Force Unleashed

[KerfuffleMach2]

Ok, so I see there is no topic about this, which surprises me.

Anywho, let's discuss the game. Likes, dislike, predictions, and other stuff like that.

I think it's a great game. I have the PS2 version. The story (with the good ending) fits well with existing material.

Any other thoughts?

[Icewalker]

Just got it. Playing it. Quite fun. Going to go back and continue in about a minute.

I just got to the Star Destroyer sequence, which I have heard as much toted as a moment of awesome, but so far to my finding IT SUCKS. What you are supposed to do is completely unintuitive and I still don't know why it isn't working. So...less 'holy crap this is awesome' and more '...ugh.'

However, I do quite like the game. Within a minute of actual gameplay I was actively thinking about how awesome it is...I love the level of interactivity in the environment.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Which version do you have?

Also, the interactivity is awesome. It's fun throwing things at people.

There has been talk about making a sequel. Thoughts?

[Icewalker]

PS3. Graphics are impressive, and controls are far more functional than the Wii.

It's definitely a very fun play...A sequel would be total fail based on the plot...

Well, I'd say the least concern is that the main character dies. More importantly, it already mucks around with the canon a little bit, and there definitely isn't enough time between the end of this and the old trilogy for another game.

[Mando Knight]

controls are far more functional than the Wii.

I dunno... the Wii controls seem extremely intuitive to me... sometimes they're a little picky, but now I think of Repulse as the character crossing his arms then swinging them downwards and apart (as that's the exaggeration of the Wiimote action)... and pushing the Nunchuck to Force Push your opponents is pretty straight forward...

[KerfuffleMach2]

PS3. Graphics are impressive, and controls are far more functional than the Wii.

It's definitely a very fun play...A sequel would be total fail based on the plot...

Well, I'd say the least concern is that the main character dies. More importantly, it already mucks around with the canon a little bit, and there definitely isn't enough time between the end of this and the old trilogy for another game.

Not enough time? Leia is only a teen in this. There's still probably another ten years before Episode IV picks up. Plus, who said the sequel had to use the apprentice? They could make a good one based off other characters.

The graphics are great. LucasArts actually worked with Industrial Light and Magic for this. For those of you that don't know, ILM is a move special effects company. Some movies they've worked on include Ironman, Transformers, Indiana Jones, and, of course, Star Wars.

[Mando Knight]

The graphics are great. LucasArts actually worked with Industrial Light and Magic for this. For those of you that don't know, ILM is a move special effects company. Some movies they've worked on include Ironman, Transformers, Indiana Jones, and, of course, Star Wars.

...ILM was founded by Lucas on top of that...

[KerfuffleMach2]

...ILM was founded by Lucas on top of that...

Yes. Yes it was. And they are one of the top special effects companies out there.

Also, LucasArts created a new physics engine for this game, called Ronin.

Yeah, I had to do a research project on this game for school. I know more than the average person about it.

[Icewalker]

I still don't think a sequel would be a great idea. Plotwise, that is. I'd love to have more game like this though.

As to the Wii controls, I am making an assumption. The impression I've gotten is that building lightsaber combos is very challenging, because instead of 'square, square, triangle, triangle' it is a series of four various movements all of which need to be accepted by the sometimes rather finnicky controls.

Although to be fair, only so much of the game is reliant on lightsaber fighting, so...(go force lightning)

[Destro_Yersul]

New thought! Sequel: The Force Unplotted.

You take control of some random awesome Jedi. You traverse a number of interesting environments in order to kill stuff with the force, and possibly take their stuff. There is no plot, because the entire budget was spent on awesome. Including one room near the end where you can hurl stormtroopers into blast furnaces, gaining points based on how well you aim. :smallbiggrin:

[Jibar]

Also, LucasArts created a new physics engine for this game, called Ronin.

Technically the Ronin engine isn't new at all. It's a combination of the Havok, Euphoria and DMM engines. Ronin is just a program that lets those three interact, but has no real substance of it's own.

And for the record, Ronin owns.

[NerfTW]

Not enough time? Leia is only a teen in this. There's still probably another ten years before Episode IV picks up. Plus, who said the sequel had to use the apprentice? They could make a good one based off other characters.


Leia and Luke are 19 18 (edit- maths r hard) in A New Hope. The game takes place two years before the first movie.

