Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

By Rob Fahey Published 7 July, 2008

The more you tighten your grip...

I went to see a play recently called "Contains Violence". In the programme, the writer mused over the choice of name, saying in effect that if you're going to call a play "Contains Violence" it had bloody well better do, or else the audience may decide to invent their own. At your expense. So it is with The Force Unleashed. If you're going to make a promise like that, you'd better come up with the goods. Even more recently, we sat down with the functionally identical Xbox 360 and PS3 builds of LucasArts' latest to see how they do.

The Force Unleashed, of course, has a lot to prove and not just because of its ambitious name. It's also the first outing for LucasArts' much-hyped new engine technology. Moreover, it's arguably the first real attempt to reinvigorate the Star Wars brand in videogames after a series of utterly lacklustre games punctuated only by the fantastic (and non-LucasArts) LEGO Star Wars titles.

It's promising, then, that pretty much the first thing it does is break some of the unspoken and restrictive rules of Star Wars games to date. By way of a prologue and tutorial level, you're given charge of the ultimate Dark Side fantasy - you play Darth Vader, slaughtering countless yowling furry beasts in an all-out assault on the Wookiee homeworld.

The introduction to the game's controls is almost buried under an opening level that's bombastic, graphically stunning and incredibly good fun. Accompanied by the Imperial March, black cloak billowing in the wind, you stalk through the level trying out the various powers at your disposal as the game prompts you. Overhead, Star Destroyer-style ships hum through the atmosphere. Off to either side, troop deployments and AT-ST walkers ravage the forest. It looks very good.

'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed' Screenshot 1

The Apprentice does fancy lightning, which makes him popular at nightclubs and parties.

As you progress, the game starts to make good on its Force Unleashed promise. Gone are the wimpy, special-case Force powers of previous games. With you playing as a Dark Side character, The Force in this game is a heavy-duty power - enabled by a comprehensive physics and AI engine that lets enemies and objects alike react realistically to the abilities you're flinging about the place.

The very first problem you encounter is an enormous wood and metal gate, which stands at the entrance to the Wookiee village. No problem - blast it with the Force Push ability, and the gate strains inwards as metal buckles and wood splinters. A few more blasts and it's off its hinges entirely. This is how it works from here on out: Sith Lords don't open doors. Even heavy metal doors aboard ships and space stations can be buckled by the Force. Better again, we discover later on that you can pick up Imperial troopers and hurl them bodily at doors, smashing them open while simultaneously killing the troopers.

As you move through the village, the basic powers - and combinations of powers - that form the basis of your arsenal when you take control of Vader's Apprentice in subsequent levels are revealed. Push will remain a major part of the game the whole way through, we suspect, but it's the Grip power that really lets you cut loose and start ripping up the scenery. Just about any object - even huge things that would be scenery in any other game - can be lifted, moved and thrown around. Powers like Lightning and Repulse (which fires enemies away from you in a wide circle) are fun, but compared to the potential for causing mayhem with Grip, they pale.

Meanwhile, some of the game's more complex moves are created by combining existing powers from your arsenal. One of our favourites is introduced right back in the tutorial level, when you learn how to lift up Wookiees using Force Grip and then fling your lightsaber through the air to impale them as they hang helplessly. It's hard not to cackle when you're doing it.

More powers and combos are, unsurprisingly, unlocked as you progress. Your character, the Apprentice, essentially levels up as he goes along, with each level giving you more points to spend on improving your powers. The interface for these upgrades is fairly heavy-duty, with tons of different abilities made available as you progress, along with power boosts for your starting abilities. There's some tantalising stuff in there, although sadly we didn't have an opportunity to play with any of the really high-level powers you'll be throwing around by the end.

As you progress through the earlier levels in Force Unleashed, the game's graphics remain hugely impressive, and the physics and AI are given an opportunity to play out in increasingly large arenas. The Apprentice's first mission, on board a large space station, sees you fighting off hordes of Rebel and Imperial troops (you are a secret agent, so you need to kill all witnesses - Imperials are as much your enemy as Rebels), and gives a good example of how LucasArts makes the game difficult for a character that's essentially a superhero. Throw enough minions at him and he'll have to find a clever way out or sink under their combined weight.

'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed' Screenshot 2

The Apprentice dons a variety of fetching outfits during the game, sadly not including Katie Hopkins.

The biggest problem we see after an hour or so of play is that the developers have been tempted to break the game's own rules in order to create "better" scripted events. One such event, where you fight an AT-ST walker in a narrow space, is hugely frustrating. Despite the range of powers available, the AT-ST is only really susceptible to very specific attacks, and in a game with a physics engine this good that's pretty feeble. As you try to work out what the designers wanted you to do, all you can think is how much more fun it would have been if you could slam the walker's feet out from under it with Force Push, or whatever. Momentarily that freedom has been taken away from you.

