The Force Unleashed - updated impressions

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Read our ultimate multiplatform preview, complete with Teenage Leia

The Wii doesn’t have the ponies under its hood to run all of the game's complicated physics and AI, so LucasArts hired developer Krome Studios to build a separate, but parallel, game. The Force Unleashed on Wii follows the same story arc in single player mode, but adds a multiplayer duel mode. The Wii remote responds to five different movements for saber attacks, while the Nunchuk controls Force powers. It looks like Krome has done a good job of integrating the motion controls while capturing the spirit of the euphoria-powered versions. For its part, the duel mode offers one-on-one, best-of-five arena fights during which the demonstrators thrashed the controls around frantically while attacking and dodging. While it’s difficult to judge things like tactile responsiveness by watching someone else play, we got the distinct impression that these guys were having a good time with it.

Krome is also developing the PS2 and PSP versions of The Force Unleashed. Not much was said about the PS2 version, except that it's a port of the Wii game without the motion controls. The highlight of the PSP version was a glimpse of its “classic moments” mode, enabling you to re-enact five iconic moments from the movies. These will include scenes like the fight aboard Jabba's barge in Return of the Jedi, or Order 66 from Episode III, and will grant the player full access to the game's roster of crazy powers. The only one we saw, however, was the epic Vader-Skywalker duel on Bespin - which you'll play as Darth Vader.