Here’s a surprise: I enjoy MMORPGs. I’ve been playing Warcraft for years, and have anticipated the upcoming Star Trek Online for almost as long. Meanwhile, Bioware has released the first cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic and it looks great. There’s not a lot of info available just yet, but here’s what we do know.

The story is set 3,500 years before the rise of Darth Vader and 300 years before the events of The Knights of the Old Republic. Specifically, it depicts the Sith Empire’s sacking of Coruscant. Players can choose to join either the Sith Empire or the Galactic Republic, and then refine their selection with classes, factions, alliances, etc.

One interesting aspect is the Holonet, a vast database of gameworld history, classes, planets and factions that will be accessible from within the game. You can get a small taste of it online. Additionally, LucasArts called the game “…the largest voice over project in the history of games and maybe across all areas of entertainment” at this week’s E3 Expo. Why? Because every character in the game — yes, every one — is “voiced.” Walk up to them and they’ll talk. That’s cool.

There’s no release date or system requirements available, but we’ll follow this game’s development and keep you in the loop.

[Via Massively]