Joystiq impressions: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Jul 12th 2007 at 3:28PM }
Ever want to be Darth Vader's secret apprentice and learn the intricacies of the Dark Side of the Force? If you can wait until an undetermined date sometime in 2008, then you'll get your wish. Lucasarts gave us a sneak peek at what this will be like in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
The story is set in between Episodes III (Revenge of the Sith) and IV (A New Hope), and your character is tasked with the dirty job of mopping up all of the remaining Jedi around the universe. Nothing rubs out those dirty Jedi stains like the Dark Side, now available in a convenient gel form.
Gallery: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Granted, the image of someone bringing down an entire Star Destroyer with the Force is pretty darn cool, and apparently you'll be doing stuff like that in the game. According to the press release, "The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls -- he'll Force push enemies through walls. He'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb." Ouch.
The graphics look shiny and next-gen, and there's a whole lot of Forcin' going on, as you can tell from the above quote. You'll encounter a lot of familiar figures to the Star Wars universe, including Darth Vader, and countless Stormtroopers (in the classic white uniforms, not the Clone Wars / Boba Fett-prequelitis armor).
Our look at the game was extremely brief, but it does look pretty cool. they'll be showing the same trailer and gameplay footage that they showed us tonight on TV during Entertainment Tonight, so look for it on a tube near you, and then the internets about .000067 seconds later ... in fact, you can now check it out down below!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Anam @ Jul 12th 2007 3:34PM
Until they start being more specific about exactly what you can do in the game, I'm going to assume that it's just Jedi Academy with more advanced physics.
Not necessarily a bad thing...
TonyBlair @ Jul 12th 2007 3:41PM
The graphics look shiny and what now?
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/05/so-long-next-gen-and-good-riddance/
If you guys have pics of the next generation of gaming, youd better start putting em up. Those screenies look like a game on the 360 or PS3 to me.
Jerk Face @ Jul 12th 2007 3:46PM
Ha ha! That's a plus for you my friend.
I am so done with that term as well.
Oh. And this game looks pretty baller.
Shagittarius @ Jul 12th 2007 3:41PM
Those shots are in-game.
Triforceowner @ Jul 12th 2007 4:12PM
That's all concept art; I thought.
lupos @ Jul 12th 2007 4:15PM
Guys, I've been there, I've done what your doing and I know how difficult this week is but seriously... the writing is a mess.
"Ever want to be Darth Vader's secret apprentice and learn the intricacies of the Dark Side of the Force? If you can wait until an undetermined date sometime in 2008. Lucasarts gave us a sneak peek at"
Ok so a question followed by a half a sentence with no conclusion and then another sentence that is literally incomplete. It doesn't even have an end punctuation to pretend it's a whole thought like the preceding one.
If your low on staff I'd be happy to help out ;)
LordPaul @ Jul 12th 2007 4:34PM
what about their low on staff you'd be happy to help out?
Myrpok @ Jul 12th 2007 4:45PM
"You're" as in "if you ARE low on staff..." If you're going to be a gRammOr-Notsy (lol), at least get YOUR own typing right.
Unless it's "shitcox thes Gaymz RULZORZ!111oneone", just deal with 'as it happens now' news with typos. That, or go back to magazines.
Kevin Kelly @ Jul 12th 2007 6:20PM
Liveblogging major keynotes and catching umpteen game impressions in a day and trying to write about it all means some casualties will be suffered. Thanks for catching it, it's been fixed now.
REUYL @ Jul 12th 2007 4:26PM
The graphics look all shiny and new-gen.
Andrew @ Jul 12th 2007 4:51PM
You know what I hate about this game? Maybe this has been said a hundred times before, I wouldn't know. But there are only supposed to be two sith. Quote Yoda in episode III. "Always two there are. No More. No less."
lupos @ Jul 12th 2007 4:58PM
@ the wise asses
I was being a wiseass and writing in a comment to a blog. A blog that doesn't have very stringent grammatical standards. Oh you got my mistake you cheeky monkeys. At least I'm not getting paid to write this crap.
@Andrew
I always assumed that meant that they always hung in pairs and not that more than 2 couldn't exist at once. It seems impractical for the one guy to have to spend years training up a partner just cause his old one died.
Anam @ Jul 12th 2007 4:57PM
I think he meant "two working together," rather than "two total." Otherwise the Sith could have never gained much power to begin with.
Besides, I don't think this game cares about the universe of Star Wars. It's more like "Hey, let's make a game where you can blow stuff up with your mind!"
Crono @ Jul 12th 2007 4:57PM
I think all that meant is that sith come in pairs.
