After reading several multi-format reviews (and posting a short rant following some of their disclosures, here) I opted to purchase The Force Unleashed for my X-Box 360 rather than my Nintendo Wii. So on Friday the 19th September (UK release date) I headed to my local Gamestation to collect my pre-ordered copy and by Tuesday night I had finished the game after only about 8-10 hours playing time. I now present my personal review and opinion of LucasArts’ latest offering from that galaxy far, far away.

First of all, let us not forget that we have been waiting for what appears to be an inordinately long time for this game (we were promised its release last year) and because of this trepidation I only purchased my X-Box 360 about two months ago - the excuse to myself was that I wanted to play The Force Unleashed on a next-gen console rather than my Wii or PS2, but I couldn’t afford the PS3 and so convinced myself (and wife) to purchase the 360. After completing The Force Unleashed in around 8-10 hours, am I now beginning to regret in some way the purchase of The Force Unleashed and even the X-Box 360 ?

The game’s storyline or premise is well told and in most parts well founded but, without revealing plot points, the game’s story ending has a lot to be answered for. However, this games actually “feels” like a Star Wars game rather than a parody of one of the films. As a Sith apprentice who obviously uses a lightsaber rather than a blaster, slaying your opponents with it feels good. However what is even better is your Force powers - for once Force push, grip, repulse and lightning all look, feel and react if such Force powers really exist. You can Force grip an opponent, lift them up and throw them against a wall, or drop them over a precipe (to their death), or you can Force push them as you turn them into a cannonball that hurtles its way slaying more of your enemies.

Use of the Force powers was enjoyable to the point that it offers a certain amount of strategic play within the game. At the start of each level I enjoyed just using my Force powers to kill or destroy as many enemies without actually moving far from the starting point - lifting crates and barrells and directing them towards barely visible enemies rather than jumping straight in to lightsaber action. Also I could use the same tactic as I progressed through each level, bumping off my opponents before they could even get off a blaster shot - apparently you are rewarded for this kind of action, but personally I could not see much difference in rewards between such stealthful strategy and just running in waving your lightsaber about. (Just for fun, replay the Vader opening level using ONLY Force push or grip powers on the Wookies - try not to use the lightsaber until the level’s “boss”!!)

The game’s controls were straightforward, the controller’s layout optimised with good use of both triggers and shoulder buttons (although didn’t make much use of RB - auto-target as it didn’t often work) acting as block, Force grip and dash. The X-Box’s four buttons were also well used and worked rather instinctively by the end of the first level (or even after playing the downloadable demo). Due to the complexities of lightsaber fighting, button combos were inevitable (well no fighting game worth its salt is without a list of combos longer than an Andrex roll!) and after a short time I fell into using just a few from the list available (by the way, further combos are unlockable as the game progresses and you gain rewards to unlock them). Rewards are also required to purchase the necessary extra Force power strengths and stamina levels, and these are gained in a variety of ways - from simply finding them to earning them by defeating a certain number of enemies per level.

What I felt the game lacked was a sufficient number of levels and locations, in all there only are about ten playable locations from the Star Wars galaxy (including Vader’s opening level) and at least three of those are repeated locations/planets: Kashyyyk, Felucia and Raxus Prime. Each location was itself split into a number of sub-levels, but many of these sub-levels varied wildly in difficulty with some having literally no enemies to others that were simply swarming with them. Speaking of levels, I must comment on the boss levels (and especially the Star Destroyer end-level of the second visit to Raxus Prime - whoever thought that 2D control within a 3D environment was clever in this day and age should be impaled by their own lightsaber!) I mean the boss levels had this really annoying camera habit of zooming outwards, to give a wide arena shot and then, in most cases unexpectably, inwards back to the camera’s usual position. If it had a usual one that is.

And that’s another extremely sore point with this game - the camera was all over the place! I mean, I’ve got one thumb on the left stick moving my character around and the other constantly switching from the buttons controlling my Force powers and lightsaber to the right hand stick so that I can bring the camera into the correct position so I can see where my opponent is. On too many occasions, the camera would end up behind a wall or other obstacle so that I could not see who I was fighting - often to my detriment! On some levels, the second visit to Kashyyyk for example, the camera was so far out of place I kept walking off platforms to my death as I tried to defend myself against an onslaught of stormtrooper fire. There was one particular occassion, on the second visit to Felucia level in the Sarlacc’s stomach, where the camera caused such serious “clipping” that I had to reset the X-Box.

Lastly I want to comment on the game’s playing time, in my previous rant I bemoaned that in one review the game had only six hours playing time and they were right (okay I made the game last slightly longer than six hours but that’s pulling at straws!). Certainly the playing time on this game is way to short, and what makes it more annoying is that the single DVD the game comes on has a 20 minute trailer/advert for LucasArts’ next “big” game: “Fracture”. That’s easily enough data space for a couple or more levels for this game. Then there’s the space occuppied by the game’s tutorial levels (honestly, these are really not necessary as the game itself had subtitled prompts whenever faced by a new obstacle), the game’s Databank entries (couldn’t these be included in the manual) and the obligatory rewards - concept art! Seriously, cut out all of these out and The Force Unleashed could have had nearly double the levels and playing time - I mean, the Wii version gets a two-player duel mode squeezed onto their disc!

