Warhawk

I was about to review Starhawk, the sequel to Warhawk, but I felt like it would be remiss of me to ignore the first game (… well technically the first Warhawk was the PS1 game, but I haven’t played that yet, so…).

I’d warn about spoilers, but this isn’t exactly a story-based game. It’s pure multiplayer. The story is a simple red vs blue war:

The Chernovans (red) and the Eucadians (blue) are two warring factions, and it’s quite unclear as to what they’re fighting over. In my head the Chernovans have invaded Earth and the Eucadians are protecting it, but I have no idea. They’re not clear at all over what’s happening. The guns and some of the vehicles are very World War II-like in appearance, as is the attire of the Eucadians as opposed to the sci-fi uniforms of the Chernovans. Then there’s the Warhawk, which shatters the WW II look with their sleek designs and extremely tight turning radius.

The Warhawk is an awesome, fast, powerful, agile aircraft that can easily go from hover to flight mode in a second. You start with just machine guns and chafe, but you can eventually gather eight different types of weapons that will be used for very different things; some are defensive (chafe, cloaking), others are air-to-air (swarm missiles, homing missiles), others are air-to-ground (cluster bombs, TOW missiles), and even more weapons. Many can even be used for multiple functions – dropping a bomb on low Warhawks is hilarious.

Now on the ground, you also have many different weapons. You have eight slots to fill, like in the Warhawk, but some are upgrades or variations. The knife, for example, can be upgraded to a wrench (same damage to ground troops, but with heavy damage to enemy vehicles and the ability to repair ally vehicles). The mobile medical unit occupies the same slot as mines (just gotta select it twice). Each weapon has a job: medium-range rifle, short-range weapons (pistol, knife, flamethrower), RPG, sniper rifle, mines, etc.

The Warhawk isn’t the only vehicle in the game; no, there are others:

Tank: Self-explanatory. Extremely powerful, tough beast that can take out a Warhawk in a single shot – if they can hit it – and ground troops in even less time. Has a second seat for another trooper to fire their troop weapons from the top hatch.

4 x 4 / Jeep – has three seats. Driver, gunner for the 50 cal, and a passenger (who just sits there… doing nothing).

APC – has a grand total of seven seats. Driver and six guys that can use their guns from the top hatch. Functions as a mobile respawn point (and you get a random weapon if you respawn in it). Can create a shield bubble that can protect it from damage and will destroy Warhawks if it touches the shield. Also has an offensive move where it charges an enemy at full force (can kill anything or anyone in a single shot – except tanks).

The Dropship – tough air transport that can carry seven people (who act as gunners) as well as pick up a single vehicle. The driver has the ability to launch chafe to defend against missiles and can transform to utilize extremely powerful guns that will shred anything in its sights.

Jetpack – Makes you faster and gives you a lot of mobility, but you are also extremely vulnerable while flying. Is a wonderful parachute.

(note: APC, dropship, and jetpacks are from DLCs)

I also want to stress that the maps are big. No, I mean really big. Big enough to have many separate battles in many types of conflicts. Ground troops vs ground troops, tanks vs tanks, and of course dogfights in the air. You can limit the map for smaller games, which is kind of awesome. For example: in one map. There is a small village in the middle with a cathedral to snipe from. Guess what? In a small variation of this giant map, you fight in the tiny village. It’s when you do that that you realize how big the big maps are.

The game is incredibly unique in how it’s played. It’s not a shooter and doesn’t strive for realism (graphics are kind of cartoon like… yes, this is the extent of my discussion on the graphics. Sorry to disappointed); instead, it encourages strategy and imagination. Why use mines to defend when you can toss them on an enemy vehicle and let the good times roll? Why booby-trap vehicles when you can kamikaze mined Warhawks into tanks (parachute optional…)? Attack Warhawks with your flamethrower when they get low. Knife a guy in his jeep as he drives by. Snipe Warhawks out of the sky if you have the skills.

It’s all imagination and making things up as you go. That’s where the fun is and that’s how you win. The average shooter enthusiast usually gets chewed up in this game.

Warhawk has one of the steepest learning curves of any multiplayer I have ever played. Not only is it a rather difficult and unusual game, but most of the noobies ran away after they kept getting killed, meaning it’s littered with veterans.

Kills in this game feel so much more satisfying than they do in others, because you really earn them, especially in heated dogfights. Warhawk is incredibly unique, fast-paced, brutal, and hard. Yes, I do recommend it… if you have the patience.

Mirror’s Edge:

Now you all know I am completely unbias in all of my reviews (shut up), but today, I’ll have to take off my critic’s cap for a shameless display of fanboyism as I talk about possibly my favorite game this generation.

... fine, I'll try to be as critical as I can.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You play as Faith Conners, part of an underground network of messagers known as Runners who carry letters and packages back and forth under the nose of Big Brother in a world where the government rules and monitors everyday life. Cops hassle them, but they usually don’t pay much attention – until a politician running for mayor, with the promise of restoring liberty, is assassinated. Faith’s sister, Kate, is the only suspect, and Faith is out to clear her name while uncovering a conspiracy to destroy the Runners, one of the last hopes for freedom.

What don’t I like… hm.

I don’t care for the cinematics. They went for a comic-anime look (though not quite manga, if that makes any sense), and it just looks weird. I’d have preferred in-game graphics.

This is absolutely the biggest gripe: it is TOO SHORT. Yes it’ll take some time to complete all the Time Trials and Speedruns, but the campaign is way too short. That is my biggest problem with this game.

I love the characters, particularly Faith, Mercury, and Jacknife. They could have been explored more so, but perhaps a little mystery is a good thing.

In-game graphics are beautiful. They aren’t spectacular, but they are nice to look at and give the city a feeling of sterility that really added to the atmosphere they were going for.

Don’t let people fool you: this isn’t an FPS. Yes, you are in first-person and you shoot things, but that is not the focal point of this game, nor should it be. You can go the entire game without shooting anybody – you even get a trophy / achievement for doing so. You can pick up a gun, you can shoot people, you can snipe… but they don’t make you. They encourage you to play smart and figure out a way to avoid combat. The real reason you play this is for the freerunning, and they do this extremely well. It’s fast paced, exhilarating, satisfying, and especially unique. Come for the running, stay for the running; you come expecting a shooter, and you’ll only be disappointed. I only wish the melee had more options, but again, it doesn’t matter. You will get more satisfaction from successfully completing a speedrun than you will shooting the guys who get in your way (you HAVE to avoid most of the combat to get a good time)

People have discussed a multiplayer… I don’t know how that would work. Maybe with the addition of races, but we already kind of have that with the time trials and speedrun leaderboards. CTF wouldn’t be a bad idea, but again, it’d force combat.

