Force Unleashed Features

Force Unleashed is set during the period between Episodes III and IV, players hunt Jedi in the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
With Force Unleashed you can unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible:
The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls.
The Force Unleashed Secret Apprentice won't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb.
In addition to new adversaries created just for the game, such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians, players will also confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader.
Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility.
Decisions made by players throughout the game will determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it.
The Force Unleashed is LucasArts' first internally developed title for next-generation consoles, and it represents the first in-game collaboration of talents and technology between LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic, two companies now finally under one roof at the new Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio district.
The Force Unleashed debuts Digital Molecular Matter from Pixelux and euphoria behavioral simulation from NaturalMotion Ltd.
LucasArts is preparing an unprecedented promotional effort around the launch of The Force Unleashed, encompassing a full line of toys and game-based action figures from Hasbro, as well as a full publishing program from Dark Horse, Del Rey and Palace Press.

Force Unleashed Demo

On August 21st, PS3 and Xbox 360 owners were able to unleash the Force in the comfort of their own homes by downloading the demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.
The demo gave players a taste of one of the early levels in the game: the TIE Fighter Construction Facility, under siege by a Jedi General named Rahm Kota. The Secret Apprentice has been sent by Darth Vader to hunt down and destroy the General, but is also told that, in order to remain a secret, he is to leave no witnesses.

Also included in the demo is a tutorial intended to teach players how to use their Force Grip power.

An entirely new chapter in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game's expansive story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist Vader in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the first next-generation game developed internally at LucasArts, and will be available on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system.

As its name implies, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time together: Digital Molecular Matter, by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd.

Force Unleashed

Force Unleashed creator interview

Star Wars Force Unleashed Interview by Action Trip with Lucas Arts project leader Haden Blackman.

ActionTrip: How long have you been with LucasArts and what's your part in the project SW: The Force Unleashed?

Haden Blackman: I've been with LucasArts almost 11 years. I served as the Project Lead on The Force Unleashed, which at LucasArts is essentially a hybrid between an executive producer and creative director. I set the vision for the game and was accountable for bringing it home across all platforms.

AT: To what extent was your team restricted while working on characters, worlds and other aspects of the game. How much of the development was overseen by George Lucas?

HB: I don't think we ever felt restricted at all. Early on, we worked with George Lucas to determine the setting for the game -- the era between Episodes III and IV -- and he gave us a rundown of what is happening during that time period. He told us the types plots Darth Vader might be hatching, what some of the major characters are doing, and how the Emperor might play a role in any story we create. Once we had an approved story (which took many months), we checked in with George Lucas and Lucasfilm Licensing periodically, but we basically had a great deal of freedom to explore the time period, really push the boundaries of the Force, and tell the story in a way we felt would be most compelling.

AT: What about storytelling? Does the game follow a linear plot or will players be able to choose how things unfold?

HB: The player will have some choices that impact the outcome of the game, but we really focused on a strong central narrative that feels true to the Star Wars films and allows for character development. In terms of player choices, we also wanted to invest a lot of our energy and effort into gameplay significant choices: so, you can choose how to rank up and improve your powers, or which combos to buy, for example.

AT: Other than Vader and Bail Organa, will we see any other familiar characters from the movies or the SW: Expanded Universe?

HB: Yes. Princess Leia has a pivotal role, as does the Emperor. We also have a few surprise cameos from the films and the Expanded Universe, which I think will show fans that we are committed to staying true to the existing continuity wherever possible.

AT: The main character's Force powers are clearly the heart of the gameplay. However, we would like to know more about the lightsaber fights. Have you guys worked on perfecting the combat techniques for lightsaber duels?

