Jibar
2008-10-04, 12:00 PM
I have a blog, yes, but I have a blog that I'm meant to be using to review stuff.
Well, I'm lazy and so I've only done my first video game review now.
And since it would be silly to just link my blog, tah dah:
I'm a total Star wars fanboy. I like almost everything you throw at me provided I can see a lightsaber (though Episode 2 did suck incredibly) and there has been far too many moments were my mind has drifted from whatever work I should be doing to wonder who would win in a fight between Vader and the Exile.
And that's probably the thing I like most. The video games. When the lightsaber is in your hands, the Force becomes your weapon and the galaxy's fate is up to you. There's some special magic there that few games can compare with, simply because of a Star Wars logo. And the simply best of these games, the Knights of the Old Republic seires, has a grip upon my very soul and I know I won't die happy until I can find out just what happened to Revan beyond the Outer Rim.
So what happens when LucasArts itself tries to match the epicness of the series, but in a much different fashion? Well, you get a pretty decent game. Because that's what the Force Unleashed is; an attempt to replicate the sheer brilliance of the KOTOR story with an entirely different style of gameplay.
Taking the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice, a chap going by the code name "Starkiller", you are expected to hunt down Jedi to prepare for the battle with the Emporer, who Vader hopes to overthrow. That's the first half. The second half sees you take control of your own destiny and sets the foundations for the Original Trilogy. Without spoiling anything, know that Starkiller is quite possibly responsible for the entire Original Trilogy and if you call yourself a Star Wars fan you owe it to yourself to play the game or read the book (or even read the comic) because the story is good. It is very good. There are spectacular twists and the cutscenes its presented in are of an incredible quality. Just don't look at Vader's cape. Don't.
The cutscenes only serve to illustrate part of this games real beauty though. A couple bland textures and clipping issues aside, the game is really pretty. Really really pretty. Industrial Light and Magic really did a fantastic job on that front. The worlds all look so majestic and real, the characters and enemies have such nice animations and the Ronin engine coupled with the sheer number of objects lying around mean after you've cleared an area of enemies it'll really look like a battleground. I found myself at many points stopping and just looking at the environment around me and noting just how many vehicle classes I recognise on Raxus Prime, or watching the plants sway as the Apprentice brushes past them on Felucia.
And the music that matches these environments is brilliant as well. The new score fits in perfectly with old favourites and at no point does any of it seem obtrusive or out of place. I'm no professional when it comes to composition but it's obvious real work went into the soundtrack and shows just how committed LucasArts was to this game. And hey, when I get Duel of Fates playing in perhaps the best battle in the game, I'm not going to complain at all.
The gameplay is where some problems will seep in though. A hack and slash approach to Star Wars is good and nobody can fault them at all for the decision. After all, when armed with a weapon capable of cutting through solid metal, why should charging head first and cutting a bloodless swathe through your foes be a bad idea? And it isn't. It really isn't. Basic combat is such a joy to play, and is the reason why the demo was such a hit. Force Dashing up to a Stormtrooper, cutting him in twelve places, jumping backwards, Pushing another into an explosive barrel before landing and charging the last with Lightning, which you cause to explode out from them is an incredible amount of fun. Even better is upgrading your Force Grip so that you can pick up three Stormtroopers at once and hurl them into their comrades, or into explosive devices, or off a cliff, or into the atmosphere or throw your lightsabre into them or... there are a lot of options. With a lightsaber, dozens of combos and at least six very offensive force powers versus 50+ different types of enemies anyone getting bored with the skirmishes simply shouldn't be playing a hack and slash game.
It's the bosses where combat fails. Simply because block and Force Lightning are all you really need. All your combos, your Force Push, your Force Grip, they're meaningless. The battles are simplistic and easy when not outright cheap. Jedi Master Kazdan Paratus has a habit of being impossible to hit with your lightsabre, Shaak Ti has a homing attack that is unblockable and next to impossible to dodge and the Emporer (you saw it coming) spams Force Lightning. Naturally. The mini-bosses as they are, or the really big guys like the Rancors and AT-STs, in turn just aren't challenging. They come down to spamming Force Lightning enough until the quick time event begins. The only good boss fights are against two of the greatest Sith in the galaxy (yeah, one of them ain't Palpatine), and defeating them just seems wrong anyway, because it really doesn't seem like the Apprentice should win against them in the first place, let alone do it in the humiliating fashion he does.
