When I posted my initial thoughts on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed earlier this week, someone mentioned that the first few levels of the game weren't a very good litmus for the experience as a whole. Having finished the game at this point, I'd agree and disagree.
As Star Wars experience, the game is a stellar win. As I mentioned before, it seriously feels like you're in the Star Wars universe in terms of music, mood and environment. Those aspects are extremely well done. As a game and as a new chapter to be incorporated into the Star Wars cannon, it's a bit rough.
If you care to venture onward, heed my SPOILER WARNINGS.
The fighting and powers remain fantastic through the end of the game. The main issues I had were with the story and a few major moments in the gameplay.
Remember when you first saw that early trailer for The Force Unleashed? Big Imperial Star Destroyer, minding its own business, only to suddenly jolt forward and lurch toward the ground? Then you saw the hooded figure on a small ledge using the force to wrench the vessel out of the sky? Well you do in fact get this thrilling experience in the actual game - the problem is, it seems the developers didn't really want you to enjoy it. They must have really wanted you to ponder the motivations of your actions, since it TAKES AT LEAST THIRTY FUCKING MINUTES TO ACCOMPLISH.
You start the event and have to destroy several TIE fighters first to clear the air. Then you reach out and grab the Star Destroyer, following the analog stick directions and making minute adjustments to bring the ship in closer to you and the ground. Every 15 seconds or so another wave of TIE fighters move in and you must let go of the destroyer and deal with them. While you're fighting the TIEs, the destroyer veers back to its initial course. This cycle can go on forever, depending on how slowly or quickly you eliminate the TIE fighter waves. I gave up on it after nearly an hour of vulgarities. One of my friends, who had been observing, took up the controller and spent another 45 minutes on it before he found a nice groove and could take out the TIEs in two passes. He then had to find just the right spot to position the destroyer before the game would let him pull it down (hint: it needs to be pointed exactly facing you...exactly).
I can see this leg of the story being a gamebreaker for a lot of people. There's no need to have the difficulty rocket up 200% for what should be one of the coolest moments ever in a Star Wars game.
From that point onward, it's almost like the developers wanted punish you for loving their game and wanting to complete it. By the time you reach the Death Star, you're facing a ridiculous amount of enemies in the main hangar bay, all of which come in waves while you're trying to wrench apart some floor panels to get to the next area. And there are no save points at all.
Granted, I can buy this, because you're staging a one-man assault on the bloody Death Star. It's not supposed to be easy. But good god, it takes some time to get through.
It all culminates in fight with the end baddie, when can vary depending on whether you decide to finish the game with the Light or Dark side of The Force. I chose the Light during this playthrough.
So you finish the game and get the full impact this story has on the rest of the Star Wars canon. I like the idea, but it's not organic at all in terms of how it fits. There are revelatory moments with both Vader and the Emperor where you find out exactly how the Rebellion came to be, and it really doesn't make much sense.
So I do like the story. I can accept it, but it's an acceptance on the level of the Prequels. Fine, if that's the way it's gotta be, I guess that's cool. Kind of disappointing on the execution.
I'm also a bit disappointed that we didn't see more diversity in game levels. We got a total of seven playable environments, and three of them were re-cycled for return visits. That said, the level of detail is still insanely beautiful. I love the look of this game.
Of course, I played this on the Xbox 360. A couple of the my friends were over during the final 5 levels or so of the game, and one of them brought his Wii for some dueling action. We hooked it up to my HDTV, and I was aghast at how awful TFU graphics look on the Wii. I would even go as far to say it looked on par with early PS2 fare. My friend had not seen it on the 360, and when he saw my experience, he was also pretty disappointed. He'd already played the game through twice, and commented a lot on the differences between the two consoles, especially in terms of gameplay and upgrade options.
He said that the holocron spheres don't actually provide points for upgrades in the Wii version. He didn't get to go inside the Sarlaac to find Bail Organa, and he apparently didn't get the initial TIE fighter factory level either. However Wii players were spared the stupidly difficult Star Destroyer crash, apparently, since it occurs as a cutscene instead of a playable event.
I still maintain that any Star Wars fan with a 360 (or perhaps a PS3) should absolutely check this game out. Be prepared for extreme frustration at times, but overall I still think it's a great experience. I'll definitely be playing it through again on the harder settings. First completion was on Sith Warrior.
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