HB: From the outset, we considered the lightsaber one of your most important Force powers - we wanted to treat it like the other powers, re-imagining how the main character might use it in the context of the Force unleashed. In all versions of the game, we focused more on accessibility and having something visceral and cool happen every time you hit a button (for wing the Wii remote, in the case of the Wii version) over hardcore dueling or hardcore fighting game mechanics. We created a versatile combo system that allows you to not only string together lightsaber attacks, but also combine them with Force powers: you can charge up your lightsaber with lightning, for example, or end an attack with a violent Force push that sends your enemy into the upper decks. There are dozens of combos, ranging from "easy" two-button press combos to advanced launchers. The lightsaber also has two distinct attack patterns: if you button mash really fast, you get a series of light attacks that are quick, but do only moderate damage. If you time your button presses right, you get a series of really flashy flourishes that actually hit an enemy multiple times, dealing a huge amount of damage. On the harder difficulties, mastering this can be really key.

In keeping with our focus on accessibility, the main character auto-blocks a percentage of blaster attacks coming at him, but you can also manually block which allows you to increase the chance that you'll block and actually reflect a bolt back at an enemy. Blocking is important in fights against melee units, including Jedi: if timed right, you can create an opening for a counter. Finally, we have both lightsaber and Force power lock mini-games, which occur when fighting specific units, including our bosses.

AT: Judging from the shots and footage released so far, the environments are pretty diverse. Exactly how many different worlds will players be able to visit in the game?

Holy crap, I can't stop this mini-gun! Wait, I'm coming, I'm coming!

Mushrooms, dude!

HB: We haven't released the full list yet, but we tried to capture a wide range of environments, from the very familiar to planets that might have only been glimpsed in one of the films, to brand new locations. Felucia is a personal favorite of mine because we didn't see much of it in Episode III, which allowed us to really develop the planet for the game. Also, players will get to see some of these locations transform over time as the Empire takes control. You visit a very pastoral Kashyyyk early in the game as Darth Vader, and then return as the Apprentice later to find it nearly burned to the ground, the populace enslaved.

AT: Balancing the game must've been difficult. Vader's secret apprentice has powers that appear almost God-like. How will the AI stand up to this? Force-wielding enemies will no doubt be able to fight back, but how does this reflect on weaker foes?

HB: Well, first and foremost, we wanted to give you some enemies that you could deal with pretty easily, to make you feel like a powerful Force wielder. But even with "cannon fodder" like stormtroopers, we wanted to present some sort of challenge, especially as the game progresses and on higher difficult levels. For these types of units, we focused on wearing the player character down through overwhelming numbers and eventual attrition. You might be able to handle a small group of stormtroopers, but if you get surrounded by them and don't use your powers effectively and efficiently, you can get ripped to ribbons pretty quickly. We also devoted a lot of energy to creating enemies. We have over 50 different enemy types, each with varied abilities, resistances, and tactics. Our design challenge was finding the best ways to place and combine these units in each of our environments. A scout trooper, whose primary attack in the game is a long-range sniper rifle, isn't much of a threat in the corridors of the TIE Fighter Construction Facility, where you can close with him easily. But put that sniper in a nest on Kashyyyk, and then place a bunch of heavier units on the ground to engage and slow the player, and the sniper becomes a huge threat. Among our enemy types, you'll also find a number of really tough units, including the Dark Trooper, Royal Guard, various Force wielders, and "giant" units like the AT-ST and rancor monster.

AT: Combining DMM and Euphoria was obviously a great challenge. Do you see these technologies used in other projects and for different genres?

HB: I certainly think we can continue to expand on the ways these technologies interact, and the technologies themselves. We've barely scratched the surface of simulation-based gameplay, environmental interactivity and destructibility, and bio-mechanical AI. While different genres might be better at exploiting these technologies, I think that many game concepts could benefit from the level of interactions we've achieved in The Force Unleashed, and I hope we continue to blow the doors off of real-time simulation moving forward, especially as we become more skilled at building games for the current generation of consoles and start looking towards the next generation.

AT: The upcoming demo features the Tie Fighter Construction Facility level and a different conclusion to that level - one that won't be in the final game. Is this ending an important segment of the overall story in The Force Unleashed?

HB: We added a new enemy at the end of the demo that players normally won't encounter at that exact location so that players get a taste for what it's like fighting a bigger unit.

AT: If all goes well with Force Unleashed, can we expect a sequel some time in the future?

HB: I hope so!