The new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed novel topped The New York Times bestsellers list this past weekend under the “hardcover fiction” category. While I certainly want to check out the book myself, I’m willing to wait to play the video game first. I certainly want to be surprised with the story and have been avoiding any spoilers, including books.
September could end up being the most exciting month of 2008 for Xbox 360 releases. Personally, I know I will be picking up at least 5 games in September. I’m sure Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be the top seller, but there are several other games that could surprise us. Which Xbox 360 titles are you planning to buy in September? We’d like to know.
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I’ve finally had the time to run through the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo on Xbox LIVE a few times. The demo starts you out with “the apprentice” having a conversation with his master, Darth Vader. This really sets the tone for the demo and hopefully we’ll see many conversations like this in the full game.
You start the level oboard a giant ship and your goal is to kill everyone and everything. Before you go on your rampage, it’s a lot of fun to start picking up random containers and throw them wherever you please with your powers. The demo also starts you off with numerous force abilities including dash, defend, the saber attack, high jump, Force Lightning, Force Push and Force Grip. While nearly all work flawlessly with the simple control scheme, I wasn’t too thrilled with the defending ability. While standing still, it’s easy to defend against blaster attacks, but it’s a little tricky to defend yourself while moving. Other than that, movement is fairly fluid and feels right. Flinging objects at your whim is probably the #1 aspect of the demo. It’s definitely a fun feeling to fling a canister at a moving Tie-Fighter to take it out of the sky.
The Big News this week is actually a demo. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed hits the PSN by way of ‘The Force”. You WILL download the demo.. Move Along…Move ALONG. In other PS3 news, Ratchet & Clank join the PSN with a reasonable $15 price tag. Look for our review of the game. Lastly, the usual Rock Band Tracks added, cool, Duran Duran. Check out the link for the rest of the goodies that hit the market today!
Downloadable Games
Add-on Content
Rock Band DLC
Via Blog.PlayStation
We’re big fans of GameTrailers TV here at Kezins and, as fans, we look forward to the usual breaking news and exclusive trailers the show provides. In case you guys missed it last night, their reveal Godfather II episode made an exclusive mention of a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo landing on Xbox Live and PSN this Thursday, August 21.
Kezins got a chance to play the same demo at Comic Con in July and we came away impressed with how fun the force powers were to use. Fun enough that we forgot we had a lightsaber with us the whole time.
Considering the likely quality of Quest for Booty, Galaga Legions, and the above mentioned demo releasing this week, we must be heading into fall early this year.
Via GameTrailers TV
Comic Con has never been a place to make new announcements or unveil any big surprises, but its still a nice little convention that gives the public (along with the press) access to early builds of games usually presented at E3 first.
I was fortunate enough to meet up with the 1up crew (thanks for the invite, Tina!) on Saturday and they got me into the sold-out event to try out a few upcoming titles:
Street Fighter 4
Capcom’s latest in the Street Fighter series seems a bit confused: it updates the visuals to a beautiful cel-shaded look but scales back the complexity introduced in the Street Fighter III games. Regardless, I sat down with with the arcade version of the fighter and won a match against 1up’s Tina Sanchez…which she claims happened because she answered a phone call. By “claims,” I mean she actually received a call.
Judging by the one match I played, fans will be happy with the game as the characters animate well and and the graphics add a welcoming sheen to the experience. It might feel like a nod to Street Fighter II, but I came away impressed with the brief demonstration.
Soulcalibur 4
I tried the game out on Saturday (and beat Tina with the maybe-cheap Yoda), but it’s already out so its kind of meaningless to give impressions of a game available now. So go ahead, buy the game and stay tuned to Kezins’s review of the game shortly.
Mega Man 9
The theme with the upcoming Mega Man game seems to be “retro devolved” in that the title is presented in graphics reminiscent of the 8-bit era. Yes, they didn’t even go with the just-as-retro 16-bit visuals. Regardless, trying out the two levels at Comic Con reminded me just how fun the gameplay still is for the revered series.