So yes, there is some leeway for the other character's stories to wrap up. Force Unleashed only covers about a month. At the very least there are two glaring plot holes that need to be addressed at some point.
Rahm Kota and Maris Brood not only survive, but Rahm Kota is a founder of the Rebels. He needs to be out of the picture in time for the first movie, or else Luke would have simply trained with him instead of going to Dagobah. Remember that his force powers were completely untrained in Empire. (He couldn't even grab a lightsaber with the force)

[hamishspence]

I thought that they were 18, very nearly 19- just a fraction under 19 years had gone by between III and IV. maybe that was novelization, or novels set immediately afterward.

[Icewalker]

I would just like to note that I love your costume on the last level. I mean, it's basically Altair as a jedi. Beastmode.

[Hunter Noventa]

It's a fun game to be sure, I'm still stuck on the second level in the junk yard, i just keep falling to my death.

[Icewalker]

Just for assorted 'damnit' reasons, or is there a specific spot you are stuck on? Like, the room with the engine and the giant bar?

[KerfuffleMach2]

Technically the Ronin engine isn't new at all. It's a combination of the Havok, Euphoria and DMM engines. Ronin is just a program that lets those three interact, but has no real substance of it's own.

And for the record, Ronin owns.

Well, Havok is older, yes, having been developed for Halo. But both Euphoria and DMM are new. And awesome.

[Larrin]

The game is great fun, but its toooooo short/small! Its the sort of game you want to cruise around in and just smash the crap out of everything, and next thing you know you've beat the level, then the game.....Plus a quarter of the missions are more or less backtracking to previous planets. You already 'have' to backtrack to previous missions if you want to find all the holocrons/lightsber gems, why make me do it again? I want to explore these awesome planets and ships, i want to fight new and exiting foes (though i have to give it to them, they did a good job of keeping enemies deadly to the end...)

And the trash level has several bad "you fall and die" points until you find the trick to jumping. (double jump, then dash...you can't make some jumps without it! At least i couldn't). Considering how long it takes to reload, falling to your death 6 times in a row is not fun.

Okay, i've ripped on it enough, lets talk about what larrin liked:

Costumes are fun! i like getting different looks, and feeling badash in just the style i want to be badash in. Lightsaber colors are also fun, getting to customize you lightsaber is a must in any jedi game. (power crystals were meh, though I guess they did as much as they 'obviously' could)

Force pushing and lightning are so much fun! Especially when you can mix it up with your lightsaber attacks! Long live the lightning enhanced lightsaber!

Upgrading powers is fun, I like ignoring things i don't use (lightning shield, saber throw) and pumping the things i do.

While there is no excuse for the healing green dots that leave your slain foes, its fun and as good a healing mechanic as any in a hack and slash game, saved my butt alot. Its good, vampiric fun.

So what you have is an awesome game with limited room to play in. Especially at the end the levels felt very short and linear. It feels like one of those great TV shows that gets canceled after the 13th episode.

[valadil]

I played through the first level last night and had a blast. I have some complaints below, but it was still a fun time.

The controls (on PS3) aren't to my liking so far though. Jump feels awkward and I'm still having trouble with force powers other than the blast (which seems way too anime-esque for SW). I think Jedi Academy's force grip was done better, but I played that game on a computer and still haven't gotten used to gaming without a mouse. I would have liked if the six axis controller could be used for manipulating gripped objects.

Just how short is the game anyway?

[Destro_Yersul]

One Prologue, 2 short levels, 7 longer levels and assorted cutscenes. Add Jedi to taste.

Destro's new complaint: Sith Master difficulty. Bosses. ARARGHRAGAGH! that is all.

To elaborate, the bosses are very hard to kill, but it's not because they were well designed. It's because they're immune to 85% of your attacks, and the effective ones do very little damage. Most of them have one, or more, unblockable attacks as well. Kazdan Paratus, who I have just killed, was ridiculously difficult. He's the second boss. The final boss was ridiculous on normal, so I shudder to think what SM will be like. Curse you, achievements!

[Person_Man]

Pre-ordered the 360 version of the game. Played through casually over the course of two weeks. Fun, but a big disappointment.