This doesn’t break the game so it’s not an outright complaint, but I would have really liked an open-world mode so I can run around exploring the city parkour style. A world builder would have also been quite nice. Maybe in the sequel… maybe.

Mirror’s Edge is probably the most unique video game of this gaming generation. We’ve had shooters, we’ve had sports, we’ve had comic books… but this, this is something else entirely. I absolutely love Mirror’s Edge – I only wish it were longer. Now I can only hope they make a good sequel WITHOUT destroying the gameplay that made Mirror’s Edge a true gem.

The Force Unleashed II.

….. uggghghhhhhhhhhhhhhh….

This is…. This game is mind-numbingly STUPID. It’s disgusting in how crappy this game is. It… my God.

Does this matter? Not as if this game – or its predecessor – should be considered canon by anyone.

BULLCRAP SPOILERS INCOMING!!!

…. FINE. So because Starkiller was SUCH a BRILLIANT SUCCESS and SO LOYAL TO DARTH VADER, they decided that they needed to make a NEW ONE. So the original Starkiller has NOT returned from the grave, but he has been CLONED. BRILLIANT. So time after time, they fail, and so the Empire just keeps paying for this useless project (… alright, maybe this is realistic), and eventually they find what appears to be a successful clone, who suffers from flashbacks from the original Starkiller (….. why? It’s… he shouldn’t… never mind). For some odd reason, he just decides to lash out at Vader and make his escape (which Vader doesn’t try to stop….), going in search of Kota (again), then looks for Juno like a love sick puppy who can’t keep his hormones in check for five minutes (because “genuine love” here translates, as it did in the first game, to “she’s the first girl I ever met – SHE IS MY TRUE LOVE!”). All comes to a head when he INVADES KAMINO with the REBEL FLEET, CAPTURES DARTH VADER, AND THE REBELLION INTENDS FOR HIM TO STAND TRIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My anger from the FU review has officially been replaced by PURE RAGE here! This is a terrible, terrible video game! My God what is wrong with them?! I could (and did) do better! This is….. MY GOD!

ALL RIGHT. First off, the obvious:

CAPTURE DARTH VADER?!?!?!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?! DID YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?! DID YOUR BRATTY LITTLE FOUR YEAR OLD CRY AT DARTH VADER’S “scawy mask,” AND NOW YOU WANT TO PROVE THAT GOOD TRIUMPHS AND EVIL IS ALWAYS PUNISHED?! NO! NO! THIS IS WRONG! THIS IS HORRIBLY WRONG! NO GOOD CAN COME OF THIS! I SWEAR THAT IS WHY LUCASARTS DOES WHAT THEY DO! THEY HAVE LITTLE KIDS THEY WANT TO APPEASE! OR BETTER YET, THEY HAVE THE LITTLE BRATLINGS BANG AWAY AT THE KETBOARD THEMSELVES! THEY WANT TO MAKE THE “sweet wittle kiddies” HAPPY! THAT’S WHY THAT THING STARKILLER AND ITS SISTER-ABOMINATION AHSOKA WERE SPAWN FROM THE PIT OF HELL! AND BY HELL, I MEAN THE BLOODIED FINGERS OF LUCAS WHICH ARE STARTING TO MATCH MY BLOODIED FINGERTIPS AS I TYPE THIS! I AM USING EVER OUNCE OF WILL NOT TO HURL THIS BLASTED THING ACROSS THE ROOM!

SCREW YOU, LUCASARTS, AND SCREW YOU IF YOU LIKED THIS GAME!!!!

MOVING ON!!!

Next up on the chopping block: the cameos.

Boba Fett and Yoda were both hyped up tremendously. They have a combined two minutes of screen time, and I’m being generous. Yoda appears briefly when Starkiller goes to Dagobah for some unknown reason (and Yoda oddly acts normal here… okay. I guess hiding his Jedi status from Luke was more important than hiding from a COMPLETE STRANGER). Boba Fett is hired by Vader to hunt down Juno as some sort of bait. We see Boba there when he’s hired, when he grabs Juno, and when he jumps to hyperspace as the end credits roll. So yeah, they were really only there for publicity. They served no purpose.

Now, Kota. Why in the world was he in a gladiator arena? Better yet, why was he in a gladiator arena ON AN IMPERIAL CONTROLLED PLANET?!?! The Empire KILLS JEDI. They don’t put them in gladiator pits; they call up the Inquisitorius and say “kill his ass.” THIS IS BULL!

Now our damsel in distress puppy-love interest here has somehow risen in the ranks and become a high-ranking official right up there with the best of ‘em (and yet nobody has heard of her, since this game takes place TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). So Boba gets on Juno’s ship, captures her, and launches an army of soldiers at Starkiller. This isn’t a boarding party! THIS IS A TAKEOVER! How in the world did he “sneak” a literal army and a GIANT ROBOT on a corvette?! What does it SHRINK?! Did Boba smuggle it in and hydrate it with water when he was ready?!

And because Starkiller and Kota are such BRILLIANT MASTERS OF THE FORCE they fail to notice something is wrong when they board the ship until a ROBOT SPIDER ATTACHES ITSELF TO STARKILLER’S FACE. Then the moron realizes “oh hey, something’s wrong!” So spider-boy and Uncle Ben here make their way through the ship where they find a damaged PROXY (who, if you didn’t know, survived the events of the first game. Of course, you wouldn’t know this unless you read the original graphic novel – those of you who didn’t think the comic and novel were canon can just chew on that for awhile; although NONE OF THIS SHOULD BE CANON) and then find Juno, who is in the clutches of Boba Fett. So what does our hero do? STANDS THERE IN AWE. WAY TO GO, LOVER BOY! You let a BOUNTY HUNTER leave with your girl without anything more than a sad face of concern! You think you might want to whip out those twin lightsabers you’re flaunting in the promos?

You know how at this point, because I was oh-so clever and mentioned lightsabers in the previous comment, I usually go into the gameplay? Well not today! I’m not finished ranting! So you just sit there and read this completely irrelevant paragraph. Done? Good. Back to the rage.

