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iPhone, Meet Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Posted by Mark Wilson at 2:20 PM on July 16, 2008
We couldn't think of any better combination of Gizmodo's stereotypical interests than checking out Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the iPhone (...iPhone LEGO Star Wars would of course be the Holy Grail, but we only speak of the possibility in hushed voices). After a brief hands-on, we're left even more excited about the capabilities of the iPhone gaming platform, though a bit skeptical of the game's unique control scheme.
Force Unleashed really is a pretty game. Crystal clear 2D backdrops give the levels a lot of pizazz despite that they are, you know, 2D. And light sabers glow properly on the screen.
But where we'd hoped to run around and slice our foes with laser swords, the mechanics never gave us a chance. Much like the classic PC series Rebel Assault, you don't actually move your character through rooms. Instead, you reflect your foes' laser shots with properly timed/angled swipes of the finger and activating force powers (like throwing baddies or electrocuting them) by drawing out symbols on the screen.
As lame as this may sound on paper, the battles can grow enjoyably hectic as you block fire and toss your enemies aside. And it's all promised to be backed by the same soundtrack we'll hear in the Xbox/PS3 versions of the Force Unleashed (we just heard placeholder music during our hands-on).
Oh, and something really cool. You can rotate the game between portrait and landscape mode. Neither gave the characters the stretched look.
In addition to all of that, THQ promised us an uncharacteristically rich storyline for a mobile game and 2 1/2 to 3 hours of gameplay. For a mobile phone game, it looks extremely good. But compared to something on the PSP/DS, it's going to be a tad disappointing. So depending on your expectations of the iPhone, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed may be worth checking out when it hits this September.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
brownboyinbc
Posted 3:18 PM 16/7/08
It is official, GIZMODO stands for APPLE FANBOYS! Enough already, every other article on this site is about the freaking iPhone. It is just a phone. Not everyone in the world visits this site to read about only the iPhone and Apple products.
I usually visit this site at least 5 or more times a day for great gadget news, but I guess I will have to get my fix elsewhere. I have raved about this site and the great gadget news, but no more. Even when I used your no iPhone link, I still got a lot of the same old crap about the iPhone over the past week. ENOUGH ALREADY!
brownboyinbc
imTheKing
Posted 3:14 PM 16/7/08
@bitgod: why do you Razr owners get all upset over the iphone?
imTheKing
rallycar27
Posted 3:13 PM 16/7/08
GTA III-G. Who here would buy that? I know I would.
rallycar27
bigfatduck
Posted 3:07 PM 16/7/08
looks cool, and amazing for a cell phone. but i do have one question, is there a technical reason why a game like this can't be as in depth and great as a game on PSP or DS? i saw mention of the iphone having more processing power than both of the other handhelds, is it lacking in some other area- other than just lacking physical control buttons? or is it just because it's so new and an untested platform that game developers haven't spent a lot of time/money to invest in it? just curious...
bigfatduck
leetXcore
Posted 3:00 PM 16/7/08
@bitgod: I see what you did there.
leetXcore
trongod05
Posted 2:57 PM 16/7/08
Ok this is a load! They are putting Force Unleashed on the iPhone but not the PC? WTMF? Suck it Lucas Arts!
trongod05
bitgod
Posted 2:53 PM 16/7/08
Oh, it's not a problem, you just carry extra batteries and swap them out.
...What do you mean you can't swap out the battery? What kind of moron would make a cell phone that you can't swap out the battery?
bitgod
thechansen
Posted 2:53 PM 16/7/08
I want Rogue Squadron or that demo space fighter sim from the keynote :(
thechansen
Emiat
Posted 2:40 PM 16/7/08
Looks interesting, but with people complaining about the battery life on the iPhone, having 2-3 hours of gameplay will send them into shock with the thought on how it will effect the battery life.
Emiat
Repton
Posted 2:40 PM 16/7/08
Trust your instincts, tehdahl.
Repton
tehdahl
Posted 2:34 PM 16/7/08
@ajlafontaine:
ehm.
I like seeing what I'm swinging.
tehdahl
ajlafontaine
Posted 2:27 PM 16/7/08
They should make it link with the PhoneSaber app so that the more you swing your saber app the better you Force Unleashed character gets!
ajlafontaine
fudged71
Posted 3:51 PM 16/7/08
not of the biggest concern, but... price?
fudged71
odnet
Posted 3:46 PM 16/7/08
@brownboyinbc:
YOU WIN! you're the trillionth person to post that exact comment.
odnet
Mark Wilson
Posted 3:43 PM 16/7/08
@davidfbecker: Not out yet. Sept.