And in Ep2, Darth Saruman tried to recruit obi-wan as an apprentice. Betrayal is the norm for the sith.
joeyg814 @ Jul 14th 2007 5:01PM
The guy in the game is Vader's secret apprentice in an attempt to get rid of Palpatine. Obviously, he doesn't last long after the game.
JW @ Jul 12th 2007 5:02PM
Thats the point. Two sith. An apprentice doesn't make him a full blown sith. Honestly, if everyone did their own research, they would get all the answers they need from www.lucasarts.com. They've had a webdoc and a whole bunch of stuff available for quite sometime. They also go into great detail as to how the characters fit into the star wars universe and into the lore thereof. They actually collaborated with George Lucas to ensure that everything they were doing was accurate. Check it out, it will answer many of the questions that you all have about this game, including in-game demos.
Phranctoast @ Jul 12th 2007 5:03PM
lol at dark saruman...
is jedi knight Merry and Pippen there as well..
Mr Khan @ Jul 12th 2007 5:50PM
The "Rule of Two" as Darth Bane imposed after Lord Kaan's sith order was destroyed was basically ignored by Darth Sidious (Palpatine)
In the Clone Wars they had Ventress, Sora Bulq, and quite a few others who served the Sith without actually counting as "Sith." The canonical thing that this game seems to defy is that Darth Vader HAD an apprentice, Darth Lumiya, who later became "Dark Lady of the Sith," well after Palpatine's destruction (like 15 years after)
Its complicated and filled with plot holes, for the most part
Yuccadude @ Jul 12th 2007 8:23PM
Well, it seems like in all my reading of the Star Wars books, there has been a difference between Sith and Dark Jedi, Sith follow the ancient teachings of the Sith race, whereas Dark Jedi are just Jedi who use the dark side of the Force.
t_m @ Jul 13th 2007 9:25AM
and that was always the 3rd most stupid idea in the prequels..
1 = Midichorians
2 = Virgin birth and prophecy stories that never get followed up.
3 = Lots of sith try to kill each other.. so lets make a stupid rule about only 2 sith at a time. trying to kill each other.
But, and i can't believe i'm defending this game, vader having an apprentice doesn't actual break StupidRule3.
Sith1 is always trying to get a better Sith2. (see dooku, emperor&luke).
Sith2 is always trying to get help to overthrow Sith1 (see vader and luke, etc..)
The game is stupid because..
(a) If he can bring down star destroyers then why isn't HE in the frickin prophecy.. cos vader and luke turn out to be the wussiest jedi ever in comparison.
(b) Why doesn't he overthrow everyone?
(c) How come no one ever mentioned him before, and the emperor doesn't notice this guy blasting ships from the sky with the force?
Mr Khan @ Jul 15th 2007 2:10PM
Yeah, that was the point
The rule of two was meant so that there would be "One to Embody power, and One to Crave it." The system of power and jealousy ensured minimal bouts of the self-destructiveness and infighting that plagued previous Sith groups
yomommaowesmemony @ Jul 15th 2007 3:13PM
tht was in episode 1...
Ken Seang @ Jul 12th 2007 6:56PM
So where is the Wii version?
Koletha @ Jul 12th 2007 8:34PM
I always thought Vader had trained a number of apprentices. And as was already stated, Palpatine only loosely stuck to the Rule of Two as well.
Anyways, in regards to the game, the concept art looks pretty nice, and it's nice to see new places and creatures from Star Wars when all the recent games have stuck to places we've seen too much of lately, like Tattooine and Kashyyk. I'm definately interested in this game, playing as a Jedi/Sith is always fun.
The only thing that's got me confused is why the Dark Side character is attacking Imperial forces in a lot of the concept art...
Toph @ Jul 14th 2007 10:52PM
Koletha--their excuse is that the secret apprentice is so secret, NO ONE can know about him, including Palpatine. So he can leave no witnesses, Jedi or Imperial.
John @ Jul 12th 2007 8:25PM
Baton lightsabers? Get real.
t_m @ Jul 13th 2007 9:28AM
it looks like Star Wars for ADD kids who like big, flashy lights and 2Fast2Furious.
The "vader hunts the jedi" game has been so long awaited, that its annoying they are botching it by turning it into some kind of joke OTT physics demo.
Almack64 @ Jul 13th 2007 12:35PM
@ Ken Seang
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. It's always interesting to see a "massively multiplatform" game like this not appear on the Wii.
If you are going to bring it to every other platform that games are currently being made for (including the PS2), why are you not going to bring it to the console with the fastest growing install base?
Am I missing something? I really want to know. Anyone have any logical (read: non-rampant fanboy) opinions on this.
J.G.F. @ Jul 14th 2007 12:23AM
So this game has state of the art physics that preclude it from being on Wii, yet it is on the PSP?
