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Monday, June 08, 2009

The Force Unleashed.

I was watching that one when it was announced, but lost interest whe I saw it had bad reviews. Anyway a good soul was kind enough to lend it to me so now I can make my own mind.

So was the critical bashing legitimate?
Well I have to admit that it was...

There are so many annoyances with this game.

Graphics come first. There not specially poor, but they seem like they try too hard. Wii can do beautiful. Just look at Zelda. Not flash, not HD, but who cares? It's good looking. Here, there are good moments, but at some others you'll see some clipping, some stuff that doesn't look like it really fits in the landscape, or a character that moves in a strange way... And that kind of spoils it.

Regarding gameplay, one thing that I find infuriating is that your character can get stuck. Like in a corner, or on something sticking out. It's VERY annoying, especially when you're fighting a massive Rancor.
And there's the light saber fighting mechanics, entirely dealt with waggling, which I don't find responsive. Doing combos is a real pain. At first I thought I didn't have the timing right, but after a few hours playing, I still didn't have it... Maybe I haven't tried hard enough, but when the easiest way to play is to waggle in any direction praying you'll do something awesome, there's something a bit broken...

It's a shame when you think about it because a game like No More Heroes (of which I haven't talked about because I didn't take the time to but I should because it gave one of the best gaming experience I ever had, yep that good) completely nailed it. 1 button, 2 stances controlled by Wiimote and off you go! So it can be done...
Anyway. They didn't here.

So straight to the trash then?
Well... No.
Because among all those annoyances, 1 thing stands out: the force powers.
They did nail that.
And it feels incredible!

For this they got the right balance between motion control and button pushing (which makes the light saber control even more of a shame... Anyway). After just a few minutes you just force push, hold, throw lightning to get rid of your foes in the most natural way. The destructible evironment make plenty of material available for throwing and taking out dozens of stormtroopers in the most brutal way is just great.
And with the upgrades to your powers, you get some very spectacular effects...

And just that would almost convince me of buying the game!

Because sure, Jedi Knight 2 still stands for me as the pinnacle of the Star Wars games, as far as story, level design (etc) go.
But this one, as broken as it is, even if the level design is uninspired, get you to play a baddy, with the force, like no other games ever have.

I wish they could make a sequel to this, learning from the first.
That could be truly awesome...

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