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Star Wars: the Force Unleashed Demo Sets Xbox Download Record
Posted by
Soulskill
on Thu Sep 11, 2008 08:40 PM
from the they've-been-waiting-for-you dept.
from the they've-been-waiting-for-you dept.
The demo version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was released a few weeks ago for download through Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Now, LucasArts has announced that the game shattered records for the number of downloads on Xbox Live, taking only eight days to reach 1 million. The full version is due out next Tuesday, and LucasArts will be holding a launch party in San Fransisco on Monday night to celebrate. The game is part of a multimedia project which includes a best-selling book, a comic, action figures, and other tie-ins. According to Eurogamer's interview with producer Cameron Suey, previous Star Wars games suffered from a "lack of ambition." Suey also shows off some of the gameplay in a video. A video walkthrough of the PS2 and PSP versions is available at Kotaku. The game will not be available for PC. Early reviews for the game are good, but not great, and developers recently mentioned that George Lucas himself provided input on the project.
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Moderate gameplay (Score:4, Insightful)
Some are being left disappointed with gameplay. I'm picking up the game for the story, and if that is good, I won't mind the gameplay so much. People forget that KOTOR's gameplay was pretty bad.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe it was bad if you expected an action game, but as a turn-based d20 system presented in realtime, I found it excellent. My only complaint with kotor is they managed to squeeze framerate problems (xbox version) into a game that certainly didn't seem to be pushing any graphical limits.
That said, the story overshadowed all.
Re:Moderate gameplay (Score:4, Interesting)
Hell yeah.
Forcing Bastila to accept that you are, in fact, the rightful Dark Lord of the Sith is probably the most satisfying moment in gaming history.
Parent
Re:Moderate gameplay (Score:4, Interesting)
I prefer turn-based RPGs to action games actually. Each character was largely going to focus on a set path of feats (Critical Strike, Flurry, etc), so you just spammed your feat attack, or an over-powering Force power like Force Wave. Combat was never difficult, nor was strategy ever a factor.
Final Fantasy games get blasted for encouraging button-mashing, when in reality each character plays different enough to warrant some attention when selecting items.
In KOTOR, I can have every character just focus on Flurry and basically spam the same button for everyone.
Even on replays when I intentionally don't level my character until I become a Jedi, I find all the early areas frightfully easy, even with a level 2 character.
Parent
You are part of the problem (Score:5, Insightful)
While I can see your point to some extent (I like the Star Wars universe too), I can't help thinking that you're part of "the problem" when it comes to LucasArts, and the whole movie-tie-in market in general. What publisher is going to put any effort in making a good game if they know people like you will line up to buy it even if it sucks?
LucasArts used to make top-notch games: Full-Throttle, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island, X-Wing, and dozens more in every genre. But then Lucasarts executives (and Lucas himself, I imagine) realized that the most profitable thing to do was to churn out countless Star Wars games irrespective of quality. Yeah, there's been a couple good ones, but for every "Knights of the Old Republic" there's at least ten "Star Wars: Galaxies - Episode III Rage of the Wookiees"
Parent
I'm sorry but... (Score:4, Funny)
LucasArts used to make top-notch games: Full-Throttle, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island, X-Wing, and dozens more in every genre. But then Lucasarts executives (and Lucas himself, I imagine) realized that the most profitable thing to do was to churn out countless Star Wars games irrespective of quality. Yeah, there's been a couple good ones, but for every "Knights of the Old Republic" there's at least ten "Star Wars: Galaxies - Episode III Rage of the Wookiees"
Star Wars: Rage of the Wookiees sounds awesome! But I can't seem to find it on ebay?
Parent
Re:You are part of the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Many people don't realize that LucasArts went bankrupt and folded, and that the new company is exactly that. ILM is making technology that will help ILM as much as LucasArts, and then finding a means to build a game around that. Look at the physics and dynamic rendering of the the new Indy game they are developing for instance.
LA did realize they flooded the market with crap games (Super BomBad Racing, Clone Wars, Bounty Hunter, Episode 1, etc) so now we're only going to get maybe 1 or 2 Star Wars titles a year.
I prefer the smaller, more polished titles, but I also would prefer to move back to titles like X-Wing.
Aren't we due for a new X-Wing title that features ships from all 6 movies, and the EU? Wouldn't that just sell like mad?
