Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is killing me slowly...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

So.....

I was playing through it all yesterday having a heckuva good time (it's a much better game if you choose not to use the crummy targeting system and just use Force Push, Lightning, Repulse and all your various lightsaber combos).

Then I got to the part where you're supposed to pull down the Star Destroyer, as promised by the teaser trailer. Which should be one of the coolest, most exciting, parts of the game.

Never before have I wanted to hunt down and punch in the face whomever was responsible for such a horrifically bad, tedious, frustrating and downright idiotic gameplay sequence in all my years of playing video games. And I've played a lot of video games for quite a few years now.

If the rest of the game was just okay or even good, I wouldn't care, I'd just stop playing the game like I did Grand Theft Auto 4 when I got tired of failing to get past the lame motorcycle missions over and over again. But I actually like this game. I like the characters and the story. It's a genuinely interesting and compelling Star Wars game. The best since Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront.

But I don't want to slog through the same impossibly finicky controls and pointlessly vague prompts and repetitive gameplay sequences in order to get past this damn mission. I can almost understand making you do the same really tricky, difficult stuff once, twice or even three times so that you feel a sense of accomplishment, but doing the same things 4, 5, 6, I dunno how many more times I've gotta do this crap before that f***ing Star Destroyer finally goes down.

And I'm not talking about 4, 5 or 6 attempts, I'm talking about how many times you've got to repeat the same frustrating gameplay sequence in order to progress to the next frustrating gameplay sequence, which is identical to the last frustration gameplay sequence only harder and you have less time to do it. So, if you screw up or take too much time like I did 3 or 4 times before going online for help, only to find out I'm doing it right, but I just have to keep doing that same thing over and over again--and if you screw up even the slightest bit or take too long, the game won't tell you, it'll just let you keep doing the same thing over and over again until you eventually die or throw your controller across the room in frustration.

*takes deep calming breath*

F*** this game. F*** it in its stupid f***ing a**.

Ahem.

Excuse, I've gotta go back to my Xbox so I can make attempt #7.

[cactusmaac]

So, it's a rental then?

[Angel of Sorrow]

I've been saying rental since beating it last saturday. lol

[1WEBHEAD]

Rent it.

Why waste $60 bucks on this when Gears of War 2, Little Big Planet, Fable 2, and Fallout 3 are rapidly approaching?

[Jared]

How does this sequence compare to the infamous Spinning Blades of Chaos from God of War? I nearly broke my controller because of those damn things.

BTW, what difficulty are you on?

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

One of the folks on Kotaku actually mentioned this:

"There is in The Force Unleashed one particular boss battle of sorts involving a Star Destroyer that isn't just onerous, it's broken. This one fight manages to coalesce everything wrong with the game into one dark and painfully long moment. The battle involves lots of hiding, running, force use, and a mini-game that requires you to follow the on-screen thumbstick manipulation directions to a T. The problem is that those on-screen directions can, on occasion, be just plain wrong. The level became so frustrating that on one particularly long play through of more than a hour, which had me within minutes of winning, I died and my son, feverish to get on with the game, broke down and started crying. That's a first."

[Spidey-kid1]

One of the folks on Kotaku actually mentioned this:

"There is in The Force Unleashed one particular boss battle of sorts involving a Star Destroyer that isn't just onerous, it's broken. This one fight manages to coalesce everything wrong with the game into one dark and painfully long moment. The battle involves lots of hiding, running, force use, and a mini-game that requires you to follow the on-screen thumbstick manipulation directions to a T. The problem is that those on-screen directions can, on occasion, be just plain wrong. The level became so frustrating that on one particularly long play through of more than a hour, which had me within minutes of winning, I died and my son, feverish to get on with the game, broke down and started crying. That's a first."
I feel like a dick about this, but I actually loled at that.

[Angel of Sorrow]

Yeah, that part was annoying, but they're making it sound harder then it really is.
But seriously, it should have never been done that way.

[asloveislost]

Yeah, that part was annoying, but they're making it sound harder then it really is.
But seriously, it should have never been done that way.


Yeah agreed, the directions on how to do it were definitely flawed and its a pain in the ass when all the tie fighters shoot at you when you're trying to move it...

I can imagine it being a "pulling chunks of hair out" battle on the hardest difficulty.

[Lester C.]

I keep hearing this game is like KOTOR 2. It could have been one of the greatest games of all time if it hadn't been released unfinished.

[Tobias March]

I was in Game tonight looking to buy something...and I had to 'look'. Man it was difficult. Star Wars ..Unleashed was all over that place like a rash.

The fellahs let me see the Warhammer box though. Cool. Very large.

[Alex]

Boss fights are lame.
You smack them with a lightsabre a lot, hit them with force lightening when they don't have a shield up, and then you hit the buttons the screen tells you too.
AWESOME!

[Agent Helix]

The big plot twist at the end of this is so freaking hilarious and terrible. The fact that they kept shouting about how it's canon, and Lucas had a hand in the story, makes it all the more entertaining that what they've come up with is so nonsensical and outright stupid.

[Lester C.]

The big plot twist at the end of this is so freaking hilarious and terrible. The fact that they kept shouting about how it's canon, and Lucas had a hand in the story, makes it all the more entertaining that what they've come up with is so nonsensical and outright stupid.

I haven't played the game yet, but the novel is amazing. The graphic novel is decent didn't make the transition from the game to the comic book medium. I'm only bringing this up because if you want a good story over gameplay you should check out the novel.

