When comparing Star Wars Episode 1: Racer vs Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Slant community recommends Star Wars: The Old Republic for most people. In the question“What are the best Star Wars PC games?” Star Wars: The Old Republic is ranked 3rd while Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose Star Wars: The Old Republic is:
You can play through the full story for each class as well as each planetary story absolutely free.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Economy management adds another variable to the game
Choosing what parts of the pod to upgrade at what points in the game, what help to hire and what vendor to choose for parts adds a rather interesting management element in-between races that affects races themselves. And depending on how the race went some money can be saved that would otherwise be spent on repairs.
Pro Faithful to the Star Wars universe
It's faithful and atmospheric.
Pro Play requires balance
While racing ones Pod Racer can get damaged (and often will), this means that the player needs to perform repairs while racing, but of course this slows one down, which means one needs to balance slowing down in a race and risking blowing their pod up by receiving too much damage.
Pro Free to play
You can play through the full story for each class as well as each planetary story absolutely free.
Pro Fully voiced characters
For as many characters as there are and how much dialogue is present in the game the voice acting is superb and comparable to the best offers out there. Quests are not just text boxes to read but actually told to you by the NPC asking for your help.
Pro Subscription bonuses
As a subscriber ($15 a month), a player gets a significant XP boost for completing Story missions. At 12x the experience gain, this allows players to progress through a character's class story without having to repeat planetary quests that can become mundane when leveling multiple characters. Other perks include a 500 Cartel Coin allotment per month, useful in the cartel market; as well as faster quick travel cool downs, more character slots, and many more. These perks are quality of life improvements rather than pay to win.
Pro Companions in any role (4.0)
Companions can now fulfill any role: Tank, Healer, Damage. Also companions no longer use gear stats, and so do not require constant gear upgrades. Gear is only used for cosmetic changes now.
Pro Movie like Star Wars universe
Play as a character from the beloved Star Wars universe, and immerse yourself in a fantastic story from Bioware set 1000 years before the movies. Choose a side and fight for the Sith Empire or the Republic as a Jedi, Sith, Trooper, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler and Imperial Agent.
Pro Stream-lined leveling (4.0)
With game update 4.0, Knights of the Fallen Empire, and later, leveling has been streamlined to highlight quests that are relevant to your personal story, so it's easier to move forward rather than waste time on side quests. This includes on your Map, Minimap, quick travel and flight paths.
Cons
Con Aged visuals
While impressive at the time of release in 1999, the game does not look too good by today's standards.
Con Generic MMO quests
Like most MMOs this game features mundane fetch or collect quests that can become not only repetitive but pretty boring.
Con Pay for Convenience
While Bioware has been careful to avoid pay-to-win, being a subscriber or paying some real money for in game quality of life perks can be a big bonus, and offer monthly rewards.