Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

• 1. Development And Design History

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  Game planning began in the summer of 2004 when a small group of about six developers started with a clean slate. They spent more than a year brainstorming ideas for what might make a good game. Over one hundred initial concepts were whittled down to twenty or twenty-five that included making the game the third entry in the Knights of the Old Republic series. Other ideas involved having the protagonist be a Wookiee superhero, Darth Maul, a bounty hunter, a smuggler, a mercenary, or the last member of the Skywalker family living five hundred years after Return of the Jedi. The decision to focus on the largely unexplored period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope helped energize the design team. Consumer feedback helped the developers narrow in on seven concepts, and elements from those seven went into The Force Unleashed overall concept. Production was greatly aided by concept art which was intended to bridge the two Star Wars trilogies visually. An off-hand comment about the Force being powerful enough to pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky inspired an image by senior concept artist Amy Beth Christenson. This illustration became an important part of the developers idea pitches and evolved into a major moment in the game. These illustrations also inspired the creation of dozens of simple three-dimensional animations. Eventually a one-minute previsualization video highlighting the idea of kicking someone ass with the Force helped convince the designers that The Force Unleashed would be a great game. George Lucas told the designers to go make that game once he saw the video. Once the concept was solidified the development team grew from ten to twenty people.

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• 2. Narrative Structure And Plot Summary

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  Shortly into the Galactic Empire rule Imperial spies locate a Jedi survivor named Kento Marek on Kashyyyk. Darth Vader arrives as the planet is invaded and eliminates any Wookiee resistance between him and the fugitive Jedi. Reaching Kento home Vader easily defeats him in a lightsaber duel but senses someone far more powerful nearby. Initially believing it to be Kento Jedi Master Vader prepares to execute the defiant Jedi until his lightsaber is suddenly force-pulled from his hand by Kento son Galen. Sensing the boy strong connection to the Force Vader kills Kento and an Imperial squadron after they try to execute Galen and secretly takes him as his apprentice. Years later an adult Galen completes his Sith training and travels aboard his ship the Rogue Shadow alongside training droid PROXY and Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse. Starkiller targets include Rahm Kota Kazdan Paratus and Shaak Ti who are hiding across the galaxy. Two of these three Jedi masters inform Starkiller that they have foreseen that soon Vader will no longer be his master before he finishes them. After the latter death Starkiller returns to Vader again but the Emperor arrives having uncovered Starkiller existence. To prove loyalty to the Emperor Vader appears to kill his apprentice by stabbing him and hurling him through space. Unbeknownst to the Emperor Vader has Starkiller recovered and resuscitated. Vader sends Starkiller to foster rebellion among Empire enemies hoping to distract Emperor spies for Vader to overthrow him. The group travels to Kashyyyk to locate Kota contact senator Bail Organa. Starkiller discovers his old home and meets his father spirit who expresses remorse for Starkiller upbringing under Vader. To gain Bail trust Starkiller rescues his captive daughter Princess Leia Organa and liberates enslaved Wookiees at her request. Starkiller learns from Kota that Bail went missing on Felucia after searching for Shaak Ti in hope she would rescue Leia. Starkiller travels to Felucia to find Bail discovering he had been captured by Shaak Ti former apprentice Maris Brood who succumbed to Dark Side after her master death. Starkiller defeats Brood but spares her life and convinces Bail to join rebellion. To convince more dissidents to do same Vader suggests that Starkiller attack a Star Destroyer facility on Raxus Prime to show that Empire is vulnerable. Juno learns Starkiller still serving Vader and chastises him but agrees to keep silent. On Raxus Prime Starkiller is attacked by PROXY who attempts to fulfill programming by killing him. Still Starkiller defeats him destroys facility and pulls falling Star Destroyer out of sky using Force. Bail meets with fellow senators Mon Mothma and Garm Bel Iblis on Corellia to formally organize rebellion only for Vader to arrive and arrest them and Kota. After overpowering Starkiller Vader reveals that he was merely tool to lure out Empire enemies and had never intended to use him to overthrow Emperor. Starkiller escapes after PROXY sacrifices himself by attacking Vader. Juno rescues Starkiller who uses Force to see that Kota and senators are being held on Death Star. After Juno kisses him and he bids farewell Starkiller battles his way through station to reach Emperor throne room. Vader confronts him but Starkiller defeats his former master and faces Emperor who tries to goad him into killing Vader so Starkiller can take place. At this point player must choose between saving Kota or killing Vader. If player chooses Light Side Starkiller defeats Emperor but spares him at Kota urging. The Emperor unleashes Force lightning at Kota but Starkiller absorbs it sacrificing himself to allow Kota and senators to escape on Rogue Shadow. If player chooses Dark Side Starkiller kills Vader and is congratulated by Emperor who commands him to kill Kota to sever ties to Jedi and become Sith Lord. Starkiller instead attacks Emperor who foils attempt and then crushes him with Rogue Shadow severely injuring Starkiller and killing Juno Kota and senators.

