The good news is that withSWTORs latest expansionKnights of the Fallen Empirethat bridge has partially deteriorated.

BioWare finally chose a sidethe story-based side.

The one rich in single-player immersion.

The one uniquely BioWare.

Hows it play out?

Lets take a spoiler-free look.

There are downsides to such a story-rich leveling experience, of course.

The gameplay is extremely linear all the way through.

There are no alternate paths, in fact, except if you count alternative dialogue options.

The fights are also rather on the simple side due to how powerful companion scaling now seems to be.

There is absolutely no reason to ever group up with another player until you reach level 65.

You gain 5 levels running story missions and a few random bonus missions.

Instead, youre guided through an extremely linearbut interestingstoryline.

Once you finish the current chapter, theres a promise of additional future chapter releases.

Frankly, this approach to leveling works well forSWTORand the types of players who tend to enjoy BioWare games.

Endgameeven in a story-based MMOis still the bread and butter of any MMORPG.

Endgame is what makes us stick around and build a community.

Endgame simply cant be shoved aside.

Not all players enjoy alts, after all.

Knights of the Fallen Empires endgame is extremely weak.

Ill come out and say it.

Unfortunately, this reduction is seen all the way into endgame as well.

As much of a fan I am ofSWTORembracing its story-based strengths, the balance is just too far skewed.

The risk doesnt quite pay off, I feel.

The idea behindKotFEs endgame is at least partially appealing.

Heres the kicker, though.

Each of the 6 flashpoints is almost a direct copy-and-paste of each other.

Flashpoints should be vastly different from one another.

Otherwise, theyre simply not fun to do more than once.

Heroics a decent challenge with some pretty nice rewards for players who prefer to progress at their own pace.

The new planet where your base is held is nothing more than a base to run around on.

For now, anyway.

All of the heroic missions take place on older planets.

Tactical mode flashpoints let players scale up or down without the necessity for a tank and healer.

It seems obvious that BioWare was attempting forKnights of the Fallen Empireto be a big come back yall!

Its a smart move, but its also not quite enough.

The story-based experience is seriously one of the best Ive seen in an MMORPG.

),Knights of the Fallen Empireis worth checking out.

Laura Hardgrave is a staff writer.

Rating:

3.5 out of 5