Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Demo August 21st

chrislad

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/17/the-force-unleashed-demo-coming-thursday-to-xblm-and-psn/

Yay.

FreeOSCAR

Look forward to playing it!

Kinetic^

Super, really really looking forward to this. Not been a decent star wars game since KOTOR1. (go play if you haven't already).

FreeOSCAR

Kinetic^ wrote: »

Super, really really looking forward to this. Not been a decent star wars game since KOTOR1. (go play if you haven't already).

Well the Battlefront games were not that bad

Vic Vinegar

Nice one, been looking forward to this for a while. I hope it doesn't disappoint!

bucks73

Excellent. Been waiting for this.

Stimpyone

Where is it?, and I was all excited and everything:o.

Mr Freeze

Stimpyone wrote: »

Where is it?, and I was all excited and everything:o.

Hopefully it is released today, i was gonna give it a go this evening....

DarkJager

Its usually based on US time isn't it? May be a few hours yet before it appears

FreeOSCAR

Its up for DL according to other sources. Im work, let us all know your impressions and in particular how the framerate is in it... Ive been hearing bad things about that.

bucks73

Usually stuff goes up at 9am PST which would be 5pm here.

yoyo

Its up a while now guys, in arround the 900~mb mark, pritty fun demo, physics very fun, looks like a decent game tech wise, but not my cup of tea gameplay wise unfortunately , Still its a good bit of fun though , Framerates seemed decent and definately didnt notice any massive frame drops during play, seems steady enough...

Nick

McDermotX

bucks73 wrote: »

Usually stuff goes up at 9am PST which would be 5pm here.

Its been up the last few hours lads.....haven't got around to trying it though so it'll have to wait..
About 900mb in size.......not expecting a hell of a lot though......been a while since the last decent Star Wars game

ironictoaster

I had turn it off after two minutes of play. Defo not my cup of tea...:(

bucks73

Couple on my friends list are playing it now alright and liking it a lot.

FreeOSCAR

Whats the boss battle like in it? Without giving away spoilers of course.

djkeogh

Jaysus I don't like the sounds of those saying they're not liking it. I'm a huge fan of Jedi Outcast and was hoping that this was going to be on a similar level to that. Anyone played both able to comment? I'll download it this evening and have a go anyway.

yoyo

FreeOSCAR wrote: »

Whats the boss battle like in it? Without giving away spoilers of course.

It was straightforward enough, think I was playing on easy difficulty so maybe thats why, a bit of a button mashing sequence to take it down, wouldn't have considered it any spectacular though

Nick

Fingleberries

djkeogh wrote: »

Jaysus I don't like the sounds of those saying they're not liking it. I'm a huge fan of Jedi Outcast and was hoping that this was going to be on a similar level to that. Anyone played both able to comment? I'll download it this evening and have a go anyway.

It's not really the same type of thing as Jedi Outcast. It's not bad fun - the Demo is only a short-ish level in a Star Destroyer hanger. There's lots to mash about the place. It is a good laugh picking up things or people and flinging them at each other, the sound and the Level was very good (with TIE Fighters flying overhead - trying to hit a moving one with a crate is fun) ... but I do hope that the full game has a bit more variety to offer (which it should do with more Force power-ups, etc.)

I'll definitely be leaning towards buying it - if it does have more variety.

As for the Boss:

It's an AT-ST Walker (one of the two-legged, little chicken-like fellas)

molloyjh

Will def be downloading this when I get home. Having seen some of the previews though over the last few weeks my expectations have dropped a bit. The whole idea of the on-screen levelling up and that green yolk that is emitted from a dead body and floats towards your character seems utterly needless (I'm assuming they are meant to signify the points you score for killing that particular enemy?). I much preferred the KOTOR or Outcast method.

Still though the new engines should be well worth the look and if they gel half as well as we're told it will make for a lot of fun picking up stormtroopers and flinging them around! That was one of the best bits to Outcast - force gripping a stormtrooper and dropping him down one of the trade-mark Star Wars chasms.

Mr. K

I played through it earlier, it played quite differently to what I expected. Like most, I was expecting it to be like Jedi Outcast. This isn't the case, it's a much looser game than JO. Once I got used to it, I quite enjoyed it.

Flinging Stormtroopers around is lots of fun and the character models are excellent. Ooh, and the effects when you use Force powers are really cool, especially Push. In fact, it's obvious than much effort went into making it feel authentic. But I must admit I was a bit disappointed, I'll play again later and see if I enjoy it more.

chrislad

75% done! Can't wait. I know I'm going to love this as I'm a sucker for a license. Superman Returns and Spider-Man 3 are prime examples. I loved the games, played them to death, and was fully aware of the shortcomings of both (of which there were plenty) but they were enjoyable and really put you into the cape/tights/etc of the characters. Having 1000/1000 on Superman is both a shame and, well, just a shame really

Vic Vinegar

chrislad wrote: »

Having 1000/1000 on Superman is both a shame and, well, just a shame really

Kinetic^

OT.........Dude, what's up with your gamerscore? Did you get that on your own or do many people play your console? How much money do spend on games or is your console's dvd drive firmware modded? That's a ridiculous amount of games!