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
In an age where joysticks didn't cost 90 bucks, X-Wing sold like crazy.
It's a little weird. Genres often live or die based on what the dominant interface is.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If it seems that joysticks cost 90 bucks, that's because the main focus in the joystick industry for the last five years has been on realistic flight sims; there just haven't been any high-profile, high-budget Mech or space com
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I played the X-Wing series with mouse and keyboard actually, as did most of the people who were playing the series.
Joysticks are seldom if ever used in games these days (aside from Flight Simulators)
Gamepads seem to be replacing the niche once held by joysticks, and they cost about the same.
Re:You are part of the problem (Score:4, Interesting)
Citation needed. I certaintly don't remember hearing this, and I can't find it on LA website, wikipedia, google, etc. There were rumors of this following a series of layoffs, but it turned out that LucasArts had abandoned much of its internal development and would farm everything out to 3rd parties from then on. At least that's what I heard, I admit that my memory is fuzzy on that point.
That said, I agree that it's a crime we get crap like Adventures of Obi-wan but no continuation of the X-Wing/Tie-Fighter franchise.
Parent
Re:You are part of the problem (Score:4, Informative)
Wow. Google is failing me at the moment, but rest assured it happened. It was what moved the KOTOR 2 release up. LucasArts completely closed shop, and laid off their employees. There was an internal development team doing pre-production on KOTOR 3, among other products that were laid off. The facility closed, and LucasArts reopened internally within ILM.
http://www.lockergnome.com/game/2004/11/02/lucasarts-layoffs/ [lockergnome.com]
Amazingly enough, Google isn't finding much on it now.
Parent
Re:You are part of the problem (Score:5, Funny)
Aren't we due for a new X-Wing title that features ships from all 6 movies, and the EU?
I don't know man. Somehow I doubt the eurofighter [wikipedia.org] stands up against an A-Wing.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously. When do I get my next item/puzzle-based single player game?
Day of the Tentacle is still one of my favorite games of all time. Did anyone else have that LA variety pack? Had Sam and Max, DOTT, Fate of Atlantis. Several others as well.
Maybe I'm just nostalgic, but I remember having a lot of fun with these titles. Not to mention Dark Forces. That was the FPS yeah?
Mostly I think new technology is becoming a burden to games. So much is focused on being visually and operationally stunning that much is
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously. When do I get my next item/puzzle-based single player game?
Seriously, you can't have been looking very hard? There are oodles of current and upcoming classic adventure, puzzle, action/adventure/rpg games, even if they don't get much attention on mainstream sites:
Two whole Sam and Max seasons by Telltale games, their upcoming Wallace and Gromit game, Deus Ex 3 hopefully, Braid for PS3 or PC, DeathSpank [deathspank.com] by Ron Gilbert [grumpygamer.com] (Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle), Machinarium, World of Goo by
Re:You are part of the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you may be misreading the parent post.
Buying the game for the story doesn't mean you're buying because of the tie-in.
I'd also buy adventure / rpg games for the story - but what I'm looking for is primarily a GOOD story. Which is sorely lacking in franchise games (or games in general).
Most of the LucasArts games you describe were top-notch because they had great stories - not really great or innovative "gameplay" (except for X-Wing / Tie Fighter - that was gameplay).
Storytelling was the strength of LucasArts, for obvious reasons. There's no "problem" with that, since stories ARE a vital part of entertainment for some of us.
E.g.: Deus Ex is still one of my favorite games - it was an 'ok' FPS, but it has a great story and narrative quality. KOTOR had similar virtues / flaws mix in its genre, and more recently and to a lesser degree, so did Mass Effect.
The "problem" you describe is with crappy games with no redeeming quality - no gameplay, no story, no primary entertainment factor.
But even these days I'd have more faith in LucasArts' storytelling prowess than their game design skills. That just means I'm more likely to buy their game, since I care mostly about the story, than an FPS / action game fan, who's more concerned about the gameplay.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
KOTOR's gameplay was pretty bad? Speak for yourself.
If you went in expecting an action game, I suppose you might be disappointed, but I loved it. And apparently, quite a few others did. Not all of us are enthralled with twitch games.
