Battle Damaged Darth Vader

Monday was an awesome day to be sitting by my mail-box, because not only did I get my 2 kingston 16GB microSD cards... the Force Unleashed battle-damaged Darth Vader action figure I ordered also came in!




This fig is what really started my action figure frenzy I have going on right now. After playing Force Unleashed again, getting to the end where you fight Darth Vader & you beat him up so bad his helmet's partially torn off & half his armour is gone.... that is so awesome. (don't worry I haven't spoiled anything)

This figure is based on that scene, and when I looked it up, I just fell in love with it. The helmet, arm covering and chest & shin armour is removable, exposing his cybernetics & burned skin. This fig is the pride of my recent acquisitions, with Darth Talon being a close second.









The only thing I wish his cape was more tattered, I may punch some more holes in it...




later
don

Kicking Ass with The Force... Handheld style

No new comics came in this week for me.... even though I'm still waiting for LocoRoco 2 to come out here in Canada... I spotted a couple of PSP games on sale I couldn't pass up.

Yesterday I bought Wipeout Pulse for $9.96 (score!) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for $19.96 clearance-priced from The Source. Since they are owned by/somehow affilated with/ Circuit City I have a bad feeling that this could be nearly end for them.... unless the Canadian stores are bought up by someone else. In any case, I know these deals won't last long so may as well grab 'em while I can.

I told myself I wasn't going to buy games that I already have on other systems, but let's face it... I'm a Star Wars freak, and owning 2 PSP-2000's with Darth Vader on the back and not having *every* Star Wars PSP game... that's just wrong. So I had to complete my collection..... yeah.....

haven't played Wipeout Pulse yet, but Wipeout: Pure is one of the best looking PSP games for the system. It's amazing that this was a launch title, it still stands up.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for PSP is very similar to the Wii version. Both were developed by Krome Studios; I'm sure that all their versions are almost the same.

It's actually quite impressive that the PSP version has pretty much the same content as the Wii version, a home console. One could look at it as "geez, the Wii got ripped off if the PSP version looks just as good" but I think the Wii version is great. The motion controls are really fun, and the standard controls of the PSP version are a little more awkward to use. The biggest problem with both versions is the camera, but in the Wii version you can control the camera a bit using the D-pad. The PSP D-pad will center the camera behind you *a bit* but it's not nearly as good as the Wii camera control, and that's not exactly great either.

But as to the actual gameplay content, wow. The PSP version is the Wii version squeezed into a handheld console. Some people might only have a PSP for their sole console... for those concerned the PSP version might not be as good as the Wii one... rest assured. From what I've played so far, the story campaign is virtually the same.

As cool as it is to have a PSP port that's equal to the (Wii) console version, there are some problems that come with that: The loading times are relatively long. Sometimes there's some game freezing.. it doesn't lock up, but in mid-battle things will stop for a second or 3. And the save points are the same: between quits, the game resumes at the start of the level, so if you quit out mid-level, next time you play you have to re-do that entire level. It's tolerable for the home version, but when you're talking about a portable game... the levels are pretty long and have to be completed in one sitting unless you put the PSP in sleep mode while playing, but then you can't use it for music/video/whatever. Home console games aren't paced in a way that makes them portable-console-friendly.

There is a historical dual mode in the PSP version; basically boss fights. The Wii version has multiplayer, but it's multiplayer ONLY while I assume these historical duals can be played single-player. haven't tried it yet, as I complete the story campaign I unlock more characters & settings to use in the dual mode.

So a pretty good beat-em-up for the PSP.


*my thoughts on the Wii version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed*




later
don

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Wii - 2nd Impressions

See also: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Wii - First Impressions


Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Wii:

+Incredibly cool motion controls.

+You start off pretty powerful, the gameplay is empowering and fun.

+Story, while hokey at times, is surprisingly compelling, especially if you're a fan of the original trilogy (Eps 4-6).

+Duel Mode (multiplayer only) is a nice addition not found in the other console versions.


