Avian Gamers Network

Star Wars the Force Unleashed: What is the verdict?

I have heard some good reviews. Who here has tried it out?

I need to buy a gaming laptop and get it shipped to Djibouti. I doubt my work laptop can do justice to any of the newest games. I would buy Star Wars the Force Unleashed if I knew my computer could handle it.

It's only on console and handhelds.

I have heard just awful reviews. G4 gave it 2/5 and said it isn't even worth a purchase.

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Moge

I don't trust G4..

Anyway I've been told that Force Unleashed (FU) has been hyped too much.
Although not as good as expected it should be considered as a Jedi Outcast lite in gameplay, but with a he lu va physics & graphics world.
That is "not bad".
My friend who bought it to his console (PS3 i think) gave it 7 of 10...

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1st Feb 2008

Madson - quoted from the Avian Scourge private forum. Posted here in case he misses this thread and to provide at least some comments on the game.



I'll leave it to him to add additional flavour. I intend to rent the game at some point either later this week or next.

Also, gamespy review here

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

Have my copy, (was the reason i bought the PS3) haven't gotten home to play it yet today but i'll post my impressions tomorrow.

I've played the demo... several times. each time i went through it, found new ways to kill things, new pieces of the environment to blow up, new combination of force powers to use that deliver pure awesomeness.

I'm really looking forward to playing it, as far as reviewers impressions, they're paid for their worthless opinions, so i hold them worth a grain of salt. From what i've seen of the game, (through the demo) its what i'm sure every one of us has imagined "the force" could be like. You start off the game with badass powers (unlike previous jedi knight games) and they just get more awesome as you grow stronger, learn new combos etc.

Even with the power at your fingertips, you're far from invincible, which i found to be a nice ballance. You can mess up, let your guard down for a moment, and you'll end up dead.

anyway... guess thats about it for now. catch ya tomorrow. (or the next day)

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~Ravage™
~I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
~The problem with facts, is that sometimes they don't support your opinion.

Avian Scourge private forum? whats that

I was considering getting it for wii (dual mode ftw) plus whats the point of the wii remote if it doesnt involve lightsabers... My GF told me I need to focus on my senior thesis this semester (she's apparently the voice of reason in such cases)...but if the reviews are good...come xmas...its mine

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Ryric Krael
Former Vice President AGN
Former Director, Section 6
Former Head of Department of the Treasury
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Ask not what your PA can do for you, but what you can do for your PA
"Gone Section Five"

There is an Avian private WoW forum that was set up for those of us playing on the Horde (Maelstrom) server.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

I picked up the game early through a friend of mine. I've really enjoyed it so far. The story is top notch, it really feels like KOTOR. There are some great twists to the plot and I'm about 1/2 way through the game. It's past my bedtime at the moment, but I'll give you a quick run down of the Good bad and ugly.

Good
- Feels like star wars more than most games.
- I've actually gasped audibly during the cut scenes!
- RPG level up system adds a nice level of control the the development of your character.
- Crystals to change the color and power of your saber.
- Interesting, creative and realistic characters and locations.
- Action packed combat
- You can pick up just about anything and chuck it at baddies.

Bad
- The camera isn't perfect and you will be hit from off screen from time to time.
- Sometimes the game can't figure out what you wanna pick up.
- The control scheme takes some getting used to.
- No multi-player mode means once you finish the game you're not going to want to play it again.
- Uneven difficulty curve. I usually play games on hard to start with. For some reason I started this on Medium and I'm glad I did. There are times when you jsut get your ass kicked while other times it's a walk in the park.
- There are button pressing minigame finishing moves for many of the large enemies where your character totally kicks ass, but you'll never see the sweet animation because you have to focus on the button pressing minigame! I mean he turns an AT-ST into a metal beach ball, how awesome is that!
Capes are handled by the physics engine... not a great idea.
- No limbs or heads are ever cut off organics

Ugly
- Some instances of spotty AI. Usually after you zap em w/Lightning. Maybe they are just dazed and don't notice you walking over to them to lop off their heads.
- The game has crashed on me 3 time in about 5 hours of playtime.
- I hear that there is some glaring issues at the end of the game. I haven't seen them yet though.

There you go. Great rental for any star wars fan. I love it and I can't wait to get home to play it every night. This weekend I'm sure I'll be up till 3am or later playing it. I wish I could say more but I can't give any of the story away as that is the main highlight. Overall it really reminds me of ninja gaiden 2 with a slightly better camera and force powers. If you liked ninja gaiden you'll like this better.

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80S - Madson-(450 BS / 450 M)...........80H - Madera-(447 Eng / 412 Enc)...........80K - Madala-(450 Herb / 450 Skin)
65L - Madwyn-(430Ins / 329 Tail)........61M - Madran-(300 M / 250 Enc).............64P - Madmon-(315 M / 347 JC)

My kids have been looking forward to this one, so your reviews have been helpfull.

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"For over 2 years, the Veteran Community were the guardians of peace and justice in the Pre CU. Before the dark times, before the NGE."

Will agree with madson on his review. Hell of a fun game from the first 2 missions I got to play last night.

You don't start off "quite" as powerfull as in the demo, seems they added the force lightning ability which you don't get right off in the full game. But you're still a butt kicking badass. The first mission playing as Vader was probably one of the funnest things i've done to date in any star wars game, really shows how monsterous he really is.