I have trouble believing that the Rebellion pre-Yavin is capable of taking control of a planet. Not just any planet; taking over a world that has an Imperial occupation, fine, maybe. But a planet that is in full Imperial control and is one of their MOST IMPORTANT BASES. It’s their prime cloning facility (… well kind of. Sort of… kind of. Not getting into that right now), and protected by multiple Star Destroyers and a pretty decent fleet. The Rebellion has a bunch of Corvettes and Nebulon-B frigates. Well that’s all well and good, but it would take quite a few of those to bring down ONE Star Destroyer.

And now Starkiller is even more overpowered, if that’s even possible. He can somehow use his powers to amp up a giant cannon to take out a Star Destroyer and FLY. Yes, he FLIES. Well maybe it’s more like “falling with style,” but he still does it twice in the game. He flies straight through a giant monster and flies through Kamino’s upper atmosphere.

Gameplay time:

It’s basically an enhanced version of the first game. And that would be good for most sequels, but it doesn’t do much to improve my opinion. Fine, I can carve up Stormtroopers pretty easily, but I still don’t feel like a real Lightsaber duelist (never have outside of Jedi Outcast/Academy). Force powers are generic – they’re just fun to look at, nothing more. It’s absurdly easy and the harder modes are only hard because they take your health away. It’s not a good system if the difficulty setting only takes away your ability. The only time that’s acceptable is to add a touch of realism, but in a game like TFU II that kind of goes out the window. I say that the proper way to do difficulty settings is to enhance AI or make them more aggressive, not add damage or take away damage. Many RTS games succeed at this and I think it’s a good formula.

Graphics are okay, but seem odd. The cinematics are nothing special and, quite frankly, boring. Environments are very few and it’s easy to get bored with the ones you actually do get.

Also: IT’S STILL TOO SHORT. How IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?! THAT’S A CRIME! Six hours at best and that’s if you’re taking your sweet time! And this is just as expensive as… REAL games?!

Before my closing paragraph, let me say that the dark side ending of this game is MUCH better. It has one of Starkiller’s OTHER clones kill you, all the Rebels on Kamino die (like Kota and Juno… yay), and this clone becomes just another Dark Jedi working for the Empire. It sweeps everything under the rug rather nicely, for me. If it ended this way, then all of this is kind of… forgettable in-universe. But LucasArts never has the guts to make the DS ending canon.

This is an even worse game than the first Force Unleashed, and that’s saying a lot. Horrible game; don’t play it and use the money to buy something else instead. TFU is another FU from LucasArts with two middle fingers tossed in for good measure.

I am quickly running out of video games to review, specifically Star Wars games. Yeah, I have other games besides the ones I reviewed (and I intend on reviewing a couple more), but many won't be interest in seeing me review those or I myself just don't want to review them.

So what say you? What next? Should I stick with video games, do movies next, comic books?

Also, yeah, Star Wars will remain a focal point, because I don't think many people care about my opinion on anything else (you can speak up... now).

Mass Effect 3:

Has there ever been a third anything in a trilogy that topped the sequel or original? I pose this question to you all; it can be video games, books, movies – I don’t care. While you mull it over, I’ll talk about Mass Effect 3 – yes, I will give my own answers. You’ll have to wait until the end of this review (and don’t skip to the bottom. READ THE REVIEW). This will be longer than my usual reviews… for obvious reasons and reasons you guys should expect / look forward to.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

(Seriously. No holding back. At all. I reveal everything today)

The day has come. The Reapers are here and perform an all out blitz on the galaxy, taking out fringe solar systems and gunning for Earth. Shepard, luckily, is on Earth at the time for a hearing before a panel of military leaders when the Reapers strike. He escapes, reuniting with Ashley or Kaidan (whoever survived the events of the first game), Joker, and the “upgraded” Normandy (why it was upgraded, I don’t know). You soon meet with Liara on Mars, where you discover an ancient Prothean artifact that might hold the secret to destroying the Reapers. Shepard must complete this device while uniting the galaxy into a massive armada to face off against the Reapers once and for all – live or die, it all comes down to this.

That’s the plot, right there.

I’m going to do this review very differently from my others. Typically, I do plot, graphics, gameplay. Today, I’ll do graphics and gameplay briefly first, and then plot, because plot will take a lot more room and, quite frankly, matters more.

Graphics: beautiful. Truly. People look great. But they needed to spend more time fixing things. I can’t count the number of times limbs go through other body parts, or going through walls. I’d have settled for ME2’s graphics. They were good enough, and they didn’t bother me like this does. Yes, it looks nice, but the problems take away from that for me.

Gameplay is good. I was a little disappointed; I had heard of stealth gameplay, but there’s none. Absolutely none. Now it’s just a strategically placed headshot to be utilized on the first enemy before everybody attacks you. That’s as far as the stealth goes. I will say that I love the inclusion the heavy melee; as one who used melee a lot, this is a welcome addition. I also like the upgrades for the guns and the types of guns. For the most part, it’s not a matter of strong vs weak. It’s all preference. I liked this system and I had a lot of fun matching mods with weapons.

As for the multiplayer… look, this is an RPG, BioWare. IT DOESN’T NEED A MULTIPLAYER. It was pointless – truly pointless. Was it fun? Eh, not really. Goals didn’t change; it was just the same thing over and over. I see no point in it.

And now… everything else.

I know, I know. Everyone wants me to dive right into the ending; I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it. But not yet. I have to talk about something that bothered me in a different way. I’ll save the ending for last.

You see, everybody says “it’s good until the last ten minutes.” I beg to differ. While this is true for the most part, I was having issues with this game after MINUTES of playing. I never even got past the first tutorial missions before problems became apparent. RPG has been severely cut. I was sitting, watching Anderson talk to Shepard. He poses a question, and I immediately sit up, ready to answer…

And I’m not given a choice. NONE AT ALL. The question was something like “how’s civilian life treating you” and Shepard responses with “the beds are softer.” Something like that. And that really bothers me. To me, the choices should have been:

Paragon: I’d rather be out there saving the galaxy.

Neutral: The beds response.

Renegade: I’m tired of sitting here while the brass sits on their asses ignoring what’s right in front of them.

