Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
I wasn't expecting much from the gameplay because of all the reviews I'd read, I was really just playing it for the story and to have some fun throwing Stormtroopers about. I wasn't prepared for how frustrating the combat would be though, it really is bad. On a couple of occasions I came to close to harming my children (my sofa and my Bravia) but thankfully I restrained myself. There are a few key problems with the combat;
- The camera. During normal gameplay you have the control of the camera but it makes no attempt to keep up with the action so you'll often struggle to see where you're getting hit from. For boss fights it switches to a fixed camera and not a very good one. On too many occasions it was so far out I struggled to see what was going on or even where I was on screen.
- Enemies. There are too many kinds of enemies that I've never seen in a Star Wars film. When I play a Star Wars game (particularly one based on or close to the original trilogy) I want it to be filled with nostalgia. I dont want to fight fucking super Stormtroopers that seem to have an answer to all of my abilities and no weaknesses. I dont want to fight AT-STs that can wield the force. I dont want to be put in the middle of a room with the aforementioned enemies, plus snipers, rocket turrets, flame thrower Stormtroopers, flying Stormtroopers and invisible Stormtroopers all at the same time. It's very annoying to be knocked down by a sniper, then just as you get back to your feet, knocked down by a rocket, then just when you get back up, knocked down any ridiculous Stormtrooper variant. Many of these enemies are resistant to the force or lightsaber attacks and I just didn't care. I played the game on the easiest difficulty because I just wanted to have fun and although I was never in danger of dying because I had so much health, the combat was still really hard because I was being forever knocked down and trying to figure out the right attacks to use. I just wanted to cut things up with my lightsaber and throw people into walls etc. You're playing as this guy who's supposed to be stronger than Darth Vader but you feel weak the whole time.
- The Lightsaber. I went into this a little already but I'll explain it some more. In the Star Wars films, if you get hit by a lightsaber, you're dead. You might aswell be wielding a baseball bat in TFU because it doesn't cut anything and it never kills anything in one hit. It just doesn't feel powerful.
- The targeting. There's often so much crap littering the screen and the targeting is so bad that trying to grab an enemy is pointless, it's easier just to electrocute them or bludgeon them to death with your lightsaber. If the targeting doesn't fuck you up, all the shit knocking you down will.
The story is pretty interesting, it gives you new insight into Vader's character and the creation of the Rebel Alliance. The story of Galen Marek (the main character) is a little hard to take in.
All in all, I thought it was a pretty bad game. The story is interesting for SW fans but it's hardly the stuff of legend and the the combat is dire.