Game: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

[Animeniax]

George Lucas needed another house to make a dozen, so he signed off on another Star Wars game, The Force Unleashed. It's a 3rd person action game utilizing force powers and hack and slash gameplay. So far it's pretty fun. Pretty basic control scheme on the X360. You even get to start the game as Darth Vader. How's that for fan service?

[Psyke]

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee reviews Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/251-Star-Wars-The-Force-Unleashed), and laments the Wii.

I only played the demo. Didn't compel me to get the game. :(

[Archangel]

Played the psp version and didn't really like it. The game itself wasn't all that good and the story is just plain retarded.

How the hell did he fall in love with the blond chick in so little time anyway?

[animus]

He spent all his life looking at Vader.

[Animeniax]

Cause she's hot.

[Sandldan]

finished it on my xbox, big disappointment was at first expecting a true sequel to the jedi knight series but instead i got a repetitive dumbed down hack and slash game : /

[Archangel]

Cause she's hot.

The dude who beat both vader and the emperor was the horniest bastard alive then?

[Animeniax]

I'm further along in the game, probably 5/8 complete, and it's pretty addictive. I was so addicted that I even brought my X360 to work to play, but the 500W voltage converter couldn't handle the X360 and kept overheating and shutting down.

It's still basically hack and slash, but with cool button combos and varied attacks. I've heard you can play the entire game just using force lightning and force push, which might be true, but you can use all kinds of cool powers and moves to make it more interesting.

[python862]

I've heard you can play the entire game just using force lightning and force push, which might be true, but you can use all kinds of cool powers and moves to make it more interesting.
I see that you listen to Yahtzee. Very wise.

[Animeniax]

Umm no, because I'm actually using all the other powers to beat the game.

[Buffalobiian]

I've heard you can play the entire game just using force lightning and force push

Python was meaning this part.

[Animeniax]

I know, but I didn't listen to Yahtzee because I didn't finish the game just using those two powers.

[python862]

You listened to the point that you heard that line. That, my good sir, was what I was alluding to. Surely you're more intelligent than to be drawn in by surface intentions?

[Animeniax]

I heard the entire video, but I did not listen to what he had to say. In fact, I don't think it's possible to win the game using just those two force powers unless you play on easy difficulty.

[Buffalobiian]

So this game is worth getting after all? I'm not getting it, my brother is, but he's asking me if it's good. If it's anything like JK1 and JK2: Outcast, I think he'd like it.

[Animeniax]

It is worth getting, or waiting a couple months and buying it cheap on eBay.

Unfortunately with all my praise, the cosmos decided to correct itself by making me eat my words. Even with the best games, the designers feel the need to add levels that are frustratingly stupid and ruin the flow of the game (think escort missions). I'm currently stuck on just such a level where you have to use force grip to guide a Star Destroyer into an incinerator. The control movements are on-screen and you have to follow them exactly in order to line up the ship to enter the incinerator. As you get follow the nonsensical movements required, a wave of tie fighters attacks you and you have to release the ship from your force grip in order to deal with the tie fighters. In the meantime, the ship has righted itself, so when you get back to it with force grip, you have to maneuver it back into position, but then another wave of tie fighters comes after you.

I'm fairly certain it is in a game designers' contract to add these "controller breaker" routines so you're forced to buy new hardware from overuse or from throwing your controller in frustration.

[Animeniax]

Update: just finished the single most annoying and frustrating scenario I've ever had the displeasure of wasting 2 hours on in a video game by finally bringing down a star destroyer using force grip. This one level alone makes this game not worth buying unless you can get it for $20.

So I'm on the next level and the frustration continues. Missiles and snipers shoot with pinpoint accuracy and can hit you no matter where you are. This is how Lucasarts increases difficulty as the game progresses: they use programming cheats to make it almost impossible to survive. Add in the wonky targeting system that lets you hit a trooper with one attack, then shifts to another target when you fire a second attack, leaving you open for the first trooper to blast you. I've slammed my controller on the ground 3 times tonight. Luckily it's still working, which is surprising given it's MS hardware.

[animus]

The 360 controllers are actually really good and sturdy. Their only flaw being the shoddy D-pad, with only 4 sensors.

[Abdula]

Uh huh sure. I guess you never dropped it on the back and watched as the little part where the batteries go, shatters. But yeah other than that flaw they are pretty good and can take a lot of damage.

[Animeniax]

I have the wireless controller but the battery is bad so I keep it plugged up. I've slammed it on its back a few times and it's still doing ok.

I can't remember a game being quite this frustrating to play. It's pretty easy going except for some of the boss battles (the 2nd boss is harder than the 2 that follow), then all of a sudden everything you fight is tougher and a deadshot.

The final Ares fight in the first God of War was almost as bad.

[animus]

Really? When you're all jumbo-Kratos and shit? I thought that was easy as hell.

[Animeniax]

Wrong thread dummy.

Since the computer in SW:TFU cheats, I started cheating too. The storm trooper AI is pretty weak, so if you run around a corner, they'll pursue you one at a time, so you can kill them one at a time instead of getting swarmed by them.

[python862]

Force Push/Force Lightning.

[Animeniax]

It really isn't as simple as yahtzee says to win the game using just those two force powers. Later in the game there are storm troopers with special shields that negate force powers, so the only way to kill them is to force grip a crate to crash into them or kill them with the lightsaber up close. Try beating the final bosses with just those two powers. You'll be at it a while.

[Animeniax]

I finished the game. Got about 18-20 hours of solid (but sometimes frustrating) gaming that was part-RPG, part hack and slash. Well worth the $60, especially once I lend it to a friend and then sell it on eBay.

To be honest, the frustrating parts weren't so bad once you figure out what exactly you're supposed to do. I found if I stopped playing and took a break and tried a mission again, it was a lot easier when I was calm and methodical.

I do admit I think I beat at least 2 of the harder bosses because of a possible glitch in the game. Once you "tag" the boss, he's stunned and you can unload on him for several seconds before he recovers. It almost seemed like the AI was frozen or just buggy, but it allows you to do a lot of damage to the boss before he goes back to kicking your ass some more. Maybe it's not a glitch, but it made (otherwise insurmountable) boss fights a lot easier.

Score: A