My Shepard would have gone with option 1 or 3. But 2? Far too casual for my tastes. Maybe that’s me; maybe some would have said #2, but that’s the thing: we’re not given a choice, and this happens MANY times throughout the game. I felt like I was watching a movie half the time. I’m fine with that; I love Uncharted and I don’t complain when Drake says things I wouldn’t say. But Uncharted isn’t an RPG, and this is. I feel like ME3 was made for the casual shooter-enthusiast. I’m sorry, BioWare, but the last game in a trilogy is NOT the time to make serious changes. ME2 made serious changes to the gameplay, and I loved those changes; they didn’t touch the RPG elements (they even improved upon them by adding the paragon/renegade button prompts during conversations) but vastly expanded and improved on the shooting elements, balancing everything out to perfection.

There’s a moment when Shepard is talking with Anderson, and Anderson says “maybe you can convince the council; you were a Spectre.” YOU ARE ON THE COUNCIL, ANDERSON! What is this? That’s so stup….

Wait… UDINA? UDINA IS ON THE COUNCIL NOW?! What the… what? For a second, I wondered whether I picked the wrong save to load, but then I remembered: I NEVER chose Udina. Never. I can’t stand him; he always got in my way, whereas Anderson went out of his way to help me. Why is Udina on the Council now? I don’t care if it’s explained somehow (though I must have missed it). Explanation or not, it throws any illusion of choice out the window. I chose Anderson, and so it should REMAIN Anderson. I get the idea that Anderson is on Earth helping the resistance, but that’s not how it should be. Maybe it’d be better if Udina were on the Council so Anderson can stay and protect Earth, but it’s MY choice, for good or ill.

It was at this point in the game where my opinion of the game dropped considerably. Then I saw how Cerberus is my enemy, regardless of what I did in the end of ME2. I get the explanation, but that’s the thing: explanation, explanation, explanation. They shouldn’t have to explain. It all just negates the choices.

Speaking of choice, this really pissed me off: in the end, the Illusive Man is ready to shoot Anderson. Apparently, my paragon level was just a little short of max (yes, I punched out Kai Leng), and so I couldn’t talk down the Illusive Man. It is a RENEGADE PROMPT to shoot the Illusive Man and save Anderson… what is this?! Oh yeah, and if I don’t save him, the Illusive Man aims for me, where I get another renegade prompt, and die if I don’t choose it.

I also hate how side quests are acquired. It pisses me off. I OVERHEAR someone? Really? Why don’t I talk to anybody? Is that “too hard” now? Come on. Just more proof of how the RPG element has been stripped bare.

The Normandy: may be a stupid gripe, but it bothered me. I like the new additions, but I feel they could have been done without removing other things. And I liked the elevator from the second game; I don’t like a simple panel on the wall. I like the act of physically entering an elevator. It was a real feeling of immersion. Also, while looking at the level select screen at the elevator, it no longer tells you where people are on the ship – which is extremely annoying, especially now since people tend to wander around the ship. A lot.

I was disappointed by the gathering mechanics. I liked the formula in ME2 and I wish they didn’t change it. I liked going to and doing missions I discover by gathering, and now there’s none of that. It’s been dumbed down significantly. There’s also no more loyalty missions, which I absolutely loved.

And James… James… I hated him months before the game came out. All I heard was that he was there to be the perspective of the new player, and I instantly disliked him. That feeling never left. I hate useless characters that are there just to explain things to the reader. He’s my least favorite party member in the game, the second being Samara (also boring, but at least not completely useless). He is incredibly out of place in a group of characters that have developed over the course of three games. But James… it doesn’t work. Yes there is character development, but he’s so pale when compared to all of these characters who have grown so much over the years.

Speaking of characters, I love the development they have, like EDI. I liked her a lot in this game, especially her relationship with Joker. And I love the cameos, Thane’s and Jack’s being my personal favorites. Jack due to character development and humor, and Thane because… damn. I mean… wow.

And we get to see Tali’s face… kinda. BioWare really cheated us here. All you get is a 2D picture on your nightstand (assuming she was your romance choice). That’s all fine and dandy, and I was okay with that with the hope I’d see a 3D Tali near the end… I didn’t. The picture was all I got. Cheap, BioWare. Real cheap.

And now… the thing we’ve all been waiting for…

The ending.

It all comes down to a lack of choice. You get three endings, and they are basically the same. Destroy all synthetic life in the galaxy (including EDI and the Geth you just allied with and Legion gave his life to save), combine organic and synthetic life together to create a new life form, or control the Reapers and have then leave.

You get these same three choices no matter what you do, and they are almost identical. The only difference is the color your screen turns. You see, unlike what most say, it’s not because the ending is “sad.” Sad is fine. But it’s the lack of choice that hurts us, especially given what BioWare has said. They said there would be no “A, B, C” ending. But what does the above look like to you? It’s literally red (A), blue (B), or green (C). What I did in the other games or even just this game didn’t matter one bit in the end. But even still, it didn’t make sense. And in all three endings, the Mass Relays are destroyed, leaving the alien armada stranded on a ravaged Earth. And Joker escapes the destruction… meaning he left me behind when I made the ultimate choice. Yes, Joker, who stuck by me and promised he would, grabs my companions from Earth and runs away from the battle. Live or die, he’d never do that. If I were given a choice, this is what I / my Shepard would have said:

Child: “You have your choice.”

Shepard: “No.”

“What?”

“I said no.”

“The cycle must…”

“To hell with the cycle. I won’t play your game. We fought this far; we just assembled the largest fleet in the history of the universe. I proved you were wrong when I united the Geth and the Quarians. Synthetics and organics can live in peace. We deserve that right.”

“You must…”

“I must do nothing. We have earned the right to forge our own destiny. Win or lose, it ends now. So you and I, kid, will watch as my fleet rips the Reapers a new one, or dies trying. Joker, radio Hackett. Tell him to make that final push. We are taking back Earth tonight!”

Joker: “Aye, aye, Commander.”

Now doesn’t that sound better? At least it’s a choice.

This is how I would have done the ending:

You fight your way through the corridors of the ruined Citadel. An army of endless husks swarm you, taking down your party members, where you are separated. The husks are endless and you run out of ammo, and are forced to fight the horde with your bare hands, barely making it to the terminal.

