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Bad reviews made Force Unleashed devs unhappy photo

Nobody likes to get a bad review, not least the team who worked on last year's Star Wars hopeful, The Force Unleashed. It's clear that the team worked incredibly hard on making the game look impressive with believable Force powers. Unfortunately, they forgot about the gameplay part, and the team was pretty let down when some game reviewers felt that was an important oversight.

"I'd get these reviews, and I'd be like, "Aw, these guys are irresponsible. How could they say this?" explains LucasArts' Haden Blackman. "... but part of it, as you said, is that I'm watching this team that has worked so hard on this game for two, almost three years. And they're reading this stuff ... all the air gets sucked out of the room. People were miserable for the whole day. It's hard to keep them focused. And we were working on DLC already at this point, on Jedi Temple, so I'd say, You guys need to keep focused. Come on, it's just one review."

The closer you get to the industry and the people who work in it, it's harder to write a bad review without thinking about the people you're potentially upsetting. Unfortunately, a bad game is a bad game and a reviewer needs to say what they think without worrying that a developer is going to get the violins out. So yes, bad news for LucasArts, but if a game isn't very good, it isn't very good. Limited sympathy is in order.


Continue: More Star Wars: Force Unleashed stories





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57 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Dimly's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:41
Dimly
Good critics are critical. What else does this development crew expect? A Commendable +?
Niero's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:43
Niero
Pro tip: It comes with any creative career. If you don't like it, go lay bricks.
Scroll's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:45
Scroll
Was I only one that found it mildly enjoyable?

But yeah I see that it had some pretty big flaws and all...
Count Grishnack's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:46
Count Grishnack
Better pro tip: bribe people for good scores.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:48
Chronic Logic
That's what Quality Assurance is for folks! Learn to use them well in order to turn shit into gold!
Char Aznable's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:50
Char Aznable
Scroll, I found it to be pretty damn fun as well. It was very clunky and awkward at times, sure, but I had a lot of fun flinging people around and smashing stuff. I thought it was well worth picking up a few months later on Goozex. I didn't see what all the outrage was about.
J03yyz's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:54
J03yyz
i borrowed TFU off my buddy and got incredibly sick of it in the junkyard level... i never want to play this game again.
akathatoneguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 12:55
akathatoneguy
I haven't played this game, but from reading all of the mixed reviews (some very positive) and knowing that this game does have a lot of big fans who loved it, it's hard to say that it's a "bad" game as if it's a fact. There are games that are definitely bad, to the point where it's not even really a matter of opinion, but this doesn't seem to be one of them.

Having said that, I'm in no hurry to play it. :)
Harris Hatsworth's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:02
Harris Hatsworth
It's irresponsible to state facts you're paid to state? I get that no one likes being told they messed up but taking that to the level where stating legitimate criticisms is taboo because someone might feel bad you really need to shut up.
Flesh Into Gear's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:02
Flesh Into Gear
I think my grandpa has better control of his 87 year old hips than the control scheme of this game.
thebza's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:06
thebza
i thought forcce unleashed was a lot of fun..
NihonTiger90's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:06
NihonTiger90
Pro tip: Sometimes, you're not on your game. You pick yourself up and make sure the next time is better.
NateT's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:11
NateT
I was one of those that actually enjoyed the game. It was clunky in parts (i.e. the mechanic for pulling down the star destroyer was annyoing IMHO), but overall I had lots of fun, espcially at the highest difficulty setting, where you really had to use the various light saber fighting techniques and think strategically about anything but the most white bread fights.

Overall I think the game could of used some more polish, but is is a good game.
Reien's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:15
Reien
@ Chronic Logic

That's not a quality assurance fail. That's a designer fail.
mossd's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:16
mossd
man, i got a big "whatever" on this. that game got far better reviews (from several) than it actually deserved. i literally do not trust the reviews from several sites to this day due to the scores they gave that game. i'm still a little pissed at myself for buying it. never bothered to finish the game due to the crappy game play. HUGE missed opportunity.

if anything, the developers should be thankful of the scores they received.
JamnOnTheOne's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:18
JamnOnTheOne
I thought the game was lots and lots of fun.

