The W
February 23, 2017 - mayflower.jpg
Views: 178593987
Main | FAQ | Search: Y! / G | Calendar | Color chart | Log in for more!
19.3.24 0317
The W - Video Games - Over/Under; Electric Fence
This thread has 4 referrals leading to it
Register and log in to post!
Thread rated: 6.24
Pages: 1
(1843 newer) Next thread | Previous thread
User
Post (3 total)
Lexus
Andouille








Since: 2.1.02
From: Stafford, VA

Since last post: 1453 days
Last activity: 199 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.04
Okay, Game Informer has cheesed me off on more than a few times. I'm going to take the time to offer up a rebuttal.

Overrated: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Under delay for around 2 years, touting a physics engine that's supposed to be leaps and bounds beyond anything else on the market, the Force Unleashed was supposed to be the killer Star Wars game available for the current generation of consoles. You'd think that it'd be amazing, mindblowing, and most importantly, a lot of fun. I tend to think it missed the mark in many ways.

First off, the physics. It's neat that I can bend almost everything with the force; cages, plants, what have you react accordingly when I push the B button on my XBOX 360 controller and let fly a wave of Yoda's ally. However, when I watch my lightsaber go right through a bad guy doing no damage whatsoever, I have to admit I had no idea the physics were SO advanced that they were QUANTUM. Also, manipulating anything with the force is time consuming compared to how quickly the enemy AI (which is solid, almost to the point of cheesy) can react and have so many guns trained on me that I'll be shot to ribbons before I've moved a crate 3 feet. This is just the tip of the iceberg when you talk about control in this game; which is to say it is an iceberg and not fluid whatsoever.

In example, I'll be standing right in front of a Purge Trooper, which is a big droid that looks like a Stormtrooper and has rockets on its shoulders and the ability to deflect your lightsaber with a weird little force shield. Now, the best way to dispatch it is to use your lightning, which stuns it, because it's a droid. However, when I push the button, lightning arcs out and starts to fry a harmless crate while I get smashed. Then I'll go off with a flurry of attacks with my lightsaber, all of which cut through the thing doing zero damage while it attacks. And I thought invinciblity frames of animation went out with sprite based graphics. Good luck playing the game on any difficulty higher than easy because of this kind of highly flawed control scheme and cheesy AI that shoots as soon as you open a door as if they already knew you were there. In some cases, an enemy stands with it's back to you like it's taking a dump in it's pants. Not out of fear of you, more like out of boredom.

Furthermore, the game itself is flawed in that it gets progressively easier and easier as you move along in the story. It peaks around the middle level, but past that it's the short road to easyville. It's almost like they overloaded all those fantastic new Star Wars characters and ideas in the front, but forgot about a way to keep it challenging later on.

Oh yeah, it's Star Wars canon, which should be telling. What if I told you there was a game with lousy controls, terrible camera control to boot, and funky sword that's effective roughly half of the time? You might check it out, but you'd at least know better. Oho, but what if it's Star Wars canon? All of a sudden that makes people cream their jeans. I think the reason why this game got the nod to be official storyline was because the people at Lucasarts knew it was lousy. Although I do also feel a bit burned that Shadows of the Empire, an incredible game for it's time, isn't involved in this category since it's story makes more sense in the overall saga (and ties in with the original trilogy) than this game's.

I also think the amount of powers seems really limited. Force Unleashed? You get a few forms of Telekinesis (one for quick attacks, one for moving stuff, throwing the lightsaber, etc), the ability to shoot lightning, the ability to make a lightning shield thing, and that's about it. No Force Rage, Mind Trick, nor any of the other cool powers from the KoTOR series. It may be unleashed, but that's only because of the electric fence the developers built around you.

Oddly enough, the reviews at Game Informer (http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/00ED457B-7E56-447A-810D-D91CA7D5E41F.htm} focus mainly on the fact that it is a Star Wars game, and seem to glance over the fact that it's so lousy for something that WAS WORKED ON FOR OVER 2 YEARS. Granted, there are some rather cool events that take place, but that's the hitch isn't it; I don't play a game for cool events to take place, I play a game to cause cool stuff to happen. That means you can't really skip through cutscenes very effectively no matter how many times you've watched them, how little you care, or how much you just want to fling Stormtroopers around.

I give it a 6.5, fair. I played it once, but that was more than enough and I don't feel like going through it again just to see the other ending or max out my character's powers that I don't need. They gave it an 8.75, but then again they only give lousy ratings to games they know nobody will buy anyways (they are in bed with GameStop, which only makes money when you spend it).

(edited by Lexus on 15.10.08 0422)


"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Frown and the world laughs at you."
-Me.
Promote this thread!
hansen9j
Andouille








Since: 7.11.02
From: Riderville, SK

Since last post: 106 days
Last activity: 106 days
#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.36
Sounds pretty similar to my experience. I'm not positive I'll ever finish the game.



It is the policy of the documentary crew to remain true observers and not interfere with its subjects.

If there's a god, He's laughing at us and our football team.
KJames199
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 10.12.01
From: #yqr

Since last post: 217 days
Last activity: 12 hours
#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.31
I got the game for free when I bought my Xbox 360 from Future Shop. I bet a lot of people will enjoy it, but I also bet it won't be my thing, so I returned it to Wal-Mart for store credit. Now I have a spare 360 controller AND the second DVD volume of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (British version, of course).



JK: LJ, S&H, KMA, FB
Thread rated: 6.24
Pages: 1
Thread ahead: PS3 Releases: week of October 13, 2008
Next thread: Rock Band DLC 10/14/08
Previous thread: Sam & Max and Secret of Mana - Wii releases: week of October 13, 2008
(1843 newer) Next thread | Previous thread
RBI Baseball returns this spring. Consoles, mobile, everywhere by our new best friends at MLB Advanced Media (who've never produced a game before - they've got a busy Spring!)
The W - Video Games - Over/Under; Electric FenceRegister and log in to post!

The W™ message board

ZimBoard
©2001-2024 Brothers Zim

This old hunk of junk rendered your page in 0.174 seconds.