The highly anticipated game from Lucasarts, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed finally made its debut on Sept. 16 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and the PlayStation Portable.
Only the next-generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3 are fully capable of using new Digital Molecular Matter technology for the game while the other versions of the game made up for it by extra levels and content.
Even without next-gen graphics and new technology, the game’s Wii port is still exciting to play. Because the wireless Wii Remote uses motion censor technology to perform certain moves, players actually feel like they are Darth Vader’s secret apprentice.
Unlike the other game versions that require players to push buttons in order to swing the lightsaber, will allow players to swing the Wii Remote up, down, left, right, or a direct thrust forward to wield the character’s weapon.
The Nunchuck extension for the Wii Remote is required and also uses motion censors. With the Nunchuck, players simply push their hand forward and the character performs a Force push.
The Wii version does use small amounts of the Digital Molecular Matter technology that turns enemies into rag dolls when the player hurls them through the air but the majority is pre-programmed. The graphics are similar to the PS2’s graphics and are a bit choppy.
It seems the developers spent too much time creating awesome controls and not enough utilizing the Wii’s visual capability that is apparent in other games for
the Wii.
The game has five more levels than the 360 and PS3 and has a multiplayer duel mode. A few of the extra levels take place at the Jedi Temple on the planet,
Coruscant.
.The game is fairly short compared with others and the extra levels add to the fun but returning to the Jedi Temple every other level gets tiresome.
While completing different missions that are part of a larger mission for Darth Vader, the player can collect lightsaber crystals and hilts to customize their weapon. Also hidden throughout the game are Holocrons, which if all found unlock extra game content.
If the player still considers the game to be a bit short, they can go back through it using all of the Force techniques the character learned the first time. The benefit of this is that pummeling enemies is easier and quicker.
There are two separate endings for the game, a light side and a dark side, depending on the decision of the player in the final level.
Perhaps the best part of The Force Unleashed on the Wii is the two-player duel mode. Players can pick from 27 duelists, which include characters from the
game, the movies, and also the Expanded Universe.
There are 11 different versions of the Secret Apprentice to chose from, the difference in them being the outfit he is wearing. This is a bit wasteful as no matter what outfit he is wearing, he can perform the same moves. The developers
could have included 10 other
duelists instead.
Regardless, the duel mode is great fun and two players can have a semi-realistic lightsaber fight, without losing a limb.