If there was any one part of the Star Wars series I enjoyed that didn't involve lightsabers, the Force, or Darth Vader, it was the space battles. Dogfighting with planes is pretty fun, but when you do it in space? It's like a thousand times better. Star Wars: The Old Republic is shaping up to be an extensively detailed and fan-catering game, so what better way to cater to fans then by adding space combat to the mix? That's right, you will be able to pilot your own starship in the upcoming MMORPG.

LucasArts originally planned to release the announcement if a specific number of people "Liked" The Old Republic's Facebook page and followed the game's Twitter feed. Unfortunately the number's weren't met, but that didn't stop LucasArts from sharing the surprise of space combat.

Llet Sean Dahlberg explain more for you:

"Space combat is an alternative gameplay experience to the primary game of storytelling, questing, and ground-based combat. In space combat, you fly your personal ship to various “hot spots” on your galaxy map. From there, you will blast your way through asteroid fields, enemy fighters, frigates, destroyers, and a variety of other obstacles that will evoke memories of some of the great Star Wars space battles."

The next question to ask is, what kind of ships will you have access to? Obviously the X/Y/A-Wings that we are all familiar with haven't even been invented yet in the context of the universe, so what else will be available? I'm sure that the various ships that made an appearance during Episodes 1-3 will be present, so that would be a good place to start.

As much as I would want a cool looking modified freighter a la the Millenium Falcon, I'll make do with any kind of space transport of it means I can shoot at asteroids. The Old Republic will make that possible and I'm all kinds of excited.

Star Wars: The Old Republic lets you attempt blaster fly-bys sometime in Spring 2011 exclusively for the PC.

Source: The Old Republic Homepage