I try to be good. I really do. But when standing in front of a giant God-only-knows-what that looks angry and the conversation is heading down a dangerous path I sometimes panic–I start blasting. Then again, I’m a smuggler, that’s what I do.

Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) is the newest massive multiplayer online (MMO) game to hit the shelves and it’s freaking amazing. I won’t bother with a full review because PCGamer has a great one. But, I will give you my impressions.

It’s not a WoW killer but it can stand toe to toe with the great one. World of Warcraft (WoW) has been the gold standard of MMOs for years. Many contenders have taken it on. All have failed. SWTOR could be the one to dent its armor. Why? Because it’s almost exactly like WoW only it’s Star Wars and that’s way cooler.

Who hasn’t pretended to be Luke or Han or even Boba Fett or Darth Vader? Well, now you can be them in your own Star Wars movie. From the beginning, SWTOR throws you into a complex universe of blaster fire, politics and tough decisions. Like life, there are no do overs. Piss someone off or make an enemy, they’re that way for life. Make an iron clad ally and they’ll die for you. Every player’s story is different and that story plays like a movie with every interaction animated and voice acted. It’s a herculean effort of programming and a pretty jaw-dropping experience.

The game’s look is beautiful and massive like a good Star Wars movie should be. It’s story is deep and interesting like the new movies should have been. The combat is familiar if not simplistic but I’m guessing it will get harder as I progress in levels.

I guess I should draw out some sort of lesson or insight into advertising from this so here goes: be smart and tell good stories and people will love you.

Oh, and always shoot first. Always.