[Agent Helix]

No, I don't think I'll be doing that.

[Jmacq1]

The big plot twist at the end of this is so freaking hilarious and terrible. The fact that they kept shouting about how it's canon, and Lucas had a hand in the story, makes it all the more entertaining that what they've come up with is so nonsensical and outright stupid.

Actually, a good chunk of the reviews (good and bad) are saying that the story portions are pretty exceptional.

Then again, even some Star Wars fans don't take things as being as much of a "sacred cow" as some other folks do.

[Agent Helix]

Actually, a good chunk of the reviews (good and bad) are saying that the story portions are pretty exceptional.


I know. It's baffling.

But then, I've never really expected much from the videogame journalism community regarding thoughtful criticism of prose and fiction.

[Jmacq1]

Uh....I might've missed the memo, but I never particularly considered a space-opera saga based more on the "fwoosh" and "pew-pew" than anything else to be high art, or even expected to be.

And I say that as a huge fan of Star Wars in general. What do you expect Star Wars to be besides mostly-harmless fluff? Hell, if you have as much distaste for it as you seem to be evidencing in these posts, why muster enough interest to bother posting in a thread based on yet another pseudopod of the amorphous cosmic horror that is the Star Wars franchise?

[Agent Helix]

Because the ending is seriously, SERIOUSLY hilarious.

[jesse_custer]

Agent is right. If I am supposed to treat the ending as canon, the original trilogy no longer makes any sense.

[Jmacq1]

And that's exactly the kind of melodramatic statement I'd expect from the nitty-gritty Star Wars fanboys, which neither of you strike me as.

I've already been spoiled on the "canon" ending. So what precisely strikes you as particularly "hilarious" or nonsensical about it all? Much less any aspect of it that can't be explained away with relatively minor applications of the handwaving they've been doing for pretty much every new piece of pre-OT literature that's come out since the prequels started?

[Agent Helix]

It's literally the stupidest evil plan I've ever heard of.

[Chris S.]

Because the ending is seriously, SERIOUSLY hilarious.

Probably won't play this game. How does it end?

[Lester C.]

Probably won't play this game. How does it end?

This link contains the main character life story as well as the complete plot of the video game, novel and comic. If you follow the link it will spoil EVERYTHING so don't say you were not warned.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galen_Marek

[Chris S.]

This link contains the main character life story as well as the complete plot of the video game, novel and comic. If you follow the link it will spoil EVERYTHING so don't say you were not warned.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galen_Marek

I skimmed through that. What makes it so funny though?

[Surtur]

I enjoyed the game, sure that part was frustrating, but the game overall, to me, is great.

If you're a Star Wars fan, this is a definitely a game you want to buy. If you're not that into Star Wars, then you're probably best left renting it.

However, it is by no means a bad game.

[Tobias March]

I skimmed through that. What makes it so funny though?

I guess you had to be there.

[chico25]

I've been noticing that the more prequels and history we get the more Darth Vader seems like a crappy and ineffective villian.

[Jared]

Marvel comics had Vader plotting to destroy the Rebellion with a space freeze ray, so don't talk to me about stupid plans! :biggrin:


I'm not sure what's being referred to as the twist at the end. If it's Starkiller beating Vader and the Emperor, well it's a videogame, that's to be expected. The graphic novel and from what I understand, the novel, have different takes on it.

The way I took the plot is that Vader sets the whole thing up to make Starkiller a better infiltrator, but making him think he's really become a good guy acting on his own. He must have known what he was doing when he assigned a beautiful woman with a conscience as his new pilot.

What doesn't make sense why Leia's dad is left alive for another two years until Episode IV. Palpatine does the whole bond villain routine to him, then he gets rescued.

[Dark Soul # 7]

So what exactly do you have to do in the gameplay sequence with the Star Destroyer?

[Jmacq1]

The only hilarity I seem to find is that Vader and the Emperor definitely haven't read the Evil Overlord's Handbook, but we knew that already.

The funny thing is, for everyone complaining that Vader is getting "wussified" by this game...he actually pulls off more impressive stuff here than he's ever been shown to do...well...pretty much anywhere else. Sure, he's not making Star Destroyers surrender to gravity (which is what that feat amounts to, so...not -quite- as impressive as it looks/sounds), but he pulls off plenty of stuff that portrays him in a very powerful, positive (from a badass perspective) light...at the very least a light that explains why he could pwn prequel era Jedi that pulled off stuff we'd never even conceived of in the OT. Plus - No waffling on the "good guy or bad guy" bit. In terms of attitude this is OT Vader, without a doubt.

Personally, I think it's the best Vader portrayal we've had in years.

As for Bail Organa's continued breathing - He does get his planet blown up underneath him in two years, so...the Empire just decided to wait a little bit and go for "overkill" punishment. I think some of the EU lore basically said that Bail was such a well-known and popular public figure that killing/arresting him might have actually formented more unrest among the people. It was useful for Palpatine to have a couple or three outspoken public critics, to provide the galaxy with the illusion that there was still some semblance of free speech and dissent. Since Bail didn't openly/publicly advocate armed rebellion (unlike Mon Mothma), he got to be "that guy" for a while. Once the Death Star was completed though, the Emperor believed he could fully and completely institute his "rule by fear" doctrine, and any illusions that the public might have had about having their own voice could be wiped away (hence the dissolution of the Imperial Senate). If they didn't like it, he'd just blow them up!