1. You have united the galaxy’s fleets and gained the respect of your companions. You activate the Crucible, sacrificing yourself to destroy the Reapers. As you fall from the machine, weakened and on the verge of death, two of your companions (one being your romance choice) grab you before you fall to your death, bringing you back to the Normandy. Perfect ending.
2. You failed to gain respect of your companions and they die against the husks. You die, galaxy saved.
3. You have your companion’s respect, but didn’t unite the galaxy as well as you could have. Krogan are almost extinct with about a hundred to their numbers because you didn’t cure the Geneophage and many died in the battle, the Reapers ravage Rannoch (no Geth defenses if you chose them over Quarians – or didn’t unite them), Earth is in ruins etc.

Look, I’m not a game developer and I’m sure not being paid to write each and every variable. But the fact that I – a guy with no gaming developing experience – can come up with three endings that rely on your past choices, just goes to show how easy it is for BioWare to do it. For the record, no, I probably won’t write a Mass Effect fan fic (though I might make a Force Unleashed fan fic…).

They went for the weak – and literal – deus ex machina. It screamed of laziness. It’s not destiny, but this starchild thing.

While the indoctrination theory makes some sense, it’s not true. Devs confirm it’s real (but, then, they have said a lot of things that weren’t true… LIKE ABC ENDINGS!) . Let’s look at it for what it is: a horrible end to a great series that just shows that BioWare is very finite and not the infallible king everybody thought it was.

Before the ending notes, I’ll answer my question: Episode III was better than II from the prequel trilogy, and VI was a great movie in its own right. Possibly better than V (my opinion, at least). For now, that’s all I got. Give me your answers (after giving your thoughts on this review and ME3 overall, of course) in the comments below.

So in closing, here are my thoughts: BioWare screwed up. They were too busy on SWTOR to put enough effort into this, or they got hung up on the multiplayer – or both. It would have been better if they pushed it back for a fall release. I feel like they rushed through this game and just had to get it done, screwing over the fans. If they make a DLC for this, it better be free, because I won’t pay for it. I didn’t even buy the BS opening-day DLC. And I considered it, but I really don’t care enough. I haven’t even played Renegade yet, nor am I in a rush to, unlike in the previous games. Honestly, it pains me to have written this review; this isn’t the Force Unleashed, a game I knew I probably wouldn’t like. I really wanted this game to be good; it had an epic story, great characters, and a lot of material to work with. But it all went to waste. ME3 is my least favorite in the trilogy. For me, ME was an 8, ME2 was a 9, and ME3… 6, I guess. And that is really bad coming from me. Unlike others, I can’t just say “it’s really good up until the ending.” As I pointed out, the game was problematic from the beginning. If I shattered your perception of the game and you now see problems beyond the ending, my apologies. All I can see is a blatant disregard for choice and BioWare’s disregard for their fans.

Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Thought I forgot about Star Wars, didn’t you? Well I haven’t. I’ll still do them, especially this one. But as I’ve said, I’ll be branching out and doing so more non-Star Wars game reviews. And thus…

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Unlike all the other Jedi Knight games (Mysteries of the Sith doesn’t count), you do not play as Kyle Katarn. Instead, you are Jaden Korr, a Jedi initiate at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. Apparently, you have gained a reputation because you actually built your own lightsaber. The shuttle you are on crashes, resulting in a trek through the jungles and a brief duel with a Dark Jedi, where a plot unfolds involving the siphoning of dark side energy in order to resurrect a long-dead Sith Lord.

While it does allow you to create your own Jedi, it’s not an RPG, which was a little disappointing. The only RPG-like elements are the ability to choose light and dark powers (which don’t matter to the story. I had some dark powers and played light) and a final choice near the end of the game.

I was disappointed when they didn’t get into Jaden’s backstory. They made a big deal over the fact that he built his own lightsaber, but never actually talk about it. I would’ve liked to know the circumstances around it.

It should come as no surprise that Jaden fights a boss in the end. But he fights a person possessed by MARKA RAGNOS. Really? So… a Jedi Knight – a NOOBIE Jedi Knight – beats the legendary Marka Ragnos? Ah… yeah… that was hard to swallow. Speaking of Jedi Knight, that bothered me a bit as well. He isn’t a Jedi Knight until the end of the game, simply an apprentice. Yet they send him off on extremely dangerous missions against Dark Jedi and Imperial soldiers. He even teams up with Wedge! He fights Boba Fett! Come on. Again, that’s weird to me.

Also, Jan Ors… where are you, Jan Ors? She’s just mentioned once, almost as if she’s dead. But we know she’s not dead – she appears in a story many years later during the Yuuzhan Vong War. She deserved a cameo, at the very least. It would have been better than the rather pointless Chewbacca cameo.

They also made a relatively big deal over the fact that Jaden made his own lightsaber all on his own before coming to the Academy. I feel like this was a dangling plot thread that they all forgot about. I’d have liked for them to talk about this and I was waiting for it, but nothing ever happens. Jaden himself is still a somewhat dull character and you find yourself more enthralled by all the iconic characters around you and you yourself feel… kind of out of place.

The graphics have improved, and for that I am grateful. The voice acting has also improved, if that’s possible.

Ah, gameplay, the central aspect the Jedi Knight franchise. It only gets better with each game, and this is no exception. The Force powers are better, lightsaber combat is better, EVERYTHING is better. My favorite moves would be as follows:

The vault move, where you leap over a target, slashing from above.

Level 1 Force Drain, where you grab the enemy by the face and drain him.

Kick your opponent in the head (while using a doubled-bladed saber)

Wall jump, where you run up the wall and leap off, slashing your opponent.

Most of those moves are useless and don’t help… but they are so much fun and they look incredibly awesome!

It is rather irritating that they deny you use of the more diverse lightsabers, like duel lightsabers and the double-bladed saber. You can’t use those until near the end of the game, and that really bothered me. I would have liked to use them from the beginning, or at least after the first quarter. I suppose I shouldn’t complain; you don’t even get to use a lightsaber at all for quite some time in Outcast, but still.

While Jedi Outcast had a better story, this had better gameplay. Both are great games that I still play. Here’s hoping Lucasarts gets a brain and gives us a Jedi Knight game on the next-gen consoles, WITHOUT destroying the iconic gameplay. Me personally, I want it to be about Kyle during the Yuuzhan Vong, but we’ll see. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that.

Mass Effect 2.

And continuing BioWare’s epic saga, we get this masterpiece of a sequel. Now we all know that sequels don’t always live up to expectations; they rehash old ideas and just fix small little things. They bring in unwelcome changes that just ruin the experience for long-time fans.

