Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 33263

Despite some rather mediocre reviews on IGN, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a huge success for the Nintendo Wii for many reasons. 1) The gameplay, which requires the use of the Wiimote and nunchuck, is very engaging and extremely fun to play. The Wiimote is your lightsaber and you can do some incredible lightsaber combos once you master the controls using a combination of motions followed by pressing one or two-buttons on either the Wiimote and/or the nunchuck. 2) Being able to use the force powers in combination with the lightsaber using the Wii controls makes this possibly the best action game ever for the Wii. 3) The dual mode is awesome! This game for the other gaming systems (Xbox 360 and PS3) does not have the Dual mode. The Dual mode, exclusive to the Nintendo Wii, allows you to play as nearly every major Star Wars character and fight head to head with a friend in an ultimate Star Wars battle. In dual mode you engage each other using all of your force powers, lightsaber skills and defensive tactics in a variety of difficult stages taken from the various Star Wars planets and terrains. Once you have beaten the game and found most or all of the various hidden items in the story mode, you will unlock all of the dual-mode characters. 4) There are two endings to the game depending on which path you choose. You can defeat Darth Vader or you can claim victory over the Emperor himself. Either way, it is an epic battle and you will unlock a specific costume depending on which enemy you annihilate. 5) There are some very cool looking costumes for your character which makes playing as the main character using different costumes on different stages a more unique gaming experience. This plus the fact that you can change the color (by changing the color saber crystals which include various shades of: Red, Green, Blue, Purple and Yellow), hilt (the design of the actual handle of the lightsaber) and damage potential (accomplished by switching damage crystals which will increase the damage of various force powers or your lightsaber) of your lightsaber will give your character a variety of different looks and damage abilities. The flaws in this game are few but should be noted because they are relevant to the overall gaming experience and game play on the Wii. The first flaw is that the game is far too short. It will take the average person around 5 to 7 hours of game time to complete the game the first time through. Now, that being said you will want to go through the game at least one more time to find the rest of the hidden items that you did not find the first time through and most importantly defeat the other end boss (either Darth Vader or the Emperor) to unlock the last remaining costume. The second flaw, which I would consider to be a major one, is that sometimes the camera angle gets stuck and you cannot see the enemies that are attacking you unless you completely move to a new location on the screen. Every once in a while the camera angle will take a moment to adjust to your stance or position which could cause you to take some heavy damage while you get your bearings and the camera adjusts. This can be very frustrating, especially when you are confronting a large and difficult mob or when fighting one of the many boss characters. I think that they could have done a better job with this by allow you to control the rotation of your character with either the nunchuck, or a through the use of cursor pointer on the screen. The final flaw, which is typical to the Wii, is that the graphics are not very crisp. You can see some major pixel edges during the cinematics, in some instances of the game and especially in the text. I am sure that this is not as bad for the Xbox 360 or the PS3. Noting these flaws, the game is a complete homerun for the Nintendo Wii. You will enjoy many hours of fun playing as your favorite Star Wars characters in the dual mode an even in the story mode through the use of the various cheat codes that you can input. I highly recommend this game for any Wii owner. You will love this game.
 
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At the risk of using hyperbole, this is the game the Wii was made for. There is nothing as exhilarating or memory-evoking of the battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin as entering duel mode and thrusting forth your hand as your friend does the same to push each other away before engaging in fierce lightsaber combat. This game is simply amazing! While the Wiimote does not give true one-to-one action, in all honesty the lightsaber is overshadowed by the plethora of Force powers in your arsenal. Previews made it seem like there were four powers, but in actuality there are literally a few dozen Force combinations that you can use to deadly effect. The story is interesting and engaging enough, though fairly cliche in its redemption story, but in my opinion the gameplay doesn't even need any real plot to keep you playing. <br><br> Pros:<br> 1. You have a lightsaber.<br> 2. Amazing Force powers and combinations that leave you trying out new ones just for fun.<br> 3. Duel mode--endless fun with friends in which you face off as a variety of canonical and non-canonical Star Wars characters. 4. While the interaction with the environment is not as involved as the XBox and PS3 interaction appears to be, you can still Force push and grip things in the environment, throw things around, and just create general chaos.<br> 5. You get to fight rancors. And AT-STs. And other cool vehicles.<br> 6. Notwithstanding your lightsaber and Force powers, LA made some opponents that put up a very good fight.<br> <br><br> Cons:<br> 1. Lightsaber battles can be a bit unwieldy and you must be very precise in your swing to get the desired result (not that this is all that bad).<br> 2. Targeting--your Force power targeting is based off the direction you're going in, not necessarily where you are looking. This makes it difficult when you are running and looking around and unleash a massive lightning attack.... only to see it go in the way you were running, not at the stormtroopers you're looking at.<br> 3. Graphics are okay for the Wii, but nothing compared to the XBox/PS3 (but we all knew this when we bought it).<br> 4. DMM and Euphoria are not on the Wii platform, so you don't see all of the *really* cool tricks and environmental interaction from the teasers.<br> 5. Makes me dream of KOTOR 3 for the Wii.<br> <br><br> In short, if you have a Wii you need to buy this game. You will not regret it, other than perhaps the dozens of hours you will spend playing it. I got it yesterday and played after work until 12.30 in the morning when I realized what time it was. While this may not be console-defining like Halo was, that is due at least in part to this not being a Nintendo-sponsored game, because the game itself could be. <br><br>Buy it. Play it. Be a Jedi. You know you have always wanted to.
 
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