Inside The Force Unleashed

Like a lot of Star Wars fans, I've often wondered about what took place during the 19 years in between the events of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and "Episode IV: A New Hope." Details about this period have been sprinkled throughout Star Wars comic books, novels and video games, but it has been difficult, even for the most die hard fans of the franchise, to get a full picture of how the Galactic Empire grew and how the Rebellion was born. Specifically, I've always wondered just what Darth Vader was up to for nearly two decades.

Finally, a new Star Wars game promised to shed light on this all-important era. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed tells the story of Vader's secret apprentice who's in the process of hunting down the remaining Jedi that survived the Great Jedi Purge of "Revenge of the Sith." Indeed, players will take on the role of the secret apprentice (who has yet to be named, according to LucasArts) and will be able to use the powers of the Force in all news ways. LucasArts previewed the new game at the Star Wars Celebration IV convention in Los Angeles last weekend, and several members of the team, including project leader Haden Blackman, were on hand to discuss the forthcoming title and answers questions

View Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Slideshow (29 images)

During an hour-long presentation devoted to Star wars: The Force Unleashed, the LucasArts team showed a brief documentary about the making of the game that featured some rough but impressive gameplay animation as well as insightful interviews. The documentary describes how the LucasArts team began planning for a new Star Wars game for the next generation console platforms in the summer of 2004; the development team flirted with the idea of doing a game with a Wookiee as the main character or perhaps Darth Maul as the central figure.

Concept art from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Those ideas, however, were scrapped after the developers met with George Lucas and decided to go in a new direction by focusing on the Jedi and Sith and expanding what players could do with the powers of the Force. In essence, LucasArts decided to deliver a game that shows the Force like never before. Some of the early render footage and gameplay animation shown during the documentary were eye-popping, as the powers go far beyond a simple Force push or Force grab from previous Star Wars games. Similar to the gravity gun from Half Life 2, players can simply pick up large objects and NPCs with the Force and hurl them into destructible environments or charge them with Force lightning and create explosive projectiles. During the panel discussion, Blackman and fellow LucasArts team members Matt Omernick and Brett Rector said the central theme of The Force Unleashed was simple: kicking someone's ass with the Force.

The development team had the premise, but now they needed a story and main character. LucasArts came up with the idea of giving Darth Vader a secret apprentice prior to "Episode IV: A New Hope" who plays sort of a surrogate son prior to Luke Skywalker's arrival. Lucas himself loved the idea and gave the story the green light. Not much else is known about the details of the game's plot other than some of the additional main characters. The secret apprentice's love interest, for example, is Juno Eclipse, a female Imperial pilot who plays a pivotal role in the story.

In addition, there is General Kota, a Jedi Knight who escaped the initial Jedi Purge and is now being hunted by Vader's apprentice; Maris Brood, a female Zabrak (the same species as Darth Maul) and non-Jedi Force user who wields twin tonfa-style lightsabers; Shaak Ti, a Togruta female and one of the last surviving members of the Jedi High Council following the events of "Revenge of the Sith"; and of course, Vader and Emperor Palpatine. As for the setting of The Force Unleashed, locations will include well-known planets such as Naboo, Coruscant, and Tatooine as well as other planets such as Raxus Prime, a world covered in junk and toxic waste; Haroon, a small moon composed of crystal; and Felucia, an exotic plant world. "You will be able to see these planets like you've never seen them before," Rector told the audience.

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