Preview
A Wii Bit of the Force
June 20, 2008
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is also coming out for Nintendo’s ubiquitous Wii console, which opened up a whole new interactive aspect to the development team at Krome Studios. “The biggest challenge for us was to take this massive game and make the lightsaber and all of the Force powers work as well as we could on the Wii,” said Dan Wassen, producer of the Wii game.
The key draw for Star Wars fans will be the Wii’s exclusive Duel mode, which allows a pair of would-be lightsaber artists to lock light virtually using the Wii Remotes and Nunchuks. This will enable fans who have played with toy lightsabers while camped out for the films to actually see their arm movement result in cool maneuvers with their in-game characters.
The Duel mode of the game spans nine locations from the films and 25 characters from the movies, including classic foes like Darth Vader and Jedi like Yoda. This mode will take a traditional three kills and you win approach to the fighting action. Power-ups with additional Force powers will be up for grabs as duelists combine lightsaber wielding (using the Remote) with Force unleashing (using the Nunchuk) to take out their opponent. Each environment in this mode will be interactive, further adding to the depth of play.
“You can go Unleashed for a short period of time and pull off bigger moves and completely go crazy, which can tip the balance of a battle,” said Wassen. “With Duel on the Wii, we’re delivering on the promise of moving around the Star Wars universe with the ability to wield your lightsaber.”
The Duel mode isn’t the only exclusive for the Wii game. The single-player story line includes an exclusive level that features the Jedi Temple, where Darth Vader sends his apprentice to poke around. In addition, Darth Desolous, will show up in the Wii game story and will be playable in the Duel mode. The Emperor’s Sentinels, particularly hard enemies to battle, also appear only in the Nintendo game.
In addition to pushing the graphical prowess of Wii–a console not known for its visuals, Wassen said the Krome team has built a powerful engine capable of utilizing ragdoll physics and creative destructive environments. The end result, even at this early stage, is a rare Wii title that delivers an experience that’s just not possible on the Xbox 360 or PS3 and more than makes up for the lack of high definition visuals that those consoles provide.
–John Gaudiosi
Click this link to pre-order your copy of The Force Unleashed
