It’s bold, it’s action, it’s blasters, explosions, light sabers — it’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, a continuation of Knights of the Old Republic by Bioware. Set 3,000 years before Darth Vader and 300 years after Knights of the Old Republic II, this new Star Wars massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers epic storytelling in true Bioware style. Are we excited? Yes, as it should be with true Star Wars gamer geeks!

In any MMORPG, we’re looking for combat, exploration, progression and story. Unfortunately, as many have experienced with far too many MMOGs, exploration and story — especially story — can be lacking. Bioware brings it back in spades with its trademark player decisions that drive the quest stories — and this in an MMOG, not a single-player game.

The art style was described as stylized realism, and there’s full voice acting — not only for nonplayer characters, but also for your own avatar in the cinematic quest sequences. Talk about a notch above the rest. The demo shown started with a trailer showing the sacking of Coruscant, then progressed to a gameplay demo in which we saw the Bounty Hunter and the Smuggler in action. The Bounty Hunter is your typical Bobba Fett type and is a ranged weapon user; the Smuggler is a reflection of Han Solo. Less armored than the Bounty Hunter, the Smuggler also is a ranged weapon user — shooting from afar, making use of cover in a system, and up-close melee with a dirty kick to the nuts and a headshot for the kill.

In a two-player party, we were taken through another cinematic quest sequence with a Bounty Hunter and a Sith player. An Imperial Starship Captain had disobeyed a direct order. We could kill him or let him live. There were three choices at every quest step, and we decided to let him live, which proved to be advantageous as he now offered his expertise to help us in the rest of the quest. Then came the action, and we saw true Star Wars action. We saw the signature moves. The light saber action. The use of the force grip and force lightning. We saw cooperation in which the Sith used the force grip while the Bounty Hunter poured on the lead (or energy bolts). The troopers and the Jedi Padawans were cake for the high-level Sith/Bounty Hunter duo.

Then the shuttle dropped the big guns: the Jedi knight. Here, we saw the light saber duels a la the movies. Cue ominous music. This was the big fight with the Bounty Hunter ably helping. We had the light saber action. The hum and crash of the sabers we’re so familiar with. The force kickbacks that sent the characters flying. When we finally defeated the Jedi, we picked up the loot: the Jedi’s weapon. What’s cooler than one light saber? Dual-wielding two light sabers!

That was the entire sneak peek. As for the rest of the game? PvP? Yes. Crafting? Yes. Economy? Yes. Yes, yes, and yes. All the hallmarks of MMOs? Yes. Totally kickass.