Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii)
First off, a history lesson for you
young whippersnappers.
Way back in 1996, the good people at Lucasfilm launched a multimedia campaign centered around a movie that would never exist. The idea was to take advantage of all the commercial aspects of a feature film release without the film. There was a novel (and a junior novelization), comic books, trading cards, toys, a great soundtrack, and an amazing video game; they even made a trailer for the whole thing, which I‘m sure you can find on YouTube. The name of this little campaign? Shadows of the Empire.
young whippersnappers.
Way back in 1996, the good people at Lucasfilm launched a multimedia campaign centered around a movie that would never exist. The idea was to take advantage of all the commercial aspects of a feature film release without the film. There was a novel (and a junior novelization), comic books, trading cards, toys, a great soundtrack, and an amazing video game; they even made a trailer for the whole thing, which I‘m sure you can find on YouTube. The name of this little campaign? Shadows of the Empire.
Shadows of the Empire ushered in the rerelease of the original Star Wars trilogy (in Special Edition form) the
following year, and the launch of the prequel trilogy three years later, in 1999, and in general revitalized interest in the Star Wars universe in the general public (not just the die hard Star Wars fans).
Jump forward to 2007! Delays, delays, delays, and now it’s 2008. Over a decade after Shadows of the Empire’s multifaceted release, LucasArts launches another similar campaign, the Force Unleashed. Just like Shadows of the Empire, The Force Unleashed features a novel, comic books, toys, and a soundtrack. But, unlike Shadows of the Empire (which was centralized around a novel), this time around the campaign is centralized around it’s video game facet. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’s video game was released across several platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, PSP, and iPhone), but my review will be for the Wii version.
Platform: Wii
Developer: Krome Studios
Publisher: LucasArts
Release Date: September 16, 2008 (USA)
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
The Story
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has you controlling Galen Marek (codenamed Starkiller), also know as the Secret Apprentice; that’s Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice, mind you. Found as a child on Kashyyyk soon after Revenge of the Sith (well, more like… kidnapped… after he killed your daddy…), Vader has trained you in secret as a mighty asswhooping Sith Lord, in preparation for overthrowing his master, Emperor Palpatine. The year is 2 BBY (BBY means years Before Battle of Yavin, for those not in the know), and Vader has assigned a knew pilot to your ship, young ace Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse (who also serves as Starkiller’s love interest). Throughout the game, Vader sends his young apprentice on several missions, including hunting down a few rogue Jedi knights, breaking into the Jedi Temple a few times to face the Jedi trials as part of your training, and rallying the enemies of the Empire in defiance of the Emperor.
Jump forward to 2007! Delays, delays, delays, and now it’s 2008. Over a decade after Shadows of the Empire’s multifaceted release, LucasArts launches another similar campaign, the Force Unleashed. Just like Shadows of the Empire, The Force Unleashed features a novel, comic books, toys, and a soundtrack. But, unlike Shadows of the Empire (which was centralized around a novel), this time around the campaign is centralized around it’s video game facet. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’s video game was released across several platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, PSP, and iPhone), but my review will be for the Wii version.
Platform: Wii
Developer: Krome Studios
Publisher: LucasArts
Release Date: September 16, 2008 (USA)
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
The Story
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has you controlling Galen Marek (codenamed Starkiller), also know as the Secret Apprentice; that’s Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice, mind you. Found as a child on Kashyyyk soon after Revenge of the Sith (well, more like… kidnapped… after he killed your daddy…), Vader has trained you in secret as a mighty asswhooping Sith Lord, in preparation for overthrowing his master, Emperor Palpatine. The year is 2 BBY (BBY means years Before Battle of Yavin, for those not in the know), and Vader has assigned a knew pilot to your ship, young ace Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse (who also serves as Starkiller’s love interest). Throughout the game, Vader sends his young apprentice on several missions, including hunting down a few rogue Jedi knights, breaking into the Jedi Temple a few times to face the Jedi trials as part of your training, and rallying the enemies of the Empire in defiance of the Emperor.
