Rorshac’s Game of the Week

Demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed coming on August 21 on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network
On August 21st, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox®360 owners will be able to unleash the Force in the comfort of their own homes by downloading the demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. The demo gives players a taste of one of the early levels in the game: the TIE Fighter Construction Facility, under siege by a Jedi General named Rahm Kota. The Secret Apprentice has been sent by Darth Vader to hunt down and destroy the General, but is also told that, in order to remain a secret, he is to leave no witnesses.

Also included in the demo is a tutorial intended to teach players how to use their Force Grip power.

An entirely new chapter in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader’s “Secret Apprentice” and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game’s expansive story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist Vader in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the first next-generation game developed internally at LucasArts, and will be available on the Xbox®360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

As its name implies, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time together: Digital Molecular Matter, by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd.

More information about the game can be found at the official website, www.theforceunleashed.com.

Okay, okay, this might not be revolutionary or new to some of you but it is a pretty cool feature. You can set your own pictures as your background on the 360. It is super simple to do, just put the pic(s) you would like to use as your background on to a USB flash drive and put it in one of the front usb ports. Go to the Media blade and select pictures, from there select the …., find the picture you want and use X to set as your background. Ta Da! Poor man ghetto themes. It might not be fancy, or have different one for every blade, but it is yours and it is personalized.

This…

Becomes…

So here it is in all of it’s hi-def glory. A game I have waited a long time to see remade, or at the very least re released in some classic manner. Looks like Grin and Capcom may have done a very nice job. I only downloaded it this morning and was saddened that I had to come to work. The game looks gorgeous, sounds great and offers all the good old fashioned swinging we are used to.

There are a few minor issues with the title, perhaps it comes from it’s size. Load times seem a bit on the long side for a downloadable title. On my system, on the first map, there seemed to be a weird sync line that ran down the screen horizontally as the map began to shift as I covered ground. This was not visible on the second map. I am hoping it is just an anomaly on the first map and does not pop up anymore. Honestly those are my only two complaints. I am sure minor quibbles may pop up here and there as I play through it, but as of right now, it seems spot on.

The story narrative is done with some stylized comic book flair which breathe some life into the dull overview map. These are done with panels and dialog bubbles. They are short, simple and can be skipped/accelerated through, which is always a big bonus.

I cannot wait to get home and play a little more. I am very curious to see how well the game continues to translate. The one thing I did notice, but it may pop up later is the lack of the inventory screen. Granted you start with the stock equipment, that was how you would load out specific gear for each mission.

The music is a awesome remix of the original soundtrack. It fits so well. The one problem is, right as it starts to pump about and drive you into battle, it shifts when you enter a building. No biggie, I made the choice, but it seems a bit abrupt.

Anyway, I am extremely happy with it, hopefully it will tide me over till “The Force Unleashed”

It is available today on XBLA and tomorrow on PSN, and digital download, including Steam, Direct2Drive and Gamergate.

Lots of plot points…again….cant wait.