Monday, 22 September 2008
Star Wars:The Force Unleashed First Impressions
I’ve been playing Star Wars:The Force Unleashed (on the Wii) for about a week now, having logged about six hours of game time 1.
This game is a lot of fun, easily the most fun I’ve had since playing Super Mario Galaxy.
The controls help you feel like a Jedi: swinging the Wii remote like a light saber, pushing sharply forward with the nunchuk to push things with the Force, and zapping things with force lightning. So far, there are over a dozen different force powers available, each requiring a different combination of moves to activate. (My current favorite is pushing an enemy away with the Force then attacking him with lightning while in the air. When he lands, he explodes in a burst of more lightning.)
There are also a good selection of bosses to fight: I’ve already taken down about four or five rancors, a couple of AT-ST walkers (the two-legged kind), and about a half-dozen Jedi knights. At the beginning, I was pretty much button mashing: swinging the light saber wildly, using the force, in a panicked, I-have-no-idea-what-I’m-doing flury. The more I’ve played, I feel like I’ve gotten better at using specific moves, and trying to figure out which attacks work best (there are so many, in the heat of the moment I forget what’s available to me, especially force lightning). 2
The only thing that sucks about the game is the really bad camera work, especially during boss fights . About half the time during these fights, the camera is pointing away from the enemy, so I have to guess where it is (or wait for it to attack me), or take a second or two to readjust the camera. There is a way to lock the camera onto an enemy, it is just hard to remember in the middle of a fight, so I don’t do it, and can’t comment as to its effectiveness
Despite the poor camera work, this really is a fun game. I’m jealous of gamers who have a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 who get to play in HD, as the high-resolution graphics look stunning. I have an HD TV, and am sorely tempted to get a PS3 just to replay this game with the better graphics.
1. Only six hours in six days? Sorry. My wife just had a baby, and the game is rated T, so I can’t play in front of my three-year old. I have to wait until he is napping or down for the night. I’m usually so exhausted, I only get an hour of playing time before I need to sleep, too.
2. I wish there was a training area where you could practice all the moves available. Some are quite complex (e.g. do a three-attack light saber combo, then force push with lightning while standing on your head and doing a jig in the air with your feet) and take awhile to learn and memorize, especially while being attacked by a dozen storm troopers with blasters firing and a couple with flame throwers .
