Lack of ambition to blame for previous Star Wars flops, admits LucasArts

By Johnny Minkley Published 3 September, 2008

Force Unleashed "fulfils high bar".

LucasArts producer Cameron Suey has claimed that over-excitement with the licence and lack of ambition are to blame for previous lacklustre internal Star Wars titles - but insists the studio has delivered with The Force Unleashed.

Speaking to Eurogamer TV at GC 2008, ahead of the game's release later this month, Suey explained that, because Star Wars is "such a great licence", it's "really easy to get excited about that and not set the bar high enough." That would explain the Episode III: Revenge of the Sith game, then. And Bounty Hunter. And Obi-Wan.

However, Suey reckons that with PS3 and 360 adventure The Force Unleashed, LucasArts has finally "really fulfilled the high bar we set for ourselves."

He added: "There are so many people that care so much about Star Wars that we have to let them set that bar. And rightly so; they're going to set it very high - with this game we really have passed that bar.

"It was very important to us that this is not just a throwaway product with the Star Wars licence."

The Force Unleashed is set between the events of Revenge of The Sith and A New Hope, and the journey of Darth Vader's secret apprentice, we're told, boasts major revelations that will shock fans.

"It's really going to change the way people look at the movies that come after it," Suey explained. "It's really going to change their understanding of some of those big moments."

The Force Unleashed is out on PS3 and 360 on 19th September, so we'll find out soon enough whether this really is a Star Wars game to savour. Meanwhile, you can see more of the exclusive interview with Suey over on Eurogamer TV.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Eurogamer TV's Johnny Minkley is a veteran journalist with a lifelong passion for games and the games industry. He uses Twitter more than most people use air.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (73) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Mr_Dodger #1 3 years ago

    "major revelations that will shock fans"

    Actually, if it's the major revelation talked about iin the Art and Making of Book (very nice btw), it is a pretty big deal.

    But I can see it annoying the rabid fan base rather than shocking, just like everything else SW these days that isn't Ep 4-6.

  • McBradders #2 3 years ago

    ...huh, the demo failed to wow me... so like, really? Is this the second coming of Star Wars games and I'm just not "getting it" so to speak?

  • oceanmotion #3 3 years ago

    Nope. Force Unleashed is still shit.

  • Zomoniac #4 3 years ago

    No, lack of talent and complacent reliance on brand to blame.

  • TruWari3r #5 3 years ago

    Demo looked alright, shame they made it suitable for little kids.

    Really, hacking a guy with the saber does not remove any limbs which feels, well, a bit off.

    Using the force with the two analogue sticks wasn't flawless either, sarcasm, if you want to throw stuff. Thankfully the force push made opening doors easy because opening by throwing stuff at it became a chore quickly.

    I hope there'll be additional unlocked powers and the one from the demo grow more powerful.

    Camera and the forced QTE at the end weren't that much fun either but still, will most likely pick this game up.

  • anomagnus #6 3 years ago

    hard to tell the games potential from the opening section of the first level...

    i also have little faith in the unconfirmed hyperbole of internet forums

  • Katsumoto #7 3 years ago

    They already "fulfilled the bar" in 1997.

    Still waiting for something better set in the Star Wars universe. I suppose Jedi Knight 2 was pretty awesome as well.

  • Eighthours #8 3 years ago

    Shame that the game's getting all-round 7s, really. Seems that the bar has yet to be reached in actuality.

  • groovychainsaw #9 3 years ago

    The controls felt pretty wonky to me in the demo, throwing stuff accurately was a pain. Was a bit... bland as well, fairly generic corridor,corridor,big hangar, corridor, walkway, corridor stuff. Slight lack of ambition still maybe? Bring back KOTOR, that was the only decent star wars game since xwing/tie fighter...

  • Geowolf #10 3 years ago

    Sorry, the demo was rubbish.

    Short description. Poor man's Too Human without any sizable enemy retaliation and the Half Life 2 gravity gun shoe-horned in as the "Force".