So what exactly do you have to do in the gameplay sequence with the Star Destroyer?

It's a Quick-Time-Event (Press buttons or move controller in the indicated direction when they flash on the screen). What makes it frustrating is that you're getting strafed by TIE Fighters while you do it, and whether they hit you or not, it disrupts the "chain" and you basically have to start over.

[Dark Soul # 7]

It's a Quick-Time-Event (Press buttons or move controller in the indicated direction when they flash on the screen). What makes it frustrating is that you're getting strafed by TIE Fighters while you do it, and whether they hit you or not, it disrupts the "chain" and you basically have to start over.Wait, you mean that the player is attacked during a quick-time-event adn there's nothing they can do about it?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Okay, finished it yesterday. Finally finished the Star Destroyer BS after my 10th or 12th try. What I failed to realise is that the on-screen prompts are wrong. You should just position the Star Destroyer by eye instead. The prompts for positioning the left and right stick to pull the ship over to you are the least helpful and slowest way to do it. If you just ignore them, you can down the damn thing in under 5 minutes, as opposed to the countless minutes it takes to do it wrong by following the prompts. The fact that this wasn't caught by anyone involved with the game and corrected is a disgrace. Yet another quicktime event would have been preferable to this broken garbage.

That said, the rest of the game was great. I did the Light Side ending first and was completely satisfied. Ignore the people mocking it for not making any logical sense. this is Star Wars, a fictional universe in which the baddest mo-fo's use laser swords instead of a damned gun. Why? Because it looks and sounds cool! Clearly, Star Wars has never been about thinking through anything too much. It's still a fairy tale set in space. The whole "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." should be your first clue to downshift your brain into 10 year old boy who likes to see cool **** destroy and be destroyed mode.

The real emotional oomph comes from the Dark Side ending, which literally gave me chills. The grim reality of Starkiller's embracing of the Dark Side was extremely well done. The final moment before the blackout is so good I almost would have preferred they made that the "official" ending....or at least steal the scene to use in the inevitable Special Revised Edition of Revenge of the Sith.

However, once you've finished the final battle that second time to get the Dark SIde ending. The game is essentially finished. Unlike the Wii version, there's no duel mode or multiplayer stuff whatsoever. I finished the game in 4 days, playing for a couple hours each day, sometimes more.

It is most certainly not a game you need to own unless you are a huge Star Wars fan who wants to rewatch and replay the game over and over again. I may pick it up again sometime later to replay it again in 6 months or so if there's nothing else to play, but that's it.

Great Star Wars game, not as good as Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront, but a sign of good things to come---if Lucasarts does a better job of play testing it next time. They clearly rushed it out to market before it was finished, just like they did with KOTOR 2. Learn your lesson Lucasarts. Release the game when its finished, not when it coincides with a gigantic multimedia event.....and, yes, I know the game was already delayed, but it clearly wasn't delayed enough. This was rushed out before Xmas just like KOTOR 2 was.

[asloveislost]

Wait, you mean that the player is attacked during a quick-time-event adn there's nothing they can do about it?

No it's not a QTE, you have to destroy all the tie fighters and then grab the Star Destroyer with the Force, then you have to position the Star Destroyer so it is facing you and then pull it down...

What happens though is about 30 seconds into you positioning the Star Destroyer, more tie fighters come back so you have to stop and destroy them, if you dont do it quick enough the Star Destroyer will have moved back into its original place and you have to start over... otherwise it would've only moved a little bit and you can continue moving it.

Also the on screen prompts for how you are supposed to position the joysticks is totally wrong... very frustrating.

[Tobias March]

What I love about that is if it were raised as a criticism, Lucasarts could always reply with 'Trust your feelings'.

Man see it's all in keeping with the philosophy of Star Wars, I totally get it now. Lucas created a fictional universe that serves as a vehicle for Martin Heideggar's critique of humanity's march towards becoming depending on technology to the exclusion of community and being-with-others.

Or maybe not.....:smile:

[Xero Kaiser]

I went into that part expecting hell, only to blow through it in 5 mintues. Even those TIE fighters aren't too bad, since they usually fly in the same direction, it's easy to just stand on one side and quickly wipe them out

[G. Wayne]

I only beat it for the Darkside ending so far. Do you need to run through the whole game again to get the ending, or can you just replay the last level? Oh, and of the costumes, what are the 3rd and 2nd from the far right?

Good story, decent melee controls, bad QTEs (What's the point of having the mini cutscene if you have to focus on a fraction of the screen to figure out what to do, thus missing the cutscene?) -horrible- targeting system, way too short overall.

Wait, you mean that the player is attacked during a quick-time-event adn there's nothing they can do about it?

You have a short amount of time to pull the Star Destroyer into place following incredibly poor thumbstick commands. These... are not accurate most of the time, either. Then the Fighters come in to attack. You can take a few hits from them, but you need to stop to destroy the fighters. While you're getting rid of those though, the Destroyer resets it's position, so if you don't manage to kill the Fighters with the clunky controls for the scene fast enough, yeah, it sucks.

[Lester C.]

I heard this game is very short. If so I'm going until it comes down in price in the used market. At 70 bucks a pop I expect my games to last me a while and won't pay full price for a game I can beat in a few hours.

