Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (The Caulk of the Walk)

[Again, late to the draw, but Gamefly sent it out, I finished it, and again feel the need to post my opinion. The results are as follows. Fanboy disclaimer: I love Star Wars, but I think that’s mostly a prerequisite for playing this game, so I feel that kind of bias is necessary for this type of review. Also, I’ll be downloading the new content for it tomorrow, and I’ll post some impressions on that.]

Here we are, roughly months before the events of Episode IV, or, as the cool kids know it, Star Wars, and those inundated with George Lucas’ constant revisions of minutiae know it, A New Hope. Taking the role of Starkiller, Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, the player is set out on a quest to do the dark lord’s bidding, and ultimately discover himself along the way. The experience shows how the galaxy has begun to shift after Order 66 was sent out, and how things begin to shake up as the galaxy becomes uneasy under the rule of the Empire.

It was tough for me to condense the entire story of the game into a few lines, and avoid spoilers. Simply put, this game is driven by the story. As a mode for explaining how the galaxy begins to rise against the Empire, the Force Unleashed excels. I am probably not going to check out the game on other consoles or read any of the novels that have also spawned with this “product line” they’ve plastered TFU onto, but I’d gladly re-watch all of the cinematic sequences from this game all over again. In fact, even as I replayed levels for achievements, I found myself watching the story cut-scenes that I had already seen just because they were enjoyable enough.

Sam Witwer as Starkiller was a great move for casting, as he provides an emotional, believable response to the game’s actions. One moment sticks out in my mind, after he rescued someone from a prison and exclaims “I just saved his daughter!” in annoyance with his master’s comments. Nathalie Cox, playing the role of Starkiller’s pilot, Juno Eclipse, also played her part well. Her accent made the first level amusing: as you approach the chamber of Rahm Kota, she pronounces it “Kotar”, which made me think of (a) KotoR – Knights of the Old Republic, and (b) Liam Gallagher of Oasis singing “Champagne Supernover in the sky-y”. I also laughed a little to myself whenever I heard Darth Vader speak, because of the fact that he was voiced by the guy who did the Chad Vader short, and the correlating achievement on the 360. At this point, I think it’s just worth it to say that across the board, the voice acting is great and appropriate for every character, and it makes the story much more believable.

Alongside the voice acting is the graphical quality of the game. The graphics looked great on my TV (1080i 32’ LCD), and the likenesses of some of the actors as their in-game counterparts helped to make it more believable. While we’ve all seen enough of the Havok engine and the wonderful ragdolls it throws around, the inclusion of Lucasarts’ Euphoria technology to make the AI act more realistically as they flail about mid-air in the throes of your Force grip, or attack differently every time you approach a platform makes the experience of playing the game very interesting. It was pick up a stormtrooper and watch them flail and reach for any nearby ledges or railings. It' was a shame though that most of the particle physics were stuck in the introductory level, as most of the wood in the Kashyyk introduction would break. However, Starkiller spent most of his time trapped inside cold, metal hallways, so we did not get to see as much of that in action as possible.

Oh, right, this is a game so I should talk about the gameplay. So, to recap: Story stands tall. Voice acting stands proud. Gameplay, standing, but weak at the knees. You can perform the standard array of action-adventure game moves, such as run, jump, dash, attack, block, etc. However, you gain, as the title implies, the powers of the Force, which you are able to unleash. Controlling the Force is a truly awesome premise which every Star Wars fan has dreamed about since seeing the movies. However, with only a couple of thumbsticks and a few buttons to control the force, it does not always go the way you planned. Targeting is awkward, as the game sometimes has a difficult time deciding whether the large metal crate or stormtrooper with a laser is more important in any situation. Granted, there are options for either one, and with all of the force powers and combos, you are never out of options at any point, but if you just want to throw your lightsaber at a dude, sometimes it’s harder than it seems. Providing you are able to target the right thing, controlling it once you’ve picked it up is a task in itself. Usually the best option seems to be to throw it straight ahead, but if you want to control it and launch it at a precise location, you’re usually stuck with guesswork. The controls come to be an impressive spectacle of impossibility during the awe-inspiring Star Destroyer scene, during which, Starkiller is forced to pull a Star Destroyer right out of the sky with the force. Sounds well and awesome, until you realize that the Star Destroyer has to be at a specific angle before you can pull it down, and you are constantly being assaulted by respawning waves of 8-10 TIE Fighters.

This brings up another issue with the game: Inconsistent difficulty. The game spends a lot of time being a Star Wars game that wants to be a God of War game (God of Wars, anyone?). However, it decides to randomly make the game “challenging” by tossing you in with a bevy of troopers armed with gatling guns, or a large quantity of troops that are constantly assaulting you. Whichever the issue is, you’ll find these moments more frustrating than challenging, as you wonder why the developers left eight snipers in one area while you’re trying to fight a boss. I felt bad when I had to take the difficulty down a notch, but it made the game a whole lot more enjoyable.

Overall, a Star Wars fan would enjoy the story. A Star Wars fan who is a gamer will be able to look past the flaws of the gameplay and find a fun experience in the Star Wars universe on top of it. A gamer who is not into Star Wars will see it as a glorified tech demo for Euphoria and particle physics.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is GOOD.