    It's generic, cliched and boring.

    The premise is rubbish and even the demo fails to convey any potential for any real depth.

    Sometimes there are games that are average but worth a look. On the basis of the demo though, this is an economic must-miss. Save your money until renting becomes possible. Only then may it be possible to determine if they just managed to select the most disastrously awful part in the whole game as the demo constituent.

  • skillian #11 3 years ago

    Still waiting for something better set in the Star Wars universe

    Jedi Knight was indeed fantastic. Rogue Squadron on the N64 was also an excellent game - must have come out at around the same time.

  • mkreku #12 3 years ago

    Why isn't this coming out on PC? I have four cores, lots of ram and the newest GPU just waiting to calculate those physics!

  • Red_Bool #13 3 years ago

    To add to the list of "actually-not-shitty" starwars games: Rogue Leader on Gamecube :-)

  • octo #14 3 years ago

    Jedi Knight is a wonderful game. If you had added the physics engine to that game it would have been great I think. I didn't hate the demo for TFU, but neither did it blow my gaming socks off. Rather a sense of being slightly underwhelmed by the Lucasarts PR hyperbole.

    Still, it offers a definite sense of what might be to come with the engine.

  • ciril #15 3 years ago

    I liked the demo and will play the game, we'll see what this "major revelation is about". :D

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #16 3 years ago

    It's psi-ops with a sword instead of a gun, and lightning instead of fire, as far as I can tell from the demo.

    Only I bet that it scores at least 1, maybe two less that that did here.
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/08 @ 16:23

  • Rirekon #17 3 years ago

    Lego Star Wars does Lightsabre fighting better than SW:TFU

  • dominalien #18 3 years ago

    Jedi Knight was, indeed, very good. JKII and Jedi Academy were also entertaining.

    The best SW game, however, has to be KOTOR. Shame it wasn't made by Lucasarts.

  • rufus_the_stunt_bum #19 3 years ago

    ^^ KOTOR was indeed the best star wars game... jedi games were good too.

    SW:FU demo was just too boring.
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/08 @ 16:40

  • space_ace #20 3 years ago

    meh this demo was

  • viper_h #21 3 years ago

    I agree, this demo was poor. Still buying the game cause it's Star Wars but ugh...

    Found the controls in the demo really sluggish. And why didn't my reflected blaster bolts actually hit the guy who fired them instead of going off in some random direction??

    QTEs also make me cry.

  • McBradders #22 3 years ago

    To stop crying press A... X... B... A... Y... Y... A!

  • bodypopper #23 3 years ago

    The demo played like Psi Ops using better tech but without the gunplay (and therefore not as good). Picking up objects is a pain (half the time objects just flew towards the ceiling rather than where they were pointed at) and it's easier to just leap over to enemies and chop them down with the lightsabre...sorry 'saber'.
    Edited by 2 at 03/09/08 @ 17:05

  • daedaloz #24 3 years ago

    I don't get why ppl think this is boring at all...

    I mean cmon.. it's a VERY VERY short demo... what.. 6 mins run through if urs fast and expert?

    so what... yes it might be alot of stormtroopers and corridors in THIS particular level.. but the full game im sure, has alot more to offer than a small short replayable demo... what the demo shows off sucessfully is how all the physics work out.. and its just amazing seeing it happen on the screen.

    The apprentice is still an apprentice in this opening level.. he cannot reflect blaster shots because he has not yet learned how.. so sometimes they come off in random directions at random times. once you get into the controls it actually becomes extremely easy to force grip and push... doing combo's etc.. and the camera.. can be a little clunky.. but a button to quickly change the camera to center is there also.. which is nice.

    I'm really excited about the full game... and this major revelation... bring it on...

    oh and bring on Kotor 3 too..