The game is buggy and unpolished, with many graphic errors.
It's Nintendo hard - a platformer game (with a few minor RPG elements) that auto saves at set locations, and if you die you're put back to that location. If you fall in the wrong place you die, in other places its necessary to move forward in the game. If you kill 19 of the 20 enemies hanging out in a room and the 20th one kills you, then you're sent back to the save point and have to kill them all over again.
Most enemies are inexplicably immune to all but one Force power, and a few are inexplicably immune to every Force power.
Every boss and mini-boss (of which there are many) is defeated by playing Simon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(game)) (you must push certain buttons, that literally pop up on the screen), which destroys the verisimilitude of the game, and is tedious to play. You're also treated to the same exact "finishing move" many times over, which is boring.
The marketing for game makes a huge deal about how wood splinters like wood, metal bends like metal, enemies have AI, etc. But the game is remarkably uneven - some doors can be opened with Force Cannonball, others are immune. Some things can be lifted, others can't. Some screens and windows break like glass, others are unbreakable. And everything at a given location looks the same, so there aren't obvious visual cues to let you know what you can and cannot use your powers on.


But hey, who doesn't enjoy smacking things with a light saber and throwing things around with the Force? So to reiterate, its a fun game with tons of issues. Rent it.

[Mando Knight]

Pre-ordered the 360 version of the game. Played through casually over the course of two weeks. Fun, but a big disappointment.

The game is buggy and unpolished, with many graphic errors.
It's Nintendo hard - a platformer game (with a few minor RPG elements) that auto saves at set locations, and if you die you're put back to that location. If you fall in the wrong place you die, in other places its necessary to move forward in the game. If you kill 19 of the 20 enemies hanging out in a room and the 20th one kills you, then you're sent back to the save point and have to kill them all over again.
Most enemies are inexplicably immune to all but one Force power, and a few are inexplicably immune to every Force power.
Every boss and mini-boss (of which there are many) is defeated by playing Simon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(game)) (you must push certain buttons, that literally pop up on the screen), which destroys the verisimilitude of the game, and is tedious to play. You're also treated to the same exact "finishing move" many times over, which is boring.
The marketing for game makes a huge deal about how wood splinters like wood, metal bends like metal, enemies have AI, etc. But the game is remarkably uneven - some doors can be opened with Force Cannonball, others are immune. Some things can be lifted, others can't. Some screens and windows break like glass, others are unbreakable. And everything at a given location looks the same, so there aren't obvious visual cues to let you know what you can and cannot use your powers on.


All of these seem to be far better in the Wii version, at least comparatively...

The game might not be anymore complete... but the graphics are on par with the better 3rd-party Wii games.
Most enemies are the Stormtrooper Stand-ins (Real Stormtroopers are saved for the final level, and are on par with the Mook Commanders from earlier levels), and can be killed with basic application of Force Powers and/or lightsabers. The harder enemies have an easily-spammed weakness of some sort... except for the other Force Users, in which you'll just have to either power/saber lock and Simon them out (just rotate the right peripheral and push), or find the boss's attack pattern and spam its weakness--either a ranged Force Power, or running up and gutting him with your lightsaber.
Rather than God-of-War style Simon, the Wii's finishing moves are "Wave the right peripheral in any direction when prompted." Not any more realistic, but lets you pay attention to the cinematic finishing moves in the background.
The graphics, physics, and AI are what you'd expect for a "Jedi Knight... IV?" game on the Wii... and on par with Metroid Prime 3, so being a JK Academy and Metroid Prime 3 player, I wasn't too disappointed.

[Mando Knight]

Pre-ordered the 360 version of the game. Played through casually over the course of two weeks. Fun, but a big disappointment.

The game is buggy and unpolished, with many graphic errors.
It's Nintendo hard - a platformer game (with a few minor RPG elements) that auto saves at set locations, and if you die you're put back to that location. If you fall in the wrong place you die, in other places its necessary to move forward in the game. If you kill 19 of the 20 enemies hanging out in a room and the 20th one kills you, then you're sent back to the save point and have to kill them all over again.
Most enemies are inexplicably immune to all but one Force power, and a few are inexplicably immune to every Force power.
Every boss and mini-boss (of which there are many) is defeated by playing Simon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(game)) (you must push certain buttons, that literally pop up on the screen), which destroys the verisimilitude of the game, and is tedious to play. You're also treated to the same exact "finishing move" many times over, which is boring.
The marketing for game makes a huge deal about how wood splinters like wood, metal bends like metal, enemies have AI, etc. But the game is remarkably uneven - some doors can be opened with Force Cannonball, others are immune. Some things can be lifted, others can't. Some screens and windows break like glass, others are unbreakable. And everything at a given location looks the same, so there aren't obvious visual cues to let you know what you can and cannot use your powers on.


All of these seem to be far better in the Wii version, at least comparatively...