-Controls are laggy & not always responsive. Game is too finicky with individual controllers as well, sometimes giving false positives or not registering properly until switched with another controller.

-The final level is brutally frustrating, like it's a different game-- difficulty curve goes straight up.

-Graphics are poor compared some of the best available on the Wii, like Metroid Prime 3.

-Duel Mode being multiplayer Only feels intentionally crippled so as not to compete with upcoming Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels game.



Star Wars games, like the movies themselves, are basically critic-proof. You either love them or you don't. When it comes to Star Wars games, for big fans (like me) the trappings & fan-service within them can gloss over & take the sting out of some of the weaknesses of the overall gameplay.

I finished Star Wars: The Force Unleashed last night.... 3 evenings of playing, so pretty short-- that's the quickest I've ever gone through a game-- but it was really fun, and I was surprised that the story isn't quite as "throwaway" as I thought it'd be. I think it makes a nice addition to the overall Star Wars canon, though some of the tie-ins do feel a bit shoe-horned in or tacked on.

I've broken down this rambling post to 2 sections: GAMEPLAY and FAN STUFF. There are no big spoilers.


GAMEPLAY:


No game is perfect, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed does have its share of flaws. Small ones, like just overall lack of polish, and how the duel mode can't be played single player (like the Star Wars Episode III game (Xbox/PS2) duel mode can)... but now that I think about it, I wonder if developer Krome studioes took out that option so as to provide incentive to buy their upcoming Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels game coming out in November, which looks like it can be played single player.... if so, that's kind of cheap.

I also found an issue with the brightness level on the screen. It's adjustable, but even set at the highest level, it's still a bit too dark... until one planet where it's insanely bright needs to be set back down again until you leave it.

The biggest problem with this game is the camera. It is just plain bad. The devs should have just made it fixed to always be behind Starkiller, using the D-pad to turn the camera all the time during battle is really annoying.

Controls can be glitchy: during the final boss fights, when it came to the quick-time events where you have to twist one controller a certain way, when it was the nunchuk, it became VERY unresponsive, and basically stopped working, for that one task. I thought it might've been the level design, but I re-played through the first mission again & had the same problem-- which I'm pretty sure I didn't have the first time around-- so I think it might be that my Wii remote batteries were getting low. I checked my battery power on the HOME menu but it wasn't at the 1 red bar... so I think this game is overly sensitive to controller conditions.

Another example of this over-sensitivity: when I first started playing, my Vader kept Force Pushing, wouldn't stop. (Force Push is done by jabbing the nunchuk forward like a little punching motion) It kept doing it when I know I wasn't making any motion. After getting these "false positives" I switched my nunchuk & everything was fine. I've also heard problems from other gamers with the Wii remote that sound somewhat similar.

The final mission is BRUTALLY HARD. Yes, the overall game is fairly easy... even though you can level up, you start off the game pretty powerful. The motto for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is "kicking ass with The Force"... I even saw video where the game producer made the dev team chant that out while they were coming up with the basis for the game.

And through most of the game, it stays fairly easy, because you're doing the same thing throughout the game, and you're leveling up. But the final level is SO HARD, the enemies can basically kill you in about 3 seconds, while it takes many, MANY lightsaber stabs to kill them, and there are tons of them, *AND* there are next to NO health pick ups available. This insane difficulty reminds me of the final boss fight in the Xbox game Mech Assault 2: Lone Wolf (another game with a short story mode) What does making the final level so much harder really accomplish? If you thought the game was way too easy overall, just the final level being challenging isn't going to make up for that... and if you're a casual gamer, the final level would basically make you stuck, unable to finish the game.... well, the generous respawning here does help. But I died in EVERY room I went into... and had to re-do quite a bit, fighting the camera as much as fighting the enemies, making the gameplay so tedious, I wanted to put the game away. Grinding away isn't fun. The frustration in the last mission leaves a bad final impression that I'm sure played a big part in some reviews giving Force Unleashed a mediocre score.