The same approach is visible in other places, too, and it could be the game's undoing. That being said, the code we played was unfinished, and the core is already fantastic - the Force powers, physics and AI mesh to create hugely entertaining encounters that adapt to everything you're doing seamlessly. Hopefully the designers can bring balance to the scripting before the game's September release.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is due out on PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP on 19th September.

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About Rob Fahey

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Comments (45) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DB2k #1 4 years ago

    for me.. the controls of this game will make or break it. I'm getting sick of 3rd person games and messing the basic movement of the character up are going to annoy me greatly. Hopefully the force powers dont whittle down to jsut using GRIP and then slamming enemies around.. but I guess that could be inevitable if its that effective.

  • valli #2 4 years ago

    you learn how to lift up Wookiees using Force Grip and then fling your lightsaber through the air to impale them as they hang helplessly
    Pre-ordered.

  • zoch #3 4 years ago

    can't wait for this game it going to be good

  • Artemis_Matsas #4 4 years ago

    The last two paragraphs are very very alarming... I just wish they give the player total control and forget about stupid scripted events.

    On the other hand, the Wookie level seems to be a blast! just give us a Jar Jar and a ewok level and i'll be jumping up and down with joy!

  • afghan_jones #5 4 years ago

    Take a leaf from Halo 3. As long as the hysics and the player tool kit are good enough, you dont need to script out set pieces too heavily. Just put the enemies and objectives into the level and the player will make their own set pieces using the tools available.

    It sounds liek the basic tools are there so lets hope they dont bottleneck them to try and create tension.

  • gaselite #6 4 years ago

    Jedi Knight 3 with this engine. Make it happen.

  • muscleblade #7 4 years ago

    Im getting this no matter what.

  • anomagnus #8 4 years ago

    The trailer shows this guy holding a pre imperial star destroyer in the air with his powers

    yet he cant knock over an AT-ST?

    Now, unless the story has him temporarily disabled, this is a really weak move by the developers

  • bad09 #9 4 years ago

    I'm glad it's almost here, after September LA will finally shut up about their silly "super force" game and (hopefully) finally give some details on BF3......

    Taking out destroyers and AT-STs with souped up force powers what was Lucas thinking when he let this one through.....

  • Triggerhappytel #10 4 years ago

    I reckon this game is cruising to dissapoint. It'll just be another average game with a great premise, like the last couple of Jedi Knight games, albeit with great graphics and physics.

  • Negotiator #11 4 years ago

    Take a leaf from Halo 3. As long as the hysics and the player tool kit are good enough, you dont need to script out set pieces too heavily. Just put the enemies and objectives into the level and the player will make their own set pieces using the tools available.

    Took the words right out of my mouth, thats why Halo 3 is so good it plays different every time, leave the scripted moments alone and let the AI do its job.

  • Maximilian #12 4 years ago

    Tie Fighter 2 or GTFO LucasArts

  • sharky_ob #13 4 years ago

    I'd prefer a sequel to X-Wing myself. There was far too much of the Assault Gunboat in TIE Fighter.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #14 4 years ago

    I think this will be a mediocre game livened up by a great engine. So there'll be lots of fun to be had twatting Wookiees about and making Stormtroopers hump the wall, but the meat of the game - the "campaign" if you will, and the story - won't be up to much.

    I still want it tho :-)

    But I'd rather LucasArts made a Deus Ex-style Star Wars RPG where you had to train to become a Jedi... or a proper sequel to X-Wing/TIE Fighter... or just re-released all their old graphical adventures on Steam or XBLA...

  • bad09 #15 4 years ago

    I gotta agree X-wing would be better than Tie-Fighter (hell do both LA!).

    Also sequels for -
    Darks Forces (by that I mean shooting only, not the lightsaber duels of JK)....
    .....but also give us some more JK :)
    KOTOR
    BF
    Masters of the Teras Kasi (Before you say it I like beat 'em ups and want a decent SW one!)

    Throw in Monkey Island (OK not SW I know) and maybe a new rogue squadron for good measure.

    / sits and glares at LA while waiting for the above to happen.........

  • TONYgr #16 4 years ago

    be patience i will for this game.i dont trust lucsarts.

  • smoothpete #17 4 years ago

    Hell yeah. Sounds good to me.

  • Nillsens #18 4 years ago

    eengleesh lang-gwoodge

    hurr durr

    AT not being knocked over by force push?

    7/10 game. Just wait.

