Reviews

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

By Kelly Modad, Jr.
Guest Writer
LucasArts, known for such games as the “Star Wars: Battlefront II,” “Lego Indiana Jones” and the highly anticipated game “Fracture,” recently released “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (TFU).” Xboxworld.com calls TFU “a very enjoyable single player Star Wars experience.” TFU is available for the Wii, Play Station 3 and Xbox 360.
TFU takes you deeper into the “Star Wars” world created by George Lucas in the 1970s. The game takes place somewhere between the little known time period of the films “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” and “Episode IV: A New Hope.”
You play as Star Killer, the very secret apprentice of Darth Vader who is assigned to kill the remaining Jedi who survived the purge during the fall of the Old Republic in “Revenge of the Sith.” You start off as Darth Vader and your task is to kill the Jedi father of Star Killer. Just when Vader is about to destroy the exiled Jedi he senses someone very powerful nearby. Young Star Killer emerges to fight Vader and avenge his father, but Vader kidnaps him after realizing he could be turned to the dark side.
The game really starts when you flash 15 years into the future. Without giving away too much, your first task is to track down and defeat a wily Jedi who is the leader of a fleet of rebels.
TFU has somewhat redundant levels, and at times the targeting system will frustrate the Force out of you. Around almost every corner there is another predictable set of Storm Troopers who need to be slashed with a light saber, lifted and slammed into the ground using the Force or killed by one of the many pre-determined finishing moves. If you hack your way through enough Storm Troopers and smash your way through enough walls using the Force, the levels culminate with you battling a creature, robot or Jedi who can be destroyed with somewhat unique finishing moves.
To use a finishing move you must press the button on your controller when a picture of it appears on the screen. The finishers can be creative but if you don’t press the exact buttons in the fraction of a second it appears on your screen you have to start all over and wear your enemy down. Also, the fact that there is no multiplayer mode will sometimes boil your Meticlorines. Periodically during the game, usually during a particularly redundant level, you will really wish you had a second player to help destroy the never-ending wave of enemies.
Star Wars Miniature World finalist and founding member and former president of the Olivet College Gaming Club, senior Benjamin Guins, said he enjoyed TFU but was not entirely impressed. “The Force Unleashed is just an upgrade…. It is not nearly as innovative as Battlefront II.” Battle Front II is the very popular Star Wars game that was released by LucasArts before TFU.
The game does have good qualities though; the smooth playing is complimented with the excellent graphics. Semi-pro gamer and Ferris State junior Marcus Fakler said, “TFU has very good motion graphics, when you are moving the graphics are not laggy [slow and jerky]. The game has a very good frame rate, the graphics refresh quickly.” Every detail is polished and groomed by the developers which can be seen even without a high definition television.
According to LucasArts.com, throughout the entire game the developers hid floating icons called Holocrons. There are two types of Holocrons: Sith and Jedi. Holocrons both give you a temporary power-up. Many are cleverly hidden, some are in very obvious places.
The character is played in the third person point-of-view. The fly-by cam is excellently placed and does not glitch or get confused when getting too close to walls or ceilings. Moving the character is extremely easy: one joystick controls where the character moves and the other joystick controls where you look.
“They [LucasArts] spent a lot time making the Force power system seem intuitive,“ said Guins. TFU allows you to use the Force in ways other Star Wars games do not. Almost every object in the game can be moved or manipulated by the Force. There are two basic ways to use the Force: you can pick up and throw objects such as people, boxes and even Tia Fighters by targeting them, holding the target button and moving the joysticks. The other way to use the Force is by simply pressing the Force button which sends a burst of Force at whatever you are targeting. If you hold the Force button you can charge up your power and send a massive Force burst at your target.
On as scale of 1-10, I give this game a 7.5. The story is very unique and original but everything else is just a recreation and update of former LucasArts games, such as the Battlefront series. But as Fakler said “If you’re not a Star Wars fan, don’t play it.”

Third album by alternative rockers Senses Fail

By Emma Henson
Staff Writer
Senses Fail, a rock and alternative band, just released a new CD in October. According to antimusic.com, the rock band went into studio last April to begin the recording of its third full-length CD, “Life is Not a Waiting Room.” They returned to the studio at Salad Days in Baltimore, Md., with producer Brian McTernan.
According to an interview by antimusic.com, before the album was released, lead singer James “Buddy” Nielsen said, “There is a real sense of urgency in the songs we’ve been writing…we’re just now starting to find the direction for this record and you’re definitely going to hear a more aggressive side of Senses Fail. The songs have a lot of grit and power and remind me of how I felt when we wrote, From The Depths of Dreams. We are all very excited to get in the studio with Brian again and make the best music we’ve ever made.”
Senses Fail fan Joshua Norlock, junior, was anxiously anticipating the CD’s release. “I’ve loved the band and their music since the very first CD. Their lyrics were powerful, meaningful and even spiritual. The way they’ve blended their sound together in the past was amazing. Their guitar, drums and vocals were great. It made you want to rock out,” said Norlock.
Norlock, turning his attention to the newly released CD, didn’t seem as thrilled. “It’s so angry. You can really tell how much he hates his father. Almost all the songs are focusing on his anger toward him. There is so much screaming that I only enjoy about four songs. On all the other CD’s I can put them in and listen to them straight through. Not so much this one,” said Norlock. “But never the less, still good Senses Fail music,” said Norlock, with a half grin.
Scott Purdy, senior, thinks just the opposite. “Their music is softer this time. They have really grown and matured. Before a lot of their songs have been about killing and strangling people, now it’s more punk music. It’s not as hard core. Not as much screaming as the first two albums ‘Let it Enfold You’ and ‘Still Searching.’ They’re showing they are growing up, which most bands do after time. Their lyrics are the primary reason for the development,” said Purdy. He said he was excited about their November concert. “I’ve been a loyal fan since my sophomore year of high school and will continue to be. I can’t wait to rock out live with them” said Purdy.
According to absolutepunk.com, Nielsen derived the band’s name from his spiritual beliefs. “In Hinduism, they believe that being alive is hell, and the only way to reach Nirvana is to ultimately have no attachments to anything,” he explains. “So, people go out and live in the middle of the woods and they don’t eat and don’t drink. They just meditate because they’ve reached such a high level where they’re not attached to love, relationships or anything. And if you want to reach the highest level of being and see God, you have to have all your senses fail,” said Nielsen.
Senses Fail was in Grand Rapids Nov. 9 performing at the Intersection club.