force unleashed??

[Axel Grungy]

i just downloaded the demo on PSN today and slightly disappointed. Ive been waiting for this game for a long time, and just doesnt seem to oooze anything really kicka$$. The force throw thing is kinda cool but thats about it. When you kill stormtroopers with your light saber its not very satisfying, then these little green orbs fly out like in kingdom hearts or soemthing lol. Graphics are pretty decent, nothing spectacular. Just kinda seems like every other star wars game cept now you can throw stuff lol. What do you guys think so far??

[MinisterofDOOM]

I was actually pretty happy with it. It's the first Star Wars game that actually makes you truly powerful as a force user. Flinging people will NEVER get old. Dropping TIE fighters on people will NEVER get old. Pinning people to the wall with TIE fighters will NEVER get old. And I assume you'll get more force powers (and maybe more depth to the ones from the demo) in the full game.

I like that the game focuses on use of Force rather than lightsaber slashing.

[Hijacker]

I enjoyed the demo quite a bit. This will be bought for the PS3 when it comes out. I haven't been excited about a Lucasarts game since TIE Fighter came out.

Best kill was had by my roommate. He flung a trooper off the walkway ledge in the station interior section (where the TIEs shoot the walkway trying to nail you). The guy hit one of the support beams and pushed the beam all the way out, which in turn had a TIE fly right into it. It almost looked like he flung the trooper into the TIE it went by so fast.

My only complaint are the boss fights. The AT-ST at the end of the level was difficult, but fun. I just didn't like the little God of War style finish to it.

[hatchback240]

i liked the demo, the star wars nerd in me was hoping for more. maybe when the game comes out i'll be happier. the force powers rocked, tho i didnt like how you couldnt move around when doing something as simple as lifting a storm trooper..

[Loki]

I was hoping for some dismemberment with the lightsaber, but that would bump this to M rating and supposedly decrease the target sales =/ Overall I'm impressed with it and I'll be buying it when it comes out.

[bmike818]

...kinda got tired of it after 10 mins. I will have to wait and see how the game looks after it has been released. I hope it has as much customization as KOTOR.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I hope it's actually fun, unlike KOTOR.

This one's not an RPG, it's an action game. So hopefully we won't be stuck reading pages of bad dialog and running around uninteresting-looking cities for the first half of the game, but will actually get to do some fighting.

I HATED KOTOR. I hope to hell Force Unleashed has nothing at all in common with it. There's no need for customization. Give me force powers and targets and leave me alone.

That's not meant as hostile against you, bmike. Just against KOTOR. Which I hated.

[Axel Grungy]

i liked kotor, slow as it was. There needs to be a balance between the two. i liked the customization in KOTOR but battles were lame.

[NSR_s30]

I really enjoyed the demo as well. I've been keeping my eye out for this since I heard about it and thus far I have to say I'm impressed. I think once the game comes out, I'm gonna pick it up.

[bmike818]

That's not meant as hostile against you, bmike. Just against KOTOR. Which I hated.

thanks..no offense taken . I am also anticipating the release of this game, but with Fall out and Fable due I might not have time for this game. If you guys pick it up, let us know how it goes.I did really enjoy the trailer where he uses his force power to take down the Destroyer. I was like WOW!

...p.s. Lego Star Wars rule, especially when I can play it w/ my nephews

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, I have Lego Star Wars for multiple systems.

[UFGatorGrad]

I'm picking this game up on day one. It seems that with all the hype games get these days it's too hard for a game to actualy impress you b/c you've already seen trailers, vids, previews, hands-on, etc so when the game gets around it's old news. I really liked the demo and I'm hoping the story is halfway decent, since it's supposed to be what happends between 3 and 4. If anything who doesn't want to be Darth Vader and fling wookies around the jungle????

[krazydriver]

played the demo at a friends house today.I honestly was quite impressed with the destructibility of the environment, picking up and throwing things into other things, which sends everything flying, then exploding then blowing out windows and sucking everything into space is amazing.

i'd get it... but i don't have a ps3, xbox 360 or wii.I was one of the many who signed the petition to make it for PC, but lucasarts didn't listen..

[bmike818]

I hope you guys saw the ad for Toy's R Us this week. They give you a $20 gift card free w/ purchase of Star Wars Force Unleashed.

[hatchback240]

the toys R us in my town went out of business epic fail

[MinisterofDOOM]

i'd get it... but i don't have a ps3, xbox 360 or wii.

You don't want the Wii version anyway. It's not even the same game, coding-wise.

As for the PC version, I've heard claims that Lucasarts didn't want to do a PC version because it would be too much for PCs to handle. Which is bull****. Contemporary PCs can do everything the 360/PS3 can and more. Quad-core processors, multiple video AND graphics accelerators...the PC is the IDEAL platform for a game like FU (huh huh).

[anti_flag_army]

You don't want the Wii version anyway. It's not even the same game, coding-wise.

As for the PC version, I've heard claims that Lucasarts didn't want to do a PC version because it would be too much for PCs to handle. Which is bull****. Contemporary PCs can do everything the 360/PS3 can and more. Quad-core processors, multiple video AND graphics accelerators...the PC is the IDEAL platform for a game like FU (huh huh).