[BYC]

Great Star Wars game, not as good as Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront, but a sign of good things to come---if Lucasarts does a better job of play testing it next time. They clearly rushed it out to market before it was finished, just like they did with KOTOR 2. Learn your lesson Lucasarts. Release the game when its finished, not when it coincides with a gigantic multimedia event.....and, yes, I know the game was already delayed, but it clearly wasn't delayed enough. This was rushed out before Xmas just like KOTOR 2 was.

From what I understand Lucasarts will not be making anymore games.

They don't have an inhouse game development team anymore. This was their last game. The rumor was that the day after Force Unleashed was completed, they all got laid off.

[Nosgoth Phantom]

The big plot twist at the end of this is so freaking hilarious and terrible. The fact that they kept shouting about how it's canon, and Lucas had a hand in the story, makes it all the more entertaining that what they've come up with is so nonsensical and outright stupid.
Agent is right. If I am supposed to treat the ending as canon, the original trilogy no longer makes any sense.


There are two completely different endings depending on if you want to choose to be a Jedi or a Sith at the end. Only one is cannon. The one with the plot twist of Vader being killed and replaced by Starkiller is obviously not the real cannocal ending.

[Jmacq1]

From what I understand Lucasarts will not be making anymore games.

They don't have an inhouse game development team anymore. This was their last game. The rumor was that the day after Force Unleashed was completed, they all got laid off.

Source?

I've heard plenty about layoffs at Lucasarts. I have not heard anything about Lucasarts effectively ceasing to exist. This sounds like internet blowing-out-of-proportionism.

[Agent Helix]

Wow, that's even dumber and more nonsensical than the other one.

[Nosgoth Phantom]

Wow, that's even dumber and more nonsensical than the other one.

Perhaps it would help if you offered some thoughtful criticism and discussed why Starkiller becoming a martyr for the Jedi was nonsensical and hilarious. Don't get me wrong. I respect that others have different opinions, but it would help if you provided some substantial and informative reasons for yours.

[Xero Kaiser]

Perhaps it would help if you offered some thoughtful criticism and discussed why Starkiller becoming a martyr for the Jedi was nonsensical and hilarious. Don't get me wrong. I respect that others have different opinions, but it would help if you provided some substantial and informative reasons for yours.

I'd be interested in knowing too. Since I apparently missed the part that somehow results in the original trilogy no longer making any sense. Only thing that kind of bugged me was how easily Starkiller died, considering how powerful he was, but I can see how their hands would be tied.

[BYC]

Source?

I've heard plenty about layoffs at Lucasarts. I have not heard anything about Lucasarts effectively ceasing to exist. This sounds like internet blowing-out-of-proportionism.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84360-LucasArts-Set-to-Outsource-Internal-Projects

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84328-Rumor-Mass-LucasArts-Layoffs

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/39458

http://360.kombo.com/article.php?artid=13281

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/starwars2007/news.html?sid=6192192

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/26/lucasarts-cuts-hit-force-unleashed-team-after-all/

Basically, the various sources state that Lucasarts slashed their teams greatly. Some believe EA's partnership with Lucasarts is the main reason behind it all. Regardless, lots of their SW games just sucked ass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_by_LucasArts

Some real gems in there, but lots of crap.

[Lester C.]

I'd be interested in knowing too. Since I apparently missed the part that somehow results in the original trilogy no longer making any sense. Only thing that kind of bugged me was how easily Starkiller died, considering how powerful he was, but I can see how their hands would be tied.

Regarding your spoiler a lot of very powerful characters in Star Wars checked out like punks.

[Alex]

Took me 4 days of really casual playing to beat on the default difficulty, thank god i didn't buy it.
Did the same button press minigame everytime i came upon a walker or rancor(Thats what the lizard dudes are, right?), found out i could kill 90% of the games enemies using the same combo...why the hell can't i pick Vader up and throw his ass across the room with the force though? I took down a star destroyer.
PS. the game was unfinished. Several times i ended up floating in the middle of the air because the game didn't know there wasn't ground there, i had to reload a save fighting vader at the end, because he didn't go into the next bit of a fight and just stood in the middle of the room forever, doing nothing, taking no damage.

I'm sure that Star Destroyer thing everyone is compliagning about is bugged, i got through it, but it wasn't fun by any means.

Overall, a short, slighty buggy game that would still entertain star wars fans due to the huge amounts of fan service they stuck in it.

[Xero Kaiser]

Regarding your spoiler a lot of very powerful characters in Star Wars checked out like punks.

Going out like a punk is almost a Star Wars trademark.

[Jmacq1]

Would've been a wee bit anticlimactic to have the character go through the entire game and then just get unceremoniously killed by Vader. Particularly for those folks buying this game that aren't hardcore Star Wars fans.

Palpatine is pretty much untouched in any scenario. Yeah, it looks like Starkiller "beats" him, but I dunno if you can call it "being beat" when you're tossing him around and he's -laughing- at you the whole time. Oh, and then he kills you a couple seconds later.

I'd note: Vader and Palpatine are the ones still alive in the canon ending. Starkiller isn't. It ain't really a victory if you don't finish the job.

[Xero Kaiser]

Would've been a wee bit anticlimactic to have the character go through the entire game and then just get unceremoniously killed by Vader. Particularly for those folks buying this game that aren't hardcore Star Wars fans.

Palpatine is pretty much untouched in any scenario. Yeah, it looks like Starkiller "beats" him, but I dunno if you can call it "being beat" when you're tossing him around and he's -laughing- at you the whole time. Oh, and then he kills you a couple seconds later.