Back on topic, downloading atm, star wars fan so I'm hoping this game delivers!!!

Julez

Playable, probably get a bit repetitive. But if people can love the hugely over-rated lego star wars then I can't see why they wouldn't like this.

chrislad

Kinetic^ wrote: »

OT.........Dude, what's up with your gamerscore? Did you get that on your own or do many people play your console? How much money do spend on games or is your console's dvd drive firmware modded? That's a ridiculous amount of games!

Back on topic, downloading atm, star wars fan so I'm hoping this game delivers!!!

I've had the console since launch, so that's, what, 2+ years now? To be honest, a lot of the earlier games gave away points. I don't drink or smoke so I've more disposable income than most. Most people drink their wages, I play mine! I don't have a modded console, I prefer having the Live experience. Other people do play it sometimes, but the majority of stuff is my own, be it games I bought, rented or traded. I went through a stage about a year ago when I was competing with a friend, so it went up massively then!

Back on topic, thought the demo was quite good. I will definitely be getting this, and I don't expect to be disappointed. I'm hoping the full game will have an option where the lightsaber acts like a real one and cuts everyone to crap! For challenges sake, it makes more sense to have an energy bar for enemies, but it'd be nice to just be an uber powerful Jedi just laying waste.

Lot of nice touches in the demo though, like bending girders to destroy passing TIE Fighters, pulling TIES down from the hangar and smashing them on enemies etc. Sept 21st is too far away!

Kinetic^

Cool man!! :cool:


Just played the demo, really liked it. Thought the moves and such were very well made.

djkeogh

Just played through the demo there. I have to say that I did like it. Being able to pick almost anything up is a real plus. lashing around the Tie fighters was amazing. I noticed a bit of a framerate issue and I don't usually notice these things but there is so much going on most of the time that you hardly notice it. I'll be putting this on the list of games to buy.

DeVore

Didnt notice a frame rate problem. The game looks great but I have a feeling this is one of those games that isnt really shown off by its demo. The demo is good fun but the physics engine wont carry this game alone, regardless of how great it is (and it is).

I was a touch disappointed until I left the controller down for a few seconds on the main menu and it played a preview of the rest of the game and it looks like they have payed as much attention to the story and the plot as they have the graphics. Have a look for yourselves...

DeV.

Podge2k7

I plsyed the demop and thought it was a good game~!!!!!!!

FreeOSCAR

Thought the demo was very good. I'll be more interested in the storyline when I get it though. Great idea encorporating them 3 physics engines together, they work brilliant.

J-blk

It was a pretty good (if a bit short) demo - I too did notice some pretty bad frame rate issues in a couple of places (especially when TIE fighters are coming in close for an attack) but overall pretty impressed with it. I played it on the "normal" difficulty setting and it seemed pretty easy (even with just grip and force push, you seem way too powerful for everything else in the demo) so I'm going to give it another go on the harder settings... Still, pleasantly surprised so far.

molloyjh

Enjoyed the demo, but noticed a few issues aswell. Same as J-bik - the TIE fighters piece was particularly obvious. Other than that it was pretty good. Force Grip is class and the little bits - like bending the support struts into the TIE fighters path - were a lot of fun. The only problem is that the troops are absolutely no match on easy or normal for your powers and the only time I died was when the AT-ST knocked me off the platform, and that was just pure fluke!

I would have liked to have seen some lightsaber dueling action to get a taste for how that would pan out......:cool:

djkeogh

The demo was pretty easy alright. I'll play it again this evening on the harder difficulty which I then imagine unlocks a harder difficulty again. I love doing the combo attacks with Saber and force push so on your 3rd or 4th lightsaber strike the troopers go flying. I watched the Preview for the rest of the game after finishing the demo and it does look fairly varied with plenty of different looking levels. The lightsaber fights in it will be a big determining factor.

Mr Freeze

I cancelled my preorder for the game after playing the demo, definitely one to rent for me anyways....

I wasnt that impressed with it, and i am a big Star Wars fan, found it very basic and repetitive...picking people up with the force is great tho...

Will wait for the reviews....

Branoic

Fun enough demo, but epic lightsabre duels in the full game better not be reduced to QTEs. They couldn't....could they???

molloyjh

I doubt the lightsaber duels will be QTE's. Maybe the finishing moves will be???? I would hope they only come into play for the big enemies though - the likes of the AT-STs and rancors - because it would take something major to take them down, whereas a single strike (theoretically) will kill a jedi......

I knew about the QTE in the demo already so wasn't surprised by it. In fact I quite enjoyed it. There's nothing wrong with a scripted event that has you cut an AT-ST in 2 IMO.

Gunmonkey

I thought it was an ok demo, nothing too special. The manouvering objects in 3d with force grip was a bit fiddly, maybe just not used to it.

silvine

I'd give the demo a resounding meh. It was annoying that you couldn't walk/run and use the grip force power. It is Star Wars though so that's always good. If the story is good I'll get the game, if not I'll leave it.

johnny_ultimate

I enjoyed it, and will probably give it at least a rent if the reviews are decent. It was good fun right up until they ruined everything with the damn QTE.