I heard that there was a ps2 version of it, so i did a little looking around and got myself a iso of it, i played it for the last 30 mins and i must say, it is as good as the 350 demo i played (not graphics of course) but the load times are a joke. But all around it seems to be a pretty decent version of it.

edit: i still plan on picking up the 360 version of it, but i wanted to DL it for 2 reasons, first to see how it stacked up to the next gen console versions, and second, after playing the demo i wanted to play more....now

[Loki]

I hope you guys saw the ad for Toy's R Us this week. They give you a $20 gift card free w/ purchase of Star Wars Force Unleashed.

Well that decided it for me. I was just gonna get it at Best Buy, but that's a better deal.

[krazydriver]

Went to gamestop today... they had the actual game out demoing on a ps3.Nobody else was playing so i stood there and played for almost an hour.

Here's my riff on it(keep in mind i've played the demo, and played the actual game ~1.5 levels, so not an all encompassing review).PS3 version is EXTREMELY buggy graphically, background textures in walls were constantly flickering, the apprentices head would occasionally turn into a huge purple blob all kinds of weird stuff.(no idea if this is as bad on the 360) Cramped areas can make the camera extremely difficult to deal with.

I was surprised how the force points/leveling system worked out. Very interesting. Throwing stuff around shouldn't ever get old, it's all kinds of fun.God of war style finishing for bosses, the camera mode it cuts too during the boss fight on the first level was epic. Looked amazing between the lightsaber + force pushing going on. Absolutely amazing! Couldn't hear crap for sound because gamestop sets the volume too low.

idk, i was looking at 360's off ebay the other day. if i somehow found one for a good price, i would probably buy the system and this game. At the very least i will be going to my friends house to play it.

[jdefelic]

I just played the demo to decide if i will buy it tomorrow when it's released. The answer is, no. I thought it was mediocre at best. The force powers where cool but the graphics were not very good at all, not for the power of the PS3 and 360. And i didn't like how it was just kill this, kill that, no depth. In short it was to arcade-ish for me. I will rent it but that is it. $60 stays in my pocket.

The force powers were cool, but that was it. I wish it were more like Knights of the old republic with these force powers and better graphics, that would be awesome.

Maybe playing the full game will change my opinion, that is if there is a great story and some more depth to the fighting (i somehow dout the fighting will be any different ).

[Hijacker]

My roommate bought this at the midnight release last night.

It's enjoyable. Also, I have a feeling the demo was done on an older build, because the graphics of the final copy look a bit more polished.

The story hasn't really picked up yet. The first two areas have been Vader saying "go kill this guy for me"

[UFGatorGrad]

Picked up the game last night.. played for a few hours and I'm glad I bought it. I'm no hardcore star wars fun but I know the general mythology and I do like video games so this game is fun. It is much better than the demo and more polished as Hijacker said. The target system is a pain in the *** but who cares because you are such a bad *** in the game it doesn't matter. There's a "level up" system, where by killing more guys and finding Force spheres you unlock moves and purchase them a la God of War/Devil May Cry. Combat is fun, nothing groundbreaking but lots of the badassery Take into account I do like God of War, Devil May Cry, Dynasty Warriors and they're all essentially hack n slash so it's fun for me. The story seems good so far, the voice acting is good so no complains there. Pretty happy overall.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I watched my roommate play through the first 3 missions, and I played through most of the first one. The finish and quality are definitely an improvement over the demo.

I'm really impressed with the facial animations in the game. The mo-cap system Lucasarts used worked out nicely.

The game still doesn't play as fluid as I'd like it to, but I've (sadly) come to expect that from console action games anymore. It's certainly not bad enough to ruin the game, though. I just wish the controls were generally more precise and worked better together. Especially for a game that encourages combos, commands and actions don't transition particularly smoothly.

Proxy the droid sidekick is entertaining "I was hoping I'd actually kill you this time. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Master." I'm not sure what to make of the obviously-a-romantic-sidetrack bombshell pilot yet (aside from the fact that her facial animations might be the best in the game).

I really like the idea of a "normal" person with Sith powers. All the other Sith in the SW media have been emo cauldrons of boiling hate and anger. Not Starkiller...he's just a regular guy with Jedi and Sith powers. It's a nice change of pace to see a guy who can laugh force-lightning-ing people.

Oh, also:"Raise the lasershield!"

[Hijacker]

I yelled out "Lower the laser shield! LOWER THE LASER SHIELD!" When the rebels called for it to be raised.

I'm amazed at how short the game is, though. My roommate beat it yesterday. Granted he stayed home from work to play it, but still. I expected it to be a bit longer.

On the bright side, since he's done with it, I get my turn to play! The game immediately reminded me of many other action games like DMC and God of War. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm enjoying the combat system, but I did die to the stupid AT-CT in the first level. Damned thing double stomped me. I also made the mistake of leaving the rebel heavy weapons guys living. They only fired at me when I was actually engaging the AT-CT. Dumb militia!