Makes me want to bust out my copy of Mega Man: Powered Up and Mega Man Collection to play and ready up for the incoming DLC game. It might have ancient 8-bit stylings, but the game appears to be just as hard and fun as you remember it to be.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
The line to this game seriously tested my patience but it was all worth it. I played what seemed like the first level of the game as Darth Vader knights his “Secret Apprentice,” and sends him out on his first mission.
From my playthrough, the force powers were well-implemented and could be used freely until your “force meter” winds down. Enemies, doors, hinges, barrels, etc. can all be manipulated and flung around at will. I had tons of fun pulling out bars where X-Wing fighters were zooming past and exploding right into my little “speed bump.”
Afro Samurai
This game based on the popular Spike TV show, Afro Samurai, which features the foul-mouth Samuel L. Jackson follows the American-anime’s art style perfectly. Plenty of dark colors and Japanese huts abound while you take down enemies in the streets.
While the controls made use of simple commands such as a slow-down, kick, and punch button the number of enemies forced me to vary up my combos a bit. The gameplay is said to be influenced by the soundtrack, but Comic Con’s noisy setting wasn’t ideal for experiencing this. So far, so good, though.
Dark Void
I got to play this game only briefly, but judging by that I noticed that the framerate wasn’t too good. Which isn’t a big deal, because the framerate is the final thing to get optimized in a game’s development.
Other than that, it played a bit like Gears of War with less gruesome kills and animations. I’ll be taking a wait-and-see approach with this game.
Castle Crashers
The full extent of how much I played the game can be wrapped up with this: I got my hands on the demo’s Xbox 360 controller and…that was it. The demo had been crowded up by 3 other players already and their wayward friend came up to me and ask “If I’d mind.”
I did mind, but decided to not be a jerk and gave up the controller, letting him experience the game with his friends. Eww. The game’s out August 27 on XBLA, though, so no biggie.
Well, that’s about all I played. Everything else was either really crowded or comic book-related; sadly, I had very little knowledge on them “graphic novels” to appreciate that aspect of the convention. I might just read up for next year’s show.
I blogged. Tina blogged. Check out the posts and comment, if you will.
The official ‘Force Unleashed’ covers for the United Kingdom (UK) release of the title are finally out there. They all look pretty much the same, but we figured we’d go ahead and upload all of them for your viewing pleasure. We’re not sure at this point which version will be the best for your money, but our bets are on the 360 and PS3 versions. The Wii version also ads the fun aspect of light saber fighting.
“Listen Obama, take off those coke bottles and ‘choke hold’ those Republicans”
At Kezins.com, we do not talk religion, politics or salary. I can’t say that for Star Wars conversations, and all the “What If’s” we ask each other… daily. So, when you throw Star Wars into the mix, we’ll write about it. Don’t kill the messenger but George Lucas has some strong comments, and I only understand them when he speaks ‘Star Wars’. Correct he may be.
George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama.
Lucas was in Japan on Wednesday to promote his latest film, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” as Obama clinched the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.
“We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama,” Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were.
Obama, “for all of us that have dreams and hope, is a hero,” Lucas said.
Lucas is the creator of the blockbuster “Star Wars” series, as well as the adventures of the swashbuckling archaeologist Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford.
Obama on Tuesday sealed the Democratic contest after a marathon battle with Hillary Clinton, becoming the first black White House candidate nominated by a major party.
Unfortunately, it looks likes rumors that there would be some form of multiplayer for The Force Unleashed on the PS3 and 360 turned out to be false. From what I’ve seen, it still looks like they are both better options than the Wii version. The only thing that the Wii version will offer that’s special is light saber duels, which could be a lot of fun, but I wonder how quickly the novelty will wear off. Regardless, The Force Unleashed is shaping up to be one of the greatest Star Wars games ever. I have a feeling it’s not going to be as welcomed as KOTOR, but it will probably be close. In other LucasArts news, the company decided not to renew it’s membership with the Electronic Software Association.
Check out G4’s Daily Wrap-Up with Layla Kayleigh:
The Star Wars saga continues in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a videogame developed by LucasArts, which casts players as Darth Vader’s “Secret Apprentice” and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The 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 the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi – and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.
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