Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 
PS3/
360/Wii/PS2/PSP/DS/NGage 2/iPhone
Reviewed in 2.1 Stereo, 1360x768, on a CRT monitor.
North America: September 16, 2008
Asia: September 17, 2008
Europe: September 19, 2008
May the Force Blow Your F*cking Mind In the March 2007 Issue of Game Informer, Project Writer Haden Blackman summed up the driving factor behind Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, "This game is about kicking someone's ass with The Force".
A simple concept, but one video game and Star Wars fans alike have been pining for since the original trilogy found it's way to consoles in the late eighties and early nineties. Though this is not the first time a developer has attempted to portray the Force, it
is the first time a developer has properly captured the Force's versatility, effectiveness, and... well... badassery.
Plot The Force Unleashed, set during the dark years between Episodes III and IV, places you in the shoes of Starkiller, the apprentice of Darth Vader himself, who's secret mission is to root-out and kill the Jedi who survived the Jedi Purge in the previous chapter of the saga. The story progresses in a larger arc from that basic plot point, but for the purpose of the demo, the only exposition you are given is enough to deliver coherency and purpose to your actions. It is your assignment to attack an imperial ship. Because your presence can not be revealed Vader issues you the order to kill any and everyone present on the vessel.
Graphics The title runs on Lucasarts' proprietary Ronin engine, implementing the Euphoria, Havok and DMM (Digital Molecular Matter) engines all into the production. While integrating all four engines into a cohesive title is a technological marvel in-and-of-itself, the game carries an amazing aesthetic appeal to boot. Character models in particular are jaw dropping. Facial expressions and animations present in The Force Unleashed are some of the best I've seen this generation. Small discrepancies in your character's features are present in your interactions with Vader, subtle nuances oft avoided by developers in favor of wild gesticulation and excessively emotive voice acting, are what drives the dialogue more so than the actual script.
The environments are equally stunning. The art style retains many of the more streamlined environments presented in the prequels, while providing an overall retro look to your surroundings. The only way to properly experience it is to play it yourself, but believe me, if you enjoyed the original trilogy, you'll find comfort in your surroundings. They're expansive, they're retro, they're unique, even within the same level, and the level of destructibility and interactivity is good. Smashing through windows with your lightsaber causes boxes, debris and enemies alike to be sucked out of the porthole before the emergency hatch closes over. Doors are rended asunder with your force push. LucasArts took their time to make sure the environment was not simply a gimmick with no bearing on your gameplay. Using your environment to your advantage is half the fight.
During my first play through, I
did experience a few instances of vertical tearing, although I could not recreate them in my second play through. I'll update the pros and cons below if I encounter it, or if I hear from forumgoers that it is a persisting problem.
Gameplay The game is a fast paced hack and slash, which extracts the best parts of the of God of War and Psy-Ops combat systems, throws them in the mixer, and adds a heaping helping of polish. Your basic lightsaber attacks are fluid and effective, and merit no real explanation, save for one feature. You automatically block small arms fire. This eliminates much of the frustration I believed I would find in the game. The times when I felt overwhelmed by the peppering of blaster fire was seriously reduced when I didn't have to make an active endeavor to block every little red beam to come racing towards me.
Now, on to the meat and potatoes of the game. The force itself.
You begin the demo with force push, which is far more useful than I imagined, due to the presence of force grasp. Knocking enemies down the cavernous pits of the demo was incredibly vindicating, as was wreaking general havoc with the space station at large. You have a force based double jump, and of course, the ever-awesome force lightning, and electrocuting uniformed toadies has never been so much fun. There is a leveling system present, though I did not progress far enough to level up more than once. So far as I know, upgrading simply makes your present attacks more powerful, despite having seen many force experiences not present in the demo.
The gameplay is not without it's small niggles though. The lone boss fight in the demo pits you against an AT-ST (Chicken walker), and you must dodge cannon and grenade fire from the walker, all while disposing of the handful of stormtroopers taking potshots at you. This would not be as frustrating as I found it had the method for bringing down the walker been more apparent. I first tried attacking it directly with my lightsaber. No noticeable effect. I tried throwing explosive objects at it, which was met with some measure of success, and would have been met with even more were it not for the simple fact that every time I managed to grab an explosive energy-cell, the walker would fire a burst of blaster fire, or a grenade at me, and disrupt my force Grasp.
I discovered some 10 minutes, and three or four deaths later that the trick was to use the scripted timed-button-combo provided. The combo itself was quite simple... but that is assuming you could find it. I'm not sure how exactly the timed-button-combo initiates itself, because it didn't seem to be proximity alone in the multiple times I played the demo.
It's a small-ish hang up, and had I known before I played the demo, as you know now, I don't think I would have had a problem, but it was most definitely less than apparent.
Controls At the main menu, you are provided with a much needed force tutorial, to help you get the swing of flinging objects with your newfound power. These next few lines will be the "play or pass" point for many who experience the demo, as I've withheld the final and primary Force power, Force Grasp for this section.
Using the Force will require practice, and a fair amount at that. The difficulty lies not only in being able to adequately orient your target in 3D space, but also being able to toss it in the direction you have chosen. LucasArts has provided an intuitive lock-on system to assist us as Force novices, which is an absolute Godsend. Without it, I would have stumbled around aimlessly for the majority of my time in the demo.
With a complex concept though, comes a complex control scheme. However, while most gamers will simply adapt to the new controls, there will be some who throw in the towel during the (admittedly frustrating) first handful of minutes. This could be rectified in future titles, but it seems to me as if it is more of a design and execution hang up, more than a last minute bug, or a decision without forethought, as most flaws in games seem to be today.
Score and SFX The score for The Force Unleashed is comprised mainly of John williams' classic star wars tunes, and is performed expertly by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. It is admittedly refreshing to hear a score for a game composed by a full orchestra, even though much of the music is familiar.
The sound effects are stellar. Lightsabers, blasters, explosions and starfighters all sound superb, and I expected nothing less. The voice acting retains the tongue in cheek humor of the original trilogy (Listen to the stormtroopers. The first one to hear a Blues Brothers quote gets a cookie), retaining the bravado and poise of the prequels, while sacrificing the tacky dialogue, oft the butt of jokes present the afore mentioned prequels.
Near flawless in execution, the game sounds fantastic.
Ab Clausula The appeal in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is and always will be theprimal appeal of the badassery one experiences while playing. In thevein of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, the title proves that you really
can make an entire game based on the simple premise of doingcool shit.
The game is at-large, a massive success. Devoted Star Wars gamers have been waiting for years to get this title in their grubby mythos stained mitts, and when they do, they will be presented with an epic videogame unparalelled in the Star Wars universe to date. The largest flaw I find in The Force Unleashed, which, given my rather critical nature in reviews, and of this title in particular in recent weeks, is saying something, is the steep learning curve for the controls. This is both a condemnation and a complement.
Had a revised means of controlling objects been implemented, even if that meant being able to personally assign axes to the thumbsticks, the game would have been near perfect. However, because this is the biggest flaw I found in the game, it will have to "settle" for being a great addition to my videogame collection.
Thanks for reading, as always, and go. Now. Download the demo.
