Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
From Lucas Arts Entertainment

Price: $56.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com

51 new or used available from $39.99
Average customer review:

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #426 in Video Games
* Brand: Lucas Arts
* Model: 32389
* Released on: 2008-09-16
* ESRB Rating: Teen
* Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
* Dimensions: 2.00 pounds

Features

* Confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader in addition to new adversaries such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians
* Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
* Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible: Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls, and will Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground
* Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility
* Decisions made by players throughout the game will determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The Star Wars saga will continue in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a videogame developed by LucasArts, which casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy.

The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time: Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd.

Paired with the powerful Havok Physics™ system, these new technologies create gameplay only possible on the new generation of consoles. DMM incorporates the physical properties of anything in the environment so that everything reacts exactly like it should - wood breaks like wood, glass shatters like glass, plants on the planet Felucia bend like plants on the planet Felucia would, and more.

Meanwhile, as a revolutionary behavioral-simulation engine, euphoria enables interactive characters to move, act and even think like actual human beings, adapting their behavior on the fly and resulting in a different payoff every single time.


Game Features:

* During the period between Episodes III and IV, players hunt Jedi in the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
* Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
* Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible:
o The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls.
o The Secret Apprentice won't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb.
* In addition to new adversaries created just for the game, such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians, players will also confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader.
* Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility.
* The Force Unleashed is LucasArts' first internally developed title for next-generation consoles, and it represents the first in-game collaboration of talents and technology between LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic, two companies now finally under one roof at the new Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio district.
* The Force Unleashed debuts Digital Molecular Matter from Pixelux and euphoria behavioral simulation from NaturalMotion Ltd.
* LucasArts is preparing an unprecedented promotional effort around the launch of The Force Unleashed, encompassing a full line of toys and game-based action figures from Hasbro, as well as a full publishing program from Dark Horse, Del Rey and Palace Press.

Meet the Cast
The Star Wars Saga will continue in 2008 with LucasArts' biggest-ever video game event. Set during the "dark times" between Episodes III and IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed portrays the previously untold story of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice -- and now you can put a face to that mysterious character as well as the major supporting cast members as LucasArts unveils the actors set to star in The Force Unleashed.

The New Technology of The Force Unleashed
With The Force Unleashed, LucasArts not only introduces a new chapter in the Star Wars saga, but also two completely new and innovative technologies -- Digital Molecular Matter by Pixelux Entertainment and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd. These groundbreaking technologies combine with Havoc physics to create true next-gen gameplay and the Force like it's never been seen or experienced before.

Customer Reviews

Great Game One Time Through, Maybe Twice
Star Wars; The Force Unleashed is a highly entertaining game. Personally I enjoy the idea of being a bad guy, but the description that they release to go with the game are spin doctoring at the very best. But first: The Pros......

The graphics are amazing on the PS3 and truly the main focus when they made this game. The cinematics are quite sharp, right down to pores on the face. The mouths look a little odd to me, especially in the close-ups; not a deal breaker since I am not in to graphics as much as I am gameplay and storyline.

The integrated RPG aspect is fun. I enjoy building my character up and becoming more powerful and it does give that to you. Maybe not in spades.....but maybe in diamonds. The idea of combining force powers in to your combos is fun and relatively seamless. And I do like the fact that there are variations of blade colors and styles.

However, after going through the game once and seeing what everyone else has you got to ask yourself, "Where is MY unique lightsaber? Why couldn't they give me a chance to have THAT one." Even loading the Darth Maul skin leaves you with the same lightsaber you had before. And finally, the storyline, while nothing spectacular, is engaging and fun to watch.

Now the cons.......and really only one majorly hurt its score:

And that one is the controls. A hack and slash game is meant to be a hack and slash and really this game boils down to just that. However, the controls CAN be rather annoying, especially on catwalks, ledges and anywhere else that can cause you an instant death.

To put in perspective, I died easily over 10 times going through the game and getting all the stuff.....NONE of it was from enemies killing me, but simply misjudging a jump or being mid combo near a ledge and slipping off. At times, such a stupid thing can cause a LOT of frustration.

I might also add, there are parts of the game that can be EXTREMELY frustrating.....not "challenging" mind you.....just frustrating. The feeling of "OK, they wanted to make this hard, so they took the most annoying combination of items and just kept throwing them in to amp the difficulty up", the end result leaves you wanting to tear your hair out instead of wanting to push through it.

And finally, I would have liked to see more variation in powers/story/outfits that are alignment based. It claims that your decisions affect the outcome. Really.....you are railroaded along your story until the very end, you make one choice, and are then railroaded in to the rest of the ending.

Some choices along the way would have given this game some MUCH needed replayability seeing it lacks ANY multiplay. And the lack of additional powers makes for a "been there, force pushed that" feel.

Ultimately, this is a good game, but if they were going to add RPG to it then a Knights of the Old Republic treament would have done wonders. I look forward to future installations of these games, so long as they learn from their failures and build on the franchise.

Add some depth. Add some replayability. Hell, add some multiplay........ you DO know that not ALL Star Wars fans are friendless, zit-faced outcasts. And even THEY have similar friends that they role play with. Give us some meat, some innovation.

You have proven you can make a fun, beautiful game. Now prove you can make a fun, beautiful game that won't end up being traded in after a month cause there is nothing left to do.

I find others' lack of faith disturbing
I read a lot of reviews online that were disappointed with this game. I'm really not sure why, unless the game somehow offends some delicate Star Wars Fanboy sensibilities. For me, it is just plain fun.

It didn't take me too long to get the hang of the basic controls, and there is a heck of a lot of enjoyment to be had just picking things up and throwing them at people. Or picking up people and throwing them at things. Or throwing people at other people. Or just shooting out Force Lightning from your fingers.

I really enjoyed this game and would highly recommend it.

Unleashed indeed but too short!
There have been a lot of reviews on this game so I'll be brief:

Pros:
+ Visuals are breathtaking, full of details and there is no other version that can match it (720p on the PS3 beats what I have seen on WII).
+ Storyline fist perfectly between Episodes III and IV and will satisfy any Star Wars fan
+ Customizable lightsaber crystals, force powers and talents diversify game play and make it more fun.

I think the price tag is a little steep for the playability you get out of this one.
+ Art design and cinematics can be unlocked and keeps you interested in the next challenge.

Cons:
- There are no choices to make. There is only one storyline you MUST follow. You cannot choose between Sith or Jedi paths! I thought this was a key advertisement concept for this game.
- The game is too short. After only 10 days of owning it I'm done! I wanted more challenges!
- You cannot have lightsaber duels with friends (like the Wii version). This is strictly a one player game.

I think the price tag is a little steep for the playability you get out of this one.

Click here to see other