Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - August 24, 2008 -

Ashwin | Gaming

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (SW: TFU) has a demo up on the XBOX Live and I grabbed it today to check out the gameplay for myself. The game was previewed some time ago with spectacular force powers. It also has particle and physics technologies like DMM and Havoc which are said to heighten the effects of the overkill force powers.

The demo allows you to take control of the Apprentice through the Tie Fighter factory hunting for a Jedi master. You come pre-equipped with force push, lightening, grip and of course your trusty lightsaber. The game is set to be released in a couple of weeks, so a demo is appropriately timed to hype the game in addition to the plethora of videos readily available on any gaming website.

My initial impression of the game didn’t make me want to buy the game immediately, however, I’ve been a fan of anything and everything Star Wars and will likely buy this game and learn to enjoy it. The force powers are impressive in execution and implementation. The lightsaber skills are equally nice, however I felt the controls were a little imprecise. Virtually anything and everything in your environment can be manipulated with force powers to become a weapon and that being the case the targeting reticle constantly tracks the numerous crates and objects lying around as opposed to the Stormtrooper shooting at me.

Another aspect of the game that had me at a disadvantage was the need to use the force powers as much as possible to quickly eliminate your enemies. However, I found myself spending more time trying to dash over to each individual Stormtrooper rather than strategically having a crate drop on his head. Perhaps better use of the force powers will yield a more enjoyable experience.

Bottom line, having played through the demo a single time, it wasn’t as good as I expected but no where near as bad as I feared. I think with a few play-throughs and a better use of the force powers this game might turn out to be quite enjoyable. I guess we’ll find out on September 16th.

Check out the video of the entire demo level in Part One and Two.

Cheers