[SW:TFU was played on an Xbox 360 for 13+ hours, to completion. Ratings subject to personal impressions and experiences and are not to be taken as an objective statement. Ratings scale consists of (1) Not recommended, (2) Mediocre, (3) Alright, (4) Good, (5) Highly Recommended]

Review: Fallout 3 (Three Dog is my Homeboy)

[I know I’m a little late in the game here as far as reviews go, since anyone who is anyone has already posted theirs, but I feel as though my thoughts on the game have to go somewhere, and this is my place for musings on games. After finishing a conversation with my friend Josh on Fallout 3, as I had just finished and he was just about to begin, I began to think a lot about the game, and this is where I get the opportunity to spin those thoughts into written words.]

The latest from the minds at Bethesta Softworks, creators of 2006’s Game of the Year The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a continuation of the Fallout franchise, formerly by Black Isle Studios. Fallout 3 places you in the role of the Lone Wanderer from Vault 101. After your father escapes the Vault, a sudden string of events occurs which leads you out into the wastelands formerly surrounding Washington D.C. in search of him, and some answers.

I was ready to hate Fallout 3. The expansiveness of the world just overwhelmed me. At least in Grand Theft Auto IV, another one of this year’s hits promising a world open for exploration, parts of the world were locked to me, and I was limited in what I could explore and what I could do. The burden of an open world wore heavy on my back, and I was about to break under pressure. However, I did not. Instead, I gave the game another shot and let myself venture forth into the Capital Wasteland and never looked back.

I’ve never played another Fallout game, so the experience for me was something really new. Although the game was rooted in the Gamebryo engine from Oblivion, I would not pull out the “Oblivion with guns” comparison right from the start. Aside from the glitches that the engine has brought about, which could be a whole post unto themselves, you’ll find that the implementation of the engine works well for post-apocalyptia.

The world of Fallout 3 is not the world of Oblivion, nor is it the world of the America we know today. This is an entirely different world, with an entirely new set of problems. Problems from the raiders, to vampires, to ghouls, and men in powerful armored suits. You, as the Lone Wanderer, shape this world. By your hands will cities prosper or fade; will life flourish or die out; will those around you respect you or abhor you. Fallout 3 is very much greater than the sum of its parts. The game goes to great lengths to make sure that these old facets of the Fallout world do not feel forced in, and instead that they are all an extension of this universe created by Black Isle Studios. You will trek the world of Fallout 3 with your dog or companion, and your gun, using it to carve yourself a place in the annals of American history.

You can play it from a first- or third-person perspective, but these are usually simply for traversing the world, as your dialogue will always put you in a first-person view where you observe the person you are talking to standing in front of you as a mannequin as you dig through the sometimes-overly-textualized dialogue trees. You are also in first-person mode to view your Pip-Boy, the wrist computer that acts as your menu system. The method of navigating the Pip-Boy is more awkward at times than it needs to be, and I often found myself pressing the trigger when I wanted the d-pad. Outside of these instances, however, you can run and gun your way through the D.C. area in the viewpoint of your choice.

However, worth noting here that this game is not, by any means, a shooter in any sense of the word. It is primarily an RPG after all, and this is when the game actually becomes “Oblivion with guns”, except add to that the Vault Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S., a pseudo-bullet-time system that allows you to aim your shots at specific body parts, as the primary method of combat. Free aiming in this game is relatively pointless next to V.A.T.S., as your skill with a gun is still based on numbers, and as a result, you’ll often find yourself angry that a direct shot did not affect your enemy. In fact, free aiming is near useless anywhere other than point-blank range when you’re pointing at their chest. However, V.A.T.S. is not perfect, as often times, an enemy will run towards you, past the end of the barrel of your gun, and your shots will not have that 95% accuracy they claimed to have moments ago.

The story in Fallout 3 is an interesting one once the ball gets rolling, as your quest to find your father leads you all across the Capital Wasteland, meeting all sorts of interesting people. is an incredibly huge investment as far as gaming goes. Judging by the number of story missions, additional missions, unique items, and sidequests that can be taken on by the player, one can expect to clock anywhere from 25 to 100 hours in the game. Some of the missions are interesting while others amount to simple fetch quests, but that is an inherent design flaw for the role-playing genre, so it is hard to hold it against a single game. For the most part, Fallout 3 does a good job of managing the quests and making sure you’re not doing the same uninteresting things too often.

Overall, Fallout 3 is a highly enjoyable game that fans of role-playing games are bound to enjoy. You’re bound to run into a glitch here or there, so saving often is very wise. Having a story with enough twists and turns to stay interesting, and enough missions and activities off the main path to keep the adventure going even longer, it’s hard to say you’re not going to get the most bang for your buck in this one. With achievements and trophies that reward you for playing as good, neutral or bad, there’s more than enough reason to go through the game more than once. The recently announced downloadable content for 2009 give the game even more of a chance to shine over time. In the current state of the economy, it is hard to say no to a game with so much potential for endless hours of entertainment.

Fallout 3 is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Fallout 3 was played on the Xbox 360 for 70+ hours, completing all missions. Ratings subject to personal impressions and experiences and are not to be taken as an objective statement. Ratings scale consists of (1) Not recommended, (2) Mediocre, (3) Alright, (4) Good, (5) Highly Recommended]