The time has come to visit the land of “a galaxy far, far away” again. Yes, Star Wars has returned and this time it’s in the form of an action game titled Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Xbox 360 and several other platforms.
Let’s cut right to the chase; the main reason why people will be downloading the demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the Xbox Live Marketplace will be for chance to swing away with the legendary lightsaber. But that shouldn’t be the only reason for the players to be intrigued by The Force Unleashed; there’s also the chance to finally use the force powers like they have always been intended.
Within the demo, players will have the chance to blast through doors with powerful force pushes, use force lightning on mercenaries, throw around unexpected imperial stormtroopers with the force, and of course, dash around the screen with haste to take down the opposition. These powers are the basic abilities available to players to experience. While they are kind of limited in the demo, the retail version will pave way to access to countless other abilities to take advantage of.
The biggest technological feat for The Force Unleashed is the addition of the Euphoria physics engine. When players decide to create chaos with their force powers, they’ll see how powerful the Euphoria engine is when enemies are hurled across the screen along with nearby objects.
Also, while playing through the demo, an entertaining and humorous event occurred when I grabbed a stormtropper and attempted to throw him. This unfortunate soldier managed to grab a hold of a nearby crate with his kung fu grip to try and escape his soon to be death. What followed after that was his demise after shaking him off the crate with the force powers and throwing him into a nearby wall to have a dent left in it. It was a comedic moment that normally doesn’t occur in other action titles; surprising to say the least.
If only LucasArts provided more for players to tinker around with in The Force Unleashed to literally see how devastating they could end up being as Darth Vader’s apprentice, Starkiller. For the most part, players will run through the demo in a 10-20 minute session depending on their difficulty and how much they spend on playing around with the force powers.
The demo concludes with a quick time event facing off with a mini-boss of sorts. I won’t ruin the surprise, so you’ll have to download the demo yourself to see who or what Starkiller faces off with. Though, I will say it’s too bad that I wasn’t able to face off against another opponent skilled with a melee weapon of any sorts.
Players can expect to get their hands on with the full game when it releases nationwide on September 17, stay tuned for a hands-on preview and our full review of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed next month.