And unlike most folks I was able to pull down the Star Destroyer without any difficulty, by just following what was requested of me on screen. The game wasn't over challenging or too cheap, if you died it's because you messed up.
Vedicardi2's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:20
Vedicardi2
poor guys dawwww
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:32
brainderailment
I generally liked the game, but I did notice some major flaws that really pissed me off. Also, didn't most of the team get canned right in the middle of debugging?
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:34
Sharpless
Devs don't like bad reviews? SHOCKING NEWS.

It's okay, guys. I liked your game. *hug*
Cynical Gamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:37
Cynical Gamer
I guess they didn't pay enough money hats to get the 9 and above ratig.
triclops41's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:37
triclops41
game wasnt perfect, but i enjoyed playing it through twice. story was outstanding, and except for a couple of points where the enemies would swarm you with cheapness, I loved every minute.
Demtor's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:42
Demtor
The game was probably a lot of fun... if you never played any of the Jedi Knight II games, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy. Its funny to me that a game 7 years old, did force powers and light sabers fights better than anything in Force Unleashed. Silly developers. Do they need to game more?
Syn's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:42
Syn
The game was enjoyable yes. But they could have improved it a lot. For example, don't make it so easy for the character to get his ass whooped if he gets knocked down!
DeusPayne's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:50
DeusPayne
Suck it up, get over it, take the criticism, and make the DLC better because of it. Two biggest improvements, 1) give a feeling of UNLEASHED, not pseudo-powerful-but-every-stormtrooper-has-the-exact-counter-to-my-move, and 2) Less QTE... or at least unique ones. Killing the first walker was cool, but by the 15th, it's boring and breaks the pacing up too much.
Rosseh's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 13:50
Rosseh
I'm with J03yyz. I wanted to like the game so damn much but that damn junkyard level. I got frustrated and turned it off multiple times. Kept picking it up to give it another chance but then I ended up falling to my doom on the slippery edges (detection was lousy in that game)a couple of times and having to play a lot of a certain section over again. It just had too many problems for me in the end. Like Demtor said, I had Jedi Knight II to compare it to. Had a nice physics engine though.
Ben PerLee's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:01
Ben PerLee
My ex-girlfriend is friends with the wife of the Executive Producer of that game, and we went to a house party right after the game was released. They were a little grumpy to say the least.

Thankfully, I had yet to write anyone other than my college paper, so they didn't bust out the bitch stick :P
Phantom Spaceman's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:04
Phantom Spaceman
People rip this game too much. It was fun except for the infuriating Star Destroyer sequence.
SilverDragon1979's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:04
SilverDragon1979
If you guys poured years of your life into making what you thought was a great game, and then that game got a bad review, you would be pretty damn dissappointed too. Hell, you would have to be a soulless lonely person to not be affected by something like this. It really shouldn't shock anyone that the reacted to the bad reviews the way they did.

In either case it doesn't matter, because while the critics hated it, it became the best selling Star Wars game of all time. So IN YOUR FACE CRITICS!!!!!
wanderingpixel's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:07
wanderingpixel
I think that it is healthy to be told what you did wrong so you do not make the same mistakes twice.
Jon2309's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:14
Jon2309
Protip: Advertise on Gamespot.
silvain's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:25
silvain
awww... We're sorry the team you signed up to be on designed and made a bad game. We should give A's for effort!

Seriously people, just because you spent 2+ years coloring hair textures doesn't mean that you automatically deserve praise if the game sucks.
kidko's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:28
kidko
I enjoyed the game overall but it has some major flaws, the core design flaw being that the lightsaber doesn't cut through people. The first time I had to hack and hack and hack at a stormtrooper with my lightsaber I decided that the game completely failed in it's goal to make me feel like I'm "kicking ass with the Force"

Each fight in that game should have left a pile of maimed stormtroopers, arms, legs, hands and heads rolling in every direction.

