Star Wars: The Old Republic

BioWare showed off its upcoming Star Wars MMO yet again at this year's Gamescom, and the developer came to the event armed with a brand new, slightly strange mode to show off.

Huttball is a brand new warzone for The Old Republic that introduces a surprising element: inter-faction combat. Huttball is actually a brutal spectator sport run by the Hutt cartel on a neutral world, so it's not just Republic vs. Empire for these battles.

Huttball players are split into two teams that are chosen at random, and they battle in a crazy arena full of death traps. Some platforms will burst into flame on occasion while others will give way, dropping unsuspecting players into a pool of poison below. Competitors will need to watch out for the environmental hazards just as much as opposing players.

To complete the illusion of a true sport, Huttball features a loud, overly excited announcer providing commentary for match-ups. Every time you die in a silly way or make an impressive pass, this announcer will have something goofy to say.

Huttball is definitely a strange addition to Old Republic in the sense that it seems much more light-hearted than the vast majority of content in the game. That said, it also looked like a lot of fun in the videos I watched, and it gives players of the same faction a chance to beat each other up. Maybe those benefits are worth a little tonal dissonance.

If you'd like to know more about Old Republic's PvP gameplay, check out my hands-on preview from Comic-Con.