Resi 4 has a lot to answer for...

molloyjh

Messed around with the demo a bit more. Completed all of the difficulty settings. Doesn't seem an overly challenging game. I really enjoyed the hangar though. There is another power-up on the high walkway just above the shuttle that you can get to by stacking the bombers on top of one another and then adding a couple of crates on top, which I thought was pretty cool......

chrislad

Ah would ye stop whining about the QTE. I'd say something if it was a proper boss, which is clearly isnt. It's one of those first level mid bosses that becomes a standard enemy later in the game things. There was enough damage to be done to the AT-ST before the QTE. Would you rather the thing just blow up or have a cool animation? It's not like it eliminated any challenge.

johnny_ultimate

chrislad wrote: »

Ah would ye stop whining about the QTE. I'd say something if it was a proper boss, which is clearly isnt. It's one of those first level mid bosses that becomes a standard enemy later in the game things. There was enough damage to be done to the AT-ST before the QTE. Would you rather the thing just blow up or have a cool animation? It's not like it eliminated any challenge.

Ah but here is the thing about QTE - it does eliminate any challenge. It is a technique that dramtically reduces the interactivity of a game, and is basically removing your control. For a game which goes out of your way to give you the ability to manipulate the game world in a lot of ways, QTEs are unforgivable - they require absolutely no skill and causes an annoying loss of immersion. It was a nice novelty in stuff like God of War for a while, but now its use has actually ruined some games - look at the pathetic bosses in Spiderman 3, or the Bourne Conspiracy demo, in which you do little but press a button every now and then to advance the animation. It is no where near as satisfying as games where you have complete control over your actions.

FreeOSCAR

Well QTE are going to be used against all bosses/mini bosses according to this chap around 1.18secs in.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39051.html

thebman

Meh the quick times events are basically the equivalent of finish him moves in Mortal Kombat except they tell you which buttons to press.

It would be better that if you failed them the enemy still died and just didn't get a cool cinematic but I can live with it the way it is.

I think the real problem is the way they are done is kind of crap in the game. I don't like the way there is nothing to say I got it right basically so when there are two of the same button presses required in a row, all I had was the length of time it was on screen to go by.

FutureGuy

I thought it was pretty fun, but nothing exceptional. Having said that, it was brilliant fun to catch a stormtrooper with the force grip and hang him over the drops in the hangar bay before letting him fall

molloyjh

FutureGuy wrote: »

I thought it was pretty fun, but nothing exceptional. Having said that, it was brilliant fun to catch a stormtrooper with the force grip and hang him over the drops in the hangar bay before letting him fall

You should try the section where the Tie's come at you and you can dangle them over the ledge and either throw them straight up and straight dowm, then press the up arrow and see them fly!!!!

DeVore

But a three-d engine, while entertaining, is not a game. They need to do more then strew Stormtroopers and (millions of) boxes in front of you...

I hope this game absolutely *rocks* but the demo has only showed me that they have the tech more or less sorted out....


DeV.

chrislad

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Ah but here is the thing about QTE - it does eliminate any challenge. It is a technique that dramtically reduces the interactivity of a game, and is basically removing your control. For a game which goes out of your way to give you the ability to manipulate the game world in a lot of ways, QTEs are unforgivable - they require absolutely no skill and causes an annoying loss of immersion. It was a nice novelty in stuff like God of War for a while, but now its use has actually ruined some games - look at the pathetic bosses in Spiderman 3, or the Bourne Conspiracy demo, in which you do little but press a button every now and then to advance the animation. It is no where near as satisfying as games where you have complete control over your actions.

It doesn't. The boss has an energy bar. You deplete that bar. Normally, the boss should die. Instead, when the bar is depleted, you perform a basic QTE. I don't see how that takes away any challenge, if anything, it adds a bit more. While I agree the QTE is way overused, I don't believe it's inappropriate in this case. It makes for a more cinematic finish.

faceman

Nobody told me about this demo! downloading now!!!

johnny_ultimate

chrislad wrote: »

It doesn't. The boss has an energy bar. You deplete that bar. Normally, the boss should die. Instead, when the bar is depleted, you perform a basic QTE. I don't see how that takes away any challenge, if anything, it adds a bit more. While I agree the QTE is way overused, I don't believe it's inappropriate in this case. It makes for a more cinematic finish.

Yeah I admit that it doesn't strictly remove challenge in that there is a fight beforehand, it just feels condescending. Its like the developer is cheating by pulling the player out of the game at the best moment, the moment when you actually defeat the enemy and replacing it with some kind of false interactivity. It feels to me like its undoing all your hard work, where defeat does not come from the fight beforehand but the result of some glorified cinematic.

Yes I'm looking too much into this, but I also hate the fact that such a lazy decision was made in an otherwise highly enjoyable demo. The level showed that they have created a great interactive battlefield, in which you are able to use the environment to fight your enemies. It just to me doesn't feel like it fits into the overall experience, and is quite a jarring disapointment at the end of the demo. If they wanted to end the fight with a cool finishing move, at least base it on skill - introduce a finishing combo that actually takes some effort to learn and pull off.