Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Preview
A master always has an apprentice.
by Spoondan
previewed on X360
The secret of The Dark Side
A brand, spanking new Star Wars Game, currently under development by LucasArts, will come out in the second quarter of 2008 and based on what we have been told about it thus far, Star Wars fans should be getting very excited. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be an action game that puts you into the role of Darth Vader's secret apprentice sent out to destroy all remaining Jedi across the galaxy.
What is even more exciting is that the game, which will be overseen by George Lucas himself, will fill in the gap between the end of Episode III and the beginning of Episode IV. All signs seem to be pointing to an outstanding addition to the Star Wars universe.
Technology and The Force
Providing the game is released at the expected date, it will be the first game to use both the Digital Molecular Matter (DMM) and Euphoria technologies. These are both brand new, next generation technologies that LucasArts have been behind for the last several years. We first mentioned these impressive programs in our preview of another LucasArts game, Indian Jones, which can be found here. Without having to (re)-read that article, DMM will make physical properties of the environment react realistically, i.e. glass breaks as it would in real life, items move in the wind as they would on a real life windy day. As for the Euphoria technology, it allows AI characters in the game to move and think like real people, adapting to situations as they happen in real time. If this technology turns out to be as impressive in actual game play as it looks on paper, then the next generation of gaming is truly arriving with this game.
You are Forcing me into it
As noted above, players will be getting into the role of Darth Vader's secret apprentice to help destroy the remaining Jedi. Oddly enough you will be doing this using dark Jedi powers. We have been told there will be four core force powers that will be used and combined to make for some deadly combos. These powers are the Force Push, Force Grip, Force Repulse and of course... Force Lightning. Unlike recent games such as Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, there will not be any light side/dark side shifting in this game. Your character will be bad, very bad; in fact he will be badass. This ‘badass-ness’ is evident in the design of the personal spaceship that players will be cruising around in: The Rogue Shadow.
However, similar to Knights of the Old Republic, decisions that you make during the game will have consequences and thus, multiple endings are expected. What is good about games that have multiple endings is that they often offer a lot of replayability and although the details are not confirmed yet, this could be a game you can play a variety of ways many times through.
The locations that your character will visit will be varied and interesting as per most Star Wars games. You can be certain to visit the Wookie planet of Kashyyyk, the lush and tropical planet of Felucia and a junk planet of Raxus Prime. Other locations that have been spoken about are more detailed such as an Imperial TIE Fighter construction facility. For the most part, you will be given a mark or target on one of these planets and will then need to use your brain, light saber and force powers to find them. Once you find your mark it will begin the boss battle of the level and you will move on to the next mark from there.
Both eyes
This game is really one to keep your eye on, both eyes as often as possible. It is the first official Star Wars release of material from the time period between the third and fourth films. Not only that, but this game is LucasArts' first internally developed title for next-gen consoles and it represents the first in-game collaboration of teams between LucasArts and Industrial Light and Magic which are now under one roof.
I wish I could use the Force to bring this game out sooner, but we will have to wait until spring of next year. In the meantime, check out the concept artwork for the game; if the end result ends up close to what the designers are imagining, this could be the best Star Wars Game yet.
