Knights of the Fallen Empire, the new expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic (set for release on October 27th) is set to be a interesting left turn for the game. And the big-budget MMO genre as a whole. With a focus primarily on story, and a grand cinematic one at that, Knights of the Fallen Empire is being touted by BioWare as a return to their storytelling roots.

Now, being an expansion to an existing MMO you might be thinking that you'd need to grind through the main game in order to level up before tackling this new story-driven content. You'd be wrong of course, as BioWare will be giving players the option to dive straight into Knights of the Fallen Empire with an already Level 60 character. One that can be customised to suit your preferred play style.

Step into an epic story-driven adventure as your character becomes The Outlander, a veteran of the Great Galactic War. A third faction threatens the galaxy as we know it, and your choices will determine the fate of both the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic. Knights of the Fallen Empire includes the first nine chapters, fueled by BioWare-style cinematic storytelling, that kicks off a new player-driven story arc that puts you at the center of a conflict where your choices have impact on outcomes including unexpected twists and betrayals.

First nine chapters? Yeah, this definitely marks a new direction for the game, one that BioWare is already set to continue after the release of Knights of the Fallen Empire with more story-driven content.



Which, gives us another reason to embed the impressive CG trailer that debuted at E3. Even tough pre-rendered cinematic trailers for MMORPGs are usually so far removed from the actual end-product that they're essentially a lavish waste of money, this one is different! As it introduces a story that will drive an intergalactic adventure in the vein of other classic single-player RPGs from BioWare, the below cinematic is anything but a marketing placeholder.



It's actually quite impressive, and works extremely well as a short film set in the Star War universe. As the introduction to a story-driven RPG set in the Star Wars universe, its even better.