… yeah that ain’t this game.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Commander Shepard is back. The opening is pretty awesome, not gonna lie. You and your crew are investigating some Geth activity, where the Council basically sent you to shut you up about the Reapers. Everything’s normal, the crew are doing their duties. Joker at the helm, Navigator Pressly on the bridge monitoring everything, etc. Then, out of nowhere, a giant ship comes out right on top of the Normandy, taking her out in a single shot. Pressly is dead, as well as other crewmen. Shepard saves some of his crew and sends them off into an escape pod, then goes to save Joker – who is reluctant to let the Normandy go. In all the turmoil, while saving Joker, an explosion sends Shepard hurtling out into space. His suit malfunctions, and he dies.

Yes. Commander Shepard DIES.

But not to worry. Martin She… I mean, the “Illusive Man” has opted to bring you back from the dead using the Lazarus Project, and experimental process involving synthetics, cloning, and rebuilding dead cells to literally bring Shepard back from the dead. The Illusive Man pours unlimited amounts of money and research into this just to Shepard can come back to stop the Reapers. The Illusive Man is the man in charge of Cerberus, a shadowy pro-human group who was actually a side enemy in the first game, taking parts in grotesque experiments to “further humanity.” But this time, Cerberus is on the side of good, choosing to stop the Reapers and recognizing that Shepard is the only one who can do it. The Illusive Man gives Shepard a new and improved Normandy, reunites him with surviving crewmen (Joker, Adams, Dr. Chakwas), and gives him a list of names of people who can help stop a new race called the “Collectors” – who are working for the Reapers.

Now what don’t I like? Hmm…

I rather miss working for the Alliance. I liked that military feel, but I do love the improved interior of the Normandy. It’s big and very military. I also like that I can upgrade the Normandy, and that that actually matters in the end.

While I do kind of miss the Mako, I love the new resource gathering mechanic. It’s fun and I actually feel incentive to do it. And the missions are no longer as boring and identical as before. So that’s good.

I love the addition of loyalty missions. They’re a lot of fun and actually important to the ending. I like how the ending is dependent on my choices, including whether I took the time to get to know my companions or not. I screwed up and lost Jacob and Mordin on my Paragon playthrough (lost none during Renegade, however)

Graphics are great. Love it. Tali’s light is still a little irritating in that Dalek sort of way, but it’s not bad.

The addition of paragon/renegade prompts mid-conversation is actually really nice. Especially the combative ones. It added a lot to the immersion and my RPG abilities.

Just a commentary: my least favorite character was Samara. I think the problem is that she comes in so late, as does Legion and Thane. I think it would have been better to toss in a few more missions before the endgame, especially in regards to Legion. Why don’t I feel the same about Thane and Legion? Because they’re awesome! I loved those two.

Gameplay has gotten a major overhaul, and for the better. It was awesome. Absolutely awesome. The spec-ops feel has been enhanced tenfold, the mechanics feel a lot more realistic and fluid, it merges well with the RPG, and it’s FUN.

I love this game. I really don’t have any complaints; except the fact that we don’t get Tali’s face, but that’ll come in ME3, right? …. Right?

ME2 is a masterpiece. Fun, immersive, deep, etc. Highly recommended.

I know this review was short, but believe me – I will make it up to you. ME3 is… wow. It… yeah it’ll be one of my longest reviews, but probably one of my best, as well. Stay tuned.

InFamous:

To be quite honest, I bought this game because it was cheap and I was bored. Yes, that’s really it. I wanted to play something new and the prospect of an open world sandbox game really appealed to me. So I thought I’d play it and see if it was any good. And now here we are.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You play as Cole MacGrath, a normal guy who was caught in the middle of an explosion that devastated the city of New Yor… I mean Empire City. The government sealed off the borders of the city and on rare occasions provides some rations to the struggling people of the city. He lives with Zeke, his best friend, on the roof of an apartment building. It turns out that Cole gained superpowers after the explosion. In the beginning, he’s restricted to just using his powers to charge up electronic equipment, like generators and the television. He rather rapidly discovers even greater powers, such as the ability to use his powers as a shockwave. Suddenly, it is revealed by “TV personality” (a hacker who hijacked the TV signals to broadcast throughout the city from a hidden location) that Cole is the cause of the explosion that killed so many people, and so the city gangs up on him. You learn how the explosion didn’t just give you powers, but caused the transformation of the drug dealers into psychotic superpowered gangs called the Reapers led by the basket case known as Sasha. Cole has some choices to make: regain the trust of the people or beat them down into submission. Throughout, Cole is trying to figure out how the explosion occurred and who is behind it.

And now the negatives:

Remember Sasha? The crazy woman in charge of the Reaper gang? Yeah she was a loon, but she was an interesting loon. I wanted to know more about her. But after you beat her and she disappears, you never see her again – except during your evil playthrough, where you do some side missions for her via telepathic communications, but that doesn’t expand on her character and just begs for more questions.

Now I don’t mind fighting – why else would I play an action-shooter game like this? But it gets repetitive. Most enemies aren’t that hard, just annoying. You have to repeatedly hit them while they’re down until they stop moving to prevent them from attacking you again.

The train. Holy crap… THAT TRAIN. You see, there are three islands, and each island has a train that goes around the island. Now the tracks are awesome; you can run along the tracks using your powers or even ride on top of the train. But… my God. Screw the Reapers, screw Sasha, screw the end boss. The train is INVINCIBLE and shows absolutely no mercy. You get hit, you get tossed away. There is absolutely nothing you can do in retaliation. You could say “don’t get hit,” but it’s not that easy. I was hit by an enemy on a building and I fell. As I hopped to my feet, the train slams into me, throwing me INTO THE WATER. Did I mention Cole gets hurt in water? Well he does, and when he falls into the river, he dies. Which reminds me: you are completely helpless if you are falling. You can’t stop yourself; just wait until you hit solid ground. Now heights mean nothing and you won’t take damage, but still. It’s annoying.

It kinda always bothered me how Zeke and Cole’s apartment was. They have a television, a refrigerator, couches, etc. on their roof. Well what happens if it rains? Stupid thing to complain about, I know. But it did bother me and little things like that have a way of sticking with me.

