The Force Unleashed for Wii Review

When Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was announced to be in development by Krome Studios for Wii, Star Wars fans rejoiced, for they would be finally getting their Wii Lightsaber game. The game definitely does deliver for those looking to experience the next chapter of the Star Wars saga. However there are many factors which could have been improved as well.

Force Unleashed for Wii has several features unique to the platform. To make up for it’s lack of DMM and euphoria which are featured on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, as well as graphics which do not match up to the other next-gen versions, the Wii version of the game features five extra levels in the campaign, an exclusive duel mode with over 20 unlockable characters from The Force Unleashed as well as the Star Wars saga and the expanded universe, and a control scheme exclusive to the Wii. Krome also developed their own physics system for the game, pushing the Wii’s hardware to its limits. While the AI and effects are not as impressive as the Xbox 360 or PS3 versions, Krome still did an excellent job giving Wii owners as much as they could. The troops do not grab for each other or act as intelligently as the euphoria-driven enemies do, but the ragdoll effects combined with Starkiller’s array of powers still satisfies the inner fanboy.

The control scheme on Wii well done overall. To attack with the lightsaber, you move the Wii remote in the direction you want to swing, and to use your force powers you use the nunchuck. As the game went on though the lightsaber attacks turned into a big waggle-fest and got old. The force powers with the nunchuck were excellent throughout however. It was very satisfying to thrust the nunchuck forward and see Starkiller mimic your motions on-screen in much grander fashion. One other use of the motion controls is saber and force locks, and quicktime events. While dueling an opposing Jedi if you use a force power or perform a lightsaber attack simultaneosly, your attacks would lock and you have to move the Wii remote or nunchuck in a certain position several times to win the lock. When an enemy is near death, a quicktime event can be triggered to finish them off. This only consists of waggling either the remote or nunchuck in any direction.

The graphics on the Wii versions are disappointing as they are the same as the PS2 version of the game, and when compared to other quality Wii games they do not match up. This was especially true of environmental textures which were very plain in some places. The cutscenes were also shoddily done, with the lip syncing done by the characters not very convincing. The camera is also an issue, with no way to adjust it besides running around until it is facing the way you want it to be facing.

Another weakness of The Force Unleashed is that it is extremely unbalanced. The boss fights consist of dying repeatedly and respawning with the boss gaining back a portion of their health after each death. This becomes increasingly annoying and repetitive. This imbalance stretches beyond the boss fights as well. In some parts of the game there are so many stormtroopers it is impossible to defeat them all without dying. This also goes the other way, with certain parts of the game being very easy. There are no difficulty settings to fix these issues either. To go along with this, the AI can be very buggy at parts. In one instance while fighting a particularly difficult rancor, it ended up repeatedly running into a wall and running in place so I could just sit back and use lighting over and over until its health was drained enough to jump into a quicktime event.

The Force Unleashed is very short, with the campaign only lasting about 6 hours. But the game’s story is definitely the high point. It is very immersive and definitely worthy of the next chapter in the Star Wars saga.

Overall The Force Unleashed for Wii was a fun game but is in need of some touch up. Many of the game’s issues can be explained by a lack of time to perfect certain features. It definitely is a great feeling to force push stormtroopers all over the screen, but it is not good enough to make us overlook the game’s flaws. The game can be very frustrating at times with the camera and lock-on issues, unbalanced boss fights, and the PS2 visuals certainly not helping. The game is very short and the only thing making people pick it back up is the duel mode. The Force Unleashed is definitely a must play for Star Wars fans, but for the rest of you this is a title worth only a rent if you are interested enough to play it.