Bonus for me: After a full day at work of programming (ironically, I'm working on a fairly fast-action game these last few years), I prefer not to strain my already sore wrists with too much fast action. As such, turn-based games are ideal for me anyhow.
Re:Moderate gameplay (Score:5, Interesting)
KotOR's gameplay was bad because:
a) It was massively imbalanced. Pick up the right combination of feats (Master Flurry, Master Speed, Master Two Weapon Fighting) and you could drop even Malak in one round. Pick up the wrong set of feats (a caster build without Force Breach, for example) and you could breeze through the entire game and then get completely fucked on the boss fights at the end.
b) Half of the mechanics in the game were useless. There was no reason to be a techie or a stealth class because while both had gimmicky moments where they could do something cool, the game was chock full of full-on frontal assaults you couldn't avoid. The gimmicks never paid off as well as going head on anyway. Besides, you could never be as good at those things as the droid, because in the end you had to make your character combat able as well.
c) Ranged combat was horrible. You could abuse the hell out of force powers and plink away at mobs that were permanently stunned with your pistols, but in and of themselves blasters weren't a decent weapon choice.
d) Levelling was fucked up. By allowing you to bank levels until you switched to your jedi class, you could completely break the difficulty of the game. Staying level 2 until the first planet was completely made the first planet way too hard, but having an extra 4-5 jedi levels made the rest of the game way too easy.
e) You could cheese half the fights in the game with grenades and shields. That's how you get to being a jedi at level 2, but it works just as well for the rest of the game. There are very few fights that shield spam and grenades can't win.
KotOR is one of my favorite games of all time. The story is great, there's tons of stuff you can do off the beaten path, and it has a ton of replay value. The actual gameplay is subpar, though. KotOR 2 is one of my biggest disappointments of all time because it fixed the gameplay of KotOR but was so buggy and had so much cut content you couldn't actually enjoy it. A bastard child hybrid of the two might be the best game never made.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
KotOR is one of my favorite games of all time. The story is great, there's tons of stuff you can do off the beaten path, and it has a ton of replay value. The actual gameplay is subpar, though. KotOR 2 is one of my biggest disappointments of all time because it fixed the gameplay of KotOR but was so buggy and had so much cut content you couldn't actually enjoy it. A bastard child hybrid of the two might be the best game never made.
You know about the Sith Lords restoration project [team-gizka.org] I hope? They are still acti
Re: (Score:2)
I prefer turn-based RPGs, but I prefer turn-based RPGs like Fallout actually. I want to heartily agree with everything that lewp said.
It's like you're from opposite town or something (Score:2)
Somehow I missed this upon first reading. Now I think you're just plain nuts! I thought the gameplay was solid and the graphics (driven by a souped-up NWN engine) were great. Yeah, the "action" mini-games were a tad weak, but that literally amounted to less than %1 of the total gameplay.
Re:Moderate gameplay (Score:5, Funny)
Some are being left disappointed with gameplay. I'm picking up the game for the story, and if that is good, I won't mind the gameplay so much. People forget that KOTOR's gameplay was pretty bad.
Have you considered just getting a DVD? Then you don't have to deal with the gameplay at all.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I really would have loved to see a properly finished KOTOR 2 with the dark ending that Chris Avellone intended.
http://www.team-gizka.org/ [team-gizka.org] is working somewhat towards that goal.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Really, Mr. Coward?
You mean burying interesting and insightful stuff like:
But it does illustrate what a gigantic clusterfuck Microsoft has with the 360.
Referring to a game that's being released on PS3, 360 and Wii?
Or were you referring to the objective and replete with citations:
A healthy console shouldn't have some crossplatform third party game be its most popular download.
Can your explain, in your in your great anonymity, why exactly a highly anticipated game based on an established franchise that's been part of popular culture for a generation shouldn't be the most popular downloaded DEMO on a particular console?
No, Mr. Coward. I don't seek to bury posts I disagree with, I
Re: (Score:2)
You are being watched now.
Yeah, you'd better keep an eye on me. You never know where I'll turn up.
PC version planned... (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Check the link again [rockpapershotgun.com]...a PC version IS planned.
Mod AC up. I saw this from another source this week, too. It's coming to PC.
Re: (Score:2)
Check the link again [rockpapershotgun.com]...a PC version IS planned.