I'd note: Vader and Palpatine are the ones still alive in the canon ending. Starkiller isn't. It ain't really a victory if you don't finish the job.

Palpatine wasn't really laughing when he was getting his ass beat, and Kota's the only reason Palpatine didn't get a saber through the eye. Starkiller only died because he jumped in front of the emperor's lightning to protect the others. Neither him or Vader could hang with SK in an actual fight.

[Kaos]

It was alright...the fight sequences were so retarded though.
shoulda been able to play it again with the stats you amass.

[Xero Kaiser]

shoulda been able to play it again with the stats you amass.

...you can

[Lester C.]

Going out like a punk is almost a Star Wars trademark.

It happened to every major character that died in all three movies.

[Karl H]

I actually quite enjoyed it. I'll be selling my copy on as soon as one of my mates has played it..

Like the original KOTOR it actually felt a lot more 'Star Wars' than anything coming out of the prequel movies!

So it makes continuity a bit confusion but then the prequels did that all by their lonesome.

[Karl H]

Oh and to be fair

I kinda hope they explain how Kota's not hanging around by ANH. Unless it's covered in the novel?

[Brett P]

I feel like a dick about this, but I actually loled at that.

LOL and I at this :p

That is pretty hilarious.

I hate frustrating games...I can't even make any progress in Crackdown, Mass Effect or Oblivion because it's all just too much for me...and that's just trying to start out in the game! Christ knows what an actual challenge would do to my soul.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

It was alright...the fight sequences were so retarded though.
shoulda been able to play it again with the stats you amass.

You can. Once you finish the game, it starts you over again with all your stats from the previous game. You can breeze through the game again uber-powerful if you'd like or increase the difficulty setting if you want more of a challenge.

That's about it for its replayability though.

A multiplayer brawler with this would be great.

[Lester C.]

LOL and I at this :p

That is pretty hilarious.

I hate frustrating games...I can't even make any progress in Crackdown, Mass Effect or Oblivion because it's all just too much for me...and that's just trying to start out in the game! Christ knows what an actual challenge would do to my soul.

I've never played Crackdown but in Mass Effect and Oblivion you can crank down the difficulty in the options setting to the point where you character in damn near god mode. If you own both games on the PC you can use the ~key to edit all of your stats as well give yourself god items.

[Alex]

You can. Once you finish the game, it starts you over again with all your stats from the previous game. You can breeze through the game again uber-powerful if you'd like or increase the difficulty setting if you want more of a challenge.

That's about it for its replayability though.

A multiplayer brawler with this would be great.

Shame about so many members of the empire developing anti force powers.

[Jmacq1]

Shame about so many members of the empire developing anti force powers.

Yeah, that was a little annoying, but honestly kind of necessary if the game was going give even the token appearance of being any challenge at all. I just ignore that portion as "game mechanics" and leave it at that.

Just a note on re-playing with a maxed out character: You have to load the saved game from your first playthrough to do it. You can't just hit "continue game" or "new game" from what I understand. It's a little bass-ackwards, but it works. You'll start off in whatever costume you unlocked in your previous playthrough, too.

As for hilarity, the only thing I found in the game to be uproariously hilarious was:

The black lightsaber

[Xero Kaiser]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/09/custom_1222777209724_172.31.2.41-image2.jpg
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/09/custom_1222777214448_172.31.2.41-image19.jpg

LucasArts plans to release new characters and a new single player campaign set in the Jedi Temple as downloadable content for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in coming months, Force Unleashed executive producer Haden Blackman told Kotaku.

The content will be coming to be the 360 and PS3 version of the game. No specific date or prices have yet been set for the downloadable content.

In the coming months Lucas Arts will release a downloadable content pack featuring additional costumes and character models that can be used to play through the single-player campaign. The new models will include Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto.

The skins we decided to release were "based on what we heard from fans," Blackman said. "But some were from us. We thought Ki-Adi-Mundi or Kiit Fisto would be exciting to see running around in our game."

While the new skins simply give you a new way to play through the existing content, the new level will be played out on a beefy new map and includes quite a bit more plot.

Due out later this year, the new single-player mission is set in the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant. Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice travels to the temple to learn more about his father, and while searching through the rubble of the destroyed building he confronts his inner demons.

(SPOILER)

The level seems to fit in nicely with a moment in the original game when the Apprentice comes face to face with the ghost of his father. I asked Blackman if that was done deliberately, or if that confrontation would be where players would jump off into the new adventure.

"That was a scene we had written into the script to suggest that the apprentice was getting more into his background and in touch with his childhood," Blackman said. "It's in there to remind the player that the apprentice had come from a jedi father that he wasn’t always evil. It coincides nicely with him beginning to question working for Vader."

(END SPOILER)

Blackman said the team talked about having that moment be the jumping off point for the new adventure, but in the end decided it wasn't feasible.

"We wanted players to be able to access it immediately when they download it," he said. "So it’s an added level. A separate campaign."

The new campaign's map is smaller than The Force Unleashed giant level on the junk planet Raxis Prime, he said, but it's larger than Cloud City.

"We hope it hits the sweet spot for size."

This new location, which appears in a different form in both the PSP and PS2 versions of the game, was one of about eight that the teamed talked about including in the final game, but didn't make the cut for one reason or another.

"We had a list of 20 locations in our exploration phase," he said. "Those got whittled down. Which ones were viable and which weren't. The temple hung on and hung on and hung on. We had to make cuts right before production and it was one of those."