  • penhalion #19 4 years ago

    I hold out no real hopes for this game. It sounds like the story is already compromised beyond repair. The apprentice is supposed to be secret, yet he destroys whole bases of imperial troops and rebels. Artificially taking away the apprentices powers when ever a boss battle looms, because he would otherwise overpower the boss easily. Having certain enemies react differently to a force push simply because otherwise the player will be able to kill then without having to fight them. All these things says more about how broken the game is than it does about any fun to be had playing it.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #20 4 years ago

    I don't mean to sound like a total nerd here but the whole idea of a dark Jedi being this powerful at this stage of the SW chronology is really irking me.

    It sounds like a really good game but I'd rather they used a new franchise than mess with SW. I'm not that bothered as it is only a game after all but I do think it will break some of the immersion seeing someone do stuff that we've not seen in any of the films.

    SWG pissed me off when they added those stupid holographic emotes that seemed completely out of place too.

    +10 on a new X-Wing game!

  • Milbe #21 4 years ago

    The last two paragraphs are indeed alarming.

    They supposed to aim at the more casual market, yet they put in a frustrating parts, that you can only solve, if you have some experience, and can play by the game's rules (instead of real life logic).

    Game developers can't seem to know what they really want in a game...

  • penhalion #22 4 years ago

    @Tiste

    Only if you promise to buy the game and play it for us so that we don't have to waste our hard earned cash on it.

  • muscleblade #23 4 years ago

    Its multiplatform so its not likely to be more than mediocre but its going to be fun nevertheless i believe.

  • Schiraman #24 4 years ago

    Sounds like they'd have been much better off making the apprentice's powers more in-keeping with other force-users - that'd make the premise much easier to accept for purists (like me) and also make it easier to design a challenging game around him without having to cheat the player.

    Frankly though I 100% agree with everyone calling for a new X-Wing, Dark Forces (shooting stormtroopers with blasters >> stupid lightsabre duels) or KotOR game. I'd be incredibly excited by any one of those, whereas The Force Unleashed sounds pretty weak and is going to have to work hard to impress me.

  • Lebowski #25 4 years ago

    Looks good, but it'll be no CoD4: Star Wars Edition.

    /unlocks bowcaster and 'Force Push' perk. :-D

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #26 4 years ago

    @penhalion

    My point exactly. This overpowered physics things sounds like a great idea, but shoehorning it into the SW universe causes the problems we've both stated. I don't think we need to wait to see how the game turns out to criticise these parts as they are more to do with story than gameplay. We have enough info on these parts already to make a critique.

    I'm keeping an open mind on how this game turns out gameplay wise.

  • Rirekon #27 4 years ago

    This sounds like a physics based game, which instantly makes me wary as they don't lend themselves to linear game play. Reading the section about busting open doors my first thought was "if the game allows me to break open metal doors, I bet there are sections where going through a wooden wall would be useful but it won't let me", as if to prove my point I then got to the part about the AT-ST.

    *sigh*

  • mkreku #28 4 years ago

    Uhm.. any chance of a new LucasArts adventure game again..? No?

    :(

  • FladgeMangle #29 4 years ago

    While we're meandering off topic, may I say that I would happily sell my toes for a remake of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter?

    This one though sounds like it might be alright for a character-based Star Wars game. Ho hum.

    Is X-Wing ready yet? ....


    ...waits...

  • p00ntang #30 4 years ago

    5/10.
    Why oh why don't Lucasarts just do another SW:Battlegrounds? They were AWESOME. Imagine how good it would be now with the online capability..

  • Farzlepot #31 4 years ago

    Giving scores for games that aren't even finished yet, much less released.

    God I love this place!

  • Lawlost #32 4 years ago

    because we have high hopes, we have high hopes, we have high apple pie, in the sky hopes.....

    +1 for the x-wing vs tie fighter imagine playing that on x-box live!

  • Turrican #33 4 years ago

    Don't know about anyone else, but as a concept, I just don't like the idea of killing imperials and rebels indiscriminantly. They are going to have to nail the story if I'm going to get it, great engine or no.

  • bad09 #34 4 years ago

    Meesa thinking yousa no like Jar Jar kelly's_h.....

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=6hIyNvwKG7U

  • 3william56 #35 4 years ago

    Somehow, I'm not keen on slaughtering Wookiees. But JarJars? Jeez, it's even better than shooting Nazis which almost never gets old. Add a pikachu or two and I'm there.

  • markypants #36 4 years ago

    Whenever you read a preview, and it slips in a couple of clanging negative points at the end... It usually means that a bad review is coming.

    Shame as I thought this actually had potential. I'm guessing it's going to be a pretty middle of the road affair.

  • Krelle #37 4 years ago

    @anomagnus
    "The trailer shows this guy holding a pre imperial star destroyer in the air with his powers.
    yet he cant knock over an AT-ST? "

    How do you know he is "holding" the Star Destroyer? He may as well have taken control of the "driver" or coused some kind of malfunction. Right?

