Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (or should I say: "The Force Rehashed") Wii Version Review

A while ago, I asked you guys what game/game franchise I should review next, and put it in poll form. Zelda games were 66%, Star Wars games were 33%, and Tomb Raider games were 0%.

Well, I decided to go with Star Wars games for now because they are the games I'm recently playing the most while Zelda games have taken me years to complete (except for Twilight Princess which has taken me 3 days to complete). Link's Awakening took me literally 15 years to give an example. (15 years!) Now imagine how long it's going to complete Ocarina of Time, only this time I got stuck at the very first dungeon. Majora's Mask was more easier than the other two, but because of constant memory losses (because I have the Collector's Edition), I decided the heck with it. Besides, I grew up playing Star Wars and Mario games almost my whole gaming life and that still remains at my core today with the Wii Version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

When I read the GameInformer magazine issue on the game, I thought that the Wii version might not be able to make it into development considering how 360/PS3 are being the most praised consoles on the market (which is no surprise today). But, the generous LucasArts decided to give "Krome Studios" the chance to develop the DS, PSP, PS2, and the Wii versions which made me happy on the inside.

However, because of my inner Star Wars fan jumping for joy over the fact, I've learned the hard way that just because there is a Wii version being made by a developer, doesn't mean that it's going to have the same quality as the others. Here's the thing, though: Wii versions of multi-plats can be made with much of the same quality as at least 360 versions of multi-platforms. Developers know this, but as all Wii owners know by now, they are just too darn lazy to do anything on the Wii and prefer the easy way out with either GC ports, PS2 ports, toned down ports, and even shovelware ports. Factor 5's Julian Eggbrecht, the developer who knows fully well what all Nintendo consoles are made of and has given Nintendo fans a fantastic amount of game quality with the Rogue Squadron series, has boldly stated this in an interview on IGN.

Sadly, Factor 5 closed due to legal issues and employee payment problems as stated on Wikipedia and Star Wars Wookiepedia which severely disappointed me that after playing TFU, I wanted them back so badly because, like it says above, I've learned the hard way that Krome Studios is no Factor 5 at all:

Story/Campaign 8/10: You should know by now that I don't summarize the story. I expected the story to be a lot darker the whole way through, and I agree with some people that this should have been a movie rather than "The Clone Wars." The story is not bad, though, and it neatly ties together the prequel and orginal trilogies. It still has that "Star Wars feeling" that fans love to enjoy, myself included.

Sound 8/10: John Williams will have a saga of his own sometime in the future with his brilliant composed music (though Jessie Harlin composed TFU themes). The voicework is wonky as the main character likes to shout a lot when in tense situations. Other voice actors also make the characters feel sort of out-of-place with some monotone in some parts. There was one occasion the controller disconnected when I was doing something, and the sound was way ahead of the animation. And of course, what would be Star Wars without blasterfire sound?

Controls 9/10: I've said it time and time again and I will never stop saying it: Dual Analogs are NOTHING compared to motion control when in comes to realism, especially when you've always wanted to wield a controller like a lightsaber, which does not lie in this game. However, I feel as if there should have been more ways to use the controls if there were more Force Powers given like in the 360/PS3 versions.

Graphics 3/10: You'd think that given how well Factor 5 pumped out the GC's graphical power to the max Krome would essentially do the same thing for the Wii version of TFU, right? Wrong. Instead, the characters look like Frankstein creations, and they move like robots. The levels look better, but the laziness just doesn't stop there. Oh no, I'm just getting warmed up.

