A long time ago, in a gaming studio far far away… LucasArts
I should have known better, an opening line that never bodes well, but
I fear it is all I can think to say… Lucas Arts are a good game studio when
it comes to some of their puzzle games, BUT their Star Wars games; oh my god can
they be annoying sometimes… it's just to much formula (wash/rinse/repeat
until everything is dead), and beating the end of level baddies is just a matter
of figuring out what attacks work on them, and hoping you can stay alive long
enough to do so, and if the AI thinks you're doing to well, it WILL see to it
that you crumble under a barrage of attacks!!
The Vader battle at the end (I've done both endings) just put the final nail
in the coffin for me, and ended in the destruction of one of my joypads by
launching it accross the room… a lot of the time, the camera angles work well,
but at others, like the infamous Vader battle, all they do is hinder you, as it
locks the camera down!!
In the most part, this game isn't bad, but I can't help but think if it was
anything other than Star Wars, it would be a decidedly average platformer that
I wouldn't have completed, I played it purely because I wanted to see
everything I could in this game, and because like any true Star Wars fan,
cannot resist the lure of anything where I get to use a lightsaber!!
The gameplay does get better as you start learning the force powers, but to
begin with, it's very slow going and just a “hack/slash” your way forward,
the graphics are of course second to none, and the score is so iconic that
I doubt there would be anyone who doesn't recognise it, and the cut scenes are
impecable, as we would expect from Lucas Arts!!
Overall though, if we discount the Star Wars franchise, underneath the shell
is a decidedly average venture into next gen gaming, that is VERY annoying in
places, and I feel we were promised so much more… I know an awful lot of
work went into this, but I can't help wondering if the budget wasn't all blown
on the new story, because there are so many games that play so much better… if
you're looking for the next Halo 3, or Bioshock, then this isn't going to be
it… it lasted me 10 hours of gaming (if that) and I was glad to have
finished it by the end, rather than wanting a sequel as I was with both of the
aforementioned games… I know both of those other games I mention are first
person, and this isn't, so maybe it's not a fair comparison, but all I want to
say is: SW: FU could have been so much more than it is, it had so much
potential… if you haven't already bought it, rent it for a week, because once
you complete it, you won't be revisiting it.