Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

"Fun, But Not as Good as the 360/PS3 Version"

Since I have done a Review for the 360 version, I might as well do one of the Wii version that I got so I could see how the two games compared.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the new multimedia project that is being put out to fill in the gaps between Episode III and IV. The Wii version [along with the PS2, PSP, and DS] was made by the people at Krome Studios instead of Lucas Arts. And even though some things were changed, you still get the same basic gameplay. So, lets light this candle.

Story: 9

As I said before, The Force Unleashed is meant to fill the holes that were left between episodes III and IV.

As the game starts off, you are Darth Vader, and you have just landed on the Wookie Homeworld of Kashyyyk, and you are searching for one of the last of the Jedi. You fight your way through the Wookies, and you find the Jedi, after he is beaten you discover his son, who was able to pull Vader's Lightsaber from his hands. Vader sees how powerful he could become, and kills all of the Imperials around him, then he leaves with takes the boy.

The boy, who was codenamed "Starkiller" was trained by Darth Vader as a "Secret Apprentice" [only Vader knows who he is] in the ways of the Sith, and he is preparing Starkiller to help him kill the Emperor. So, Starkiller is sent out to kill the remaining Jedi.

I'll stop here, mainly because this is the start of the game, and I don't want to ruin too much of the story for everyone that does not have the game [that hasn't read it on the Forums yet]. But I will say that the story was told very well, and The Force Unleashed would of been a better movie than "The Clone Wars" was [which was alright, but it was just a damn disappointment considering what it could of been]. I also think that the story in this game was better than it was in most of the Prequel trilogy. The plot unfolds very well, the game makes you like Starkiller and his pilot Juno Eclipse, as well as the rest of the main characters. I have no real problem with the story, at all. I only had really minor nitpicks with some things that did not make too much sense, but none of those things were too bad.

Gameplay: 7

The Wii version plays a lot like the 360 version did, you are still going through the levels and using your overpowered Force Powers and your Lightsaber to hack through everything in your path. And you can also notice your powers getting stronger as you level them up and go through the levels.

Overall, the game is fun. But if you are comparing it to the 360 version, it just does not live up. Mostly because the levels are much smaller, and the rooms you are in are much smaller than the ones in the 360 version, and some minor things like having to pick up health packs instead of healing when you kill someone like you did in the 360 version.

But other than that, you still have the same basic game, and there are even a couple new levels that weren't in the 360 version [even though every level is completely different since a different Developer made it]. You will also have more fun if you try not to compare the games like I did.

Challenge: 6

The Force Unleashed is not an incredibly hard game; I beat it in 6 hours on my first play through.

But the Wii version was actually easier than the 360 version. I could not find a way to change the difficulty, so I guess that the levels just have more baddies thrown in there as you go on. But it only really gets hard near the end when you have to fight Storm Troopers that have stronger blasters than the normal Storm Troopers.

The game is also made easier by the BioShock respawn system, which revives you at full health, and the basic enemy is unhealed, but the bosses get a little bit of their power back.

Controls: 6

I was curious about how well the Wiimote would work with this game, and at times I was impressed, but I also felt like they tried to cram too much in there.

The main things, like moving around, and hacking away at people with your Lightsaber [which is now held in the normal way, instead of Starkillers reverse grip style] is easy to do, and you can chain together a lot of really fast slashes. Some of the force powers also work really well.

But some things require really awkward movements of the Wiimote, so I just stuck with force grip, lightning, and force push, even though I had so many more powerful techniques at my disposal. It's like in Red Steel, they gave you a few powerful combos but you could never really pull them off, so when you were in a sword fight you just did a bunch of random slashes and hoped that you hit something. The Camera is also worse than it is in the 360 version, I got the Camera stuck in some really bad angles during Boss Battles, which was a real pain in the ass.

Graphics: 7

The graphics in this version of The Force Unleashed are a mixed bag for me. Occasionally things looked really good, but you also had to see some horrendous pop up where you could see plants growing in levels like Felucia, and the game even looked like it was made for the Dreamcast in a few areas.

But most of the character models are good, you have some highly destructible environments, and the look and feel of the Star Wars universe was still captured.

Sound: 9

If there is anything that you need to have in a game as story driven as this, it is good sound, and they did an amazing job with it. You get to hear a lot of the old John Williams scores from the movies, and the person who did the music for KotOR II also did some of the music for this game. He also did a great job at it, every song fits where it is used, and I don't think there was any song that I hated.

The voice over work was also very well done, and I have to single out the praise for Sam Witwer who did the voice for Starkiller. The story would not have been as good as it was without his performance, and he deserves an award for how well he did in this game. The rest of the cast also did a good job.

As for the rest of the sound effects, you can hear the thumps when you throw someone into a wall, and the standard sound effects that you hear in Star Wars are present and very well done.

Atmosphere: 8

The excellent story, mixed with how well the voice-overs were done, and how likable the main characters were made me get interested in the story. And the powers that you had made you feel like you were a Jedi.

Multiplayer: 7

Luckily for us Wii Owners, we get the first Star Wars fighting game [kinda] since the multiplayer mode in the Episode III game, or Masters of Teräs Käsi.

As you play through the main game, you unlock over 20 characters [although most of them are just the different costumes Starkiller had] that each have their own power level for force powers, and Lightsaber skill. And you can go into one of the arenas with a friend and fight them. You can also collect powerups that give you "reinforcements" [Storm Troopers that shoot at who you are fighting], infinite health, or infinite force powers for a short amount of time.

Unfortunately, none of the characters have any real difference except for their skill with certain force powers or Lightsaber combat. Even the episode III game had different moves for every character, why can't this one?

But other than that, this is a fun little diversion from the main game. You should take some time to try it out.

Replayability: 7

This version is actually more replayable because of the Multiplayer mode, which should be a decent way for you to spend some time on this game after you have beaten everything.

Pros:
Great story, likable and well developed characters, great music, makes you feel like an incredibly powerful Jedi, shows what happened between episodes III and IV.

Cons:
The levels are different, easy, short, mediocre graphics, some frustrating Wiimote controls.

Should you get it:
I would recommend this game if you have a Wii, but if you have a PS3 or a 360 I would suggest getting that version instead.

Overall:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a good game on the Wii, and even though it is not as good as the 360 version, it is still a game that is fun to play.

If you are a Star Wars fan like I am, there is a good chance that you will like the game, or at least get the book that came out a few days ago.

7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/08

Game Release: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (US, 09/16/08)