The Force Unleashed has arrived . . .

[Donovan Morningfire]

Regarding Vader's comment...

I don't think it was so much about raw power, but just the broad range of what was capable with the Force. The Death Star was the equivalent of a jackhammer, and really only good for one thing (though it did that one thing pretty darn well), and really didn't require much in the way of expertise to use. The Force is more like MacGuyver's Swiss Army knife, a multi-purpose tool that can be used to do a whole lot of things, and those with a greater degree of mastery could accomplish more impressive things.

Maybe this plays into my biggest gripe about the Star Wars EU under KJA, is that the authors of the time took Vader's suggestion far too literally (re: Spaceballs and "combing the desert"). That's why I was glad when Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology explored Luke learning to "turn down the volume" on his Force-usage and be more subtle in the usage of his powers; i.e. don't use a sledgehammer to drive a nail into the wall when a thumbtack works just as well to hang up a poster

Vader's Apprentice is kind of like the Death Star in that he's a telekinetic wrecking ball, and initially really only good at destroying stuff, since that was how he was trained.

That said, I do think this is a dynamite sourcebook, and worth the wait. The Force stuff wasn't quite as impressive as I was hoping, but the rest of the material (especially the Imperial section) more than makes up for it

 

[SPECTRE666]

My wife got me the Wii version. It's a blast. I've already found a bug. I use this to power up my character. Basically you go through a level gaining experience, use that experience to purchase a new power or increase a power you already know. Save the game, then turn off the Wii. Turn the Wii back on and resume your game. It will start you at the beginning of the level instead of where you saved it. You will also have all the powers and points you had after you saved the game. You can get about 70K exp points in the first mission as the apprentice. Play the first mission 3 times trying out new powers and doing different things can net you about 210K points. By the time I finished the first mission I had all powers maximized.

-I am doing that with my ps2 version. Well as maxed as they can be for the ps2 version.


SPECTRE

 

[Felon]

My wife got me the Wii version. It's a blast. I've already found a bug. I use this to power up my character. Basically you go through a level gaining experience, use that experience to purchase a new power or increase a power you already know. Save the game, then turn off the Wii. Turn the Wii back on and resume your game. It will start you at the beginning of the level instead of where you saved it. You will also have all the powers and points you had after you saved the game. You can get about 70K exp points in the first mission as the apprentice. Play the first mission 3 times trying out new powers and doing different things can net you about 210K points. By the time I finished the first mission I had all powers maximized.

Why, that's not a bug, that's a feature.

You don't even have to go to the trouble of turning the console off. Just die and you'll also restart at the checkpoint with all XP and levels intact. Or, just go to the menu and use the mission select option to go back as far as you want, also with full XP and levels. At least that's how it works on the 360.

Not sure why this would be considered a bug or exploit. You're leveling at the same rate as if you were progressing through the game, just in a more monotonous, repetitive method. It's not like Kota's hard to beat anyway. And while you can buy force combos and force talents, new powers (like Force Lightning and Force Repulse) don't unlock until you complete missions (though again, this is on the 360).

 

[Felon]

Regarding Vader's comment...

I don't think it was so much about raw power, but just the broad range of what was capable with the Force.

That, plus he was speaking of the force in the abstract, not anything he's seen anyone do with it.

Having said that, in some the expanded universe novels, you do indeed have force users ravaging planets and even stars. There's also a sith planet-killer in KotoR II. In fact, there's an article on the Wizards discussing the very topic of ultra-powerful force users.

 

[Felon]

Hm, I'm a bit disappointed; Darth Vader's apprentice himself doesn't seem to be listed among the NPCs in the last chapter.

So, when will be ready to stop calling this guy "apprentice"? I keep getting visions of Donald Trump wearing sitting in a dark throne wearing Palpatine's robes.

 

[Creeping Death]

Without giving anything away, I thought the storyline was fun and interesting but the ending was a big let down.

 

[possum]

The second half just got too silly for me.

As for the campaign book, I liked it rather well.

And the Apprentice does have a name

[sblock]
Galen Marek[/sblock]

 

[Creeping Death]

The second half just got too silly for me.

As for the campaign book, I liked it rather well.

And the Apprentice does have a name

I haven't seen the campaign book. I am looking forward to it though. I'm playing a human Jedi in the Dawn of Defiance adventure path and I'm hoping to get some of the talents from there.

There are so many things that could have happened with the story line to make it a ton better.

[sblock]For me it got dumb when vader shows up and betrays his apprentice a second time. Then Obi-wan using a proxy droid (cool concept btw) shows up out of the blue. The ending had huge stupid continuity issues as well.

I think they should have stuck with the start the rebellion thing so that I can overthrow the emperor shtick and then have it spiral out of control as it takes on a life of its own. The apprentice no longer controls it or is no longer the force behind the rebellion.

Another thing I would like to have seen is them having Rohm Kota find out or figure out that the boy is the same one that blinded him. That would have been cool.