The campaign is short, it can be done in about 6-8 hours... but there's a lot of hunting around flipping over debris looking for pickups & holocrons... and that is a bit tedious as well. Also there are 2 endings, so a 2nd playthrough is necessary for both picking up items you missed the first time, and getting the different endings. Though I saved the game on a seperate slot before the final mission, so I think I could replay that one mission again & get the 2nd ending.


FAN STUFF:

I read one complaint about the 360/PS3 version that the main character Starkiller doesn't turn off his lightsaber, it's always on? In the Wii version, his lightsaber turns off when their are no enemies around, and on when there are. It will also turn on when you swing. This is a cool early-warning system, especially with the camera problems, so you know there's something coming up. And it makes sense to turn off your saber when you're not using it!

Starkiller's trademark is his reverse grip on his lightsaber. In the Wii version of Force Unleashed, he's holding his saber traditionally, which caused a lot of outcry from gamers. While I do like that reverse grip; it's cool-looking & distinctive, I can see why they made it forwards for the Wii so as not to confuse casual gamers... you don't want them thinking that they have to hold their Wii remote upside-down! Plus it gives it more of the feeling of "the Wii remote is your lightsaber" when both controller & onscreen lightsaber are used in the same direction. However, the PSP version also has the "forward saber" (and presumably the PS2 version as well), the Wii excuse doesn't apply there, and I'm sure that's just the devs being lazy & using the same assets for all 3 versions.

But there were a couple times in the Wii game where he held his lightsaber backwards! Once, on Bespin, I had target-locked an enemy, and Force Pushed him off a ledge, since he was target-locked, the camera kept panning down, I was trying to look over the ledge but couldn't. Even
though the enemy fell to his death off screen, the camera stayed locked on him so it pointed down on me, that's when Starkillers grip changed to backwards. As soon as I released the camera lock, it went back to normal.

Then another time in the final level, his blade was on, there might've been enemies somewhere, and I stopped moving (I was drinking tea or reading the manual or something) and again he changed his lightsaber grip to backwards! I don't know if these are just glitches or intentional winks to the fanbase. They are cool though.

I love all the cameos, they are really fun for Star Wars fans. I really liked seeing (& fighting) a lot of those Cantina background aliens from Star Wars. The voice acting overall was fairly good, especially Vader. But The Emperor had this one line, it was like, "blah blah blah blah.... andthenyouwilldie"-- he just blurts out that last part like it's all one word, it was so lame & cheesy, I laughed.

"andthenyouwilldie"

Oh man. They maybe should've done a take 2 on that line? Ah-yup.

The music is the same John Williams score that we all know & love, and (wisely) is a staple of all Star Wars games past & present. But they add some additional music... it's not bad but it sometimes sounds like a Godzilla movie or something... I'm walkig around & this Godzilla-movie-esque music is in the background... I'm wondering, am I the monster? Kinda... and I'm really liking it!

I love that this game is about playing a Sith or a baddie, and you've got to keep your identity a secret, meaning you have to kill EVERYBODY around you. It's very cool. Surprisingly dark for a Star Wars story. But not entirely without hope.

Yesterday I went out & got the Force Unleashed graphic novel, part of the reason I barreled through the game was I wanted to finish the story.... I'm not sure if the Force Unleashed GN is an adaptation of the game story, a prequel, or what so I didn't want to read it before finishing the game. Once I do read it, I'll post some thoughts on it in Comicbook.





later
don

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Wii - First Impressions

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I've been waiting weeks, if not months, for this game.

I haven't anticipated a game this much since Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron on PSP (and Star Wars Battlefront II on Xbox before that)... so Star Wars: The Force Unleashed being a first-day purchase for me was a given.

But I was wary of the Wii version. It was developed by Krome Studios, not the LucasArts dev team that did the Xbox 360 & PS3 versions. And the Wii controls are so different than any other console.

Over the months, there's been some info, first looks, etc, that have given a good idea of what to expect with the game. The Wii version looked like it wouldn't be the greatest game ever made, but the controls did look not bad. For the most part, it's pretty good.