Well, there you have it, what I feel are: the good (plot, controls, Force powers); the bad (repitition of level locations, not enough levels); the ugly (the camera, playing time).

Have I regretted buying the X-Box 360 and The Force Unleashed ? Well certainly I feel let down by the game in many ways, especially the price when compared to the playing time - 40 quid for only 10 hours playing time (maybe my previous rant was justified) - but I’m going to replay it on the hardest level to see if I can get any more satisfaction from it.

In the end though it looks like I’m going to keep the 360 (the wife enjoys Viva Pinata and is looking forward to Banjo Kazooie 3) but I’ll certainly be trading-in The Force Unleashed the moment Fable II reaches the UK!

Heralded as the next chapter in the saga of Star Wars, The Force Unleashed has taken over two years to materialise. As the videogame’s release draws near, both the game’s novelisation (by Sean Williams) and graphic novel adaptation (by the game’s writer Haden Blackman) were simultaneously released at the end of last month. We present our review of both adaptations:
As a projected next-gen videogame, The Force Unleashed’s storyline is large, as conveyed by Williams’ novelisation at 319 pages. Unfortunately the 126 pages used by the graphic novel severely limit its ability to fully explore the story. The graphic novel’s storyline feels highly compressed at points, the continual use of montages only exasperates the feeling that there are missing parts of the story - and when compared to the novel, there are. However the choice of using the droid, PROXY, to narrate the graphic novel’s story from its point of view makes this storyline an interesting comparison to the novel’s more traditional point of view. Switching between first and third person perspectives allows the graphic novel time to give meaningful exposition so that the story is still comprehensible.
Another striking difference between novel and graphic novel is the variation in storyline linearity. Since the graphic novel is restricted in length, the storyline jumps between past and present so frequently that at points it can be hard to remember, or easily establish, if it is the past or present. Williams has taken a more traditional temporal linear approach to the storyline, with appropriate flashback sequences being easier to identify and follow.
The graphic novel’s greatest asset is without doubt, the artwork. The choice to use three artists, Brian Ching, Bong Dazo and Wayne Nichols can be seen as either a way to rush the book to publication or an expression of artists’ talent. For me it is certainly the latter reason as each artist has undoubtly brought their own particular skills to bear upon the story. Characters, locations and situations are all vividly brought to life. The fight sequences in particular stand out, but at the same time, some of the artwork is highly reminiscent of both the conceptual artwork and videogame stills.
The story’s background characters are simply there in the graphic novel (and this is especially so for the “enemies” the apprentice has to kill), there is little or no development of them unless you read the novelisation. Williams has room for character development and plot exposition, so the reader has a better understanding of the apprentice’s motives, his pilot’s history and how the Jedi he has to kill have survived for so long after Order 66. Williams is able to develop the two newest characters to the Star Wars galaxy, the apprentice and his female pilot Juno Eclipse, throughout the book, giving each of them vulnerabilities and even some resiliencies that the reader can emphasise with: Juno’s feelings of culpability of her previous participation in Imperial atrocities; the apprentice’s inner conflict of his own actions on every mission is seen to develop slowly to the point where, at the end of the story, he really has no choice in his final actions.
Being based on a videogame is the story’s greatest weakness. When reading the first part of the novel, you are constantly following the apprentice from one Jedi assassination mission to another. It is this invariable repetition that makes it feel that you are reading a literal adaptation of the videogame script. This is particularly true of the graphic novel as the artwork for the fight sequences are clearly attempts to capture essences of the videogame. For fans of Star Wars books, the fight sequences will seem awkward to believe in: they are truly one-sided, the apprentice can not lose. His abilities are outstanding, whether a seemingly effortless defeat of a Jedi Master such as Shaak Ti or using the Force to control the descent of a crashing Star Destroyer. Whereas in other books use of the Force required opening one’s self to the flow of the Force, in The Force Unleashed the apprentice has Force powers and abilities that can be simply switched on of off - just like the pressing of a button on a console controller.
However thankfully, Williams concentrates more in the second half of this story in developing both the characters and the larger plot (a Star Wars plot point that has to be read to be believed). Here we leave behind the videogame mission-based sequences and get to understand the characters - what makes them tick. This is the novel’s triumph over the graphic novel, we learn more of the apprentice’s origins than the graphic novel depicts, how and why he became Vader’s apprentice; and the novel develops beyond merely a videogame adaptation to become a landmark event in the Star Wars saga. It’s at this point that The Force Unleashed earns its subtitle “the next chapter in the saga of Star Wars“.
As a Star Wars story, The Force Unleashed contains almost all the elements that fans have come to expect: lightsaber fights, use of the Force (in sometimes new and extremely powerful ways), a journey of self-discovery, and ultimately, one of redemption. One of this story’s key plotlines means that this story is essential reading for all Star Wars fans, however it is let down by the shortcomings that it is, after all, an adaptation of a videogame and at times, feels like one. For fans unable to wait until the game is available (and are looking for a quick lesson on it’s story) then the graphic novel should be your choice. However if you are interested in the fuller story of the apprentice and the plot he is involved with, read the novel.

(This is a fascimile of the review posted on my own website Star Wars Books [www.swbooks.co.uk])