Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Nintendo Wii

Graphics:
the Bad: when your cape flaps it breaks the character’s figure.
the facial emotions of the character are horrid.
the Good: the colors are perfect, lighting and hues are vivid and fitting and make you wonder whether this is animated or on the original StarWars set.
the movement of the character and A.I. are very fluid and controlled, very real and life-like.
not hardly pixellated at all, I have no idea where people are getting that.

I think that for the Wii, the designers at Lucasarts definitely could’ve made it more competitive with PS3 or XBOX 360, but this game still holds as something respectable to look at. [7/10]

Gameplay:
the Bad: swinging the wiimote for the saber was an ingenious concept but is not as developed as could’ve been, you haven’t got to swing more than in wii tennis. to use the lightsaber instead of the lightsaber following the wiimote more exactly
the targeting for the force worked well but could sometimes (meaning about once every level average) be frustrating, picking up the wrong things.
the Good: I still loved the wiimote-lightsaber set up and enjoyed that throughout.
moving objects with the force with the nunchuck joystick proved very controllable and wonderful to work with.

I loved the gameplay set up and controls and wouldn’t change them a bit [10/10]

Story:
the Bad: I’m still not sure why Starkiller was drawn to the temple a second time just to beat up another over all meaningless sith.
how did both Starkiller’s father & Kota come back after dying???
if the dark side ending plays, how come Vader dies when everyone knows he’s in the other 3 movies as well???
the Good: it was definitely helpful in that it connected the given storyline with other points in the already well-known StarWars movies, like locations, characters, and events.

I was thoroughly confused in a few parts, but the main body of the story worked. [8/10]

Overall, I loved the game. It took me about 8 or less hours to go through the first time and the second time is easier, faster, but still satisfying in finding the harder hilts, crystals and holocrons. I went online (gamefaqs.com) and found the cheat codes for all of the epic costumes that are available, from Mace Windu to Asajj Ventress to Stormtrooper varieties to Kleef. The customization in this game, with hilts, crystals, costumes, and upgradeable force powers is great and really makes this game immersing. I would personally recommend this purchase, and soon enough, you could find yourself, for $15, enjoying [7/10] graphics, [10/10] gameplay, and [8/10] story in the immortal StarWars style!

The game covers events between Episode III and Episode IV, and concentrates primarily on the formation of the Rebellion and the main character’s role in that process. There is plenty of new material here for the expanded Star Wars universe, and herein lies the game’s greatest strength. The story has fairly engaging characters and some decent dialogue. You’ll find yourself eager to finish a level so that you can see the next cutscene and watch the story unfold.

While engaging, it’s hardly a perfect story. It has all the ingredients to be one of the most epic Star Wars stories undertaken by LucasArts, but the delivery and complexity falls significantly short of its potential. And Star Wars canonists might take issue with the elevation of the main character to the de facto founder of the Alliance–the traditional triumvirate of leaders that fans are used to are really relegated to a secondary role in this story. Many fans also will not be able to forgive the mediocre portrayal of Darth Vader and the horrific portrayal of Princess Leia. Darth Vader is crucial to the story, but Leia is not, and should not have been included at all. Finally, the ending seems rushed and leaves you disappointed–not in the the story’s outcome, but in how abrupt it feels. But, despite some glaring weaknesses, the story really carries this game.

The gameplay itself is fun, if repetitive. It consists of swinging the Wii remote to use your lightsaber and thrusting the nunchuck to use the “force push” to knock over enemies. A dizzying array of button and thrust combinations allows the player to perform all kinds of different combat moves. In practice though, the player probably will pick only three or four basic moves and stick to them, because learning all of the moves and implementing them instinctively is somewhat difficult. That said, there are some moves that look pretty cool, and make you feel pretty Jedi-ish after doing them.

While there is plenty of fun to be had hacking away at stormtroopers (and unfortunately some goofy enemies like “junk golems”), the gameplay becomes extremely repetitive. This is a hack-only game. There is little in the way of puzzles or independent exploration. With the Force Unleashed, expect an experience more similar to the N64 Shadows of the Empire game than to, say, Jedi Knight and Jedi Knight 2. The game is entirely linear, and you can’t go back and revisit levels you’ve already been to. Everything is laid out for you, and really the only decision you need to make in the game is “Which of the ten bad guys am I going to hack at first?” Unfortunately this provides the player with little in the way of mental stimulation. This is another reason why the story is so crucial for the overall experience.

Don’t expect to be wowed much by the visual presentation. The hardcore gamer will find the graphics unforgivable. There are times when I felt like I might have been watching a game on the ORIGINAL Play Station. The graphics are poorest during wideshots of cities and starships and things of that nature. Other scenes, particularly between some characters, look much better, though still not PS3 or XBox quality. I found the actual gameplay graphics to be passable, if not fantastic.

The game takes about 10 hours to play through, so it is fairly short. After you complete it though, you have the option of restarting the game with all of your stats in place. Replaying with all of your unlocked force powers and your larger health meter is entertaining as well. There is a duel-mode option where you can square off against friends, but I have not tried that option.

The Force Unleashed for the Wii is a fun game, but it is not one of LucasArts’s best Star Wars games. It is unlikely to gain the loyalty of die hard gamers or die hard Star Wars fans. The not-too-picky fan will enjoy playing through it though. Its decent story combined with interesting Wii gameplay will give plenty of hours of entertainment.