The game gets some leeway for being awesome. No, I'm not giving my final opinion now, but I am saying that almost every you do in this game feels really epic, even if it's down to killing a singular Stormtrooper. Every quick time event is ridiculously cool once you stop looking desperately at the buttons and start watching the action. In particular, Darth Vader's finisher is brutal to watch and crushing an AT-CT into a cube is very satisfying. Then there's the Star Destroyer sequence. Very annoying to play, but when you really start dragging it down you start thinking to yourself "I'm a ferking God!"
Something also worth mentioning is the unlockables, because the unlockables are cool. Changing your lightsaber beam to 7 different colours is pretty cool and I grew very attached to my yellow blade, the first time in Star Wars fandom that I've been happy to see a yellow lightsaber swing. The costumes as well are wonderful; a new one for each level and then four secret ones, all of which are very well designed and every player will pick out their favourites. With the option of playing as famous characters coming in downloadable content as well, it's entirely up to you just how your Apprentice spends the game.
The menu system is kinda annoying, as in order to get the rather seamless gameplay you instead have to have loading screens with every menu selection. Hope you don't want to change your lightsaber too often, and if you want to change costume you'll be shunted back to your last autosave point, adding another loading screen. So unless you want to go to the Training Room or level up, only make changes at the start of the level so you get the max amount of gameplay to menu time ratio.
The game is also very short. Solid play can have this done in about 6 hours no problem, complete with most things unlocked. Downloadable content will be adding levels apparantly, and turn it into an episodic game, but straight out the box there isn't much there. The Empirical and Cloud City levels are tiny, while Raxus Prime and Felucia are massive, but filled with empty space. You'll also end up returning to Raxus Prime and Felucia later in the game when neither require a second visit. Yes, those who've already finished it, there are story reasons for Felucia, but it didn't have to be that way and Raxus Prime is really unnecessary. Technically my copy is borrowed from a friend who decided he'd had enough after two playthroughs and plans to trade it in. I don't know how he'd feel about the downloadable content, but I know that its the only reason I would have for not returning it after a while.
Overall, it's a good game. The visual and audio side really excels the movies it's based on, and the story is fascinating to watch unfold. The combat, while very fun, fails in areas and the bosses are jokes and they're simply isn't enough of it and what there is gets recycled a bit towards the end. Really worth a rent at the very least, and purchase if you're prepared to stick around for the promised downloadable content. And, hey, if you do end up playing say hi to PROXY for me.
Now to wait for them to release a Revan skin.
What do you think? About the review and the game.
Well, I'm lazy and so I've only done my first video game review now.
And since it would be silly to just link my blog, tah dah:
I'm a total Star wars fanboy. I like almost everything you throw at me provided I can see a lightsaber (though Episode 2 did suck incredibly) and there has been far too many moments were my mind has drifted from whatever work I should be doing to wonder who would win in a fight between Vader and the Exile.
And that's probably the thing I like most. The video games. When the lightsaber is in your hands, the Force becomes your weapon and the galaxy's fate is up to you. There's some special magic there that few games can compare with, simply because of a Star Wars logo. And the simply best of these games, the Knights of the Old Republic seires, has a grip upon my very soul and I know I won't die happy until I can find out just what happened to Revan beyond the Outer Rim.
So what happens when LucasArts itself tries to match the epicness of the series, but in a much different fashion? Well, you get a pretty decent game. Because that's what the Force Unleashed is; an attempt to replicate the sheer brilliance of the KOTOR story with an entirely different style of gameplay.
Taking the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice, a chap going by the code name "Starkiller", you are expected to hunt down Jedi to prepare for the battle with the Emporer, who Vader hopes to overthrow. That's the first half. The second half sees you take control of your own destiny and sets the foundations for the Original Trilogy. Without spoiling anything, know that Starkiller is quite possibly responsible for the entire Original Trilogy and if you call yourself a Star Wars fan you owe it to yourself to play the game or read the book (or even read the comic) because the story is good. It is very good. There are spectacular twists and the cutscenes its presented in are of an incredible quality. Just don't look at Vader's cape. Don't.
The cutscenes only serve to illustrate part of this games real beauty though. A couple bland textures and clipping issues aside, the game is really pretty. Really really pretty. Industrial Light and Magic really did a fantastic job on that front. The worlds all look so majestic and real, the characters and enemies have such nice animations and the Ronin engine coupled with the sheer number of objects lying around mean after you've cleared an area of enemies it'll really look like a battleground. I found myself at many points stopping and just looking at the environment around me and noting just how many vehicle classes I recognise on Raxus Prime, or watching the plants sway as the Apprentice brushes past them on Felucia.