I think my two alternate versions could lead to a Force Unleashed 2 and 3 as well.[/sblock]

Bah, hindsight is 20/20 and armchair quarterbacking is too easy.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

[sblock]For me it got dumb when vader shows up and betrays his apprentice a second time. Then Obi-wan using a proxy droid (cool concept btw) shows up out of the blue. The ending had huge stupid continuity issues as well.

I think they should have stuck with the start the rebellion thing so that I can overthrow the emperor shtick and then have it spiral out of control as it takes on a life of its own. The apprentice no longer controls it or is no longer the force behind the rebellion.

Another thing I would like to have seen is them having Rohm Kota find out or figure out that the boy is the same one that blinded him. That would have been cool.

I think my two alternate versions could lead to a Force Unleashed 2 and 3 as well.[/sblock]

To clarify some things for you...

NOTE: Major game spoilers ahead.

[sblock]That wasn't Obi-Wan using PROXY. That was just PROXY. If you notice earlier, PROXY uses that image to ambush Starkiller. Its just a 'form' in his files. Also, if you notice, PROXY was at the meeting the whole time...he was posing as Leia during the meeting(probably to protect her or...something). So he was already around to, essentially, save Starkiller from Vader. Using Obi-Wan's image was just a good way for him to get Vader's attention.

Overall, the Rebellion plot+continuity work perfectly. It shocks me how WELL it ties things together, and I'm a HUGE EU freak. There's pretty much nothing I haven't read/watched/whatever. The ONLY slight thing is that its the Corellian Treaty that officially forms the Rebellion, but for all we know that was signed later. I was so happy to see Garm Bel Iblis there at the meeting, too.

And the whole back and forth with who's forming the Rebellion ending up back at the Emperor makes perfect sense. He knows there are dissidents, and organizing them together provides a perfect way to just wipe them out right then and there. Its classic Palpatine, and almost the exact same kind of strategy he used in Jedi to lure the Rebel fleet to Endor. The only reason you don't see Starkiller in charge is because...well, he gets killed. That leaves Bel Iblis, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa to really get things going(still the loose end of what happened to Kota...), and sets us up for everything we 'know' perfectly. It makes sense. Starkiller HAD to die. There was almost no way to get around that to tie things up. Makes me sad, though.

And as for Kota, he DID figure out it was Starkiller that blinded him. He says as much in the Light Side(canon) ending to Juno Eclipse. How long he knew is unsure, but if you remember, right before being blinded he had a vision of himself in Starkiller's future. He basically saw it coming the whole time, and likely did the Jedi thing and let things take their course without making a fight where one didn't need to happen. Did I mention I love Kota? Awesome dude.

Hope that wasn't too much rambling and actually made sense...[/sblock]

 

[Creeping Death]

To clarify some things for you...

NOTE: Major game spoilers ahead.

[sblock]That wasn't Obi-Wan using PROXY. That was just PROXY. If you notice earlier, PROXY uses that image to ambush Starkiller. Its just a 'form' in his files. Also, if you notice, PROXY was at the meeting the whole time...he was posing as Leia during the meeting(probably to protect her or...something). So he was already around to, essentially, save Starkiller from Vader. Using Obi-Wan's image was just a good way for him to get Vader's attention.

Overall, the Rebellion plot+continuity work perfectly. It shocks me how WELL it ties things together, and I'm a HUGE EU freak. There's pretty much nothing I haven't read/watched/whatever. The ONLY slight thing is that its the Corellian Treaty that officially forms the Rebellion, but for all we know that was signed later. I was so happy to see Garm Bel Iblis there at the meeting, too.

And the whole back and forth with who's forming the Rebellion ending up back at the Emperor makes perfect sense. He knows there are dissidents, and organizing them together provides a perfect way to just wipe them out right then and there. Its classic Palpatine, and almost the exact same kind of strategy he used in Jedi to lure the Rebel fleet to Endor. The only reason you don't see Starkiller in charge is because...well, he gets killed. That leaves Bel Iblis, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa to really get things going(still the loose end of what happened to Kota...), and sets us up for everything we 'know' perfectly. It makes sense. Starkiller HAD to die. There was almost no way to get around that to tie things up. Makes me sad, though.

And as for Kota, he DID figure out it was Starkiller that blinded him. He says as much in the Light Side(canon) ending to Juno Eclipse. How long he knew is unsure, but if you remember, right before being blinded he had a vision of himself in Starkiller's future. He basically saw it coming the whole time, and likely did the Jedi thing and let things take their course without making a fight where one didn't need to happen. Did I mention I love Kota? Awesome dude.

Hope that wasn't too much rambling and actually made sense...[/sblock]

Wii version is different. Very different.

[sblock]Proxy never tries to kill you. In the Wii version I killed vader and was about to take his place at the emperor's side, then betrayed the emperor and then got soundly beaten and turned into some sort of half machine half human mutant. So in the Wii version, you never rescue the leaders of the rebellion, you kill vader, and then get jacked by the emperor. All in all, I say continuity is broken. Oh, did I mention that that ending took place aboard the first unfinished death star? That would put Vader dead before "A New Hope"[/sblock]