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• 3. Gameplay Mechanics And Systems

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  The Force Unleashed is a third-person action game in which player character weapons are the Force and a lightsaber. Developers treated main character lightsaber like another Force power and wanted to ensure something visceral and cool happened with each button push. Game has combo system for stringing lightsaber attacks and for combining lightsaber attacks with Force powers. Experience points earned by killing enemies and finding artifacts can be used to increase Starkiller powers and traits. Gameplay intended to be easy to learn; development team included horrible gamers to help ensure game accessibility. Players can casually run and gun through game but game rewards those who take stealthy more tactical approach. Game includes enemies that are easy to overcome; game difficulty arises from presenting these enemies in large numbers that can wear down player character. Additionally enemies learn from player character attacks; using same attack on different characters can sometimes lead to player character doing less damage. Enemies number over fifty have various strengths and weaknesses; developers faced difficulty of effectively placing them throughout games varied environments. Players must also carefully manage their automatically-regenerating Force energy when using exceptionally strong Force abilities as overuse of them can drop Force meter below zero to negative level. This incurs Force debt that disables all Force powers for period of time until auto-regeneration removes debt. More Force debt incurred means longer player will be without Force abilities.

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• 4. Cast Performance And Voice Acting

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  Sam Witwer provides Starkiller voice and likeness. Audio director David Collins saw resemblance between Starkiller concept art and his friend Witwer. Collins asked for Witwer headshot and audition reel and few weeks later Witwer sat for forty-five minute audition. Witwer secured role by demonstrating to developers deep understanding of character. In portraying Starkiller Witwer brought many new ideas about character and imbued him with sense of humanity. Developers tried not make Starkiller so evil that players would have difficulty connecting to him aiming to strike balance between loyalty to master and growing sense of disillusionment with Empire. Matt Sloan voices Darth Vader a powerful Dark Lord of Sith high-ranking enforcer of Empire and Starkiller master who discovers Starkiller as child and trains him. Nathalie Cox voices Juno Eclipse Rogue Shadow pilot and Starkiller love interest. Star Wars creator George Lucas uncomfortable with early concepts had apprentice develop connection with young Princess Leia encouraged developers to create love interest instead. Cox in addition to strongly resembling characters concept art had integrity and poise appropriate to Juno Eclipse that helped actor secure role. Adrienne Wilkinson voices Maris Brood Zabrak survivor of Jedi Purge and Shaak Ti apprentice. After her master death at Starkiller hands Brood falls to dark side and uses Felucia inhabitants to wage war on Imperial forces trying occupy planet. Wilkinson brought strength to performance leading to expansion of role with more dialogue. David W. Collins voices PROXY Starkiller droid sidekick designed to constantly test lightsaber and Force abilities as well as deliver important messages through holographic projection. Jimmy Smits voices Bail Organa senator from Alderaan and Princess Leia adoptive father who becomes founding member of Rebel Alliance. Tom Kane voices Kento Marek Captain Ozzik Sturn. Larry Drake voices Kazdan Paratus. Susan Eisenberg voices Shaak Ti. Catherine Taber voices Princess Leia Organa. Dee Bradley Baker voices Boba Fett. Rob Rackstraw voices Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lloyd Floyd voices Luke Skywalker.

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• 5. Platform Variations And Technical Differences

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  The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions powered by Ronin engine utilize high-definition graphics and advanced dynamic destruction effects. These versions also support downloadable content in two expansions expanding game plot. Nintendo versions use motion controls to implement Starkiller attacks with Wii version using Wii Remote to execute lightsaber attacks and Nunchuk to wield Force powers. Nintendo DS version utilizes touchscreen to execute attacks where single actions can be executed by tapping certain region of screen. Each region corresponds to particular action such as jumping or Force pushing while more advanced attacks performed by dragging stylus across neighboring regions of screen. PS2 and PSP versions identical in content to Wii version which different than PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. Since these versions don't support or use DLC they exclusively intersperse certain levels with three of five Jedi trials that Starkiller completes at Jedi temple on Coruscant to hone abilities. All included in DLC pack for PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. PSP version also exclusively features five additional historical bonus levels that re-enact pivotal scenes and duels throughout Star Wars saga. Nintendo DS version utilizes three-dimensional graphics like all other major versions but lacks voice acting. Wii and handheld versions support multiplayer. Players duel against each other as famous Jedi and Sith in Star Wars saga in Wii version. Handheld versions utilize wireless multiplayer for four-player battle mode. Switch version port of Wii version with numerous differences retains motion controls from Wii version allowing players use Joy-Con controllers perform various actions like swinging lightsaber and using Force powers. Graphical improvements minor but benefits from stable sixty frames per second performance improvement over some older versions with frame rate issues. Includes Jedi Temple missions originally DLC on other platforms. Some iconic moments from Xbox 360 and PS3 versions like bringing down Star Destroyer with Force simplified or presented as cutscenes.

