Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – PS3 – Preview 2

E3 2008 Preview

Darth Vader is one bad Sith Lord. He
wiped out the remaining Jedi, including younglings. He flew across the galaxy,
blew up entire planets and ruined billions of lives just because he could. When
sent to kill a stray Jedi Master that had been causing trouble for the Dark
Side, Vader didn’t hesitate. But before his job could be finished, an immense
power was sensed. He questioned the Jedi, asking him where his master was,
assuming that he was somewhere in the area. But this Jedi was old and his master
had died a long time ago. Just as Vader was about to deal the final blow, his
lightsaber was ripped from his hands. He turns around, expecting to see a new
enemy. But the only one standing there was a little boy — the force Vader
sensed was that of the Jedi’s son.

This sequence is an incredible
catalyst for a game that promises to abolish all previous Star Wars games. Its
music was taken directly from the "Order 66" sequence in Revenge of the Sith and
fit the scene perfectly. For the first time ever, I actually felt something for
Star Wars characters that weren’t created by George Lucas.

That boy, incase you weren’t aware,
grows up to become the Secret Apprentice and star of The Force Unleashed. As
you’ve probably heard a hundred times since the game was unveiled, The Force
Unleashed gives the player more control over The Force than any other Star Wars
game. The Euphoria physics — which have been a part of the LucasArts hype
machine since they were unveiled two or three years ago in the Indiana Jones
tech demo — are everything the developers claimed. Lift a Stormtrooper, Wookiee,
droid, or any other living, breathing character and you’ll be amazed at the way
they squirm. They may even try to grab onto something, including one of the
comrades, who will now be caught in your Force bubble. Before going hands-on,
GameZone was shown exactly how this works in the game.

When The Force envelops and
levitates someone, the alien/droid loses control of its body. Consequently, it
ends up floating within its own space. The enemy can spin around to try and
regain control (and it will many times over), but that won’t happen as long as
you’re holding the right trigger (the Force-raising button). If you do release
the Force, the enemy is still in trouble — while enemies, objects or anything
else are suspended in the air, they may be moved around with the right and left
analog sticks. If you release your power while in motion, inertia will take over
and continue pushing the enemy/object until it hits something or until gravity
has run its course.

In practice, this move is just as
cool as it looks but not very easy. It is seamless — you won’t struggle to make
the buttons or thumbsticks work. The control design is top-notch. But as a
gameplay mechanic that hasn’t been done before on this level (the only other
games that have levitated objects successfully are Psi-Ops and BioShock), there
is a learning curve simply because it’s not familiar.

The demo wasn’t long enough to allow
anyone to master this mechanic, but it was still a blast. When several enemies
gathered together for a Secret Apprentice shooting fest, what’re you gonna do?
Kill each of them one by one with your lightsaber? Deflect their attacks? (This
move is right out of the Star Wars movies and looks great.) Wouldn’t it be
better to grab an enemy and throw him into the crowd? Another option: pick up
something large and heavy and crush the enemies, as Obi-Wan Kenobi might say,
"Into oblivion." If the Force isn’t with you now, it most certainly will be when
The Force Unleashed is released on September 16.

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