And the music that matches these environments is brilliant as well. The new score fits in perfectly with old favourites and at no point does any of it seem obtrusive or out of place. I'm no professional when it comes to composition but it's obvious real work went into the soundtrack and shows just how committed LucasArts was to this game. And hey, when I get Duel of Fates playing in perhaps the best battle in the game, I'm not going to complain at all.
The gameplay is where some problems will seep in though. A hack and slash approach to Star Wars is good and nobody can fault them at all for the decision. After all, when armed with a weapon capable of cutting through solid metal, why should charging head first and cutting a bloodless swathe through your foes be a bad idea? And it isn't. It really isn't. Basic combat is such a joy to play, and is the reason why the demo was such a hit. Force Dashing up to a Stormtrooper, cutting him in twelve places, jumping backwards, Pushing another into an explosive barrel before landing and charging the last with Lightning, which you cause to explode out from them is an incredible amount of fun. Even better is upgrading your Force Grip so that you can pick up three Stormtroopers at once and hurl them into their comrades, or into explosive devices, or off a cliff, or into the atmosphere or throw your lightsabre into them or... there are a lot of options. With a lightsaber, dozens of combos and at least six very offensive force powers versus 50+ different types of enemies anyone getting bored with the skirmishes simply shouldn't be playing a hack and slash game.
It's the bosses where combat fails. Simply because block and Force Lightning are all you really need. All your combos, your Force Push, your Force Grip, they're meaningless. The battles are simplistic and easy when not outright cheap. Jedi Master Kazdan Paratus has a habit of being impossible to hit with your lightsabre, Shaak Ti has a homing attack that is unblockable and next to impossible to dodge and the Emporer (you saw it coming) spams Force Lightning. Naturally. The mini-bosses as they are, or the really big guys like the Rancors and AT-STs, in turn just aren't challenging. They come down to spamming Force Lightning enough until the quick time event begins. The only good boss fights are against two of the greatest Sith in the galaxy (yeah, one of them ain't Palpatine), and defeating them just seems wrong anyway, because it really doesn't seem like the Apprentice should win against them in the first place, let alone do it in the humiliating fashion he does.
The game gets some leeway for being awesome. No, I'm not giving my final opinion now, but I am saying that almost every you do in this game feels really epic, even if it's down to killing a singular Stormtrooper. Every quick time event is ridiculously cool once you stop looking desperately at the buttons and start watching the action. In particular, Darth Vader's finisher is brutal to watch and crushing an AT-CT into a cube is very satisfying. Then there's the Star Destroyer sequence. Very annoying to play, but when you really start dragging it down you start thinking to yourself "I'm a ferking God!"
Something also worth mentioning is the unlockables, because the unlockables are cool. Changing your lightsaber beam to 7 different colours is pretty cool and I grew very attached to my yellow blade, the first time in Star Wars fandom that I've been happy to see a yellow lightsaber swing. The costumes as well are wonderful; a new one for each level and then four secret ones, all of which are very well designed and every player will pick out their favourites. With the option of playing as famous characters coming in downloadable content as well, it's entirely up to you just how your Apprentice spends the game.
The menu system is kinda annoying, as in order to get the rather seamless gameplay you instead have to have loading screens with every menu selection. Hope you don't want to change your lightsaber too often, and if you want to change costume you'll be shunted back to your last autosave point, adding another loading screen. So unless you want to go to the Training Room or level up, only make changes at the start of the level so you get the max amount of gameplay to menu time ratio.
The game is also very short. Solid play can have this done in about 6 hours no problem, complete with most things unlocked. Downloadable content will be adding levels apparantly, and turn it into an episodic game, but straight out the box there isn't much there. The Empirical and Cloud City levels are tiny, while Raxus Prime and Felucia are massive, but filled with empty space. You'll also end up returning to Raxus Prime and Felucia later in the game when neither require a second visit. Yes, those who've already finished it, there are story reasons for Felucia, but it didn't have to be that way and Raxus Prime is really unnecessary. Technically my copy is borrowed from a friend who decided he'd had enough after two playthroughs and plans to trade it in. I don't know how he'd feel about the downloadable content, but I know that its the only reason I would have for not returning it after a while.
Overall, it's a good game. The visual and audio side really excels the movies it's based on, and the story is fascinating to watch unfold. The combat, while very fun, fails in areas and the bosses are jokes and they're simply isn't enough of it and what there is gets recycled a bit towards the end. Really worth a rent at the very least, and purchase if you're prepared to stick around for the promised downloadable content. And, hey, if you do end up playing say hi to PROXY for me.
Now to wait for them to release a Revan skin.
What do you think? About the review and the game.