The other major fails were the constant knockdowns that disable you. Don't they teach rolling with the punch in Sith school? Seriously my grandpa could get up from a knockdown quicker.
loki d20's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:38
loki d20
The closer you get to the industry and the people who work in it, it's harder to write a bad review without thinking about the people you're potentially upsetting.

Perhaps they should have thought more about the gamers they would potentially be upsetting? Honestly, though, didn't the game sell really well (4+ million) and make moola?
Hammersmith's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:40
Hammersmith
I would have liked that game more if the part w/ pulling down the destroyer was just a friggin cutscene.
Dr Horrible's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:43
Dr Horrible
I enjoyed the game, not as much for some of the clunky gameplay..but for more of the story...I found it interesting to say the least. Oh and throwing random enemies around was entertaining!
loki d20's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:51
loki d20
To add to complaints about the gameplay, it's not all that fun to advertise it as the force really unleashed, and then throw general Jedi fodder at us with tools intended to nullify the powers we've learned. Sure, it's supposed to be challenging, but at least throw something more than a stormtrooper in armor that's resistance to abilities that the head honchos will use against them when they get pissed. Something that increases the difficulty while still allowing us to use our abilities to their fullest.
Kaspar's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 14:51
Kaspar
Okay, that empty comment was an accident.


I always wonder - How can a bad game be made by a big company? They put money, time and care into a product and then they are all like "wat, u think its bad cant be /wrists"

You fucking made the game, how can you not see if it's a pile of ass?
feliponz's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 15:01
feliponz
They game was an instant fail the moment they turned the lightsaber into some sort of light-baseball bat. Seriously. The force powers were fine, but the lightsaber.... wtf.
That's what I get for hoping for a new Jedi Knight game.
Also, LucasArts has become a steaming pile of poop. (Where's my X-wing vs Tie Fighter!?)
feliponz's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 15:02
feliponz
They game was an instant fail the moment they turned the lightsaber into some sort of light-baseball bat. Seriously. The force powers were fine, but the lightsaber.... wtf.
That's what I get for hoping for a new Jedi Knight game.
Also, LucasArts has become a steaming pile of poop. (Where's my X-wing vs Tie Fighter!?)
feliponz's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 15:03
feliponz
ugh, sorry about the double post... dunno what happened there..
F Whipple's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 15:08
F Whipple
The game was a good rental and fun while it lasted but that was the extent of it for me. I never felt compelled to play it again after I beat it.
whormongr's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 17:27
whormongr
I really liked it, it had flaws but was still fun and looked great. Having played all three of the ds psp and ps3 versions I do have to say though that the ds version was crap but the psp one was cool- I especially liked the fact that there were different bosses in each of the different platforms, the screwed up gungan bounty hunter in the psp one ruled
Nand69's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 17:32
Nand69
Yeah i wouldn't feel good after hearing news like that... But it sold well, i mean it's not like they're not going to get a second chance...

However, i will not play it. I played the demo and it was OK but after borrowing it from a friend i had to stop playing.. I just don't get how they could screw this up..
Rockvillian's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 17:44
Rockvillian
These pro tips are very informative
masterninja's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 18:04
masterninja
I loved the game... I don't care about anyone else you can give it a 3 and it was still one of the most enjoyable games imho of 2008...
Corak's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 19:18
Corak
I didn't think it was that bad either, not the best game around but I did enjoy it
Corak's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 19:18
Corak
I didn't think it was that bad either, not the best game around but I did enjoy it
Im OK's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 20:09
Im OK
Force Unleashed was awesome.

Assuming you were able to ignore/avoid the many horrible bugs.
NESgamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2009 20:28
NESgamer
The game is not terrible, is just the replay value is non existent and the story or the way they represented it in game sucks IMO (not like it's their fault though... but). I enjoyed it!

They really need to get thick skin, it's not fair to make sad puppy eyes to get better scores, you either care about these and try to impress fat reviewers or forget about it and milk the money (which the game did).
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