Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Xbox 360, PS3)
by Eddie Turner on October 6, 2008 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Conclusion
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The Force Unleashed, though not without its issues, is a fun game to play. I can't really say that it lived up to the hype surrounding its release, but it does include a very interesting story that Star Wars fans will eat up. In a sea of games with lackluster stories to drive them, Unleashed stands out among the crowd with likable characters and great voice acting. The gameplay, however, is not nearly as enthralling.
Using the various force powers is enjoyable, but the experience becomes stale all too soon as combat grows more and more repetitive. While most players will complete the game in a mere 7 or 8 hours, the thought of playing it for much longer is utterly yawn inducing. Even so, the game is not void of fun by any means. If nothing else, the game's popcorn movie quality will entertain but may only serve as a stepping-stone to a more enjoyable gaming experience elsewhere.
- Beautiful environments
- Great story and voice acting
- Unmatched musical score
- Enjoyable force powers
- Playing as Darth Vader
- Repetitive missions
- Frustrating auto-targeting system
- Tiresome mini-games
- Unvaried AI
- No co-op or multiplayer
Lucas Arts' quest for greatness with The Force Unleashed only makes it halfway there with an intriguing story hindered by repetitive gameplay. While Star Wars fans will relish its tie-in to the movie series, others will regard it as just another solid action game with pretty cutscenes.
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AnnonymousCoward - Tuesday, October 7, 2008 - link
From http://tinyurl.com/49z2kg">http://tinyurl.com/49z2kg "so processor intensive and powerful that the kind of machine you'd need to run them is not the kind of machine most people are going to have...Every platform is getting a great game and they should all be able to stand-alone; we didn't want to deliver a sub-par experience for PC gamers."PC's have FAR greater single-thread performance than the Cell. That was the case even before the C2D, and now I'd bet that a dual-core C2D could compete with 6 fully utilized Cell processors. Not even mentioning quad core. Or GPU physics!!
Aside from all that, how could they deliver par performances on PS2, Wii, DS, and PSP? Does the physics there just suck, and that level of physics suckiness would be sub-par on PC?
Note to LucasArts: use the GPU for physics!
Jawadali - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
I have only played the demo of the Xbox 360 version of this game, but If you are looking for a game where you can use force-like powers, I'd recommend playing Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. In addition to being a decent third-person shooter, there are a decent number of powers that you can use not only to fight (or avoid fighting) enemies, but also to solve puzzles to progress through the various missions. For a PS2/Xbox game, I think the application of these powers was pretty novel and well executed in Psi-Ops.jasonmellow - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
Star Wars Battlefront I was the reason I started building my own PC. Star Wars Battlefront II is the reason I keep upgrading my hardware and is still my favorite game due to the intense and competitive multi-player action. As a Star Wars fan who loves his PC, I bum that this new title is useless to me.EddieTurner - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
If you make your next upgrade an Xbox 360, you'll be set. I do know that another Battlefront is at least being pondered over right now. Probably already in the works. No mention of platform though.Unleashed is still fun to play despite its repetition. If you're a Sta Wars fan, that'll make the experience even better.
TheFace - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
It's a rental. Why buy it with no multiplayer, no co-op. Basically little replayability.Spivonious - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
What about the Wii version? It seems strange to ignore it.EddieTurner - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
Lucas Arts didn't send me the Wii version. I did ask for it though.strikeback03 - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
Didn't Yoda say "Always two there are, a master and an apprentice." How does a third fit that already established line?mmntech - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
Vader takes on Starkiller as an apprentice in secret in order to overthrow the Palpatine. This is explained pretty early in the game, as well as in the demo. That's why he's charged with the task of leaving no witnesses, including Imperials.I liked this game but I think it was definitely overhyped. It was short for a console title and I felt DMM and Euphoria weren't used to their full potential except on the first level (as Vader). The highlight of Force Unleashed was finding out the fate of Jar Jar Binks. He can be found frozen in carbonite in the museum on Imperial Kashyyyk. I guess that's not him at the end of Episode VI (DVD) unless someone was foolish enough to defrost him.
slashbinslashbash - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link
Wookiee (2 e's) and Kashyyyk (3 y's)