Graphics: They look pretty enough for an open world game. But the game suffers from numerous graphical glitches (I don’t think my leg should be going through the floor like that). The “cut-scenes” felt a bit cheap. Not the comic book style ones; they added some atmosphere. But the other scenes, where you’re still in gameplay mode but not allowed to leave the area while dialogue commences. There are other moments, however, where dialogue occurs while you are running through the city. I liked that; maintained the flow.

The voice acting is… quite good. Really good, actually. Each actor fits their roles perfectly and they drip with emotion and character. I loved the voice acting very much in this game, and I loved the characters. Now Cole’s gravel-voice has been criticized, but I find myself in the same situation I was in with Christian Bale: I. Don’t. Hate. The. VOICE. It suited him. I liked it. I am in the minority and I know it. But his voice fit the character very well and I would never change it. Perfection.

Gameplay is quite smooth. While the running looks awkward and a bit too fast, it works from a gameplay perspective. Climbing is fluid and attacks are easily accessible. Combos are never needed; it’s more a matter of creativity. How you use your powers is what matters most. You can use one power to throw an enemy in the air and another to shoot him in mid-air. All your powers are easily accessible; I was amazed at how well the control layout was. I was a bit scared in the beginning when the camera had inverted controls, but I was able to change that – if I couldn’t, I just might have returned the game there. But everything works very well and, by the end of the game, you’ll have a wide arsenal of fun little goodies. Especially an amazing lightning strike near the end that is just pure AWESOME.

InFamous is a great game. It has fun gameplay, a great and unique story, interesting characters, and amazing plot twists. Highly recommend.

Mass Effect

I have decided to branch out from the Star Wars franchise and review some other games. To clarify: it doesn’t mean I won’t do Star Wars games anymore (if there is a new Jedi Knight, then you can bet I’ll be there), it just means there will be a bit more variety in the lineup. “What better game to start with,” I think, “than one created by the same guys who made my favorite Star Wars game?” So without further delay:

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You play as Commander Shepard: special ops soldier, apparent part-time diplomat, leader, and all around badass. So badass that there is a song dedicated to him (if you haven’t heard of it, then just google it). You’re tasked with seeking out an ancient artifact that the Geth – a race of AI robots or “synthetics” in ME – and a rogue operative are after. To make the hunt easier, you are promoted to “Spectre,” a fancy name that for all intense and purposes might as well be 007. You can do anything you want, go anywhere you want, and kill anyone as long as it’s nobody important.

Now let’s see, what don’t I like about the game? Like always, let’s start there.

The vehicle sections, though my reasons are not the same as the reasons others have already beat into the ground. I rather liked landing on planets and scouring the surface. It gave the ME universe a feeling of being extremely large and overwhelming that I feel was lacking in its sequels more and more as the trilogy went on (hint: yes, I will review 2 and 3). Sure the driving was irritating, but I didn’t really mind that. What I minded was how repetitive it and the interiors of buildings were. I also hated searching for resources, throwing my hands in the air saying “screw it” and just focusing on the side missions from each respective planet.

I will also say that being a Spectre doesn’t live up to the hype. I am still denied access to certain areas until I do certain jobs, I am flat out told “no” a few times, and my Spectre ID card has been thrown in my face more times than I care to count. So it’s more like I’m just a black ops commando with little power other than my fists.

Unlike KOTOR and other RPGs, this game doesn’t look at it as “good” or “evil.” It’s more differentiated by categories like “Renegade” where you are ruthlessly efficient and “Paragon” where you will not execute someone simply because it’s not “necessary.”

The voices of ME are a lot better than KOTOR, I will admit. Dialogue isn’t bad and you get a good handle on all of the characters.

Graphics are nice.

… what? There’s not much more to say. Mouths look like they’re forming words, they gesture, etc. Though sometimes, the mouths don’t exactly line up in sync with the voices in time quite right. It particularly irritated me with Tali when the blinking light on her mask wasn’t quite in time. I felt like I was in an old episode of Doctor Who with the cardboard Daleks.

I rather liked the gameplay. It had its irritating moments, but it felt and looked nice. It had a nice special ops feel to it that only got better as the trilogy went on. I liked the ability to holster your gun between fights. However, the guns felt a bit unbalanced. It wasn’t a matter of choosing one that fit your style, but not choosing a BAD gun. Because once you got the HMW series of guns, there was really no reason to use anything else. It was by far the single best gun type in the game – pre-order or DLC weapons aside. It may have been expensive, but money hardly meant anything in this game. I was rich halfway through the game and could afford the best of the best for myself. The mods were the only things that were a matter of play style. And once I found the right one that suited me, I sold everything else – hence my huge stack of credits. Most of them were quite useless. Why would I use an upgrade only useful against organics? Or one only against synthetics? Against biotics? I usually fight them TOGETHER. So exactly what’s the point? I sold every mod that wasn’t an improvement on my current ones.

As I said earlier, I did not hate the Mako sections. Maybe I am one of the few people who could actually control the Mako to some degree. It gave the ME universe a feeling of scale and made everything feel BIG. The only thing I hated was looking for resources –

with little incentive to do so – and the fact that every planet have the EXACT. SAME. OUTPOST. The interior and exterior were exactly the same on each planet.

If you played KOTOR, then you have a good idea of how the choice system works. This time, however, your character speaks when you make the choice. While I do like this quite a bit, sometimes it’s irritating when the option I pick doesn’t quite line up with what he’s saying. That bothered me – a lot. And I won’t lie: it irritated me throughout the ME trilogy and SWTOR. I’m not saying we should go back to the KOTOR ways; I like the “choice wheel” better. All I want is for the thing I select to give me a BETTER idea of what it is I am choosing.

All in all, Mass Effect is a great game. If you liked KOTOR or RPGs in general, you’ll like this. Or you like shooters in general. And don’t worry; the combat does get better after this. Keep a lookout for my ME2 review – which will probably be my… third non-Star Wars game review. Next will be ______. Guessing begins…. Now!

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Remember what I said about them dropping the Dark Forces name and continuing it from Jedi Knight? No? Then go read my other review!

Anyway, Outcast was for many their first introduction to the EU in the modern era. The prequels had begun, Episode II was right around the corner and people were hyped to play as a real Jedi. And what did we get? What game did we get to make us feel LIKE a real Jedi?