(dev walkthrough video of gameplay can be found here.)


In a nutshell, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Wii is a beat-'em-up with tactile "waggle" controls that while repetitive, really add to the sense that you're waving around a lightsaber. There are some minor problems, the controls are still a little sloppy-- it's a good game that could've used some more polish to make it great-- but the good things about the game outweigh the problems.

I've been playing it the last 2 days, I'm on Felucia right now... I think I'm about halfway through the game. The controls do work fairly well mostly, but they are not as precise as I'd like. You wave the Wii remote up/down/left/right and the lightsaber does move in those directions-- but it is *NOT* 1:1 precise movement. There's a bit of a lag, and you don't necessarily get those directions for each wave. It doesn't really matter, because it all works the same way... it takes a bit of getting used to, after about 30 mins of play, I got the feel for it, and really started to enjoy it.

Not only does the Wii remote control the lightsaber, the nunchuk controls a lot of The Force abilities. Push forward (like a punching motion) and you do a Force Push which plows enemies in front of you off their feet. Slam downward with both the nunchuk & Wii remote while pressing the Z + B buttons will do a Force Repulse that clears out everyone around you. It is *SO* satisfying to do these gestures, 'cause they kick ass! It just feels REALLY GOOD to do these motions & scatter stuff like they are made of cardboard or something... The Force ROCKS.

IGN review: 7.8

Gamespot review: 6.0

Gamespot got some details WRONG about the game, which needs to be cleared up. Let's set the record straight here.

Gamespot SWFU (Wii) review: When you throw in a variety of force powers and some poorly implemented quick-time events that all utilize motion controls, you'll find that Force Unleashed is possibly the most waggle-heavy action game available on the system, a distinction that seems fun for the first hour or so, only to quickly lose its appeal.

The Wii remote controls the lightsaber, which is your main weapon, if you're gonna pick up the Wii version, EXPECT to be waving the Wii remote a lot when fighting. THAT'S WHAT YOU DO. I think that anyone who wants the Wii version knows this-- like me, it's probably WHY they want the Wii version in the first place. Yes, it could be more precise, but it's not terrible. The reviewer also says that this must be the most waggle-heavy game for the Wii... which I'm sure it isn't. I bet there are some crappy-rated games like Soul Calibur: Legends that require the Wii remote to be shaken the entire time.... which is why they're crappy...

I do have to say that there's probably a lot of button-mashing in the other console versions of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and here it is "waggle-mashing" if that makes any sense. You do flail the Wii remote around a lot. Here's a tip: don't let anybody watch you playing this game. You'll die of embarrassment.

Gamespot SWFU (Wii) review: Some variety comes by way of Force Unleashed's God of War-style quick-time events, which result in some terrific, violent-looking moves, whether you're smashing on an opposing Jedi or defeating a rancor in a series of thrilling acrobatics. As cool as they look, these sequences don't work that well. You usually need to tilt the remote or the Nunchuk to match the onscreen diagram and then thrust it forward. It requires surprising precision, and not only does it take your eyes and your mind off of the action, but it is more annoying than fun.

It DOESN'T require "surprising precision"... you have to match it, yes, but it's not that hard. [EDIT: I think I might know why the reviewer had trouble with it-- it seems that if the Wii remote batteries are low, it makes it NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to use the nunchuk properly for the twisting quick-time event; for some reason it won't twist properly. ] The other actions are when one of the controllers comes up on screen, you sinply have to shake that controller once to register the action.

In this game, these quick-time events with the Wii controls work BETTER than timed button presses of the other consoles because you don't have to be looking directly at what it wants you to do, it's much easier to see a diagram of a Wii nunchuk out of the corner of your eye than a small button where you have to make out exactly which button it is. So the Wii version allows you to watch the cool onscreen action a lot more than normal "press X button here" diagrams where you have to look directly at it to make sure it says press X not Y or whatever....

