The Dark Side – What Isn’t Great About The Force Unleashed
There’s an awful lot to love about The Force Unleashed; in fact, I’m already planning to make time this weekend to play through it again. It’s not a perfect game for sure, but the bottom line is that it’s a hell of a lot of fun. It has its flaws though, and as popular as this game is, if you’re reading this review you’ve probably already either heard about or read some other reviews too. Some of these reviews talk about the short length of the campaign, the disappointing boss fights, the repetitive fighting, the poor targeting and Force Grip controls, the linear level design – and to some degree I think these reviewers are correct, but not completely by any means.
First, as far as the length of the game, I played on Normal difficulty and it took me the better part of thirteen hours to complete. For the most part, I wasn’t having to retry a lot of sequences (except for the darn Star Destroyer scene, more on that later), so much of that time was just playing through the story, making steady progress. Also, I’m very thorough in exploring environments too, so this was by no means a speed run. That said, I think most gamers should get at least ten solid hours out of their first run, which isn’t bad at all for how good the experience is, not to mention that’s pretty much on par with many other third person action-adventure games this generation.
In terms of controls, Force Unleashed does a lot right, but the targeting and Force Grip controls are sketchy. As you explore the environment, you will discover many objects and enemies that you can pick up with Grip, but it can be tough getting The Apprentice to pick up what you want him to. There is an on screen indicator of what you are currently focused on, and that does work, but it doesn’t always target what you intend it to target. Using the right bumper to manually target can work, but it’s also a nuisance and sometimes you just don’t have the time to use it when under heavy attack. The other concern related to this is when you do have an object or enemy in your Grip and you want to throw them. You do this by pushing the left stick in the desired direction and then releasing the right trigger. I had a hard time being consistently accurate in throwing objects where I wanted them to go. Furthermore, picking up an object and turning it and yourself around to face a foe to throw is often way too slow, and normally you will get hit and knocked off your feet or into the air before you can get yourself in a good position to throw – and even then you will have to deal with the aforementioned sketchy controls.
The Force Unleashed spans nine missions, but only about five truly unique environments. Reusing environments, or at least the majority of textures, as part of the story is a fairly common and development-time saving method. I don’t have a problem with that per se, but I was a little disappointed in the number of environments for Force Unleashed, not in the variety, but just in the quantity. At the same time, it wouldn’t really make a lot of sense for this story, which for the most part takes place over what I would assume are just a few days, to be spread out across a dozen planets. That said, all of the locales are beautifully rendered and a lot of fun to explore, but I’ll elaborate a bit more on that later.
I experienced a few occasions where the enemy AI seemed to disappear; a Storm Trooper or two that was just moments earlier taking part in an assault against me stood still and motionless, even though I was right next to him. I have also seen a couple of AT-ST units track me and then suddenly decide to stop and stand still, until I nudged them with some lightning or an object. These are odd occurrences, and very rare, but I thought it worth mentioning.
Graphically, the only real problem I ran into was when a solid platform turned out to be a mirage. In these cases, again only two of which I can distinctly recall, what was represented as a solid object turned out not to be when I jumped onto it, causing The Apprentice to fall through the object to the ground below. These two situations were not really critical, because they didn’t result in death, but they too seemed worth mentioning.
In tying up this general list of negatives, I’d like to mention a particular sequence, without trying to spoil too much, that I’m sure looked great on paper, but was executed poorly in game. The sequence I am referring to is the safe crash landing of a Star Destroyer on Raxis Prime. It would take too long to explain here, not to mention risking spoilers, but suffice it to say what I think the developers envisioned as a ten minute sequence turned into about a thirty minute one for me, and was easily the most frustrating part of the entire game. In fact, I would say it’s really just the second of two frustrating parts, the second being the final mission’s opening battle; everything else was really sweet.