Features
Aside from the Wii’s unique control scheme (described in the controls section below), the game offers 200 Holocrons spread across the game (around 20 hidden on each level) for you to collect. Once collected, they each unlock a piece of development art for your viewing pleasure. Also hidden thoughout the game are lightsaber hilts and colored crystals, allowing you to customize your lightsaber. As you progress through the game, outfits are unlocked for you to use (they are also unlocked in the duel mode). The game also features an ingame database, with entries unlocked after completing a level; all entries are confined to people/ships/planets/creatures/stuff that you encounter in the game.
Outside of the main game is a tutorial (which I wish I had noticed before I rashly started the game as soon as I got it home), located in the main menu. This is a very useful feature to those new to the game, and I would highly recommend going through it at least once. I didn’t go through it until I had already beaten the main game, and I still managed to learn a thing or two I had missed.
The game also features a multiplayer duel mode, featuring characters you unlock by progressing through the game. This is a weak spot, though, because, while it is fun, it is somewhat limited; your only allowed to choose the time limit (5 minutes or unlimited) and the number of kills required to win (between 2 and 5). You can choose from 28 characters (10 of which are simply different versions of Starkiller, with different outfits and strengths and weaknesses) and 9 arenas. Each character excels in a different skill, whether it be lightsaber combat, force lightning, force choke, or force push. Some characters are quite balanced, while others lean heavily on a certain skill; for example, while Starkiller’s Bounty Hunter Disguise character is completely balanced and doesn’t favor any skill over another, Young Luke Skywalker excels in force push, and is decent in lightsaber combat, while his force lightning and force choke are at minimum. During matches, special items appear at random, bestowing bonuses to whoever manages to collect them.
Aside from the Wii’s unique control scheme (described in the controls section below), the game offers 200 Holocrons spread across the game (around 20 hidden on each level) for you to collect. Once collected, they each unlock a piece of development art for your viewing pleasure. Also hidden thoughout the game are lightsaber hilts and colored crystals, allowing you to customize your lightsaber. As you progress through the game, outfits are unlocked for you to use (they are also unlocked in the duel mode). The game also features an ingame database, with entries unlocked after completing a level; all entries are confined to people/ships/planets/creatures/stuff that you encounter in the game.
Outside of the main game is a tutorial (which I wish I had noticed before I rashly started the game as soon as I got it home), located in the main menu. This is a very useful feature to those new to the game, and I would highly recommend going through it at least once. I didn’t go through it until I had already beaten the main game, and I still managed to learn a thing or two I had missed.
The game also features a multiplayer duel mode, featuring characters you unlock by progressing through the game. This is a weak spot, though, because, while it is fun, it is somewhat limited; your only allowed to choose the time limit (5 minutes or unlimited) and the number of kills required to win (between 2 and 5). You can choose from 28 characters (10 of which are simply different versions of Starkiller, with different outfits and strengths and weaknesses) and 9 arenas. Each character excels in a different skill, whether it be lightsaber combat, force lightning, force choke, or force push. Some characters are quite balanced, while others lean heavily on a certain skill; for example, while Starkiller’s Bounty Hunter Disguise character is completely balanced and doesn’t favor any skill over another, Young Luke Skywalker excels in force push, and is decent in lightsaber combat, while his force lightning and force choke are at minimum. During matches, special items appear at random, bestowing bonuses to whoever manages to collect them.
Gameplay
Your ship, the Rogue Shadow, serves as a central hub between levels for you to access the database, change your outfit, upgrade your force powers, customize your lightsaber, and move on to the next level. Upgrading force powers (such as force lightning and force push) requires you to exchange experience points, which you get from killing enemies. One example of an upgrade is your force lightning power; while at the beginning of the game you can expell a small electrical charge from one of your hands, by the end of the game you can unleashed a veritable lightning storm from both hands onto your enemies.
A big part of the game is using the environment as a weapon. Using the force, you can throw chairs, crates, pipes, and droids pretty much anywhere. If your anything like me, then your lightsaber will be a secondary weapon, with the Force taking center stage.
