Zero Punctuation: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

[COR 2000]

good but the fact a small rc car the size of your foot could destroy a door, while a small force blast(whatever its called) can barely open it.

1.)Depends how weak the door is.
2.)Most of the doors you encounter are most likely made of heavy metals that take longer to move. Besides, you can always Charge your Force Push for a greater effect, obviously.

 

[Littaly]

I was only slightly confused by the lack of mention towards the infamous Star destroyer scene, is it not on the Wii version?

I had a stardestroyer scene on my Wii version, however, I didn't get to do anything It was just a cutscene. Also I didn't get a black lightsabre or an awesome physics engine, sad panda

I am guessing the reason the graphics suck so hard on the Wii is because it's the same version as the PS2 one. The Wii couldn't cough up the same graphics as the PS3/360 so instead of having a slight downgrade it gets to share it with the PS2. Either that or the Wii sucks harder than I thought.

On the bright side, my apprentice doesn't wield his lightsabre like a kid from the 90's wears his baseball cap.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Not such a funny review (no rant about QTE?)

To be fair, he says in a previous review that he doesn't mind quick time events when they're used consistently and are a core gameplay element. In The Force Unleashed they don't suddenly spring up on you, as most of the time you initiate them, and you can predict them based on how much health an opponent has left.

Also, on an unrelated tangent, I think what really made me laugh is people who insist that the game should be on PC. If you think about it for five seconds you realise how ridiculous this would be.

 

[Deschamps]

Even though he didn't talk about the actual game for half the review, he still expressed my feelings towards George Lucas quite accurately.

As far as the game goes, I've played the demo on 360 and it wasn't bad, but I'm not planning on buying the game, at least not while it's new. Maybe I'll get it used some day. But I really don't think I could put up with more Star Wars right now. I didn't even see the Clone Wars, but the trailers irked me enough.

 

[Jursa]

Yahtzee's anger is probably because of Lucas who's not only intent on killing the star wars but also beating in once it's down and then stabbing it a few times and I agree to the hate. As usual a wonderful review.

 

[Adrasta]

I wouldn't be too optimistic about the Xbox 360 version, since it is also whole host of reasons [http://whengamessuck.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/star-wars-the-force-unleashed-xbox-360/] which make me wonder if the designers ever actually played the game before they shipped it.

And that reviewer seemed to be complaining about the fact that the game was balanced instead of letting him kill everything in one hit with any ability. DEAR GOD, A GAME THAT TRIES TO BALANCE OUT SOME OF THE SUPER POWERFUL ATTACKS YOU GET FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING THE GAME SOMEWHAT OF A CHALLENGE?! PAN IT!

You miss the point. The prospect of using "unleashed" force powers was the only selling point of this game. And you can't, which makes it a ripoff.
If they had to do it for balancing or other reasons is irrelevant - they just should have thought of that sooner. Force powers are too imba for a game?! Shock! What a surprise!!

So they couldn't give you awesome powers because that would have been to easy, but they still needed to create a badass sith hype to get the silly prequel kiddies interested. So they were screwed.
This shows only one thing: That the whole game concept doesn't work and they shouldn't have made it in the first place.

Maybe LucasArts should go back to games that once made them great, adventures and flight sims. But then, some of their marketing jerks have decided that such games are "out" and trash like TFU is far more lucrative. And this is the result.

The only thing I don't get is why some of you even act surprised.

 

[Knightcrawler]

I will be counting facepalms from now on.
You picked the wii version.

*facepalm*
In quite a twist, the psp version is very good.
The PS3/360 version is endless fun though. On a completely different note, you are absolutely 100% correct about I-III.
Medichlorieans.
*second facepalm*
Still no wii attachment that increases accuracy.
*third facepalm*
On to another, completely different statement: Why did you stop picking opening\ending songs? I miss them.

Battle Medic, "unfortunately" the only differences between the PSP version and the Wii version is the PSP had that movie battle mode, the PSP had slightly lower graphics/framerate/etc and had to be played on a smaller screen, and the Wii version had remapped and superior controls. So everything bad that Yahtzee said about the level, enemy design, etc. applies to your version too. And he probably stopped picking songs because of copyright reasons.

I wouldn't be too optimistic about the Xbox 360 version, since it is also whole host of reasons [http://whengamessuck.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/star-wars-the-force-unleashed-xbox-360/] which make me wonder if the designers ever actually played the game before they shipped it.

