May 28, 2007
Story by Rodel I. Cruz-Herrera (odiewan)

DAY 5: "THE FORCE UNLEASHED" COVERAGE
The Behind the Scenes of The Force Unleashed was very insightful and brings the game to life before it is ever released. The show was hosted by the Audio Lead David Collins. The panel members were Haden Blackman, Project Led; Matt Omernick, Art Director; and Brett Rector, Assistant Producer. The developers were joined with the two actors portraying Juno Eclipse (Nathalie Cox) and Vader's Secret Apprentice (Sam Witwer). The time line of the video game is between ROTS and ANH. There will be multiple setting like Kasyyk, Felucia, and Raxis Prime.

The main goal of the team was to the reinvent the force. A good analogy used in the panel describing this would be when the sandtroopers ask Obi-Wan about the droids; he uses mind tricks to get his way around the blockade. Vader's Apprentiace would rather use the force to drop a whole building on the sandtroopers. You can throw squads of troopers across the room or you a force maneuver dubbed force canon. So as you can see the whole premise of the video game is to kick ass using the force.

This is great looking game by the guys from Lucas Arts. Juno Eclipse is Vader's Apprentice (VA) love interest. VA has not been named yet, he is described as Vader's attack dog. Only on Vader's command will he unleash his power of the force. No other force user comes close to VA's force wielding capability. They are wusses according to Sam.

The software technology developed for the game gives it another dimension. The Euphoria engine allows on screen characters to have a central nervous system so they will have a sense of self-preservation. The DMM technology just makes breaking stuff look cool. The properties of glass, wood, and metal give good sense of realism. These two technologies allow the end user to have endless hours of game play. The game will not play the same way, because of the DMM and Euphoria interaction with the user. Another technology they are using is facial motion capture, this way dialog looks more real than before.

In all this game should kick major ass. I guess the race is on to see which next-gen console will have the better visuals and game play. It is scheduled for release on the XBOX 360, PS3, DS, PS2, & PSP. Spring of 2008 should be a good time for Star Wars gamers.