A weak part of the game is the camera, which can be a little slow, especially when you change directions completely during combat. When it does give you problems it can range anywhere from a slight nuisance to downright infuriating, and at times can mean death for your character. They implemented a lock-on feature as well, and by pressing down on the directional pad you can automatically lock the camera onto an enemy, which is a good and bad thing. If it’s an average, easy to kill enemy, you won’t be locked on for long, as, you know, you kill him.
But, if it’s a boss that requires running around a lot, you’ll find that having the lockon feature engaged means that you are horribly impaired when it comes to your environment. It’s even worse if there happens to be other combatants trying to get a piece of you at the same time, whether they be stormtroopers or bounty hunters, and oftentimes you’ll find yourself running straight into another enemy while you’re concentrating on the boss. It doesn’t help that the lock-on feature is automatically engaged when you enter a boss fight. All in all, the lock-on feature leaves you at the mercy of countless factors.
Controls
As stated elsewhere, this game is a waggle-fest, but that’s not exactly a bad thing; the controls are intuitive enough to recognize when you want to swing up or down, or left or right, or jab forward. To jump you simply hit the B button, and to double jump you it hit twice. Hitting that A button twice allows you to dash, sending you flying forward into whatever direction you happen to be walking or jumping. Hitting the + button pauses the game. Holding up on the directional pad puts you in a first person view (though you can’t attack or move) to scan your surroundings; hitting down on the directional pad engages to lockon feature described above.
Onto the Nunchuck controls (which is required for this game). Using the joystick moves your character. Holding down on the C button sends forth a torrent of Force lightning and (later in the game) hitting it twice and holding it sends forth a mighty storm of Force lightning; you can continue using Force lightning as long as you have energy in your Force gauge. Thrusting the Nunchuck forward (or in any direction, actually) throws a Force push in whatever direction you may be facing, throwing enemies to the ground, tearing apart weak pieces of the evironment, or throwing crates forward. Even better, if there happens to be, say, a few crates or loose bits and pieces of the environment between you and an enemy, by Force pushing, everything will be violently thrown straight at said enemy. The bigger the enemy, the better. This makes it a little easier to tear down a Chickenwalker.
Holding the Z button lets you pluck people and pieces of your environment up into the air; manipulating the joystick allows you to move your target around, and by moving it in any direction and letting go of the Z button, you can send your target flying through the air, whether it be into enemies, walls, or over the side of a balcony or walkway on Cloud City. This is possibly the funnest part of the game.
Graphics
I’m not one to judge a game by it’s graphical prowess, but I’m sure there are those out there that would be less than thrilled by The Force Unleashed’s Wii iteration’s graphics. Even cutscenes seem to suffer at times. If you’re anything like me, it won’t bother you, but if you’re a graphic’s whore, then you probably won’t find much to impress you.
Faults
Aside from the iffy camera system, the biggest fault that I can see with this game is that you can’t replay levels! I cannot see how they left this feature out of the game. This takes a good chunk out of replay value, as it’s not exactly convenient to have to play through the game just to replay a level. Of course, there are ways around it, such as creating an alternative save file at the beginning of a level, but you really should have to in this day and age. It’s a sorely missed feature, as there are some really great levels, and it would make collecting all the hidden Holocrons and lightsaber crystals much easier.
The Final Word
Even with it’s faults, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a very solid game. I beat it in roughly 13 hours at a very leisurely pace. It makes good use of the Wii’s unique control scheme, and with a few levels that aren’t featured on it’s higher horsepower stablemates (the 360 and PS3), it is a very fun gaming experience, and at $20 I highly recommend giving it a try, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan.
8/10
Your ship, the Rogue Shadow, serves as a central hub between levels for you to access the database, change your outfit, upgrade your force powers, customize your lightsaber, and move on to the next level. Upgrading force powers (such as force lightning and force push) requires you to exchange experience points, which you get from killing enemies. One example of an upgrade is your force lightning power; while at the beginning of the game you can expell a small electrical charge from one of your hands, by the end of the game you can unleashed a veritable lightning storm from both hands onto your enemies.