And that reviewer seemed to be complaining about the fact that the game was balanced instead of letting him kill everything in one hit with any ability. DEAR GOD, A GAME THAT TRIES TO BALANCE OUT SOME OF THE SUPER POWERFUL ATTACKS YOU GET FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING THE GAME SOMEWHAT OF A CHALLENGE?! PAN IT!

Seriously though, the game had some flaws, but trying to keep you from going through the game on auto pilot force pushing everything off a cliff is perfectly fine. And the QTEs, while a bit obnoxious, were very consistent, and rewarded you with some really neat miniature cutscenes (though they got a bit repetitive).

Christ, is this what the gaming community has become? Bitching about every little thing possible that might fly in the face of Common Sense and/or Free Will? Is this why Boregasms like Halo 3 that play it extremely safe in terms of ground treaded get perfect tens?

Actually, TFU played it extremely safe, just ripping off GOW and adding a star wars layer. Only that's not what they promised...

As for the challenge - no-one's suggesting that it should be piss easy just because you're an overpowered Force user. But the game designers need to come up with better ways of providing a challenge than just arbitrarily making enemies immune from certain attacks just because they say so. Think laterally for god sake, it's your job. Force lightning seems to take a lot of concentration, so maybe make it that you can barely move whilst using it. Enemies could swarm you or shoot you from behind. Some enemies could be very agile. Find challenges that are consistent with the basic principle on which the development team claimed to be developing the game - "kicking arse with the Force".

I mean, think about the universe in which you're setting the game. Imagine you WERE a Sith with these powers - what would you actually be vulnerable to? The above are just a few suggestions. There are plenty of ways they could counter the powers being overbalanced without simply nerfing them or giving enemies unpredictable and silly immunities.

There is a one-handed version of force-lightning where you can still move around. All other versions of force lightning already do lock your direction and position. And they're not exactly unpredictable and silly. You only fight each type of enemy a hundred times. If you don't get it by then, well you might need a strategy guide. And in fact, some types of enemies are STRONGER vs. certain force powers, but most are only invulnerable while they're blocking. At which point you can - if you're using certain abilities - run up to them and prepare to use a different attack. The only kinds of enemies who are outright immune to certain abilities are strong force wielding characters against force choke. Oh my gosh, enemies can block? Wut?

BTW GoW is a rip-off too.

 

[yourkie1921]

You miss the point. The prospect of using "unleashed" force powers was the only selling point of this game. And you can't, which makes it a ripoff.
If they had to do it for balancing or other reasons is irrelevant - they just should have thought of that sooner. Force powers are too imba for a game?! Shock! What a surprise!!

So they couldn't give you awesome powers because that would have been to easy, but they still needed to create a badass sith hype to get the silly prequel kiddies interested. So they were screwed.
This shows only one thing: That the whole game concept doesn't work and they shouldn't have made it in the first place.

Maybe LucasArts should go back to games that once made them great, adventures and flight sims. But then, some of their marketing jerks have decided that such games are "out" and trash like TFU is far more lucrative. And this is the result.

The only thing I don't get is why some of you even act surprised.

Have you even played the game?

The force is your main weapon. And the force powers are pretty powerful and useful. So that's the selling point. It's not too imbalanced because the lightsaber is still usefull and it will be impractical not to use it in certain points. It's a little unbalanced but it's supposed to be

 

[UndrDog]

I don't mean to be a dork here but here I go.

Luke was never meant to be an amazing prodigy. He actually sucked until he needed to man up to the situation. Then he failed and got bailed out by his father, the one that was actually a prodigy.


As for the Wii version of the game, I've played this for both the Wii and PS3 and the graphics were considerably different. Though again I'd like to remind you that this isn't a matter of console power but the fact that the Wii's games are programmed much differently then the other two systems. This game could've been much better for the Wii if they took the time to care. (comparable. to the Gamecube RE:4 and the PS2 RE:4)

As for the controls... What's there to complain about? This reminds me of the time Yahtzee cried about Umbrella Chronicles' difficulty. -_-

Anyway this is a rare exception where a game is better on the Wii then the other systems. (granted you can get over with dimmer graphics) Never thought I'd actually say that. Not after how terrible Madden 08 was for the Wii. lol

 

[S_K]

How does that explain it because please dont tell me you think Spacewolf is from the SW genre

Someone with 'space' in their name having a big love for starwars? It's not that big of an assumption, the same way assuming I like anime from my avatar isn't. Not to mention you just called StarWars a genre, it's a franchise not a genre there is a difference =)

 

[Khanco]

How does that explain it because please dont tell me you think Spacewolf is from the SW genre

Someone with 'space' in their name having a big love for starwars? It's not that big of an assumption, the same way assuming I like anime from my avatar isn't. Not to mention you just called StarWars a genre, it's a franchise not a genre there is a difference =)

'Space' in someone's nickname = love of Star Wars?
Generalisation much?