Mod AC up. I saw this from another source this week, too. It's coming to PC.
Nevermind, LucasArts saw that and said it was a misunderstanding.
Re: (Score:2)
The Force is too powerful. (Score:4, Interesting)
Bringing down a whole star destroyer?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
1) The force powers in the "Jedi Knight" games gave them an edge over many other FPS's, especially in multi-player. Being able to force-choke an opponent, lift him in the air, and drop him off a ledge while he struggles has to be my all-time favorite way to kill someone in an FPS.
2) While it may not be true to the story, it looks awesome (not the Star Destroyer part, but the force powers in general). I'd love to be able to pick up a Tie Fighter with the force and smash it into an opponent.
3) They did say th
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
If you watch the 'making of' documentaries that have been available on Xbox Live for a while, you see the project leaders drilling into the teams the 'vision' statement of the game; 'kicking somebody's ass with the Force'.
Yes, the offical one-line pitch of the game is 'kicking somebody's ass with the Force.'
Re:The Force is too powerful. (Score:5, Funny)
That's what she said...
She was just being polite, man.
Parent
Good, but not great... (Score:2)
Early reviews for the game are good, but not great, and developers recently mentioned that George Lucas himself provided input on the project...
Well, there you go...
"Good, but not great" was my reaction to the demo. I might try it again tonight. I'm not sure what it was exactly that threw me off. Maybe the camera was set reverse to what I normally do. For some reason, I kept trying to push the camera the wrong way. And after getting mauled by a "boss", I lost interest. Maybe I'm getting too old for hack-and-slash action games.
Still, it seems like an ambitious game, and I think a lot of people are likely to have fun with it for what it is.
Gravity Gun is better! (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not much of a console gamer (I tried it on my brother's XBox). The Gravity gun in Half-Life 2 is so much easier and more gratifying to use than the Force move powers. The third person perspective in SW:FU makes it hard to select an object quickly. Both control sticks are used to move objects, making it feel mechanical. When throwing an object, it moves from the character's point of view, so it is hard to aim. Maybe I just suck at using gamepads.
JKII... (Score:5, Interesting)
Lucas Provided Input? Oh... (Score:5, Funny)
Meesah sorry to hear that.
Lack of ambition? (Score:3, Insightful)
Knights of the Old Republic and Tie Fighter suffered from a "lack of ambition"?
Fuck you, guy I've never heard of before. Guess what, physics games have been done. Played Half-Life 2? No... really? Try it, it's great.
Re:Lack of ambition? (Score:4, Funny)
Guess what, physics games have been done. Played Half-Life 2? No... really? Try it, it's great.
Yeah, Half Life 2's pretty good, but for the ultimate physics game, you gotta try this new game from France called Large Hadron Collider.
Parent
Re:Lack of ambition? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Lack of ambition? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Force Unleased sets record boredom (Score:4, Insightful)
The demo was kind of cool at first, but it quickly became boring. It was too repetitive and dull. It started off good, but then i realized its just about running around a large map running into the same badguys over and over.... pick a box up throw it.
Graphically, its pretty nice but the gameplay didnt have that special something.
Re: (Score:2)
Graphically, its pretty nice but the gameplay didnt have that special something.
You mean like a lack of ambition?
Early reviews are fair to bad, not great. (Score:2)
EG, the mediacritic places it down with the Incredible Hulk, and Penny Arcade harshed it.
SF "Launch party" is at Best Buy (Score:3, Informative)
Where's the launch party? One of the big nightclubs, like Ruby Skye or the DNA Lounge? No. Lucasfilm's facility in the Presidio? No. The Metreon, where Sony still has the Playstation store? No.
It's at the Best Buy on Harrison at 101. That's not a launch party. It's not even a good retail outlet.
Re:fp (Score:5, Funny)
Please don't unleash the force.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
who paid for it ? surely not at&t, paying for it in a microsoft game. it was made for microsoft after all. i cant find any other culprit here, excuse me.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
So glad they are going to put out a Wii version. Sure the graphics and the physics won't be as impressive on Wii but the gameplay is going to r0x0r your b0x0rz.
This also means I can get my lighsabre combat fix without dealing with the crapulous CGI style of the Clone Wars movie/TV series. Besides, being Sithy for a change might be spiffy.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)