The progressive nature of your character's abilities add a fun element of gameplay that wasn't really shown in the demo either. you can choose what you want to improve on in whatever order you like. Keeping the categories separate, (force powers, attributes and combos) doesn't make you feel cheated that you can only improve on one thing at a time, instead one from all 3.

I don't know what console you're playing on Madson, but the PS3's right analogue stick controls the camera, so I didn't have much issue with people shooting from off screen, as i could swing the camera around to find them quite easily.

Saber upgrades are sweet, i loved that part of KOTOR, and i'm glad they put it in here too.

I have not had any issues with the game crashing on me... some minor visual bugs i've encountered, clipping etc. Cleared a room, went to the next, and swung the camera around to see behind me, and was starring out into space, watching a fighter battle go on around the space station i was in. I looked away from the scene, and back and it was fixed, was looking into the room i had come from.... and i couldn't get the bug to happen again.

Overall, so far I've had a blast with the game, and looking forward to progressing through the story over the next several nights, and weekend. Shame about the multiplayer though... though i guess theres always hope they could do an add-on for the PS3 to use the PS network. for some JK type matches.

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~Ravage™
~I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
~The problem with facts, is that sometimes they don't support your opinion.

I bought this game on Monday... have played for a couple hours thus far and am loving it. I think my kids will love it too. It does remind me of KOTOR a little bit.

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TheMole
Section 5
Section 5
Section 5
Now Playing: WoW
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I bought this game two days ago and I am loving it too.

The end was the coolest i've ever seen in a Star Wars game. Glad you're enjoying it.

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~Ravage™
~I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
~The problem with facts, is that sometimes they don't support your opinion.

Just goes to show you that game reviewers are getting worse every year.

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"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Just so you know how far I am into the game, I just completed Cloud City.

Originally I thought the animation when talking could have been better. I also thought the cut scene animation should have bee better. I expect more and have seen better in this generation of gaming. However, as the story developed that annoying aspect was no longer as important. Originally, like some of the reviewers, I did not like the center of screed force grip game mechanic. However, as time went on I learned to use it, and now I like it very much. There is an element of concentrating on force, a button toggle locking system would have been too easy and lost the feeling of concentrating on the force.

The story line reminded me of Shadows of the Empire in that it centered around people other than Luke, Han, and Leia, and it expanded yet held true to what the Star Wars Universe could be. Star Wars to me is not about Han, Luke, and Leia, it is about the universe we saw in Episodes 4, 5, and 6. If SWG and the prequels would have been like this we would be in the new golden age of Star Wars mania.

I really like this game, and I would play it even more if I did not get motion sick after too much playing. I like how freaking powerful I am, lightening infused lightsaber combos are owing all the mobs, but I like how different enemies are immune/block various force powers. It makes you use your whole force toolbox and not rely to heavily on one attack. The guys on the mushroom planet were giving me a hard time until I started force grip throwing them around like rag dolls. I forget how powerful that move can be.

I almost picked this up over the weekend. Maybe I will next weekend.

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Moge

I rented it yesterday and hope to get some decent sessions with it over the course of this week.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

Finished Cloud City last night. Very enjoyable game thus far. Great storyline, and the controls are growing on me. As you unlock more force combos and talents as you go along you really do get the feeling of becoming more badass.

I chose to take a "glass cannon" approach and spent nearly every force talent point towards upping my force "mana" pool and recovery, as well as mater force lightning as soon as possible. I haven't put many points into hit points/vitality etc thus far. So, while I tend to die a lot (and I must say some deaths just seem cheap via those damn snipers but I digress), I have a lot of force backing me up so when I do die, I make sure to go out with a bang.

Don't think I would recommend this as a buy since its single player only and the repalyability may not be there, but definitely a solid rental. one could try and find all the hidden holocrons and complete each secondary objective each level I suppose, which would entice you to playing more than once.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

Anyone try it on wii yet with the multiplayer/duel mode? Thinking about renting it one of these weekends when I have sometime

_________________
Ryric Krael
Former Vice President AGN
Former Director, Section 6
Former Head of Department of the Treasury
-------
Ask not what your PA can do for you, but what you can do for your PA
"Gone Section Five"

Yahtzee did... http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... -Unleashed

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~Ravage™
~I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
~The problem with facts, is that sometimes they don't support your opinion.

Finished the game this weekend... good times. I love the plot too...

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TheMole
Section 5
Section 5
Section 5
Now Playing: WoW
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Well, I finished the game over the weekend and have just been replaying it a bit to get a few last 360 achievements. One final overall review:

- Story - Amazing. Best I have experienced in a long time. Original trilogy worthy, not some lame-ass prequel crap. Whoever wrote this must do more for Mr. Blackman and the Star Wars development teams.

- Controls - Took a bit to get used to but now I am fully fluent in my combos.

- Graphics and sound - Very good. Force lighting is a blast and there's nothing better than lightsabers humming/locking in duels.

Overall - a must play for any SW fan.

My only issues is that I had numerous bugs and game freezes. Didn't lose much progress since there are frequent auto-save points, but still lame. By bugs, I mean that I would get stuck and couldn't get out (i.e. in walls or into a tight nook when knocked into them).

A few of the enemies seemed a little cheap, especially if you get knocked down and they just pound on your and knock you down again without you being able to defend at all. I had numerous time where I punched a pillow (instead of throwing a $50 controller out a $500 window) in frustration. Thank goodness I only played on Sith Warrior difficulty and not Sith Lord. I coulda really broke something

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

That saved my day
I thank you so much...

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1st Feb 2008