Spacewolf is a character from the Star Fox series of games, anyway. So he's probably proclaiming that he loves that game instead.

 

[NoPantsMan]

man, how disappointing with the lightsaber action, and here I thought the copy for the wii would be the biggest hit.

 

[frozenpnx]

You need to blame Peter Molyneux as well.

 

[UndrDog]

man, how disappointing with the lightsaber action, and here I thought the copy for the wii would be the biggest hit.

The lightsaber fights aren't the point of this game. It's called "The Force Unleashed" for a reason. Grabbing someone and chucking them with the flick of your wrist is actually a very nice feeling. As is most of the force powers with the Wiimote. (Holding one dork in the air with your left hand while hurling other dorks into him with your right adds a lot of immersion to the game.)


Anyway there's another Star Wars game coming out for the Wii that's main focus is lightsaber fights. It'll be out next month I believe so if you want a lightsaber fight with the Wiimote you'll get it soon.

 

[COR 2000]

I'm just going to ignore the massive argument going on above and say that I don't think this was a proper review at all; he just used it as a chance to insult the wii. I'm actually beginning to think he's a bit of a fanboy because he always insults the ps3 or wii whenever there is the slightest opportunity but I reckon he's insulted the 360 maybe once in all his videos

Watch the Console Rundown videos. He gives a more thorough explanation for all three consoles.

On a side-note, though, This review did feel incomplete.

 

[Fordo]

This was great! I've been watching Yahtzee commentaries since the 4th or 5th was released and to all you nay sayers who say that ZP, "isn't where it should be" who are you to judge? Yahtzee provides you five minutes of spot on, hillarious, original reviews.

If you don't like them, fine, but let's try to leave the e-thug attitude for other communities.

 

[Wasabi-Knight]

Hmm. I agree with COR 2000 on the incomplete part, mostly because the Wii version differs from the two others much.

 

[Engwallwithpinksocks]

You miss the point. The prospect of using "unleashed" force powers was the only selling point of this game. And you can't, which makes it a ripoff.
If they had to do it for balancing or other reasons is irrelevant - they just should have thought of that sooner. Force powers are too imba for a game?! Shock! What a surprise!!

So they couldn't give you awesome powers because that would have been to easy, but they still needed to create a badass sith hype to get the silly prequel kiddies interested. So they were screwed.
This shows only one thing: That the whole game concept doesn't work and they shouldn't have made it in the first place.

Maybe LucasArts should go back to games that once made them great, adventures and flight sims. But then, some of their marketing jerks have decided that such games are "out" and trash like TFU is far more lucrative. And this is the result.

The only thing I don't get is why some of you even act surprised.

Have you even played the game?

The force is your main weapon. And the force powers are pretty powerful and useful. So that's the selling point. It's not too imbalanced because the lightsaber is still usefull and it will be impractical not to use it in certain points. It's a little unbalanced but it's supposed to be

Thtat's the thing. The developers said that you would "kick ass with the force".

The problem is that ALL jedi kick ass with the force. So then needed to make the protagonist ludacrisly powerfull (hence the prewiev material where we saw the apprantice take down a goddam starcruiser). Fair enough. But in the end, your just a strong jedi, not the über monster that you were said to be. Which admitedly makes sense, but that just means that they shoulden't gone into it with such an attitude.

Kinda funny that the Kotor series second game made an huge effort to humanize the jedi and make them vunrable, only for games like these to come and say: hey, jedi are awesome but we'r gonna med them EXTREME!!

 

[COR 2000]

I'm just going to ignore the massive argument going on above and say that I don't think this was a proper review at all; he just used it as a chance to insult the wii. I'm actually beginning to think he's a bit of a fanboy because he always insults the ps3 or wii whenever there is the slightest opportunity but I reckon he's insulted the 360 maybe once in all his videos

Watch the Console Rundown videos. He gives a more thorough explanation for all three consoles.

On a side-note, though, This review did feel incomplete.

I have watched them and once again he shows a bias towards the 360, if either of the two other consoles had broken he would have not shut up about that for the rest of the video and yet for the 360 it only gets a brief mention.

Well he did say his 360 was broken, and that everyone on Xbox live was a Jerk. Note that this post is not defending him at all.

 

[COR 2000]

Hmm. I agree with COR 2000 on the incomplete part, mostly because the Wii version differs from the two others much.

Thanks for the back-up.