Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

by LucasArts

Product Features

• Confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader in addition to new adversaries such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians
• Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
• Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible: Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls, and will Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground
• Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility
• Decisions made by players throughout the game will determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000R39GPA
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 16, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (191 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,258 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PLAYSTATION 3 | Edition: Standard

Amazon.com

The Star Wars saga will continue in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a videogame developed by LucasArts, which casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Join the Dark Side

You are Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice View larger.

Use The Force to disable your enemies View larger.

Artwork of the Jedi "Maris" View larger.

As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time: Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd. Paired with the powerful Havok Physics™ system, these new technologies create gameplay only possible on the new generation of consoles. DMM incorporates the physical properties of anything in the environment so that everything reacts exactly like it should - wood breaks like wood, glass shatters like glass, plants on the planet Felucia bend like plants on the planet Felucia would, and more. Meanwhile, as a revolutionary behavioral-simulation engine, euphoria enables interactive characters to move, act and even think like actual human beings, adapting their behavior on the fly and resulting in a different payoff every single time.


Game Features:

• During the period between Episodes III and IV, players hunt Jedi in the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
• Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
• Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible:
  • The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls.
  • The Secret Apprentice won't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb.
• In addition to new adversaries created just for the game, such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians, players will also confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader.
• Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility.
• The Force Unleashed is LucasArts' first internally developed title for next-generation consoles, and it represents the first in-game collaboration of talents and technology between LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic, two companies now finally under one roof at the new Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio district.
• The Force Unleashed debuts Digital Molecular Matter from Pixelux and euphoria behavioral simulation from NaturalMotion Ltd.
• LucasArts is preparing an unprecedented promotional effort around the launch of The Force Unleashed, encompassing a full line of toys and game-based action figures from Hasbro, as well as a full publishing program from Dark Horse, Del Rey and Palace Press.

Meet the Cast
The Star Wars Saga will continue in 2008 with LucasArts' biggest-ever video game event. Set during the "dark times" between Episodes III and IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed portrays the previously untold story of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice -- and now you can put a face to that mysterious character as well as the major supporting cast members as LucasArts unveils the actors set to star in The Force Unleashed.

The New Technology of The Force Unleashed
With The Force Unleashed, LucasArts not only introduces a new chapter in the Star Wars saga, but also two completely new and innovative technologies -- Digital Molecular Matter by Pixelux Entertainment and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd. These groundbreaking technologies combine with Havoc physics to create true next-gen gameplay and the Force like it's never been seen or experienced before.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works for me, September 19, 2008

By 

J. Leigh "jleigh7" (chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Video Game)

Pros
- Good story and voice acting
- The visuals are magnificent- I found my self looking outside of Cloud City rather than killing stormtroopers at one point
- When you fight a jedi boss the game switches to a wide-angle pulled-back cinematic camera reminiscent of the duel between Dokku, Obiwan and Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. This is one of the best ways I've seen of taking advantage of the HD screen format and resolution. When you Force push your enemy across the room it really does remind you a lot of the movies.
- Sound track is good- some new themes and old themes are enhanced.
- Even though NPCs appear to have the ability to block your force powers or lightsaber blows, each one of them has a particular weakness you can exploit - so it's not really a problem


Cons
- Locking on to objects is sometimes clumsy- PsiOps did it much better
- A few bugs here and there
- As compared to say Jedi Outcast / Academy it doesn't have as rich a Force upgrade mechanism- mainly because the story doesn't really lend itself to it
- Camera needs to be manually adjusted frequently
- Too short
- There are some frustrating jumping puzzles - especially with a problematic camera

Considering I've been waiting since Jedi Academy for another Star Wars game, and the fact that the average budget for a video game is over $40 Million, spending $60 on a decent Star Wars game seems like a bargain to me. I have no complaints.


Comparison to the Wii version:

- Wii version uses canned Star Wars musical score. Reminds you of playing the old Jedi Power Battles game.
- Wii controls are quite well thought out and does make Force wielding fun.
- But over time the Wii interaction does tend to get fatiguing.
- The visuals between the Wii and PS3 are night and day- including the cutscenes which are rendered using the in-game engine. The Wii's visuals just look really dated/primitive compared to the PS3's. E.g. on the first mission on Kassyk, if you look at what's happening in the background on the PS3, there are stormtroopers on a beach-head in the distance slowly advancing, and shooting and then dying. It's gratuitous but it's beautifully done. None of this made it to the Wii. Of course this is understandable since the Wii is a less capable system.
- Wii provides additional game levels not provided in the PS3 game.
- The Duel Mode on the Wii can only be played with another player, rather than with an AI- too bad.

If you own both the PS3 and Wii, I recommend buying the PS3 version and maybe the Wii version when it goes on sale. TFU is visually the most stunning Star Wars title to-date and missing the opportunity to experience it's full visual splendor would be a shame.

