Zomgrei

Oh. My. God.

The demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed launched today for the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles in their respective online stores.

I had the opportunity to play this demo several times through already, and I must admit: this is (so far) one of the best Star Wars games I’ve seen to date. A hard title to make, considering in the arena with it are games like Knights of the Old Republic (I and II), Republic Commando, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Academy, and Masters of Teras Kasi. Of course, the last one in that list is a joke, for those of you who know about Masters of Teras Kasi.

The Force Unleashed demo is fantastic. The demo left me drooling for more. I wanted to be able to smash through the entirety of the very active, very filled TIE Fighter factory it placed me in. The combat system, huge amount of combos, the great animatics, the nice array of Force powers, and the sheer amount offun involved in just this little demo are enough to sell me on the game already.

My favorite aspect of the game has to be the combat system. It’s a hack ‘n’ slash-style system, with the lightsaber attack mapped to X, Force lightning mapped to Y, Force push mapped to B, jump mapped to A (you can double jump by tapping A twice), and Force grab mapped to the right trigger. The beauty of this is that you can chain your different abilities together. For example, tapping X-Y infuses your lightsaber with Force lightning, strengthening it’s attack. X-Y-Y does a more devastating saber attack with Force lightning involved. X-B attacks with the lightsaber, then with a Force push, launching your opponent far and high, usually into a nearby wall.

The controls are very tightly designed, and very responsive, so it was not frustrating at all to learn the commands needed to send Stormtroopers flying into explosive barrels or off the edge of platforms. The animation in the game is fantastic. A Stormtrooper being lifted by your Force grab near another Stormtrooper will often lead him to cling desperately to his nearby ally, causing both to be lifted off the ground and easily disposed of. The physics are impressive, and give quite a realistic feel to such an outlandish Sci-Fi game.

The only complaint of the demo I have thus far is that it’s too short! It takes me about ten to fifteen minutes (if even that) to complete the demo on Sith Warrior mode. Were it longer, though, I’d probably not be here writing this review, now would I?

My rating for this demo is 10/10. A rarity, but a necessity in this case. This demo is a must-try!
I will write a full review of The Force Unleashed when it launches in September!