Well it sure isn’t the Force Unleashed. No, this is the real deal, right here. And of course:

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You return as Kyle Katarn, who has turned his back on the Jedi and just works as a mercenary (who is on a mission from the New Republic… so essentially, he’s just back to his Dark Forces days). Jan Ors, Kyle’s partner and girlfriend, is back and fighting alongside Kyle as they search a small Imperial Remnant outpost. Their mission follows a seal of trails from that outpost to a mining facility. During their mission, they discover a dark plot involving the mining of Cortosis and Force sensitive crystals. Kyle and Jan liberate the slaves on the mining planet and lead a rebellion against their Imperial captors. Then, a Dark Jedi known as Desann and his apprentice Tavion come down and capture Jan. Kyle is unprepared and it has been a long time since he used his abilities, and is easily defeated. Jan is apparently killed at the hands of Tavion and Kyle is left behind on the planet as the two Dark Jedi flee.

Kyle, in a fit of rage, races off to the Valley of the Jedi, where he decides to use its power as a quick method of regaining his abilities, rather than spend time relearning everything. Unbeknownst to him, however, Desann has followed Kyle, and intends to use the Valley for his own ends (sound familiar?). Kyle needs just one thing: his lightsaber, which is in Luke Skywalker’s hands at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV. He retrieves the lightsaber after a series of trials, and goes on his path of revenge – or redemption.

Now let me say it now: I love this game, and it hurts me to do this, but I have to complain.

First of: I don’t really get why it seems like Kyle cut himself off from the Force. Yes, it’s explained that he’s basically in a rush and he doesn’t want to waste time training himself. I’ve certainly learned more about Star Wars since those days and I get it, but I don’t know; I still think it feels like he was cut off. And keep in mind: I thought this before I played KOTOR II (yes, I will review KOTOR II. Be patient)

Second, why is Kyle’s lightsaber suddenly blue? This strikes me as odd. He used a green lightsaber throughout Dark Forces II. But in fairness, that lightsaber used to belong to Qu Rahm, the Jedi who trained Kyle through the Force after his death. So it’s very possible Kyle simply made a new lightsaber before leaving the Order (even though he never really officially joined it). I’ll forgive it, despite the fact that the reason behind the change was most likely for marketing reasons and not a story-related decision.

This really pissed me off: Luke Skywalker is shown as WEAK. Holy crap he’s so weak in this game! In one section, he meets up with Kyle and they are ambushed by some Shadowtroopers (I’ll talk about them later – in a positive light. Kinda). Now me, the innocent gamer, thought I could fight them like I usually do: picking them off one by one without fear. I’m with Luke! For the sake of gameplay, I understand that he’s not all powerful and won’t do my work for me. But get this: HE CAN DIE! What is wrong with you?! I have to watch out for LUKE SKYWALKER’S safety as well as my own?! That’s wrong! Just wrong! As I said, it’s understandable that he’s not so powerful that he can solo the group and I can sit back and laugh, but he should have INFINITE HEALTH so he can’t die! There’s nothing like seeing “LUKE SKYWALKER DEFEATED. MISSION FAILED” in big red letters flash on the screen! Never in a million years would I ever expect to see those words. Later, we see a cut-scene where Luke is dueling Desann. What happens? DESANN DROPS SOME ROCKS ON HIM! That’s right! Luke GRANTMASTER Skywalker was defeated by ROCKS. Now this doesn’t kill him or KO him, but it distracts him enough for Desann to get away. This is STUPID!

I also have to question Desann’s goal here. I get it, he wants to raise an army using the Valley’s energies (here I thought the spirits were freed, but whatever). But what is the “Doombringer” ship? We see it as this big ominous Star Destroyer undocking from the Asteroid base en-route to Yavin IV. I thought it would be this big deal. But what does it turn out to be? A transport. …. A Transport. A. TRANS. PORT. This was our big bad super weapon? A TRANSPORT?! Fine, it’s used to invade Yavin. But come on, really? It’s a transport? That just feels weak. I was really with the story here until I got to this part of the game.

Right. Said I’d talk about Shadowtroopers: They’re pretty cool. I love the fact that the Cortosis armor they wear kinda feels like Cortosis. If you don’t know, Cortosis is a metal that is extremely lightsaber resistant and can actually temporarily deactivate the lightsaber. Well, hit them in the right spot, and your lightsaber will go off for a bit, leaving you extremely vulnerable. It’s a bit odd that they are seemingly powered by a Force crystal on their chest; I guess they draw power from it? Eh… still odd, but I think the concept of these Shadows are pretty cool.

Alright. Graphics.

Ah… yeah… no. The graphics are pretty bad, I have to say. There is a really awkward and… creepy looking kissing scene near the end reminiscent of two dolls smashing faces. What I will say is that the graphics are good as far as lightsabers go. Dismembering, when it occurs, looks decent, and the fact that your lightsaber leaves a mark on whatever it hits is a nice touch of realism. As far as cinematic scenes go, however, I would have preferred they stick with actors. Speaking of: the voice actors in this game aren’t bad. They’re okay.

And speaking of lightsabers…

THEY’RE AWESOME! This game has unbelievably good gameplay! The lightsaber feels PERFECT! I couldn’t believe how good it was and how good it still is! It’s… wow. Great. Dark Forces II started it, this improved on it. Force push feels realistic, lightning sends people flying, soldiers die from a single hit (YOU can actually die from a single lightsaber strike), etc. It’s just great and realistic gameplay. Even the blasters feel nice; they’re not perfect, but really, that’s not what you’re here for! You wanna be a Jedi! And this game hits the nail on the head! I’ll be honest, it’s disappointing when you buy a game called Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and you don’t get to hold your lightsaber for quite some time. And even when you do, you’ll only use your lightsaber on occasion because you’re not all that powerful until you hit the halfway mark in the game. But here’s the thing: it’s because the game is HARD. You can be shot and killed rather quickly early on due to your low starting abilities. As you get higher, you’ll be deflecting more blaster shots. But still, some weapons are stronger than others, and you have to stay on your toes.

Overall, this game is great. It has its flaws, but it’s still a great game. Undoubtedly one of my favorite Star Wars games. You want a game that makes you feel like a JEDI? Make the Force Unleashed disc into a fancy coaster, and then go out and buy Jedi Outcast…

… and then buy the next game I’m reviewing: Jedi Academy!

Little note: I should specify that Academy will be the next Star Wars game I’m doing, but not the next game I’m reviewing. I have a nice little surprise for the next, non-Star Wars review. That’s right: I’m branching out! Stay tuned.