Gameplay 4-5/10: The core theme of kicking butt with the Force is played out perfectly in this game and provides a lot fun for coming up with ways to take out a bunch of stormtroopers in your path. There's nothing more satisfying than watching a Felucian fly horizontally many feet away into oblivian. To keep the momentum going, you can unlock many Force many powers along the way, customize your lightsaber and costume, and look at pieces of art disguised as holocrons. With the Wii version, 3 extra levels have been added, and there's multiplayer. However, if you look deeper into the gameplay, even with the extra content, you'll find the heart of the laziness Krome has put into making this a mild-to-moderate Wii game.
Levels are repetitive with the feeling of De Ja Vu. You not only go to the same planet twice or three times, but you'll notice that many places have been used at least three times in a row. (Felucia places are reused as well as going to the Jedi Temple in every other level.) The boss battles are repetitive as well (at least 8 AT-STs and 5 Rancors) and many of the same bosses have the same death animations when you go into an interactive final boss smash. The level of difficulty is random since there is no difficulty selection in this version at all. Force Grabbing objects is a joke. The only things you'll be picking up are no larger than barrels and trees in almost every level. (Yep, no TIE throwing in this version.) The amount of Force Powers and lightsaber customizations you unlock is very few unlike the 360/PS3 versions where there's an infinite amount of combinations. (No black or white lightsaber!? C'mon!) Costumes seem almost useless as cutscenes are disabled when you use them. (What? Can't I see Aayla Secura meeting the Emperor face-to-face? I guess not.) And let's not forget that famous scene where the main character pulls a Star Destroyer right out of the sky. Guess what? That never happens in this version. The scene is reduced to a general cutscene. It's not unlocked, it's not hidden, there's no cheat code, it's just a watchful cutscene. What could possibly make the gameplay even worse? Glitches, enough said.

Multiplayer 3/10: Even the exclusive Wii multiplayer content falls hard. There are many characters from the saga to choose from, and many places you can battle. Yet, it is not online, and you can't play aganst a CPU bot. The only way you can play is if you can bring your brother, sister, or some other parent or friend and convince them to play this game whether they're a Star Wars fan or not.

Overall 6/10: I've played only a 360 demo of TFU, and even it is better than this whole version on a disc. I really can't blame Krome for at least developing a game that appeals to the Star Wars Wii Fan in me. The real culprit for this game in this case should be Lucasarts for making an excuse to not develop it the Wii versions for themselves by just handing the Wii version over to some developer I've never heard of until now. In fact, I guarantee you if Factor 5 would've handled this project, it would've turned out far better than what we've been given now on the Wii. The only reason why I keep playing this Wii version is the realistic controls and story. That's it. Nothing else of this version impresses me one bit, unless the multiplayer was online which it is not.

If you are a die-hard Star Wars fan and want a true experience to TFU, I suggest looking to the PS3/360 versions with the Ultimate Sith Edition out now. Again, I've played only a demo of the 360 version, and even I admit that it is far better than the Wii version in almost everything except for controls. Voice acting is better, the story has more in it, no glitches, and the characters are portrayed with motion capture. Oh, and a cool-looking black lightsaber. If the Wii is the only console you have, I can't do much to help you there.

Krome may have gotten a slap in the face (or a time-out, one of the two, your choice) for now, but wait until I review the diaster that is "Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels" which is soon to come.

Excellent review, Jaques! You should be a reviewer for games on IGN, GameInformer, etc. Though, I did play Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and I was devastated in the Wii version but the 360/PS3 versions were at least a 7-8. I am also a huge Star Wars fan, though the Original Trilogy and 3, not 1 and 2 - they're good, though.

SpaniardGamer wrote:Excellent review, Jaques! You should be a reviewer for games on IGN, GameInformer, etc. Though, I did play Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and I was devastated in the Wii version but the 360/PS3 versions were at least a 7-8. I am also a huge Star Wars fan, though the Original Trilogy and 3, not 1 and 2 - they're good, though.

Meh, I don't know about IGN, GI, etc., but I do love writing.

Jaques7Chef wrote:

SpaniardGamer wrote:Excellent review, Jaques! You should be a reviewer for games on IGN, GameInformer, etc. Though, I did play Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and I was devastated in the Wii version but the 360/PS3 versions were at least a 7-8. I am also a huge Star Wars fan, though the Original Trilogy and 3, not 1 and 2 - they're good, though.

Meh, I don't know about IGN, GI, etc., but I do love writing.

Same, same.