The Force Unleashed

[Paradox]

http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/s...n?tag=;title;2

I've underestimated the Wii version, after seeing this video, I'm positive this game won't disappoint. Video contains spoilers.

[Husar]

Ouch.

That must be the worst GameTrailers review I have seen so far, I mean the worst game they have reviewed, apparently it's very short and the engine has some problems with sound disappearing etc, sounds like something to buy from the bargain bin.

[Lemur]

[lars573]

^

Ouch.

That must be the worst GameTrailers review I have seen so far, I mean the worst game they have reviewed, apparently it's very short and the engine has some problems with sound disappearing etc, sounds like something to buy from the bargain bin.

My brother-in-law said it's like God of War gameplay wise. Another person compared it to Assassins Creed. Great execution in graphics and game elements. But lacks variety in those elements and is short.

[Paradox]

Ouch.

That must be the worst GameTrailers review I have seen so far, I mean the worst game they have reviewed, apparently it's very short and the engine has some problems with sound disappearing etc, sounds like something to buy from the bargain bin.

I don't understand, how is this review bad?

Edit: Nevermind, the score was really bad, I don't know who to trust anymore, IGN gave it a much better score.

[Mailman653]

Take all the scores you read from reviews and then come up with an average. I just finished the IGN preview and it sounds alright. I wasin't crazy about this game in the first place but it sounds like it could make a fun rental or a cool gift this holiday season. Plus I think it has two player vs mode, pick a SW character and fight against a friend, surely that has to be fun as well. Who wouldn't want to pick Vader and Maul and see who's the baddest Sith lord of them all.

GS review, 3 out of 5.
http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/.../910182p1.html

[Paradox]

Love the neck.

[frogbeastegg]

Got it, played it, finished it. It's buggy. It's glitchy. It's unfinished. It's got plenty of traits which I consider to be half baked at best. It's got dull level design. It's fiddly. The controls are quite poor. It's got difficulty spikes. It's got sections which are numbingly easy. It artificially limits the player in many ways, and does so with increasing frequency as the game passes.

However it did get enough right that I played it through to the end instead of dumping it, and feel (mostly) able to say I enjoyed half the time I spent with it.

The problems fall into a collection of broader categories.

1. The beginning is poor. No, not the prologue level where you play as Vader, the first 3 levels as the apprentice. You're weak, have barely any powers, the enemies are boring, and the level design is ... well, let's say I hated Felucia 1 so much I came within a hair of dumping the game outright. The story at this point is a simple 3 step rehash of "go there, kill jedi" It's only after Felucia 1 that that changes. Coincidentally that's also the point where your character has developed enough to make combat more varied.

2. Artificial limitation. In the force unleashed universe every third guy is immune to 1 or more force powers, and everyone except basic stormtroopers are resistant to your sabre. This game was billed as allowing you to unleash the full fury of the force, be a sith badass, blah blah. Yes, there's got to be something which provides challenge, however this wasn't the correct way. Hurling stormtroopers into TIE fighters is badass. Running about on fire because none of your force powers work on the flamethrower stormtroopers is not badass.

2a. The way I could sense the developers saying, "She's getting through the game too quickly! Quick - chuck in loads of enemies, and pick types which are a real pain in the rear to deal with at once! And then add multiple waves of them, with each wave featuring more than before!" Purge troopers are a pain to fight. Rocket troopers are a pain to fight. Snipers are a pain to fight. A combination with plenty of all three is hell on earth. And then in the worst example they chucked in two types of AT-ST! In a cluttered room where the camera gave up its last, feeble pretence of being able to keep up with the action! I spent much of the game wondering if I should swap from normal to hard, then I'd hit one of these patches and spend many deaths wondering about swapping to easy.

3. Level design. Problem the first: It's not star wars. Sure, it looks like star wars and sounds like star wars, but it's a series of boxy rooms and/or long corridors which could have been taken from any game and reskinned for that authentic star wars look. Problem the second: they're not even interesting levels. Walk into room, kill mob, push door down, into next room, kill mob, into corridor and kill mob, into next room and kill mob ... The last level was appalling. Simply appalling, from start to finish.

4. Combat is dull. Most battles tended to end up with a set series of moves being uses against each enemy type doe to the limitations on the force and sabre. As much as I'd have liked to use more variety, it just didn't work effectively. Either it killed the enemies more slowly and lost me precious health, or it didn't work at all and got me pulped. I ended up killing every single purge trooper with lightning plus sabre slam, every AT ST with lightning plus air combos, every single rancor with lightning plus running away until my bar recharged, every flame thrower trooper with the most basic x, x, x, sabre combo, every ... Did I mention the targeting was bad? As in it selects a crate for that dose of lightning, not the 12 enemies surrounding you and killing you?

5. Bugs. Glitches. General unfinished air. One level hung up on me multiple times at the same point, and I only got past that part because I rushed through to complete the objective to force the game to save and load the next part. One time the enemies and objects didn't load into an area, leaving me wandering and stuck. I slipped and fell to my doom on entirely flat areas. I had an easy time of it - many players are reporting far worse troubles, including one bug which bars you from collecting all of the holocrons.

What did the game do right?

1. The plot. For a star wars game it's good. After the lacklustre start it heated up and then some. I'm not the first in saying this should have been made into a film and not that animated clone wars thing, and I'm sure I will be far from the last.

2. Badass sithery. When the game stops dragging at your sleeve and lets you cut loose you're a force to be feared! Picking up a stormtrooper and dragging him near his friends so he grabs at them in an effort to free himself, only to hurl the whole struggling mass into a TIE fighter and set off a massive explosion which showers debris about the area, setting off secondary explosions and wiping out more stormtrooper is fun.