A big part of the game is using the environment as a weapon. Using the force, you can throw chairs, crates, pipes, and droids pretty much anywhere. If your anything like me, then your lightsaber will be a secondary weapon, with the Force taking center stage.
A weak part of the game is the camera, which can be a little slow, especially when you change directions completely during combat. When it does give you problems it can range anywhere from a slight nuisance to downright infuriating, and at times can mean death for your character. They implemented a lock-on feature as well, and by pressing down on the directional pad you can automatically lock the camera onto an enemy, which is a good and bad thing. If it’s an average, easy to kill enemy, you won’t be locked on for long, as, you know, you kill him.
But, if it’s a boss that requires running around a lot, you’ll find that having the lockon feature engaged means that you are horribly impaired when it comes to your environment. It’s even worse if there happens to be other combatants trying to get a piece of you at the same time, whether they be stormtroopers or bounty hunters, and oftentimes you’ll find yourself running straight into another enemy while you’re concentrating on the boss. It doesn’t help that the lock-on feature is automatically engaged when you enter a boss fight. All in all, the lock-on feature leaves you at the mercy of countless factors.
Controls
As stated elsewhere, this game is a waggle-fest, but that’s not exactly a bad thing; the controls are intuitive enough to recognize when you want to swing up or down, or left or right, or jab forward. To jump you simply hit the B button, and to double jump you it hit twice. Hitting that A button twice allows you to dash, sending you flying forward into whatever direction you happen to be walking or jumping. Hitting the + button pauses the game. Holding up on the directional pad puts you in a first person view (though you can’t attack or move) to scan your surroundings; hitting down on the directional pad engages to lockon feature described above.
Onto the Nunchuck controls (which is required for this game). Using the joystick moves your character. Holding down on the C button sends forth a torrent of Force lightning and (later in the game) hitting it twice and holding it sends forth a mighty storm of Force lightning; you can continue using Force lightning as long as you have energy in your Force gauge. Thrusting the Nunchuck forward (or in any direction, actually) throws a Force push in whatever direction you may be facing, throwing enemies to the ground, tearing apart weak pieces of the evironment, or throwing crates forward. Even better, if there happens to be, say, a few crates or loose bits and pieces of the environment between you and an enemy, by Force pushing, everything will be violently thrown straight at said enemy. The bigger the enemy, the better. This makes it a little easier to tear down a Chickenwalker.
Holding the Z button lets you pluck people and pieces of your environment up into the air; manipulating the joystick allows you to move your target around, and by moving it in any direction and letting go of the Z button, you can send your target flying through the air, whether it be into enemies, walls, or over the side of a balcony or walkway on Cloud City. This is possibly the funnest part of the game.
Graphics
I’m not one to judge a game by it’s graphical prowess, but I’m sure there are those out there that would be less than thrilled by The Force Unleashed’s Wii iteration’s graphics. Even cutscenes seem to suffer at times. If you’re anything like me, it won’t bother you, but if you’re a graphic’s whore, then you probably won’t find much to impress you.
Faults
Aside from the iffy camera system, the biggest fault that I can see with this game is that you can’t replay levels! I cannot see how they left this feature out of the game. This takes a good chunk out of replay value, as it’s not exactly convenient to have to play through the game just to replay a level. Of course, there are ways around it, such as creating an alternative save file at the beginning of a level, but you really should have to in this day and age. It’s a sorely missed feature, as there are some really great levels, and it would make collecting all the hidden Holocrons and lightsaber crystals much easier.
The Final Word
Even with it’s faults, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a very solid game. I beat it in roughly 13 hours at a very leisurely pace. It makes good use of the Wii’s unique control scheme, and with a few levels that aren’t featured on it’s higher horsepower stablemates (the 360 and PS3), it is a very fun gaming experience, and at $20 I highly recommend giving it a try, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan.
8/10
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