The game might not be anymore complete... but the graphics are on par with the better 3rd-party Wii games.
Most enemies are the Stormtrooper Stand-ins (Real Stormtroopers are saved for the final level, and are on par with the Mook Commanders from earlier levels), and can be killed with basic application of Force Powers and/or lightsabers. The harder enemies have an easily-spammed weakness of some sort... except for the other Force Users, in which you'll just have to either power/saber lock and Simon them out (just rotate the right peripheral and push), or find the boss's attack pattern and spam its weakness--either a ranged Force Power, or running up and gutting him with your lightsaber.
Rather than God-of-War style Simon, the Wii's finishing moves are "Wave the right peripheral in any direction when prompted." Not any more realistic, but lets you pay attention to the cinematic finishing moves in the background.
The graphics, physics, and AI are what you'd expect for a "Jedi Knight... IV?" game on the Wii... and on par with Metroid Prime 3, so being a JK Academy and Metroid Prime 3 player, I wasn't too disappointed. Also, everything "Force-able" glows in the Wii version...

[Icewalker]

I really didn't find any of these things problematic myself. The game is pretty hard at some points, but I didn't find it much more than challenging... (I was playing it on Sith Warrior difficulty, but I'll probably go back and try it on master). I found the environment interactions to be quite open ended, while there are a few things that you can't affect, I didn't find it too noticeable.

While it does have quicktime events, I think they are done quite well. There were 2-3 different executions for each giant enemy, so that didn't get too repetitive...

I had absolutely no problem with the jumper aspect, except in one or two spots where it was solely to grab a holocron which wasn't over a doom drop.

Some of the assorted attack resistant mooks get annoying, but it isn't that bad, and I didn't really notice most of these force immunities. The big stuff is immune to force push, reasonably, and the EVO troopers are immune to force lightning, but it is rather explained in one of the tips.

I saw no bugs or graphic errors, although I was playing the PS3 version.

[NerfTW]

I thought that they were 18, very nearly 19- just a fraction under 19 years had gone by between III and IV. maybe that was novelization, or novels set immediately afterward.

You're right. I counted their birth year by mistake. They were born 19 years before the battle of Yavin, which makes them 18, not 19.

For extra creepiness, keep in mind Han Solo was 28 in the first movie. Although he didn't kiss Leia until she was in her 20's. (3 years after Yavin)

[Quayleman]

Man...

the evil ending completely destroys the canon...

other than that, I had some issues with the larger enemies. No matter what the enemy is (purge trooper, ATST, rancor...) lightning, then jump n slash, then lightning...

Bosses are not very fun on harder difficulties. they can often combo away over half of your life if you miss one block or dodge, and take FOREVER to die.

That being said, the physics effects are all pretty cool, but I could do without the autolockon for when I am trying to throw things/people into other people.

[KerfuffleMach2]

My brother came up with a good and fun strategy for solving the problem of not being able to throw jet troopers. You need at least two of them, and it's easier with only two.

You grab one, and instead of just immediately throwing him, move him around and slam him into the other. After a few slams, they die. It's funny.

[One_Wolf]

My brother came up with a good and fun strategy for solving the problem of not being able to throw jet troopers. You need at least two of them, and it's easier with only two.

You grab one, and instead of just immediately throwing him, move him around and slam him into the other. After a few slams, they die. It's funny.

Jet Troopers. I would grab him with the force, throw my saber at him, and while my saber is sticking out of his stomach hit him with Sith lightning. Then as his jetpack begins to go out of control I finish him off with a force push. Bye-bye.

They don't come back from that! (not to mention its pretty cool)

-One Wolf

[Geno9999]

Jet Troopers. I would grab him with the force, throw my saber at him, and while my saber is sticking out of his stomach hit him with Sith lightning. Then as his jetpack begins to go out of control I finish him off with a force push. Bye-bye.

They don't come back from that! (not to mention its pretty cool)

-One Wolf
Isn't that overkill? I mean...wait..............yeah, that is cool. If only you could do it to Jedi/force-users.
I really gotta stop thinking awesome things as overkill.

[Quayleman]

Isn't that overkill? I mean...wait..............yeah, that is cool. If only you could do it to Jedi/force-users.
I really gotta stop thinking awesome things as overkill.

It isn't overkill on hard and very hard. It actually barely kills them.

[Athaniar]

the evil ending completely destroys the canon...

It is probably supposed to be the non-canon one.

[KerfuffleMach2]

You know, I could see a lot of fan-made stuff based off of the evil ending. Like some sort of alternate time line or something.