pockets of space on pages which can really be used to pack more art. Text represents a substantial portion of the book, but is interesting to read so it's alright. As a MMORPG, I was expecting a lot more character designs, a whole lot more. There's a nice amount but somehow I don't feel like the universe is very populated. I'm comparing this to the other video game art book The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed which feels packed in every sense.
I've checked out the website for Star Wars: The Old Republic and there are lots of concept art there. Last time I check, it's over 160 pieces. There many on the website that's not even in the book. Maybe that's why the book can feel sparse at times. Some of the artwork in the book, especially the ones on spaceships are the more detailed pieces but they are printed too small. If you download the high resolution artwork from the website, they are several times bigger than the ones in the book!
This book is mixed bag. It's has good production stories but ruined by bad layout and seemingly incomplete selection of artwork.
(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
The art is sci-fi art, of course, for the Star Wars universe. For the character designs, you can see some design clues that are distinctly Star Wars, such as armor and helmet. Sometimes they are also quite different. What you can see are the eight character classes with their few costumes and sometimes weapons. Creature and spaceship designs aren't a lot.
The main draw of the book would be the environment art for the different locations and planets. They are beautiful and gives a nice idea of the place, although I'm not sure if they are the actual place the game characters can run on.
The downside of the book is layout. There are pockets of space on pages which can really be used to pack more art. Text represents a substantial portion of the book, but is interesting to read so it's alright. As a MMORPG, I was expecting a lot more character designs, a whole lot more. There's a nice amount but somehow I don't feel like the universe is very populated. I'm comparing this to the other video game art book The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed which feels packed in every sense.
I've checked out the website for Star Wars: The Old Republic and there are lots of concept art there. Last time I check, it's over 160 pieces. There many on the website that's not even in the book. Maybe that's why the book can feel sparse at times. Some of the artwork in the book, especially the ones on spaceships are the more detailed pieces but they are printed too small. If you download the high resolution artwork from the website, they are several times bigger than the ones in the book!
This book is mixed bag. It's has good production stories but ruined by bad layout and seemingly incomplete selection of artwork.
(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very nice Book lots of great pictures and behind the scenes stuff well worth the money a great edition to any star wars collection even if you are not a gamer
10 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A lot of the art is stuff you can find on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website, if you've been following the game then a lot of it is familiar from the Friday updates. It's nice to see it larger and printed with text detailing what it is. The foreward, written by Gabe from Penny Arcade, is just terrible. I understand the humorous approach he was trying to take, but it was really just one of the worst things I think I've ever read.
Most of the screenshots are things you've seen if you've ever read an article about the game online anywhere, they seem to recycle the same ancient screenshots everywhere, there's that picture of the smuggler with the goggle tan-lines facing the camera on Tatooine with his Wookie companion in the background. Most of the content on things like companions and game mechanics are just like the developer blogs from the official site.
If you stripped the book down to just art and information that hasn't been released on the official site the book would be considerably shorter, but what's left is undoubtedly good, minus that awful foreward anyway.
Most of the screenshots are things you've seen if you've ever read an article about the game online anywhere, they seem to recycle the same ancient screenshots everywhere, there's that picture of the smuggler with the goggle tan-lines facing the camera on Tatooine with his Wookie companion in the background. Most of the content on things like companions and game mechanics are just like the developer blogs from the official site.
If you stripped the book down to just art and information that hasn't been released on the official site the book would be considerably shorter, but what's left is undoubtedly good, minus that awful foreward anyway.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very good book. Wish there was more.
I am halfway though this book and have enjoyed reading it and looking at the art. I agree with others here that there is a lot of what you can get from Bioware's site, but there... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Paul M
good quality
The book i ordered was in prime condition and arrived atleast 2 days before scheduled. very good quality in every aspect
Published 4 months ago by spencer
Not the "full package" that is promised
This guide is not worth it unless you want 20 pages of nice artwork to gawk at. I have found that well over half of the areas are missing from this book, which is what it's... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Revan
Excellent artwork book and a lot of content and insight on how the...
I dont often buy this sort of book but SWTOR was such a departure for Bioware that I was curious to get some insight into their thoughts as they set about developing this huge... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Michael Cannon
awesome
The book itself is very well put together, the art is good and the writing is good. would have liked to see more early designs of characters and creatures but over all very good. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Moon
Making The Old Republic
Honestly this is a good coffee table book for the everyday person, and those who like art. I personally love video game artwork, seeing ideas and things that helped make the game I... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Elitro
A lot of it already on the website
This is a companion to the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic game coming out later this year. I've personally loved some of the artwork that's appeared on the game's website... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Enjolras
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