3. Blasting Jawas with force lightning. Love the sound they make. This was the only thing I enjoyed about the first junkyard level.

4. Voice acting and cutscene production. Both were done to a high standard.



If you are a star wars fan then you'll be able to grin and bear the worst to see the best, and will probably enjoy most of it. If you are a reformed star wars fan like me then it's a rougher ride which you may or may not see the end of. If you don't like star wars then stay away, far away.

[Mailman653]

The frog has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done.

Isn't there a two player combat mode somewhere? I've seen screen shots of it but I don't remember for what version, wonder if that's any fun.

[frogbeastegg]

Only on the wii version. There's also some extra storyline levels exclusive to that edition, something about going to the ruined jedi temple to undertake the jedi trials. I played the xbox 360 version so I don't know much about the wii game.

[Sigurd]

Right ... so the advice is: wait for the Platinum version.

[Husar]

Right ... so the advice is: wait for the Platinum version.

That's my plan.

[Bob the Insane]

Have to agree with the Frog...

However I must also admit to getting a little stuck... The 3rd Jedi (the second as the apprentice) at the end of the Junkyard stuff. Maybe I have not developed my characters correctly, but I am having real difficulty. Any hints?

It was about this point that my Star Wars geek attack was overwhelmed by the realisation that I never really liked fighting games of this style...

[frogbeastegg]

I found that to be the hardest boss fight in the game. I beat him on normal; it was the second closest I came to temporarily turning it down just so I could progress. It's very cheesy because so many of your moves don't work and the camera view is Not Helpful(TM).

The game checkpoints after you beat his first junk monster, so if you die on the second half you don't need to start from the beginning. Be warned that there's a seocnd junk monster. The first time I got that far the game 'created' it right on top of my character for a 1 hit insta-kill. Yay. Be alert for the signs he is creating the monster and get out of the middle area.

Normal lightsabre attacks are asking for pain. Don't do them. If you have the lightning combo (x, y) then use it occasionally if you think you can pull it off without being smacked during the animation. When you manage to knock the jedi down rush in and batter away at him before he gets up. Otherwise forget using your sabre. It only gives him chance to combo your behind off. TBH, I couldn't see them doing any damage on the few times I did get through his defences anyway.

Don't jump. Forget you have a jump button except for when you are fighting the junk monsters. Jumping allows him to blast you around with the force.

I found this guy was most vulnerable to lightning and force push, usually a spammed combo of both. Mashing the push button sends out a rapid volley of push blasts and sometimes one will catch him off guard. Other times I'd catch him with a short burst of lightning then blast him with push while he was still stunned. Be prepared to watch him block and/or counter most of your force attacks.

The main damage you do will come from sending the giggling nutcase flying into walls. Once he's stunned hit him with a blast of force push and hope the game sends him into a wall, not out a window. Sending him out of windows causes much less damage, and doesn't give you the change to stab him while he's down. Naturally he will go out of the windows most of the time, because the game is perverse like that. If you stay alert you can take advantage of this a bit; the jedi will climb back in and there's a second where he's vulnerable to another force push blast. Get your timing right and you can send him out of the windows repeatedly for a few minutes, taking a whole pixel strip off his health each time without any risk to yourself.


That level was rubbish. The one after it was worse. The one after that, it begins to get better.

[Mailman653]

New D/l content announcement:
http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/.../914815p1.html

[Sarathos]

Frog=100000000000000 - Lucas Arts=0

I must say I am a big Star Wars fan and I did put on a painful smile for most of the game, I really don't know what Lucas Arts hoped to achieve. I have lost a little faith in them, not much, but enough.

I believe what combat there is, is far too complex, maybe its just me. I have yet to finish the game, but I will be sure to take what everyone has said into account.

[Baby Boomer]

This looked interesting; it has been pointed out the plot seemed so well done they released a whole comic/novel follow up to the game it was like a movie coming out. They seem to have strayed down the path of Star Wars Ep III/IV, but I personally LOVE the Clone Wars. A second Republic Commando would've went down well (First was way too short).

Haven't played Unleashed yet, am thinking about getting it for PSP but if 360's camera control is bad I shudder to think of the PSP's.

LucasArts isn't that bad, they have hit gold sometimes, Star Wars battlefront (Rumors of a fourth are abound), RC, and several others. There have been failures, Galaxies among them.

[Praxil]

This fails miserably in an attempt to be funny. Oh man, I hope the creator didn't quit his day job for this.

[pevergreen]

Star Wars battlefront (Rumors of a fourth are abound)

There was a third? I cant find any information about a third.

[Papewaio]

Doesn't the one on PSP with character modifications count as a third title?

[Baby Boomer]

Yeah, Star Wars:Renegade Squadron is counted as a third by IGN and Gamespot, though I think its basiclly II. 3 is rumored to have Mandalorians and Yuuzhan Vong as extra factions and some others.

[Paradox]

Why Kit Fisto? They're just costumes, they can add more if they wanted to. These costumes better not disable saves like they already do, and it doesn't look like they have any unique stances/movesets I've hoped for.

[Lemur]

Zero Punctuation just came out with its Force Unleashed review. Knowing them, it will not be entirely safe for work.

[frogbeastegg]

That's probably my favourite Yahtzee review. So true. So very true. Thank heaven I didn't get the Wii version!

Trying to follow an aerobics routine with your arms tied to seperate windmills, lol!