Another mistake the Gamespot review made about the Wii version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is that when you die, the enemies stay at whatever health they lost. That's WRONG. In boss fights, the bosses gain back a portion of their health if you die. You come back full, they gain like 25%-33%. If they were at 75% when you die, they get full health. if you die, you don't have to re-kill everybody you've killed already... which is actually nice, it cuts down on the tedium. How many boss fights have we had to re-do from the start and it really kills the momentum of the game? A lot.

One of the biggest problems with the game is the camera. It doesn't really stay behind you when you move, you have to do a lot of adjusting using the D-pad on the Wii remote. It can be pretty bothersome while fighting, and makes it hard to see/target enemies, particularly tough bosses.

There is a Duel mode, but it can only be played with multiplayer, there's no AI-controlled Duel mode. Compared to the Episode III game developed by The Collective, which also has a Duel mode that can be multiplayer *OR* AI vs single player, it's a disappointment that the Wii Duel mode wasn't fleshed out enough. Also, there is autosaving, but you can't go back & select which levels or missions to replay, you can only continue. Little things like this are rough spots in the game that I wish could've been hammered out.

The graphics obviously aren't as good as the 360/PS3 versions. They are the same as the PS2 version. I actually think they're alright.

There's a lot of hunting around in the game, unlike the 360/PS3 version where you get health from every guy you kill, in the Wii version you need to find health pickups scattered throughout a level. There are also Holocrons which unlock artwork, and saber & other bonus pickups. There's a lot of moving rocks, boxes, statues, etc. around with The Force to find this stuff. It kind of reminds me of Elebits, oddly enough!

I suspect the general story is similar to the 360/PS3 versions, but I think the level design & missions are different in the Wii version. So far I've had to go to the Jedi Training temple on Coruscant 2 times to train secretly. Since I'm a secret apprentice, I have to kill the guards there. Doing it once is fine, but it's a little weird doing it twice-- what did the Empire think when they found all the guards dead at the temple the first time? If they keep finding their guards dead at the Jedi Temple, um... don't you think that's gonna raise a few flags? yeah, so that part of the story maybe doesn't make too much sense, but overall it's a nifty idea to have this apprentice. I just wish he was more interesting looking than that guy from Prison Break. Think about the past Siths, like Darth Maul-- he looked awesome. Or Assaj Ventriss. I would've preferred a cool-looking alien over a drab human, but oh well.

I haven't finished the game yet, but so far it's been pretty fun.

See also: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Wii - 2nd Impressions




later
don

Star Wars: Force Unleashed on Wii

Following the PSP dev walkthrough, Gamespot's posted a video focusing on the Wii version!




The video starts off slow-- no offence, but do we really need to be looking at the producer? We want to see the game, and the controllers! But once we get to the good stuff, it's worth watching. The Wii version is going to be my pick, because of the tactile controls... they do look good in this walkthrough, but it also looks like it could easily misinterpret gestures, depending on how sensitive it is.

Interesting to see the same AT-ST boss fight as in the PSP version, and how different it's handled because of the controls. On PSP, it's a series of button presses à la God of War: Chains of Olympus, and on Wii, it's controller movement(?) That could either be very good or very bad.....


It could be the time of the year, seeing as how so few new games have come out over the last few months, but Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of the rare games I'll be buying on launch day. I almost always wait for at least some reviews on a game before making the purchase, and I might leave the wrapper on for a bit until some positive buzz comes out for the Wii version.

But I can't wait for the game! I keep thinking, "Only a bit over a week away.... Only a bit over a week away.... Only a bit over a week away.... "

Coming out (in North America) Sept. 16, 2008.


later
don

Star Wars Force Unleashed

Even though I don't have a PS3 or Xbox 360, I'm getting psyched about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

The PSP version is looking not bad at all.... it will definitely be scaled-down compared to the consoles, but it does look very good for a portable!

Gamespot posted some gameplay footage:



The PSP version has "historical missions" which looks like boss battles featuring classic lightsaber duels from the movies. That looks pretty cool.

I love the PSP, but I think I'm going to go for the Wii version because of the tactile feel.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comes out on Sept. 16/2008.



later
don