  • qoobah #38 4 years ago

    I'm afraid I have to join to the nerdrage outcry here - it's really a pity that LA decided to butcher an amazing setting to show off their tech. Bringing down a Star Destroyer with Force? If that's how it is then there would be no Rebellion, Vader alone would assrape them. After all, he, and Palpatine, were supposed to be the most powerful Jedi.

    On another note, the whole situation reminds me a lot of what was happening when Assasin's Creed was coming out. There was a lot of hype, and the game received "proffessional" acclaim, but for me (and I guess a lot of others) it was just a tech demo "enriched" with idiotic story and poor gameplay. I reckon it might be the same here, although I wonder weather journalist will praise it as much as AC, seeing as it's Lucasarts, and not Ubi ushering this one out. At the end of the day I think there will still be people who love it based on gameplay, seeing how it's a console-only title, but I don't play games for tech, I play them for story. Hence, I'm worried.

  • Grayvern #39 4 years ago

    What annoys me is that lucas approved this, when it runs contrary to the entire star wars universe, yoda couldn't bring down or stop a star destroyer, luke couldnt the emperor couldn't.

    In one of the books a group of jedi students use a gigantic force push to fling a star destroyer fleet across space away from yavin 4 but the one that acts as a conduit for the power dies, that much power flowing through him destroys his body.

    Any force user using as much power as consistantly as the apprentice does would quickly end up looking like the emperor and then die.

    The real problem with the star wars universe is that its actually bigger than Lucas now and and lets face it he is now creatively over the hill and has done more harm than good in recent years.

    Also I believe the star destroyer is a Victory class the smaller precursor to the imp monsters.

    Edited by 2 at 07/07/08 @ 19:57

  • thenastypasty #40 4 years ago

    grayvern=geek but this game is going to rock!!
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/08 @ 21:34

  • Rodney #41 4 years ago

    I really dont understand LucasArts. They sit on some of the finest game franchises ever produced but they dont seem to know what to do with them. This is just poor management.

    There seems to be so much support/demand on the internet for an X-wing/Tie fighter remake, it always comes up on the forums/message boards. The market isnt exactually saturated with space flight sims these days and with so much support, amongst gamers of a certain age, I am sure it would do well. Even an XBLA X-wing vs. Tie fighter would do for me!

    Also, is it me, or does anyone else much prefer the art style of the original trilogy. give me Millenium Falcons, death stars, X-wings and tie fighters over Naboo-starfighters any day.

    Dark Forces, X-wing & Rogue squadron remakes please Lucasarts!

  • FladgeMangle #42 4 years ago

    Anyone who's played one of Totally Games' X-Wing classics will be an utter original trilogy spaceship geek, myself included :o)

    It does seem strange that they haven't updated the better SW games at Lucasarts. Perhaps they're all gone as mad as George "wouldn't it be neat if I took the best loved film franchise of a generation and completely fucked with it" Lucas himself.

    Sigh. If they did get around to making a space flight sim they'd probably have to include all the hotrod shit from the prequels.

  • octo #43 4 years ago

    @Rodney - this is exactly how I feel. They sit on some of the greatest franchises of all time and yet they have absolutely no idea what to do with them. Adventure games need to come back. Perhaps not in the point and click format of yesteryear but certainly they need to come back. Where are the online space dog fighting games? X wing versus Tie fighter on xbox live WOULD LITERALLY PRINT MONEY.

  • YourMessageHere #44 4 years ago

    wimpy, special-case Force powers of previous games
    Let me guess, you played all the Jedi Knight games entirely with the lightsabre, yes? I'd agree many were underpowered, but the Force powers in all the JK games were a fine alternative to fighting. I personally played through Jedi Academy killing as many people as possible by pushing them, pulling them, lightning-ing them or gripping and dropping them off high places as possible, and using grip then battering people to death was just as effective back then too. Granted the scale and environmental involvement seems much greater for this new one; just saying, it's not as if force powers are that new an idea.

    I too prefer the original '77-'84 ships to the ones from the prequels, but I like them all. I've fallen out of love with SW in general long ago but it still has the most consistently excellent ship design of any sci-fi out there. X-Wing VS TIE Fighter remade for XBL/PSN/whatever would be not only great fun but also very sound commercial sense.

    @ Grayvern - Looks like a full ISD to me, but it shouldn't be able to enter an atmosphere anyway. But whatever the ship is, isn't the point of this game that the protagonist is like some kind of super-jedi with force abilities far beyond anyone including Luke or Vader or Palpy?

  • Azazel #45 4 years ago

    The last two paragraphs are very very alarming...

    Apologies, but for some reason that really made me laugh out loud...

    It's like: 'Russian nukes inbound!! JESUS CHRIST!"

    :D