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Bleview- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
blehman | 9:52 AM on 09.24.2008 19 comments




We all know that the cblogs have been oversaturated with reviews for this game, be them good, bad, or indifferent, but we haven't seen my review. Besides, this is the first game I've actually finished in probably six months or so, and I just want to get my impressions/feelings down on it. So, without further ado, my review of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. And I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, and I'd appreciate it if you would too in the comments.

First off, I'd like to go over some of the positives of this game. The story is phenomenal. Top notch, second to only the original movies, this game is what the prequels should have been. The nameless apprentice, Proxy, and Juno Eclipse, your faithful pilot, make up the meat and potatoes of this tale. The apprentice is the baby faced protagonist of the story, as we all know, and comes off as boyish but not too antagonizing, as most of Lucas's main characters come off as now, and for what he's given makes the most of his time on screen during cut-scenes. Juno makes up the female interest and does a good job not being 'that girl', even though she does nag at times. And Proxy is now my favorite droid in the series (movie canon at least), as his whole mission is to kill you one day.

Along with the story, TFU has some of the best motion capture I've seen in a game. From the facial expressions to the slight movements, this game bleeds subtlety, at least in the cutscenes. The voice acting too is very high quality and, along with the score, makes this feel like a game/movie hybrid in the highest sense of the words. The in-game graphics are also top-notch, and besides from the occasional flicker I had no problems with them, or disconcerting platforms or backgrounds. Everything looks fantastic, from the dark, sci-fi space platforms, to the lush jungle world, to the mass of twisted metal of the junk-heap planet, everything is fully engrossing, with only the slightest disappointment of a "walled-in" feeling. I always felt that there was enough room in the levels to keep me going, with only one or two exceptions. The camera in the game does a pretty good job of following where you want it too, but it does suffer occasionally, throwing itself around to where you can't see anything and are left a sitting duck at the most inopportune times.



The gameplay in-game is, well, hit or miss. While you do have tremendous force powers by the end of the game, I stuck with only two or three through the game with only minimum usage of the other powers. Some, like the lightsaber throw, while pretty awesome to look at and use in single combat, put you at a huge disadvantage due to the fact that if you miss you're left without an opportunity to attack or defend while you wait for your saber to return. The controls in battle work pretty well, and you'll find most of the enjoyment in this game throwing stormtroopers around as if they're nothing, but the developers tried to pigeonhole platforming elements in it as well, and they don't work so terribly well. The reason for that, I believe, is that the jumping mechanic in TFU requires precise timing, and between the camera not adjusting correctly and the fact that you jump 'so far' and that's it, make lining up and judging distances a pain. For the force controls, after about the first hour, I'd gotten it down pretty much pat with only minimal confusion after new abilities were added afterwards.

Now the targeting system is another story. While I didn't experience too terribly much of the off-putting "aim at one thing pick up another", it was there. And it was usually there when it really didn't need it to be. Not a gamebreaker, but it was aggravating enough to be noticeably annoying. Not only because it always happened when surrounded by baddies, but usually when surrounded by baddies and you're trying to move something related to advancing in the level, or move something so you can throw it at the damn sharpshooters that you can't reach otherwise. And it always picks up the smallest, most non-threatening piece of junk in the level first, as opposed to targeting the large, laser firing enemy in front of it.



The only major, major gripe I have with The Force Unleashed is the boss fights. Now, I've been playing video games for a long time, and these are some of the cheapest fights I've ever played through. From moving completely out of harms way for extended periods of time, to throwing waves of canon fodder at you, the name of the game here is to keep you at the lowest point of health possible while they can block anything you throw at them. Not to mention that I felt one of the game's mechanics is completely broken in one of the games later fights. I've read that this is only affecting about three in five people though, so maybe I was just doing it wrong. Regardless, it aggravated the hell out of me, making me set the game down for the rest of the night. As for the QTA's ending the boss fights, I thought they were very well done for what they were, and really added a sense of Jedi finality to the fights, as you can't do ingame what they do there.

Between the good and the bad, The Force Unleashed struck a very happy medium with me. It's only 7-10 hours long, but it's a definite time-sink for those hours, and repeated playthroughs unlock more costumes and lightsaber options. While I can't recommend it at full sticker price, I do highly recommend it as a rental, or waiting for it to go down in price to about $30.



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19 comments | showing # 1 to 19

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BlindsideDork's Destructoid Blog
CAREFUL!

