Yesterday I picked up my copy of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Wii. I was helping a friend move yesterday, so I had to put it aside until I finished that, and got home from work. As soon as I got home from work, the disc went into the Wii and I loaded it up.
I was thrown for a loop, because at the beginning you get to play Darth Vader first, as he hunts down a Jedi on Kashyyyk, but this gives you a chance to get used to the controls and some of the Force powers. Once you confront and defeat the Jedi (which takes a little bit of time as you’re still getting used to the controls), the main story breaks open and you get to to play Vader’s errand boy.
I’m only about 2 hours into the game right now, but I’ve already had a couple of “Oh Sh!t” moments, particularly in boss battles, which are incredibly cinematic. I’ve gotten used to the control scheme now and am able to manipulate the world around me quite well with my force powers, which are incredibly powerful if you chain them correctly. There’s something just quite awe-inspiring about slamming stormtroopers backwards through doorways and into the cold of space using your mind, and taking down AT-STs is child’s play when you’ve got a lightsaber in your hand. Kicking Rodian butt is also rather fun (and allows me some payback for Lucas changing it so that Han didn’t shoot first).
My major issue with the game is that the camera seems to be borked at times, and it’s easy to get caught behind scenery and not be able to move. Enemies also sometimes cluster around you, and you can easily be swarmed and unable to get moved, but other games such as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time suffer from this as well. Controls at times can also be unresponsive particularly if you’ve just executed a sequence of attacks, but the game is reasonably forgiving. Taking a leaf from other games, if you die, you restart at the last quick save point, less some gained Force Points. This means you can take on boss battles and not get kicked to the curb too much, and you don’t feel the game is punishing you. It’s also easy to level up some of your Force powers early in the game, which means you can do even more impressive moves. My favorite so far has been doing a Force Dash by running forward to meet oncoming enemies and then performing a couple of Force Pushes in sequence, which throws them backwards, usually taking them out completely – it’s a great way to clear corridors and enclosed spaces of enemies. Heal units are also scattered well throughout areas, so you can always recharge before moving into a new area, giving you at least have a fighting chance if you stumble into a boss.
Overall, the game is awesome, and even although the Wii version has less depth in graphics than the 360 or PS3 version, the gameplay is intact. I’ll be playing more later today, just as soon as I manage to let my left arm heal, which is sore from moving an overly-heavy bed sofa yesterday.
Tags: First Impressions, Play, Wii by Teh Bagder
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