And Blackman said it's entirely possible that the internal development team working on this new DLC will continue to work on new episodes, that The Force Unleashed could essentially become a delivery system for episodic content.

"We brainstormed a ton of locations," he said. "There's easily another two dozen we could make into levels. This is a good way to continue the story."

"I wouldn't rule out any future content on The Force Unleashed."

This new content also makes the game that much more replayable, something that could potentially help bump it from a rental to a purchase.

"We hope gamers hold onto the game anyway," Blackman said. "There is already a lot of replayability built into it. There is quite a lot of exploration you can do. If you enjoy the story, the gameplay, the first time through, though, you should enjoy this."

And while we're at it, I want a Darth Revan and Nihilus skin.

[Jmacq1]

And while we're at it, I want a Darth Revan and Nihilus skin.

Yeah, they could really go nuts with those skins, but what makes me laugh about the article is the simple fact that the unquestionable #1 "fan wish" as far as alternate characters is one they didn't do yet:

Let that Vader model they spent all that work on for the prologue be usable for all the levels. I know it's probably not quite that simple, but the character model and its' abilities are already there. It can't be -that- hard to make it usable in other instances. Though to be fair, tweaking it so that it could use some of the more amped-up Force abilities would be even more awesome.

Still, they can throw all the alternate costumes/skins in the world at us. While they're kinda fun, they're not really adding much to the game besides something slightly different to look at while you play through. If they were all-new character models that fought with different styles and maybe had slightly tweaked force powers, I'd be more excited.

[Xero Kaiser]

Let that Vader model they spent all that work on for the prologue be usable for all the levels.[/B] I know it's probably not quite that simple

No, that's the thing. It really is that simple. I have no idea why they're holding out unless either:
A) it's there but nobody's figured it out yet
B) they're going to be bastards and release it as DLC

[Bruce Wayne Jr.]

This new content also makes the game that much more replayable, something that could potentially help bump it from a rental to a purchase.

After playing a friend's copy for a couple hours, I decided to hold out on this one. This news, however, might actually get me to buy it.

'Cuz Ki-Adi-Mundi kicks so much ass. :biggrin: Now where's K'Khruk?

[Jmacq1]

No, that's the thing. It really is that simple. I have no idea why they're holding out unless either:
A) it's there but nobody's figured it out yet
B) they're going to be bastards and release it as DLC

Well, the only problem I can see is that the Vader model didn't have lightning, and lightning is required to get through some of the levels. Either Vader or the levels would have to be tweaked to make it work.

[Xero Kaiser]

Well, the only problem I can see is that the Vader model didn't have lightning, and lightning is required to get through some of the levels. Either Vader or the levels would have to be tweaked to make it work.

Oh, I thought you just meant just using a Vader skin.

[Jmacq1]

No, I know that'd be super-easy, but I'm talking about playing as the Vader you play in the prologue.

Cause honestly, Vader running around and fighting (saber-wise) like the Secret Apprentice just...wouldn't be right. It's weird enough to envision Luke or Obi-Wan doing it.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Glad they make it automatic on the ps2 version. Sux 2 B U.

[CDB]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/09/custom_1222777209724_172.31.2.41-image2.jpg

And while we're at it, I want a Darth Revan and Nihilus skin.

ROTJ Luke Skywalker and Epsiode 3 Obi-Wan Kenobi skins....:eek:


......thank you, God.

[asloveislost]

Well, the only problem I can see is that the Vader model didn't have lightning, and lightning is required to get through some of the levels. Either Vader or the levels would have to be tweaked to make it work.

Lightning, double jump, force boost... yeah you kinda need all those things in this game, plus walking everywhere would be sooo annoying.

[Alex]

Yeah, that was a little annoying, but honestly kind of necessary if the game was going give even the token appearance of being any challenge at all. I just ignore that portion as "game mechanics" and leave it at that.


But yknow thats crap though right?
Every boss fight boils down to a button press event, and all the anti force enemies are killed using the same tactics, over and over again.
Just let me pick them up and throw them, it's not any harder then throwing my lightsabre or charging at them and smacking them with a lightsabre.
PS, nerd complaint, they are immune to me using my mind powers to pick them up and throw them, but physical attacks take them down like little babies?
Pffft.
That stuff gave it almost an oblivion problem, where i never felt like a badass because the enemies scaled with me. Why am i improving my powers if i can't use them on half the enemies or any of the bosses past the 2nd boss fight?

[Alex]

One more small gripe, this isn't like the game breaking bug i mentioned before, or the weird terrain clipping, but in every cutscene past a certain point, my weapon was blue, but i never had a blue one, i had a red one, and i think a gold one.

It's nitpicky, but as long as they took to make this game, i'm slightly annoyed it had so many little problems.

[Xero Kaiser]

But yknow thats crap though right?
Every boss fight boils down to a button press event, and all the anti force enemies are killed using the same tactics, over and over again.
Just let me pick them up and throw them, it's not any harder then throwing my lightsabre or charging at them and smacking them with a lightsabre.
PS, nerd complaint, they are immune to me using my mind powers to pick them up and throw them, but physical attacks take them down like little babies?
Pffft.
That stuff gave it almost an oblivion problem, where i never felt like a badass because the enemies scaled with me. Why am i improving my powers if i can't use them on half the enemies or any of the bosses past the 2nd boss fight?

Is it really that hard to disable their shield and then force-rape them? Most force-resistant enemies are really only resistant to being force gripped and even then, only when their easily dispelled shield is up.