  • ZombiZtyle #25 3 years ago

    ^^^ I agree

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #26 3 years ago

    Glad I wasn't the only one who found the demo underwhelming. Repetitive corridor trundling, with sprawling, messy firefights, during which you feel invulnerable, and it ends with a boss fight which I couldn't be bothered finishing as I couldn't work out what I was meant to do at all. The tech was great - Havoc, DMM, and Euphoria - but I just felt the game was rather lacking (glad others found the Force controls fiddly too). Not a patch on Jedi Knight...

    I'm willing to give the full game the benefit of the doubt in terms of variation and all that, but I was very unimpressed with the fighting mechanics and the controls, so I'd be surprised if this turned out to be more than a 7/10.
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/08 @ 17:17

  • MaxiSleep #27 3 years ago

    Demo was quite simply pants when compared to the hypefest. It could be used as a definition of "Workmanlike"

    Now that is not to say that the game as a whole has potential but a bad demo is not a good sign and the mechanics seamed very unconvincing.

  • SEVQA #28 3 years ago

    I’m sorry Lucas Arts I’m going to have to agree with what it seems the majority of people are saying! The demo failed to impress on all levels! I found the targeting system irritating and the camera was too far back from the action. I await reviews before I make my final decision, but as it stands I’m not impressed!

  • muscleblade #29 3 years ago

    In the first level you play as Vader. Reason enough to buy it. It does supposedly unlock Vader in SCIV for 360 and Yoda for the PS3 too. I will buy it no doubth.

  • Royal Fool #30 3 years ago

    "Because Star Wars is such a cashcow franchise, it's easy to get lazy and not give a shit about the quality of the product because we know we'll make money off it anyway"

    Fixed it.

  • paketep #31 3 years ago

    Doesn't he mean "lack of competent people"?

    Lucas' god complex must have helped as well.

    How I miss the old LucasFilm!

  • dolphan #32 3 years ago

    Have to agree with the general 'demo was awful' sentiment, which is a pity since I was looking forward to it before that. Just make Jedi Knight 4. For PC. And bring Kyle back.

  • bad09 #33 3 years ago

    Sorry LA, tried the demo and your 3D Jedi Power Battles is a 2nd hand cheapo buy for me. Not that great TBH....

    NOW PLEASE GIVE US....

    BF3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    A new X-Wing
    JK sequel
    and Dark Forces sequel (no Jedi stuff just blasters!)
    A f*****g SW beat 'em up!!!!!

    Edited by 1 at 03/09/08 @ 18:44

  • MARKIV #34 3 years ago

    Well the 360 demo proved too ambitious for my 360, tried it, Red Ring of Death !! :(

  • penhalion #35 3 years ago

    I repeat (and will keep repeating I suspect) that the light saber is screwed. It is now a light batton with no saber like abilities. Given that it is the single most important weapon for a sith or Jedi, why the heck was it dumbed down!

    With all this talk of digital matter. You would have thought that making a lightsaber cut through doors, walls and storm troopers would have been a first thought. Instead we get nonsense lightning saber slashes that bounce people back or knock them over. Even impaling a stormtrooper just looks like he's hanging onto a red pole to stop from floating away!

    absolutely ruined it for me :(

    Edit:

    Someone said that the first level wasn't representative of the rest of the game. Actually if Leipzig is anything to go by I'm afraid it is very representative of it.
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/08 @ 19:29

  • Xerx3s #36 3 years ago

    LA can shuff that crap up their arse. They where once known for absolute quality but now they might as well be EA instead of LA.

  • DanWhitehead #37 3 years ago

    The apprentice is still an apprentice in this opening level.. he cannot reflect blaster shots because he has not yet learned how...

    And yet he can casually lift up an entire spaceship and effortlessly throw it across a hangar - something even Yoda couldn't do without screwing up his little rubbery face in concentration.

  • J.C #38 3 years ago

    Indeed. like someone else here said, the game really does feel like psi - ops without the guns. but not as good.

    7/10 maybe a 6.

