The Force Unleashed demo impressions

[Arrqh]

TheBrew wrote:

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I'm a bit skeptical since the game is more than three weeks out, but I would still buy it if it was a '7'. I played the heck out of Rebellion and everyone hated that game.

Ugh, Rebellion

[CaptJimboJones]

TheBrew wrote:

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I'm a bit skeptical since the game is more than three weeks out,

I assume they're given advanced review copies, particularly since they're the "Official Xbox Magazine", ie, sanctioned by Microsoft.

[Rat Boy]

CaptJimboJones wrote:

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I assume they're given advanced review copies, particularly since they're the "Official Xbox Magazine", ie, sanctioned by Microsoft.

And if they say it's a 7...

[firehawk12]

A) Rebellion was awesome. That recent Star Wars RTS should have just ripped off Rebellion rather than try to reinvent the wheel.

B) FutureUS only pays for the rights to the Xbox name. Other than that, there is no editorial influence. And even then, you're talking about the company that owns the rights to the Playstation name and the Nintendo name as well, so it's not really a big deal.

[Arrqh]

firehawk12 wrote:

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A) Rebellion was awesome. That recent Star Wars RTS should have just ripped off Rebellion rather than try to reinvent the wheel.

The combat in Empire at War was scads better then in Rebellion, which was a clunky and unintuitive mess. Being that EaW is an RTS and thus combat is the main focus, ripping off the worst part of Rebellion would have been a bad idea.

[firehawk12]

The ground combat was utter shit. But yeah, both games had a different focus. Rebellion was a 4X game with crappy battles and EaW was a RTS wish a crappy 4X layer.

That said, all Petroglyph had to do was rip off the Rebellion 4X layer instead of trying to redo the whole thing.

[BigFoot]

I finally got around to playing the demo last night. I gotta say I was seriously disappointed. Maybe it just isn't my cup of tea, but I just did not like it.

[TheBrew]

firehawk12 wrote:

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The ground combat was utter shit. But yeah, both games had a different focus. Rebellion was a 4X game with crappy battles and EaW was a RTS wish a crappy 4X layer.

That said, all Petroglyph had to do was rip off the Rebellion 4X layer instead of trying to redo the whole thing.

Yeah, I tended to skip the ground combat part, but space combat was a ton of fun. I remember long defensive battles where my space station barely made it.

In Rebellion, I never did battles and I always played the Empire. I just wanted to build a massive fleet and conquer everyone.

Plus assassinating Luke was fun (though he wouldn't stay down).

I've played through the demo a few more times on the hardest difficulty available and I am really starting to dig the combat. The only thing I wish I could do was an air attack the instantly slashed down instead of going through some sort of combo. Coming up with fun ways to massacre everyone is great. Had to try something new to beat the AT-ST, but it's pretty cake when you make a few adjustments.

[dragunzng]

I was ready to not like this, mainly because I think I'm getting tired of the Star Wars universe, but despite myself I started having quite a bit of fun.

I really didn't like the large open landing bay battle near the start of the demo, far too many storm troopers all around you taking pot shots, was like flies buzzing all over the place.

It got a lot better after that, and I started having fun with the force powers. I rather enjoyed bending the metal support struts in the TIE fighter hangar bay into the way oncoming aircraft, delightfully evil. What sealed the deal though was the trailer at the end of the demo, looked positively epic.

Frankly I don't mind QTE's at all when they're done well, the God of War series has generally done them exceptionally well, and in some games, such as Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit, they fit the mechanics.

It's a God of War clone for sure, but it looks be pretty cool.

Jim Steele wrote:

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It's a pretty standard motion capture technique, but the results were particularly well done here.

Facial motion capture still isn't standard in the gaming industry, it's very time consuming and only a few games actually use it, notably Heavenly Sword, Uncharted and Heavy Rain. While The Force Unleashed generally looks pretty damn nice, I think the results of their facial capture are kind of dopey looking next to those mentioned above. I think it's admirable that they tried though.

EDIT: Should add Uncharted didn't use facial capture in the strictest sense.

PS. It was so weird hearing someone who wasn't James Earl Jones do Vader's voice, totally pulled me out it.

[TheBrew]

Okay, I am now totally psyched for this game. I've been crushing the demo on the hardest setting. I've been experimenting with creative kills. I like to grab one guy and drag him around until he grabs a different guy and then drop them both off a ledge. One, when trying to do that, one guy missed grabbing the 2nd guy and just knocked him over the ledge. I also like to pick up the guys and put them in the path of a passing TIE fighter.

I can't wait!

[Haggis and tatties]

Arrghman wrote:

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Hey now, don't be knockin' the FMVs!

You just made me go and dig out both WC3 and WC4,

What i never got was that they made the WC movie and it was for a better word total shit compared to the story/acting/music in the FMV cut scenes in these two games....what happened.

[Skywalker]

Wing Commander is an excellent movie.

As long as you stop watching after the opening credits end.

[Bob The Skutter]

Well I got round to playing it the other day, and I can't say I was overly impressed. Seemed to me there was more emphasis on style, and very little substance to the gameplay. Based on the demo I may buy it when it's at sale prices, but no way am I spending any more than £25 for it.

[EnsignRicky]

After playing countless Star Wars games of running around shooting and slashing stormtroopers in whichever fashion the latest gaming trends dictate, I just can't muster up any interest in this one. And that backward lightsaber stance thing is just beyond distracting.