You’re in a fire fight with an enemy force; they out number you and out gun you. You’re pinned down. The situation seems hopeless, and a sense of dread is filling your mind. Panic starts to set in, and you hunker down behind your cover. Laser and cannon blasts all around you. Your cover is starting to break up, and in moments the hot weapons fire is going to rip through your body. You draw your weapon close, ready to burst from your not-so-great cover for one final stand. Suddenly, your companion bursts from a corridor to your right, weapons blazing. You leap into action, and together you overcome the enemy that, just moments ago, was about to send you to a bacta tank.Companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic offer several benefits to game play. Not only can they help you overcome enemies forces that you would not be able to handle on your own, they also add to the story line, and many of them have their own motivations, back stories and price to join you on your quest for galactic domination.

Each class in Star Wars: The Old Republic will get to choose from companions not available to any other class. In this way, the companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be able to offset weaknesses in that class, and give players a wider range of play styles and tactics.

Aside from game play mechanics, companions also offer storyline elements ranging from simple advice on how to handle a situation, to pointing out points of interest, to becoming your player character’s love interest. They may try to influence your decisions at key points in the story, but you also influence them as well. The synergy created can make wonderful memories and exciting game play not seen in a Massively Multiplayer Game to date. You might even make enemies out of your companions, and it remains to be seen how this will affect the storyline for your characters, but the possibilities are very exciting.

Another very cool game play option is the ability to outfit and equip your companions that travel with you. With some imagination, you can outfit your companion to offset particular skill sets and tactics you wish to employ.  As you become more powerful, so will your companions.

Finally, the companion system will open up specific quest lines relating to your companions, offering even more content and game play options.

The companion system is just one exciting feature out of many that are introduced to the MMO world in Star Wars: The Old Republic!