64 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should have been a great one but....., September 17, 2008

By 

ShowtimeMike (FT Gordon GA, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Video Game)

This game is pretty good but could have, and should have been great but as usual they just decided to get too cute. Using the force powers to dangle stormtroopers in the air, throw them around, and hit them with lightning (as seen in the trailers) is lots of fun for a while but that doesn't even come close to making up for all the areas of the game where the designers just thought it would be funny to frustrate the crap out of us. FYI...NOT A LOT OF SITH LORDS SPEND 20 MINUTES TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CROSS A FREAKING JUNK PILE!!!! Oh and how the hell does a junked robot steal the force energy from me?!! Oh how I dreamed of the day when I could become a sith lord and fight a giant junk robot and spend a solid hour doing stupid jump puzzles and falling into lava. Why? Why do people think it's funny to frustrate us? The game has a great storyline,almost as good as KOTOR, but that doesn't make up for the glitches and frustrations. After not even 3 days of owning it, I beat the game despite the frustrations and glitches, that tells me they were a little short on content for it to have been hyped for so long.Don't misunderstand, this is a must have for any Star Wats fan, but it is not worth the 59.99 price tag and doesn't live up to the hype. Wait for the price to drop to at least 39.99 and then get it.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Play the downloadable demo first, let down by controls and linearity, September 19, 2008

By 

Angus M. Dorbie "dorbie" (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Video Game)

I was looking forward to this game, the technology in it is impressive, however the controls are terrible and it has some strange added flaws, the camera on the opening boss fight with Darth Vader was buggy and it did not bode well for the rest of the game, how could they miss this in testing? The primary mechanic in the game is the use of Force abilities, however control of it is completely deficient, it's the weakest part of the design. You cannot decide to target anything accurately because there is no reticle, just a box on whatever you are force targeting now. Moving this means the character on screen turns slightly and you're left to guess where the heck the aim point is because the camera hasn't changed & is under independent control. As a result, even after a lot of "aiming" and practice the force autolock 'reticle' jumps from object to object with no precise control and no way of guessing where your true aim-point is other than that hinted by the character orientation. It's not merely that it lacks precision and finesse (and it lacks them indeed) it's that it's horribly broken with no feedback. Aiming anything requires continuous feedback, this game has NONE other that a very crude guesstimate based on the Jedi's (Sith's) orientation in your independently moving camera view. Stuff like force push is great but at times you literally cannot hit a barn door with it from two paces. Standing in front of a door your aim is determined by your 3rd person jedi's character orientation (who is too cool to walk in a straight line so he sidles around and stands at an angle making things even worse). You press 'o' and he's oriented the wrong way and blam you force push in some random direction and he's often pointed the wrong way.

Control systems are somewhat arbitrary, and designers have a choice & make trade-offs, whatever committee settled on this control system ruined what could have been a great game.

The best game mechanic is force throwing stuff, it usually locks and manages to find a target, but forget about reliably aiming with this at anything, nonetheless throwing is satisfying, however picking things up to throw them and aiming with force push destroys the pleasure and the throwing only really seems good due to auto-lock and by contrast to picking up, again you cannot really aim with it.

The heavier enemy/boss fights are very God of War "simon says" affairs (after you beat their health down). You cannot take down a single AT without the right plodding button combos. You can slash at it force throw stuff push at it, but in the end you'll be there getting whittled down unless you have to press the right button sequence as they appear to pull off an effective attack. Correction, unless it's a true Jedi boss you can usually keep whittling it down without the GOW sequence and they get easier as you level up.

The levels themselves are linear with pretty much one way to progress. You're a rat caught in a maze with no turns and the spawning is very uninspired. 5 storm troopers in this corridor, 3 rebels next, kill them and there's a respawn there, but it's very much one set piece after another from the minute to the large, even the trivial stuff is set in stone.

The graphics are stunning and the physics is impressive but the AI is surprisingly disappointing after the hype, you can stand out of range or hide in a corner and take pot shots at a boss. This game is a highly polished disappointment.

I have to add here that the save-load game facility is flawed making the manual save game illusion bizarre & pointless. No joke, you can save your game but when you load it jumps you to the last autosave even after cheerfully telling you you saved successfully and warning you of lost unsaved progress if you quit. I find this quirk beyond strange, it's completely incompetent. Try getting the Sith Robe holocron in the junkyard, falling (and you will fall) means redoing the very tedious boss fight to get over the chasm, saving after the boss is killed does NOTHING. You're always back to before the fight (I revisited this and this is inconsistent, there's another autosave point just after but it didn't work teh first time through, I have no idea why, it is definitely inconsistent). If this isn't a bug then the designer has a lot to answer for and the damned game should tell you what the heck it's bizarro-world meaning of save game is. I should have known this was trouble when the load game facility was up a menu level with the added inconvenience of forcing you to leave your game just to load a save.... only to find it's not really the save you made, sigh.

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