And force powers worked fine on the bosses. I killed every boss using the force, some bosses I killed only using the force. Lightning works on bosses, lightning shield works on bosses, force repulse destroys bosses. Again, about the only thing that doesn't work is force push/grip.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Can't speak for the latest consoles, but doesn't it also boil down to how you play the game?
If you're looking to force lightning everything, then you have no one but yourself to blame if you feel the game is to easy, or boring. I know that I like the thrill of sabre battles, so I will definitely engage the enemy in melee combat, but I also realize that when fighting those force sensitive opponents that getting into melee with them while there are 4 or more Storm Troopers shooting at me is kind of difficult and will only drain my hp faster, so yes then I will do things like Force Choke, or Fling weaker enemies off ledges or into walls. It all depends on how you want to play the game.

[Alex]

Is it really that hard to disable their shield and then force-rape them? Most force-resistant enemies are really only resistant to being force gripped and even then, only when their easily dispelled shield is up.

And force powers worked fine on the bosses. I killed every boss using the force, some bosses I killed only using the force. Lightning works on bosses, lightning shield works on bosses, force repulse destroys bosses. Again, about the only thing that doesn't work is force push/grip.

Thats the one that's fun!
The other ones i can either hit one button for, or hold a shoulder button down and hit a button for.
All i want is to be able to toss vader into a wall, if i'm badass enough to bring down a star destroyer, i should be able to pick Vader up. All he ever did was toss some friggen pipes.
I know when they say something is "cannon" it's to be taken with a grain of salt, so i'm not going to complaign about the emperor, after the events of this game, decided he could stop teaching his people how to shoot lighting, and use force shields, and give various people lightsabre like weapons.

[Jmacq1]

I managed to grip Vader and toss him into a couple walls. I'm still not sure what the timing involved is as to where/when he's "vulnerable" but it can be done.

My real question is this:

PROXY mimicing saber-fighting techniques I can totally deal with. But how the hell does he replicate force powers when he changes into his various forms?

[Nosgoth Phantom]

I managed to grip Vader and toss him into a couple walls. I'm still not sure what the timing involved is as to where/when he's "vulnerable" but it can be done.

My real question is this:

PROXY mimicing saber-fighting techniques I can totally deal with. But how the hell does he replicate force powers when he changes into his various forms?

Electro Magnetic Field manipulation = Fake Force Powers..... but the official answer from the creators is that he uses his "repulsors".

[Surtur]

I will say the game is only 8-10 hours so unless you're a SW's fan, it's only good for a rental.

If you're a big SW's fan like me, buy it. I love SW's and have no problems replaying levels I've beaten several times before.


I do hope this news about lucasarts not making anymore games is untrue because I was really hoping they'd eventually make a sequel to jedi academy.

[Xero Kaiser]

I do hope this news about lucasarts not making anymore games is untrue because I was really hoping they'd eventually make a sequel to jedi academy.

Dunno, the Force Unleashed team is still around to do the DLC at least. But the rumors only said that Lucasarts wouldn't be developing games internally, not shutting down altogether

[asloveislost]

One more small gripe, this isn't like the game breaking bug i mentioned before, or the weird terrain clipping, but in every cutscene past a certain point, my weapon was blue, but i never had a blue one, i had a red one, and i think a gold one.

It's nitpicky, but as long as they took to make this game, i'm slightly annoyed it had so many little problems.

I noticed that, i think it's actually part of the story, him using his fathers lightsaber and showing his slight turn to the good side, at least thats what it seems.

[Lester C.]

I decided that since this game is a massive release that a best seller with many people complaining about it that it's destined to drop in price very soon on the used market. So I'm just going to wait until I can get it for half of what it is now.

[Jmacq1]

As noted above, if you're a big Star Wars fan, it's worth buying. If not, rent it and you'll get about as much out of it as you're likely going to want or care about. It's a really short game. I'm notorious among my friends for taking a long time to beat games (or even never beating a lot of the games I buy) and I still beat it in under a week.

And yeah, I kinda wished they'd have gone with in-game cutscenes instead of pre-rendered. I understand the blue-saber switch (carrying a red saber is kinda advertising your lightside/darkside bent in most cases), but it would have been WAY cooler if the cutscenes reflected your current costume and saber choices. Also, I wish the stages would just carry over whatever costume you switched to, rather than making you go into the menu and change it at the beginning of each stage.

Plus, it'd be hilarious to see Juno Eclipse making out with the freakish "Sith Stalker" or with Luke Skywalker or whatever

[cactusmaac]

Finished the game in about two days. I enjoyed the demo, but was mostly disappointed with the finished product. It seems like they spent about 60% of their time doing the physics engine and making sure it looked and sounded good. The actual gameplay just wasn't polished, varied or imaginative enough. The repetition of the levels and shortness of the game was annoying. The customisation was mostly pointless. I was expecting at least a few vehicle sequences and got zero. It was several steps backward from Jedi Academy.

I had issues with the story. The Emperor could either 1) be blase about the rebellion and let it fester or b) be seriously worried and spare no effort in stamping it out. The story indicates he was b). If that's the case, why would he let Leia Organa traipse around the galaxy on relief missions instead of having her and her father's internal organs removed to a jar?

Didn't think the writing was anything exceptional. Like most EU material, it's content to recycle old SW material instead of offering something new. Starkiller's character arc needed more focus.

