tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691226717378144247.post6165181425284225223..comments2023-12-12T10:51:39.078-08:00Comments on Star Wars in South Dakota: The Force Unleashed, Part Deuxrologutweinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02186173153359166269noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691226717378144247.post-14555036916939555592010-06-29T12:53:22.452-07:002010-06-29T12:53:22.452-07:00YES! All you really need to do is steer clear of t...YES! All you really need to do is steer clear of the 'main characters' of the story and you have a lot of freedom. As an example, I keep going back to the Han Solo novels, which take place in the time period between trilogies. They work because they were self contained— they had their own characters and plots that weren't connected (at least not directly) to the 'metaplot' of the movies. <br /><br />The problem is, that would require coming up with an original story and not relying on throwing a bunch of 'big names' out there for the "oooh" factor. I think maybe people are afraid that if you don't have all the 'names' from the movies, people won't like the game, or won't relate it to Star Wars. But you have to look no further than Knights of the Old Republic to see that isn't true. Yes, folks identify with the characters from the movies, but the Saga itself is bigger than that, its become a genre. As long as you have Jedi and Sith and Space ships and Wookiees its going to feel like Star Wars. And as long as you have a compelling story, you don't need to trot out the 'big stars'. But that's the problem, TFU had a weak story to begin with.<br /><br />As far as the controls go, I couldn't agree more. I started off the game actually feeling pretty good about them. Being able to throw people and things around was awesome. But the further into the game you got, the more things were just 'immune' to your power, so you had to rely on hack and slash to batter your way through.<br /><br />Don't even get me started on the stupid Star Destroyer scene. I literally had to turn off the console and take a break to cool down. I was, at that point, playing just to get through the game, not for fun. And that is about as big of a design flaw as you can have.rologutweinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02186173153359166269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8691226717378144247.post-16839113915039843972010-06-29T10:17:49.627-07:002010-06-29T10:17:49.627-07:00Honestly, the whole idea for the story in The Forc...Honestly, the whole idea for the story in The Force Unleashed was stupid in my opinion (and I agree with all your points). Yes, the area between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope are not defined and such, except they kind of are. We know what happens, because we know the beginning (Revenge of the Sith) and we know the end (A New Hope). This means that any story you put into the time frame between it is so chained by the status quo that you really can't do anything.<br /><br />Even with that, there is the option for some cool stories, provided you stay away from the big boys (Vader, Empire, Leia, Han, etc). A story about Vader's apprentice helping hunt down some of the jedi, with a contained story surrounding that particular aspect could be cool. But turning it around into a fight with Vader is going to be a rip as either you 1) let the player beat Vader, at which point you take away a LOT of Vader's 'power' we are supposed to believe he has in the Original Trilogy or 2) Rob the player of a victory by having Vader beat them stupid at the end of the game.<br /><br />Now, 2 can be done. It really can be, but it is very hard to pull off right and is going to leave people with a bit of a sour taste either way.<br /><br />The real problem I had with the Forced Unleash (story can be forgiven, Lucas was involved and Star Wars can fix a lot by namesake alone) was the controls. There is simply no excuse for controls that rough shod and sloppy in this day and age, especially not on what is supposed to be an A list title. But the controls and game play were so horrible that I just couldn't enjoy even the bits I did like. How the hell do you make ripping a Star Destroyer out of the sky not only not fun, but frustrating and boring? The controls for the game though (and the gameplay in general) was just unforgivable.<br /><br />As far as epic boss battles, fixing the gameplay and actually delivering on the promises made with the first game (I never once felt unleashed in TFU, the force felt scripted, and in fact quite weak in a lot of places) and you will have a decent game with more epic battles just by default. Story wise though...if you up Vader and the Emperor you need to realize you are knifing the original trilogy in the back with every step taken.A.L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05306497273874881493noreply@blogger.com