The Light Side – The (Many) Goods of The Force Unleashed
The best thing about The Force Unleashed is that it’s really fun. The fact that there is a very intriguing story throughout that is advanced through some very nicely presented cutscenes is a huge plus as well. The highly detailed, vibrant, visceral graphics that reminded me a lot of Gears of War are a treat, as are the excellent sound effects and timeless music of John Williams. The controls, outside of the issues with Grip and targeting, are well laid out, responsive, and very functional. I loved the combat, too. The variety of Storm Troopers, Jedi, Sith, and other creatures you encounter is long and provides for ample use of all your lightsaber and Force wielding abilities. To say these battles get repetitive is silly; not one time did I think ‘man, this is getting old,’ because nearly every aspect of the game was coming together in a such a satisfying and positive way that it was just outright fun.
The Force Unleashed does a lot of subtle things right, too. On larger enemies, for example, including bosses, you ultimately defeat them by going into a button matching sequence, that God of War made popular several years ago. Games like Heavenly Sword and others used this same mechanic, and there’s no doubt it’s a good mechanic, but generally what happens when players mess up is that your penalized by either taking damage or losing the fight altogether. This can be really frustrating when you’re like me, and many times you are nearly dead when you get into one of these sequences and you mess up, causing your character’s untimely death. Well, in Force Unleashed, if you fail to get a button sequence right, it restarts, without you having to hit the enemy again and without you having taken any damage. This small adjustment to the norm is very welcome, and makes the tougher enemy encounters so much more enjoyable. Given that these button sequences pop up very unexpectedly sometimes, this also helps when you accidentally botch the first button because you didn’t see the sequence coming.
The Force Unleashed also auto saves quietly and often, much like Uncharted, keeping the action and game moving forward rather than sending the player way back when he dies. This goes hand in hand with another subtle feature I liked in that when you die, be it during a boss battle or otherwise, there are no long, drawn out death animation scenes or annoying Game Over or Continue screen. Once your life line is out, within two seconds the ‘loading’ screen automatically pops up and within moments you’re back in the game.
The upgrade system in Force Unleashed was deeper and more interesting than I expected too. There are three sets of skills you can upgrade: Force Powers, Lightsaber Combos, and Force Talent. The Force Powers and Force Talent paths each list eight to ten items that are either unlocked as you play, in the case of Force Powers, or can be purchased, as is the case with the Force Talents. Both sets of skills can be upgraded up to three times by assigning more of your points towards them. For the Lightsaber Combos, these are one time purchases for moves that you can use at will once ‘learned.’
You get points or spheres by locating Jedi Holocrons and earning Force Points, which is done by defeating foes, especially in creative ways (using combinations of The Force, lightsaber attacks, the environment, etc.). Certain Jedi Holocrons, most actually, are for a 10000 Force Point bonus, so its definitely wise to search your environments thoroughly for these and the Sith Holocrons which provide one of a few temporary boosts to either health or energy. As you battle, your character also levels up, giving him 1 upgrade point for each category for each time you level up.
Using your points is done by pressing Back at any time during play. From here you can also customize your lightsaber; not so much in terms of hilt type, but in the color of the blade, as well as what powerup crystal you want to apply to your saber. Being able to change the color of your lightsaber on the fly from this menu is pretty darn cool. Also from this menu, players can change their character’s costume, although doing this sends them back to the most recent auto-save point. Seeing The Apprentice wearing attire that fits whatever planet or situation he is in according to the story adds that extra detail that makes a positive difference to the entire experience.
I feel like I could go on and get even more specific, but only at the risk of making this review a little too long and also at the risk of inadvertently dropping spoilers. Cue the music and lets get to the…
Conclusion
To be quite frank, Star Wars The Force Unleashed is badass. Despite a few drawbacks, I had a wonderful time playing through it and will do it again this weekend. For me, the bottom line for games is how fun it is, or how much enjoyment I got, or get, when I play it. The Force Unleashed in that regard is a near complete success and for that reason, and several others, I highly recommend it.