That being said, I reckon I got my money's worth. Using the force powers and lightsabre melee combat was fun, despite the bugs. The graphics and sound were excellent. The boss fights, and QTE finishing moves were quite spectacular. I got a little chill up my spine when doing the Vader fight and hearing the ROTJ music kick in. The Emperor's and Vader's portrayals were movie quality.

I wouldn't say the game suffered like KOTOR 2 did from truncuated development. It seems more like the project was mismanaged from the top down. You can sense bits and pieces of a great game there which is what usually happens when the workers are good but the boss screws things up.

[Lester C.]

I decided that since this game is a massive release that a best seller with many people complaining about it that it's destined to drop in price very soon on the used market. So I'm just going to wait until I can get it for half of what it is now.

I will admit to being wrong here. I'm still waiting for the game to come below the 60 dollar price point.

[StoneGold]

I will admit to being wrong here. I'm still waiting for the game to come below the 60 dollar price point.

I bought it for $20 new off Amazon a while back. It was on sale for a day or two. God bless http://www.cheapassgamer.com.

[Kage Kisaragi]

So.....

I was playing through it all yesterday having a heckuva good time (it's a much better game if you choose not to use the crummy targeting system and just use Force Push, Lightning, Repulse and all your various lightsaber combos).

Then I got to the part where you're supposed to pull down the Star Destroyer, as promised by the teaser trailer. Which should be one of the coolest, most exciting, parts of the game.

Never before have I wanted to hunt down and punch in the face whomever was responsible for such a horrifically bad, tedious, frustrating and downright idiotic gameplay sequence in all my years of playing video games. And I've played a lot of video games for quite a few years now.

If the rest of the game was just okay or even good, I wouldn't care, I'd just stop playing the game like I did Grand Theft Auto 4 when I got tired of failing to get past the lame motorcycle missions over and over again. But I actually like this game. I like the characters and the story. It's a genuinely interesting and compelling Star Wars game. The best since Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront.

But I don't want to slog through the same impossibly finicky controls and pointlessly vague prompts and repetitive gameplay sequences in order to get past this damn mission. I can almost understand making you do the same really tricky, difficult stuff once, twice or even three times so that you feel a sense of accomplishment, but doing the same things 4, 5, 6, I dunno how many more times I've gotta do this crap before that f***ing Star Destroyer finally goes down.

And I'm not talking about 4, 5 or 6 attempts, I'm talking about how many times you've got to repeat the same frustrating gameplay sequence in order to progress to the next frustrating gameplay sequence, which is identical to the last frustration gameplay sequence only harder and you have less time to do it. So, if you screw up or take too much time like I did 3 or 4 times before going online for help, only to find out I'm doing it right, but I just have to keep doing that same thing over and over again--and if you screw up even the slightest bit or take too long, the game won't tell you, it'll just let you keep doing the same thing over and over again until you eventually die or throw your controller across the room in frustration.

*takes deep calming breath*

F*** this game. F*** it in its stupid f***ing a**.

Ahem.

Excuse, I've gotta go back to my Xbox so I can make attempt #7.

I keep hearing people comlain about this, seriously. Play it on your ps2, this problem does not exist... I'm so happy i got it for ps2 and not anything else. Seems that part of the game makes people hate the game.

[MakeshiftHero]

I also couldn't get past the Star Destroyer part as well.

I got SSSOOOOO CLOSE to bringing it down but every time it almost hit or looked like it was about to crash I'd have to stop pulling cause I was about to get killed by the Tie Fighters.

I eventualy had to stop due to the blisters about to form on my palms and thumbs and after the numerous hours of epic fail I wasted my life on.

[ibwib]

Having just returned to this after an absence prompted by Call of Duty World at War (http://www.theleisurelab.co.uk/en/Games/Call-of-Duty-World-at-War-Wii-Review/) and Tomb Raider: Underworld (http://www.theleisurelab.co.uk/en/Games/Tomb-Raider-Underworld-Review/), I have to say, I'm liking it again.

It was killing me slowly, same as the thread starter, but it seems to work better and feel less repetetive if played in occasional chunks. It's like a hardcore game for casual gamers.

That said, my colleague who handles Xbox reviews absolutely loved it from the off. Before he did his Force Unleashed review (http://www.theleisurelab.co.uk/en/Games/Star-Wars-Force-Unleashed-Review/) he said that he'd wavered between giving it a four or a five, before deciding that whatever misgivings he had in his head couldn't overrule the fun in his guts.

[cactusmaac]

Calling that a five-star game is really setting the bar low.

The trick to doing the Star Destroyer section is to overcompensate. If you need to pull it to the left, go as far left as you can without stopping in the middle. Then when you've dealt with the new wave of TIE fighters, you'll have more time to move it back to the centre and then downwards.

[StoneGold]

What can I say, I never had that much trouble with the game.

[Agent Helix]

Calling that a five-star game is really setting the bar low.


Jeez, no kidding. This game is almost a picture definition of mediocrity. It does what it does well enough not to be a disaster, but doesn't excel or even achieve in any area.

[Jeff-E]

The Star Destroyer problem is non existant on Wii, so I guess I got lucky there. Its fun, but I agree about only buying if you are a die hard fan... though it is more affordable on the Wii I got it for 35. I was just wondering if anyone knows the codes to unlock all the lightsaber handles and what not? I was playing through again to get them all but honestly just got annoyed checking every nook and cranny. I just don't have the patience for all that.