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CNET editors' rating:
3.0 stars
Good
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Product summary
It's short and it's frustrating, but you'll still have a reasonably good time with this force-powered adventure.
Specifications: ESRB: Teen; Genre: Action; Elements: Action - adventure; See full specs
Price range: $47.99 - $49.99
Gamespot editors' review
- Reviewed on: 09/15/2008
- Released on: 09/16/2008
In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, you grab your trusty controller and wave it around, causing your onscreen counterpart to swing his lightsaber. If you're a Star Wars fan--and a Wii owner--you've undoubtedly anticipated this opportunity, though in this instance, it's a better idea than it is a real mechanic. Any type of flailing will do, so the direction of your swings won't really matter, and saber combat boils down to repetitive arm waving. When you throw in a variety of force powers and some poorly implemented quick-time events that all utilize motion controls, you'll find that Force Unleashed is possibly the most waggle-heavy action game available on the system, a distinction that seems fun for the first hour or so, only to quickly lose its appeal. Fortunately, all that random slashing about is somewhat mitigated by occasionally enjoyable action sequences that make you truly feel like a powerful dark Jedi.
The story is mature and exciting, even if the visuals and audio don't always do it justice.
You're cast as Galen Marek, aka Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice. The Clone Wars have ended, and as Starkiller, Vader orders you to hunt and destroy the last of the remaining Jedi. The story is brief (expect to finish the campaign in less than six hours), but it contains multiple twists, features some friendly and not-so-friendly faces, and is both explosive and remarkably intimate. You'll interact with Vader, of course, but Starkiller spends most of his time with an android called PROXY and his female pilot, Juno Eclipse. Sharing the details of the trio's adventures would spoil too much, so suffice it to say, you'll grow remarkably fond of Starkiller and his companions, and their moral conflicts carry a lot of weight.
Unfortunately, the game's limited visual capabilities soften the story's dramatic impact more than you might like. The cutscenes are undercut by stiff animations and abrupt, jarring transitions in and out of gameplay, as well as some odd-looking character models and occasional glitches, such as blinking geometry. Audio also takes a hit, which is odd, considering that much of the voice-over work is lifted directly from the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of the game. Poor compression is the culprit here, and it makes the dialogue sound as if you're listening to it on an old phonograph rather than a machine as capable as the Wii.
Not that Force Unleashed always looks bad, though it does often come across as awkward and unfinished. Larger environments suffer most, as exemplified by the sight of a distant AT-AT that seems to lumber across a great void of nothingness. In Force Unleashed's more moderately sized environments, the visuals coalesce far better. Some environments are fairly detailed, and the saber action and powerful-looking force abilities produce flurries of particles and other special effects with nary a hint of slowdown. For those keeping score, the Wii version looks essentially identical to the PlayStation 2 version, so it doesn't appear to take advantage of the newer console's capabilities. John Williams' music (and some original tracks) and the familiar swooshes of sabers sound good, just as you'd expect, and only occasionally suffer from the poor compression to which the voice-over was subjected.
Prepare your wrists, because you'll be using them a lot.
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