Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Force Unleashed II on Wii - Three Things that need to be Fixed

I have been playing through the first 'The Force Unleashed' (TFU) game on the Wii again in anticipation of the second game coming out at the end of October (trailer down below). I realize that I pretty much only discuss retrogames but TFU has been out for a few years so who is to say when a game becomes retro…a post for another time.

I am sure that 360 and PSIII fanboys are going to lose their minds that I am playing it on Wii. Before panties get too much in a bunch, I do realize that the graphics are much better on other consoles. But, you can't do your best 'Star Wars Kid' impersonation on other consoles. Some games are meant for motion controls and anything that emulates a light saber falls into that category. Some of what is talked about here may even apply to the PSIII and 360, I don't know, I never played it on those consoles. Those that have, if these apply, let me know. That is what the comments section is for...

Anyway, that being said, as I am replaying it I had forgotten some things that really annoy the ever living hell out of me when dealing with TFU. Three simple things that they can change to make the game a helluva lot more entertaining to play.

Work on the character view. I cannot put into words how many times I am in a corner getting my ass handed to me because I can't see the enemies that are behind me as I am waiting for the AI to realize, "hey, there is someone beating the hell out of me from behind, maybe we should turn to see who it is instead of staring at the wall." This is not the only game that I have played with this issue, but it is just as vexing as any game that I have played with this issue. It just needs to be a little quicker on the draw as it is cumbersome to be slashing with your light saber and having to use the D-Pad to turn the view.

Make autosave actually autosave. I am not even going to lie and pretend that I read the game manuals before I start playing. I don't. It just isn't in my blood. I know some gamers commit the thing to memory prior to picking up a controller - nope, ain't me. The first time I sat down with TFU, I played through the first couple of missions and had to get back to work so I saw it autosave mid-level and closed down. Later I went ahead and sat down with it and it didn't autosave my position. I had to start all over again at the beginning of a relatively long level. I played through a little bit and let it autosave and then reset the software (yes, I could have broken out the manual at this point but again - not in my blood). Still didn't save. Like a defeated man finally having to admit he needs to stop and get directions at a gas station (pre-GPS), I broke out the manual and read that, "nope, just like you don't read instruction manuals, we don't save your position." What is the point of an autosave that doesn't save the position?

Make the Wiimote a little less touchy. As I said in the beginning, I got this on the Wii because I embraced my inner-nerd and wanted to use my Wiimote like a light saber. And, for the most part, it isn't too bad at doing that. But, it is really touchy. You can't perform much with it because any movement seems to have an instant thrashing motion. So instead of going in directions with it, you end up just going side to side when put in a tough spot. I am not really sure what they can do to help that but better control would be brilliant.

And, as promised, here is the betrayal trailer for 'The Force Unleashed II' in case you live in a cave and haven't seen it. Since all of the Internets are posting the Yoda trailer, I will avoid it. If you have a Wii and for a moment think that the graphics will look even remotely close to this, I have a gorgeous piece of property I would like to sell you.

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