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• 6. Commercial Success And Critical Reception

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  1.738 million unit sales across all platforms made The Force Unleashed third best-selling game globally in third quarter of 2008. As of July 2009 it had sold six million copies. The Force Unleashed was both fastest-selling Star Wars game and LucasArts fastest-selling game. The Force Unleashed won Writers Guild of America award for Best Video Game Writing. During twelfth Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded The Force Unleashed Outstanding Achievement in Adapted Story. Electronic Gaming Monthly said game ambitious yet dissatisfying while GameSpot said game gets more right than it does wrong. GameSpot called game story more intimate and more powerful than Star Wars franchise prequel trilogy. X-Play identified games story one of few bright spots and said visuals successfully convey Star Wars classic used universe feel. GamePro and GameSpot praised game art and physics and GamePro also commended Starkiller cool powers. IGN praised game voice acting particularly Witwer performance as Starkiller. Washington Times identified Mark Griskey soundtrack another star of game and Tracksounds called it most entertaining Star Wars score since Return of the Jedi. Time called The Force Unleashed seventh best video game of 2008. Game received GameSpot 2008 award for Best Use of Creative License and nominated for Best Voice Acting. Entertainment Weekly called The Force Unleashed second-worst game of 2008 and GameTrailers called it most disappointing game that year. Official Xbox Magazine cited games linear gameplay and lack of multiplayer as reasons falls short of being all-engrossing Star Wars experience. GamesTM suggested allowing players take hack-and-slash approach means many will never view title full potential. Wired X-Play and GameSpot criticized games third-person camera and sequence requiring player make Starkiller pull Star Destroyer out of sky.

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• 7. Legacy And Canon Status Changes

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  Following Walt Disney Company acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 game became part non-canonical Star Wars Legends continuity in 2014. Alternative origin for Rebel Alliance and Galactic Civil War given in other forms of Star Wars media such as Star Wars Rebels. Downloadable content three levels released for PS3 Xbox 360 computer versions first set during events main story explores more Starkiller background while second and third expand upon non-canonical Dark Side ending taking place own alternate timeline. All three DLC packs included on-disc Ultimate Sith Edition for all abovementioned three platforms. Coruscant DLC depicts Starkiller at some point before traveling to Kashyyyk deciding visit abandoned Jedi Temple learn more about identity and connection Force. After fighting way past Imperial security forces reaches old Council Chambers where meets Kento Marek spirit who tells him needs pass three Jedi trials. Upon doing so Starkiller faced mysterious Sith warrior revealed dark reflection himself created by own fear. Following defeat finds holocron left by Marek who reveals himself father and implores return light side. Tatooine Hoth DLC set during alternate depictions A New Hope Empire Strikes Back respectively present Starkiller Emperor trusted assassin referred Lord Starkiller. In Tatooine DLC tasked retrieving Death Star plans stolen Rebel Alliance tracked to Tatooine. Visits Jabba Hutt who has knowledge plans whereabouts revealing possession two droids Mos Eisley. When Starkiller refuses work Jabba attempts have Starkiller eaten rancor. Killing beast escapes Jabba palace after massacring Jabba mercenaries including Boba Fett. At Mos Eisley kills Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi after duel allows droids board Millennium Falcon though manages place tracking device ship before takes off. In Hoth DLC partakes Battle of Hoth where Empire attacks weakened Rebel Alliance base. During battle infiltrates base orders capture Luke Skywalker begun training as Jedi. Finds defeats Skywalker base hangar severing right hand. When Falcon tries take off seizes ship Force while goading Skywalker give into Dark Side rescue friends. Skywalker attacks Starkiller with Force lightning causing let go ship congratulate Skywalker embracing Dark Side planning make apprentice same way Vader did him.

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