Change my name to confused.
Toph @ Jul 14th 2007 10:56PM
The PSP version is developed by someone else and, for all intents and purposes, is not the same game. It'll probably follow the plot, but gameplay will be very different, and presumably much more "last-gen."
DarkJedi @ Jul 15th 2007 12:17PM
This game does look pretty awesome but like what t_m said, why doesn't Palpatine notice some dark side user ripping capitol ships from the sky, and why don't Luke or Vader ever do anything that cool? And force pushing through walls does sound pretty fantastic, except maybe for the poor sao that's getting owned, even with-out next gen graphics.
DarkJedi @ Jul 15th 2007 12:20PM
Ok, so like t_m said, how the hell could Palpatine not notice a dark side user ripping capitol ships from the sky? I mean do you realize how much force potential that would take? Holy crap! Granted Yoda could do awesome stuff like that but he had 900 years of expericence. And why don't Luke or Vader ever do anything that cool? Oh, and Crono, Darth Saruman is pretty awesome. Props for that one.
Mr Khan @ Jul 15th 2007 2:08PM
Well, Luke never did that because such a grandiose display of power would put him too close to the Dark Side (that's why he never did it in the sequel books, anyway)
Vader never did it because, well, the early movies were too low tech to do something like that without it looking totally cheesy
SomeGuy @ Jul 15th 2007 1:28PM
It better come out on the Wii...
Kevin Kelly @ Jul 15th 2007 1:30PM
Sorry folks, but the press release doesn't list the Wii as one of the platforms that it'll be appearing on. Nintendo DS, yes ... Nintendo Wii, yes.
Nick @ Jul 15th 2007 2:24PM
imagine how cool it would be for the wii, make the wii-mote a lightsaber!
jfw98 @ Jul 20th 2007 10:52AM
If your Darth's apprentice why are you killing all the empire?
Darth Mandalore @ Jul 15th 2007 10:30PM
Back to the rule of two, they don't really violate it, as this apprentice/hand guy is vader's lil helper, not a big ol sith lord himself. Besides, im sure he doesnt keep a huge profile with palpatine.
but bringing down star destroers?
...cmon...
TheCardiganMan @ Jul 16th 2007 1:28AM
okay couple things... first of all, Sith is not a race of people or a "side of the force," the users are following the belief which is called "the way of the Sith" aka Tai Sith.
I agree with Toph about the whole "can't leave any witnesses" aspect of the secret apprentice. I mean, not like they'd be able to go tattle to Palpatine about Vader anyways but also i was thinking that, according to Order 66, basically all force-users and lightsaber-wielders were to be executed except for Palpatine and Vader. It says jedi, but i get the implication that the storm/clone troops don't know the difference between Sith and Jedi, nor do they care. But if they see someone with a lightsaber running around, regardless of what color it is, they're gonna shoot at them.
And yea... about the whole palpatine not noticing him ripping star destroyers out of the sky... i dunno. I mean, it's cool as hell and yea that's powerful stuff there... but i dunno how palpatine wouldn't notice it. Perhaps... since the dark side clouds the force... perhaps the apprentice can cloud Palpatine's senses from being aware of him? or perhaps palpatine is too far away to sense it, since we really don't know where he is in episodes IV, V, and VI until he shows up at the new death star. I don't think he'd be hanging his old ass around Corusant, but i don't know where else he'd go that wouldn't be near Vader. Perhaps he went to Korriban to learn more about the ancient Tai Sith...
TheCardiganMan @ Jul 16th 2007 1:42AM
oh and PS, Shaak ti is lookin' awesome she'll totally pwn n00bs but it's a damn shame you'll probably end up killing her... but i wonder if there will be any Darth Revan references on kashyyk or anything like that? maybe there'll be some cool scene where an older obi-wan kicks your ass on tatooine or something... and what's with the new lightsaber dueling technique? maris has those sweet handlebars on her lightsabers and the secret apprentice definately likes holding his mondo rather than regular...
wisekris @ Jul 18th 2007 11:22AM
Uh I think Sith were a race of people and some "Dark Jedi" went to there planet and adopted there ways. but Sith is a race
smood @ Sep 22nd 2007 12:03PM
kk ya
smood @ Sep 22nd 2007 12:07PM
First of all TheCardiganMan, the Sith are a race and they were taken over by the Dark Jedi as they invaded Korriban. Read up on the expanded universe and the ancient eras of Star Wars.
Secondly this is the stupidest concept within the star wars universe ever. You have a violation of Darth Bane's rule of 2 (which stupid or not exists) secondly you have a Jedi whose more powerful than almost every Jedi in history? Why would he remain apprenticed to Vader if he has this kind of power. It completely makes no sense.