Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Preview

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Hence, then, the title of the game - The Force Unleashed. For this game, Lucas gave the team permission to go crazy with the powers of the Force, essentially re-imagining one of the most fundamental parts of the Star Wars universe. The Apprentice's powers are completely out of proportion with anything seen before in the films or games. The start of the latest trailer shows him crashing an entire Star Destroyer using the Force, and gameplay segments we've viewed demonstrate an astonishing capacity for flinging enemies about, ripping up environments and generally making an awesome mess.

LucasArts' aim with the game, you see, was essentially to make a superhero game in the Star Wars universe. They considered a number of possible scenarios which would enable that kind of gameplay (at one point, they had a concept involving a wookie warrior - we'll be the first to put our names on the petition to get that one made some day) before settling on the fact that the Jedi are already the superheroes of the universe, and their superpower is the Force. So what if you took that power and re-imagined it in a scaled-up, jacked-up form?

What happens, in essence, is a whole lot of really stunning next-gen physics. The Force Unleashed taps the advanced NaturalMotion physics system, and combines it with new technology created internally at LucasArts. The aim: to accomplish one of the toughest tasks in game design, creating effects which aren't possible in the real world but still seem realistic and solid to players.

Lethal Force

From what we've witnessed, the team has done a fine job of this. The first Force power to be updated - the nail-biting trial for whether the game would work at all, the producer confides - was Force Push. In previous games, this has been a relatively sedate wave of the hand which sends foes and objects flying through the air.

In the hands of the team at LucasArts, Force Push becomes an entirely new beast. Enemies pushed backwards by the Apprentice's power react as if they have been hit by an invisible cannonball, hurled backwards in a brutal, bone-wrenching display of power. They smash through pillars, through sheets of glass or piles of objects. LucasArts have done their job well; it looks realistic. Incredible, fantastic, and downright painful, but certainly realistic.

Another of the new environments in the game, in concept art form. We think it's a bunch of Star Destroyers invading World of Warcraft's Outland. A cross-over made in heaven.

Emboldened, the team tackled other powers. Force Grip, seen in the movies when Vader chokes a recalcitrant Imperial officer, becomes an invisible hand which lifts enemies and hurls them around the room, smashing them into solid objects until such time as they stop moving and twitching. Force Repel is an extraordinary power which pushes a bubble of pure energy outwards from you, hurling enemies and objects backwards, cracking walls and smashing anything remotely fragile in sight.

Other powers are promised - being a dark-side character, The Apprentice will have access to Force Lightning, for example. More interesting, however, is the promise of combo attacks which allow players to string together their various Force powers to great effect. Combining a force attack with the use of the lightsaber is one such combo; combining two Force powers together will also be possible, such as mixing up Lightning and Push to create a deadly, heat-seeking ball of energy.

The game isn't afraid about throwing around its next-gen credentials, either. The NaturalMotion physics have been combined with an advanced materials system created by LucasArts themselves, which ensures that every object or surface in the game breaks, shatters, splinters or bends realistically. An advanced AI system gives your foes a sense of self-preservation which will make them hang on to nearby objects - or each other - to avoid falling to their death or being dragged off by one of your powers. And the whole thing, of course, looks absolutely gorgeous in its PS3 and Xbox 360 iterations.

Fans of the wonderful Jedi Knight series, however, may be a little disappointed to hear that the team has no intention of recreating that game's crowning glory. "It's not a duelling simulator," the producer says firmly. The game is designed to be easy to use; its core attacks are context sensitive, and the team focused on the key idea of the player doing something cool-looking and relevant whenever they pressed a button.

This resolutely mainstream approach carries through into other aspects of the game, too. Since it's designed as a new chapter in the Star Wars saga (and it'll be supported by an enormous range of licensed products which LucasArts normally reserves for its cinematic creations), it's important to the team that everyone should be able to see the story through to its conclusion. As such, the game is reportedly short enough to play through in two or three decent sessions; no 25-hour epics here, then.

A New Hope?

And to finish it off, another lovely painting of a Star Destroyer. Crashing them with the power of your mind, remember? Dunnit give you the shivers?

For those looking for a somewhat longer experience, however, the team has confirmed that multiplayer will be a big part of the Force Unleashed experience - with most of its destination platforms set to feature online functionality of some descriptions. Details of the online experience haven't been announced yet, but by the sounds of it it's not just the PS3 and the Xbox 360 which will go online in some form; the handheld and even PS2 versions may also have this functionality.

Yes, that's right - there are versions of the game for handhelds (PSP and DS) and for the PS2, as well as the conventional next-gen platforms. However, there's no sign as yet of a PC version, which the developers say is a possibility, but tricky due to having a game entirely designed around the joypad. As to the Wii... Well, they're not saying anything, but we noticed sneaky grins among the LucasArts team present when Nintendo's platform was mentioned. Perhaps Wiimote based lightsaber action isn't a pipe dream after all.

The Force Unleashed is quite certainly the most interesting development in Star Wars franchise gaming since Knights of the Old Republic - it's got an extraordinary premise, some absolutely brilliant looking game mechanics and the full weight of LucasArts' undeniably vast development might behind it. There's a niggling concern that the whole thing may be a little too simple and easy for some tastes - but if this turns out to be six to eight hours of sheer, storm-trooper hurling, wall-splintering joy, we'll be in no mood to complain.