And indeed, they do do it in the games all the time. Gone are the days of 1977 where fans were content to see a Jedi’s power displayed by a barely-alive Alec Guinness waving a neon-lit plank of wood at a guy in a dark suit with breathing problems. Now, the Jedi must be steroidal Matrix ninjas with such overblown powers that even Superman would seriously consider parting with some cash for them from the bi-annual mail-in catalogue of Superpower.
Shocking. Positively shocking.
This is the selling point of The Force Unleashed - do the things that you always wanted a Jedi to do, but were too afraid to ask. This game is about as high-concept as LucasArts has ever gone, and its appeal can be summed up simply - in the words of Haden Blackman, project lead, “This game is about kicking ass with the Force.” While the game may prompt guffaws from fans about the internal realism of the Star Wars series (“Why were they so worried about those Star Destroyers in A New Hope if Kenobi could’ve just blown them up with his mind?”), this is a videogame, and we signed off on believability being an appropriate criteria when we bought the line about the ape-beating Italian plumber. For us, these sort of things aren’t Unbelievably Ridiculous, they’re Unbelievably Cool.
Story-wise, the premise of the The Force Unleashed is that you play as Darth Vader’s ‘secret apprentice’. Together you track down the remaining Jedi between Episodes III and IV. It’s a premise so good that the Lucas empire has seen fit to make more than a game - The Force Unleashed won’t only be coming to every console ever made, but also to bookstores, toy stores, and collectable stores. That’s right - The Force Unleashed is another multimedia ‘event’ just like Shadows of the Empire, over a decade before it.
The Secret Apprentice graduated from his ‘Star Wars Prequels: Looking Moody 101’ course with flying colours.
But that isn’t the interest here - what matters is if we’ve got a good game on our hands. The Force Unleashed certainly looks to have caught a few eyes already, and with the game being released on (a deep breath, now) Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP, and N-Gage, it looks like practically any gamer will get a look in. Commiserations, PC gamers, it looks like LucasArts is sending a lump of coal your way.
Perhaps the most encouraging detail to emerge about the game so far is that each platform looks to be getting a unique, tailored experience, rather than the usual sloppy and cheap ports multiplatform releases often get (with the PS2, PSP and Wii versions being developed by Australia's Krome studios). The 360 and PS3 versions are the only two who share features, and are described as being identical. The Wii version of the game has had gamers salivating for some time now, as when the console’s motion-sensitive controller was first revealed ‘lighsaber’ was the only word on many people’s minds. And while sadly, the Wii version won’t feature one-to-one control, it will nevertheless have a very convincing set of motion-sensitive controls, (which GamePro list here). Interestingly, in an era where the Wii’s restrictive online features means multiplayer amusements are often left to the 360 and PS3, it seems that this time, Nintendo’s console wins the non-portable multiplayer rights. Wii owners will be able to engage a friend in a duel mode reminiscent of a Star Wars fighting game like Masters of Teras Kasi, with the added bonus of the wondrous Wii remote.
“Feel privileged. You’re about to become my fall guy.”
The portable consoles also get a share of multiplayer amusement. The PSP has four-player multiplayer on a variety of modes, while the DS gets multiplayer mini games. In addition, the PSP gets unique ‘historical missions’, where players can re-enact the various battles of the Star Wars films. The DS, on the other hand, has an intriguingly unique play style, which uses the touchscreen to select moves, rather than mapping them to specific buttons.
However, the real show pony of this Star Wars family are the 360 and PS3 versions, flaunting new euphoria and DMM technologies. Technical double-speak aside, this means that these versions are equipped to take advantage of the player’s ludicrous force powers with spectacular ease. Any surface that breaks will now shatter, snap, bend and warp more convincingly than ever, while enemy AI will now fight for survival independent of pre-programmed scripts and animations. From what we’ve seen, this represents a new standard in technical programming, though it must be noted that enemies move a little more like marionettes than real humans at this point.
What else can we say? The game looks to feature the usual LucasArts high-production values, with a decent cast including Sam Witwer (Dexter, Battlestar Galactica) and Nathalie Cox (Kingdom of Heaven, Jumper), while the John Williams musical shoes will be filled by Star Wars veteran Mark Griskey (Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords). Oh, and you’ll play as some guy called Vader in the first level. And you’ll get to force choke a wookie. Sounds good? We’ve been burned many times before by a good license gone wrong, but The Force Unleashed, so far, has our attention. The Force Unleashed hits Australian shelves on September 17.
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