Those costumes you unlock (special ones, not just for beating a level) disappear after you use them for some reason.
Kryptinite's Destructoid Blog
Awesome write up! My girl picked this game up for me last night and I'll be playing it today.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Vigor's Destructoid Blog
I just completed the game on Sith Master Mode. I have the PS3 version and it was bugged as hell. Fighting Kazdan Paratus he would force push me while I was blocking until my force meter was gone,I am talking Repeatedly. Then fighting Shaak Ti I knocked her off the edge on the first part of the fight. And the game skipped to the cut scene after you beat her, problem was she wasn’t dead. And fighting the Emperor I fell through the floor twice and had to reload to the Darth Vader fight. Thing is I can’t even remember why I would replay it on Sith Master when I didn’t like it that much on normal.
Phantom Spaceman's Destructoid Blog
I need an integer(or float) between 1 and 10, preferably in large bold font.
Timmeh's Destructoid Blog
I enjoyed The Force Unleashed, but most of the time it felt like it was almost great, but there were always some mood breaking awkward controls, broken targeting or cheap enemies just around the corner to drag it back down to mediocrity.

I may be mistaken, but it seemed like they fumbled every pivotal, epic moment in the game (I think we all know which part is the worst offender here). Another example of "Get it out the door, it'll sell just as well now as with a couple of months bug-fixing and tweaking".

I tried playing through on Sith Master after completing the game, but it seems about as much fun as banging your head against a wall.
BlindsideDork's Destructoid Blog
I didn't have those problems in my PS3 copy...
king3vbo's Destructoid Blog
Great writeup. I really like the game, even though it has some serious problems
Trev's Destructoid Blog
@BlindsideDork
They don't disappear unless you forget to save. Changing costumes puts you back at the last checkpoint (which is stupid) and may put you back to before you acquired the costume. Hit a checkpoint or manually save after getting the costume and you'll keep it.
aborto thefetus's Destructoid Blog
One thing that massively pissed me off about the demo was the controls, which made using some of the force powers difficult to use. Like picking stuff up and throwing it, alot of the time I would pick up something I didn't want to pick up or dropped something when I didn't want to.

That being said I might rent it. Definitely not something I would pick up at full price.
Professor Pew's Destructoid Blog
I agree, it's more like a rental but still major fun for a SW geek.

Although I had totally no idea what to do at the Star Destroyer bossfight on Raxus Prime or something.
Hoygeit's Destructoid Blog
Awesome writeup. I'll have to check it out in the near future.
Half left's Destructoid Blog
Is it just me or does the middle fella in the first picture look like phoenix wright?
NotAZombie's Destructoid Blog
@ Half Left

Just a little bit.

I'm gonna go out today and rent it to get my own opinion on the game. Great write up Mr. Bleh.
Sharpless's Destructoid Blog
FYI, The Apprentice does have a name: Galen Marek. Wouldn't be surprised if it's not used in the game, though.

Also, if the costumes are disappearing after use, then someone's doing something wrong...
Steel Squirrel's Destructoid Blog
I thought his name was Starkiller...

I am pleased with this game having played the full version of it. The demo is not a good indicator of the fun you can have with the game.

I mean, if I can enjoy Dynasty Warriors 6, I shouldn't be so hard on this game. It is quite fun.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Destructoid Blog
I've had almost no problems, I'm guessing its certain copies that have glitch problems.

I'm playing on Sith Master after beating on Warrior, tip for some bosses, a lot of bosses you can just zap with lightning constantly and a huge chunk of them are weak to X,X,X,B which launches them into the air.
Sharpless's Destructoid Blog
@Steel Squirrel
That's just his Sith name, much in the same way that Vader isn't Anakin Skywalker's real name either. Presumably, if he made his way up to Sith Lord, he'd be Darth Starkiller, a name which teeters precariously on the line between "really stupid" and "OMG awesome."

(Also, FYI, "Starkiller" was Luke's original name, in Lucas' early drafts of Star Wars.)
Harukai's Destructoid Blog
Great write up I agree completely with your write up, I just picked it up today after not been able to resist it's charms after payday and I've loved it although (as Keplar will tell you) I had a lot of moments where I would get pissed off and complain to the tv and him about how bugged things are, especially the bosses who have moves that no jedi have ever possessed in a Star Wars tale.

But minor problems aside a good game and a nice bit of shelf filler for any Star Wars fan :D Always trust the Bleviews!
rkagarwal's Destructoid Blog
HI...
The project bridges the two Star Wars trilogies and introduces a new protagonist, Starkiller, as Darth Vader's secret apprentice. Reviews offered mixed response, praising The Force Unleashed for its compelling story, robust physics, impressive art and the soundtrack, but also citing frustrating gameplay. Despite these mixed reviews, the game was a bestseller in the United States and Australia
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<a href="http://www.dentistoakville.com">oakville dentist</a>--oakville dentist


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