Star Wars: The Old Republic news and gameplay coverage is just beginning to heat up; check out an early hands-on preview from GamesRadar

As the world slowly inches its way closer to BioWare's official launch of its highly-anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic, the juicy hands-on, in-game details are finally beginning to surface. GamesRadar recently published one of the earliest reports; Will Porter of PC Zone UK offers his opinion of SW:TOR in "Hands on with The Old Republic" after previewing the MMO's early gameplay. Porter offers a frank description of his experience in the article, opening with the observation: "Missions, such as the one we played recently, are doled out in such dramatic and wordy ways that you’re temporarily blinded to the fact that the bomb-pursuit you’re on is essentially a World of Warcraft quest in space boots," he wrote. It will still be awhile before the first SW:TOR previews begin popping up, let alone actual reviews; the GamesRadar article is intended to be a "first-glance" providing some early impressions of the gameplay:

"[...] it’s well on its way to being an excellent game – but in the hubbub it’s easy to forget that it’ll still be an MMO with most of the usual contrivances of the massively multiplayer role-playing genre. You need to also be aware that the game is still in its early days, so things will change and develop over time. In fact, one of the few things that stands no chance of being tweaked before release, and therefore something we can most certainly complain about right now, is that some of the NPCs have cheesy cartoon grins and awful hair. We like our Star Wars characters looking as scruffy as a nerf herder, thank you very much."

If you're looking forward to SW:TOR as much as we at ZAM are, the GamesRadar piece is an interesting and enjoyable read that you'll want to check out. In the second part of the article, Porter guides us through a tour of some of the alien civilizations you'll be visiting in-game. The final section includes a brief Q&A with Jake Neri, a producer on the SW:TOR development team. For more upcoming news and information, stay tuned to ZAM's SW:TOR portal site!