  • BadBoyBonner #39 3 years ago

    Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast - was the best action game to ever leave Lucasarts (well done Raven) - it was ahead of it's time time - and if Raven had have been given the Matrix license one can;t help but feel they would have done a much better job (couldn't have done any worse! lol).

    Link below to see what should happen when a light saber comes into contact with flesh and Stormtrooper armour.

    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=svWH0f8wo-g
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=svWH0f8wo-g
    [/link]

  • Freek #40 3 years ago

    Wow, the backlash has hit before the game is even out yet? That's fast. Although that might actually work in the games favor as it might mean that when it does hits retail, the mood will have swung back to "Well, actually it's a bitt underrated".

  • richcz3 #41 3 years ago

    The cursor placement randomly picking off hot spots in the level didn't help in the fight sequences. Overall the game control scheme should have been reworked.

    Then the battle concept - Bending huge iron beams one second, blowing huge doors open, splitting and ATST with a light saber but then having to lay the hurt multiple times on grunts doesn't add up. I can only imagine the grunts and bosses level up to uber sharp shooting, saber wielding droids from Hades throwing everything and the kitchen sink at you. Of course this will happen after you have the power to pull a capital ship from the sky and smash it to the ground.

  • David_Snakes #42 3 years ago

    I can't believe people are still hauling out that old, "The demo isn't representative of the final game!!!" argument. I think you've forgotten the purpose of a demo: To show the game in its best light and convince customers to buy the full version. See the Bioshock demo as to how this can be accomplished.

  • penhalion #43 3 years ago

    @BadBoyBonner

    Thanks for the clip link. This is exactly what I am trying to tell people. The light sabre stuff in appentice is nonsense. It really makes the game feel like a long step backwards!

  • kangarootoo #44 3 years ago

    Seems to me that the lightsabre is the Jedi's strongest weapon, so if you want to avoid the player character being too tough early on the game, you simply don't give them a light sabre straight away (rather than power down the weapon, which is clearly a travesty). Worked fine in Jedi Knight 1. The other weapons were fun enough, and when you finally got the sabre you had a great time hopping about and feeling all powerful.

    I haven't played the demo of TFU yet, but I have it downloading.

  • NegativeZero #45 3 years ago

    Lucasfarts haven't really 'raised the bar' for Star Wars since TIE Fighter. If the demo was anything to go by, then Force Unleashed is little more than an extended tech demo with a Star Wars wrapper.

  • smoison #46 3 years ago

    I have to agree with everyone else here, The game was a total lent down.

    bad controls, crappy lightsaber, Quick Time events!!!

    I'm glad its not coming to PC, its not worth it, and I see why Lucasarts fired everyone who made the game. They (Lucasarts) should just stop making game period.

    P.S The 'Jedi Knight' games were much better done.

  • Jigglybean #47 3 years ago

    Funny how Republic Commando wasn't mentioned and that game was awesome and we still await a sequel! Empire at War, although a decent game, could have been alot more fun if LucasArts didn't go on their 'dumbing down' crusade either.

  • curtlikesmeat #48 3 years ago

    Like most others I was very underwhelmed by the demo, nothing new at all despite the hype and I agree that slicing people with a lightsabre and them just falling over was.... rubbish. I certainly won't be buying unless it gets some solid reviews (which seems pretty unlikely unless the game improves considerably in the latter stages).

    Agreed with the dumbing down, they probably think it improves sales where in realtiy it just limits them. Someone at Lucasarts needs to stand up and say "hey... wtf are we doing here... we're wasting this license... sort it out boys!"

  • kipper #49 3 years ago

    Just one question - why is the appentice practically invunerable to blaster fire? I don't see him carrying a personal shield generator like Kyle did.
    I'm not going to buy a game if the enemies don't even have a chance of offering a good fight, and just why does LA make jedi in games more and more powerful while the jedi in the films were all slaughtered by a bunch of clone troopers/droids with no problem at all? Kyle Katarn knows how to kick stormtrooper arse properly.

    The Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games are amongst my favourite games but FU does not interest me at all.

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