Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

We've journeyed to that galaxy far, far away more times than we can count and every time we've landed roles as the do-good Jedi or alternatively as some second-tier Rebel pilot, destined for obscurity. So naturally, the concept powering Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has proven highly compelling in its starkly different approach to the popular universe that George Lucas first imagined for the silver screen decades ago. In this new game, developed for just about every system and handheld, you play for the other side -- specifically, the Dark Side of the Force. As a secret Sith apprentice to Lord Vader, you embark on a Force-filled quest to kill Jedi and execute your master's shady agenda, which ultimately involves overthrowing the Emperor. And because you're operating in secret, you will indiscriminately fight and dispose of enemies both Rebel and Imperial, which means you can force grip a Stormtrooper and throw him off a bridge just as often as you can a Rebel guard. Hey -- sometimes, it's good to be bad, especially when you happen to be playing as a bad ass.

For consoles like PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, The Force Unleashed is a technical showpiece, designed from the beginning to marry a cutting-edge physics system to Force-powered play mechanics. Obviously, Nintendo's handheld isn't capable of those same horsepower-driven marvels and thus, developer n-Space has instead focused its attention on creating a portable effort with a unique control scheme that makes innovative use of the touch screen. That noted, the game retains much of the storyline and options from its console-based counterparts, such as a satisfyingly twisty tale whose protagonist evolves (both mentally and physically by way of upgrades) over the course of the experience. There are some welcomed presentational extras in the DS title like, for example, the fact that you're able to move about your ship as you explore the galaxy. Probably most impressive, however, is that the game itself runs in fully polygonal 3D complete with scripted animations in the foreground and background as you play, so you might be running across a bridge and the scenery will explode behind you even as a Tie-Fighter zooms by in front.

Force Unleashed is an action title, plain and simple. You control main character "Starkiller" (pretty subtle) through a series of themed stages while fighting through hordes of foes and will oftentimes do intimate battle with a giant boss character or Jedi to conclude each level. There's a visible template to the action from the very beginning and you will notice that despite the admittedly varied selection of worlds and backdrops, the design rarely strays from the same basic formula, a truth that betrays the guise of gameplay variety. You move forward or sideward and use your lightsaber to cut down enemies, your lighting powers to electrify them, force grip to hold them in the air, force push to knock them forward and saber throw to swipe them from afar. When you are not locked in battle with small groups of adversaries, you are usually moving toward the next battle, as there is very little to do in-between each fight, a small disappointment. The good news is that the fights themselves are usually enjoyable, save for the occasional hiccup.

Back to the control scheme, which is the biggest innovation and also a configuration that's just as likely to frustrate some gamers as impress them, particularly those groomed on a D-Pad and buttons. There are two ways to play. You can grip the DS traditionally with both hands, use the D-Pad to move Starkiller about and use your right thumb to execute touch-screen-executed actions. Yeah -- everything is done via the touch-screen -- the Y, X, A and B buttons are merely used as a collective secondary D-Pad for lefties. Or, you can hold the DS with your left or right hand and use your stylus to execute all those touch-screen moves. Initially, I tried playing the traditional route because it simply feels more comfortable. And I had high hopes, too. But disappointingly, I found the touch-screen controls to be unreliable without the stylus. Sometimes, I would try to make a precise jump to a platform and would fall to my death, not because I didn't tap the on-screen jump icon with my thumb, but because the game failed to recognize my tap. As soon as I relented on traditional control and picked up the stylus, everything worked perfectly and I had no more such issues.

If you're thinking that an all-touch-screen-controlled action game sounds gimmicky, I'm right there with you, but my advice would be to try it before you dismiss it. n-Space has developed an admirable interface that works very well, even during intense battles where speed is a requirement. Located on the touch-screen are six icons for different maneuvers, all of them mentioned previously in this write-up. Sure, you can simply repeat-tap the center-positioned lightsaber icon and Starkiller will swing his saber into a mini-combo -- and that'll do some damage. But if you want to take out the bigger enemies and Jedi, you're going to want to start stringing together maneuvers, a process both strategic and fun. You can vertically, horizontally or diagonally draw on the screen, connecting two or more icons (which will all light up green) into various special moves, all of them more powerful than standard attacks. Successfully performing these multi-icon attacks during battle is extremely rewarding. Of course, you can't just blast out special moves at will -- an on-screen force meter depletes and regenerates as you use these moves so you'll have to be smart about choosing when to call upon them.


I've seen too many DS games that don't play to the handheld's strengths or, worse, try to duplicate a formula that works on home consoles. Force Unleashed, on the other hand, does something new -- something that feels like it could only be done on Nintendo's portable -- and I have to give the developer credit for that. That the control scheme actually works well (at least, when you're using the stylus), is surprising. I have to be honest, the cynic in me was expecting the worst.

Sadly, though, Force Unleashed for DS does have its share of disappointments. While the developer really pushed the DS hardware with its detailed polygonal 3D environments, the game slows down when the backdrops are either too big or when there are more than a handful of enemies on-screen at any given time, which is unfortunate for an action game. Meanwhile, the auto-controlled camera system sometimes shoots the action from a disorienting viewpoint that cannot be corrected -- you'll just have to live with it as you fight your way on. Occasionally, you'll duel with enemies so far in the foreground that you can't even see them so you'll be left guessing and hoping your aim is true.

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