[Loki]

Anyone else frustrated as hell at all the knockback moves? I spend more time on my *** eating laser than I do fighting.

[hatchback240]

^ the ATST in the demo almost got me while i was spending a year getting back on my feet.

[Hijacker]

For a royal BAMF, he sure is slow to kip up.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Alright, here's my official review:

The game is undeniably fun. However, it has also INFURIATED me to the point that no game has for years. Maybe longer, or maybe ever.

I don't mind that the gameplay gets repetitive as long as it stays fun. For the most part, that has been the case.But there are some massive exceptions.

The first area that really pissed me the hell off was in the 2nd Jedi-hunting mission at the salvage yard. The part where you enter a large room, kill a few small guys, then battle the first big "junk golem" (I don't recall it's real name). The junk golem fight itself was great. The problem was that all the game's weaknesses coalesced into a massive pile of hot steaming BAD GAME DESIGN in this room. Firstly, EVERYTHING in that ENTIRE MISSION is the same damn rust color. EVERYTHING. Secondly, there are bottomless pits everywhere. The monotone style of the maps severely impairs depth perception and also makes it hard to tell what you can stand on and what you can't. Next comes the imprecise controls, and the fact that Starkiller advances as you make lightsaber attacks. This all combines to make it very very easy to accidentally fall to your death.But the thing that made all these issues phenomenally infuriating was the save points. The game does NOT save once you kill the junk golem. So if you accidentally fall, you have to go through the ENTIRE room again, kill everyone, and worst of all, you have to watch BOTH of the damned "movies" that you've already seen.

Those "movies" are another MASSIVE failure on the designers' part. As I've said many times before and will continue to say as more developers commit the same stupid: there is NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER a reason to take control of the player AWAY from them during the flow of gameplay. There is NEVER a reason to force the player to look at something. 99% of the time, the player will see it on their own. And if they don't, it's a sign of poor design. There are plenty of ways to draw a player's eyes to a key object without taking control away. Resorting to flying camera tours of a room the player just walked into and can ALREADY SEE ANYWAY is beyond maddening. And making them un-skippable is simply inexcusable. If you can't find a better way to make the player see what you want, you probably shouldn't be in the game design business.

Another huge issue that I touched on above is the poor flow of the controls. It's so hard to feel what the character is doing. Executing combos is frustrating because it's difficult to tell "where" the process is. And transitioning moves simply does not flow. There's a distinct "move a--stop--move b" process to things that tends to annoy. The imprecise targetting system and general sloppiness of in-game actions combine with this to make a very messy feeling game. Fortunately, Starkiller is powerful enough that this doesn't break the game.

And knockback is the game's other GLARING flaw. Starkiller has been dual-trained as a Jedi and a Sith, and he STILL falls down every time someone looks at him crooked. There are times when you're simply stunlocked and cannot do ANYTHING and just die. That is NOT conducive to a fun gameplay experience. There are far too many enemies that can interrupt, stun, or knock you back. I realize some mechanic is needed to interrupt your killing streaks, but once again the developers have taken the simple (or maybe lazy) route instead of coming up with something interesting. Stuns and knockback should NEVER be used as difficulty balancing mechanics. If you have to resort to them, something else is wrong with your game.

Next: people don't survive being in space. I don't care how briefly. I think that's all that needs to be said there.

Still, all of these MASSIVE design shortcomings don't manage to ruin the game completely. I still come to places where I have to quit playing before I put my fist through something. But after I cool down I still have the desire to pick the game up and keep playing.

[OldmanPurdy]

Those "movies" are another MASSIVE failure on the designers' part. As I've said many times before and will continue to say as more developers commit the same stupid: there is NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER a reason to take control of the player AWAY from them during the flow of gameplay. There is NEVER a reason to force the player to look at something. 99% of the time, the player will see it on their own. And if they don't, it's a sign of poor design. There are plenty of ways to draw a player's eyes to a key object without taking control away. Resorting to flying camera tours of a room the player just walked into and can ALREADY SEE ANYWAY is beyond maddening. And making them un-skippable is simply inexcusable. If you can't find a better way to make the player see what you want, you probably shouldn't be in the game design business.

I can't comment on the rest of the post because I havn't played the full game but this I agree with 100%. Nothing makes me more pissed in a game than a long winded cutscene explaining what a switch did when I knew what the switch did before I even hit it. But for a console game I can't blame the devs I mean when you consider the scrublords that are going to be buying these games you really need to dumb s*** down to keep them on the right track.
Modified by OldmanPurdy at 10:13 AM 9/19/2008

[Loki]

I have to agree with the knockback issue. I cannot stand to play this game for more than 20 minutes or so; any longer and it becomes a chore. And I'm just on Normal Difficulty. I cannot even imagine how often I'd be throwing my controller on the hardest difficulty.

My other gripe is that Starkiller is apparently wearing felt shoes while every single surface in the entire universe is coated with Teflon. Raxus Prime was pretty damn infuriating, especially when falling to your death, again, puts you back to your previous save BEFORE you killed the giant robot.