Mark Wilson
davidfbecker
Posted 3:35 PM 16/7/08
whoa whoa whoa. Is this already available? Or when is it coming out?
davidfbecker
atuck
Posted 3:27 PM 16/7/08
@brownboyinbc: OMG! Its official? When did they announce that? Dude I guess you better get that gadget fix elsewhere... or maybe you could just not look at posts you don't care about.
atuck
roflwaffles
Posted 4:06 PM 16/7/08
@Shenzhov:
FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE = BEING BETTAR MIRITE
ahem.
@bigfatduck:
Buttons, definitely. possibly a weaker graphics chipset?
roflwaffles
Shenzhov
Posted 4:03 PM 16/7/08
@brownboyinbc
Maybe just maybe people like the iPhone.
Maybe just maybe people are buying the iPhone. A lot of people.
Maybe just maybe nobody cares that you are jealous of people who buy and use iPhones and other Apple products.
Maybe just maybe people are sick of the crap that Microsoft and cellphone manufactures have been pawning off on consumers and finally realize there are better products now.
So if you don't want to read Gizmodo, then don't let you door hit you where the sun don't shine.
Shenzhov
davidfbecker
Posted 4:01 PM 16/7/08
@Mark Wilson: Oh. Right. Errr. That whole, "last word of the article" thing. My bad.
davidfbecker
michaelleung
Posted 4:00 PM 16/7/08
The top left-hand corner says FPS:12. I ain't playing that if that's all I get!
michaelleung
samminator
Posted 4:27 PM 16/7/08
not only is the iphone a ,music player phone web browsing device its has the force man one crazy hippie screams to his acid triped pals
samminator
Ken_Darrow
Posted 5:49 PM 16/7/08
@Emiat: Not a problem really.
[us.kensington.com]
Plus I have the good old car charger also.
Ken_Darrow
paja
Posted 8:49 PM 16/7/08
@brownboyinbc:
Why don't you just ignore the iPhone stories and scroll past them. But I guess you're too stupid to do that and your hatred forces you to read the link and then post your inane rants.
If I'm not interested in something then I scroll by. I suggest you do the same before you have a heart attack.
paja
richillion
Posted 11:23 PM 16/7/08
@brownboyinbc: why dont you just find another website and stop bitching, why even bother posting something in an article about the iphone. you dont like the iphone fine, but know one likes a cry baby.
richillion
Chromeo is typing this on his iPhone 3G
Posted 12:09 AM 17/7/08
That's just amazing. I never thought of a Cell Phone as a gaming rig (N-Gage doesn't exist in my pristine world), and now it seems there is one. Perhaps the PSPhone will be the next in this new trend of Cellphone/Gaming collaborations?
Chromeo is typing this on his iPhone 3G
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 12:01 AM 17/7/08
Actually, I want a rack like they have for harmonicas, but that will hold the phone up in front of my face and use the phone's motion sensors to track the left and right movement in the game as I turn my body. Then I want a dongle that will integrate the wiimotes, so I can wave lightsabers or shoot lasers.
It would be like portable VR.
GeekyNerdGuy
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 11:54 PM 16/7/08
Somebody rig up a dongle for wii controllers.
GeekyNerdGuy
Triplet66
Posted 12:34 AM 17/7/08
@brownboyinbc:
Bite it, people have been saying that forever about Endgadget and now you with Gizmodo, but all you take the time to read the articles. LMAO!!!!!
Trip
Triplet66
peerpul
Posted 12:26 AM 17/7/08
All the teasing I did about hating the iPhone... Find me a crow and I'll eat it. Star Wars will sell me on anything :D
peerpul
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 1:06 AM 17/7/08
I'm still waiting for Doom...oh wait, that's not funny. Sorry :(
Noobs-R-Us
endrewsmith1
Posted 12:51 AM 17/7/08
how does the graphic stack up to psp? i know it has faster cpu but don't know much about gpu.
endrewsmith1
MarkB
Posted 1:45 AM 17/7/08
@majeskyb:
Yes because for all these years watching movies at 30 fps has been so horrible...psyche.
MarkB
majeskyb
Posted 1:27 AM 17/7/08
@michaelleung:
But the second screen shot looks like it says FPS=44. I doubt that the game would be released if it consistanly played below the eye's threshold for full motion
majeskyb
tehdahl
Posted 1:57 AM 17/7/08
@Noobs-R-Us:
...
wow.
tehdahl
CutePuppyz
Posted 2:24 AM 17/7/08
@Emiat: I agree. My iPod touch loses a lot of battery life just playing games that were installed from Installer. Games like Tribal that are simple, but addictive and aren't anything more than 2D images.
3D would be battery overkill.
The truth is that the battery life will take a huge hit.
My experience from playing Installer.app games like Yeti, the 3D pac-man clone, and boy does the battery eat up fast and that's without wifi on.
CutePuppyz
donlphi
Posted 2:22 AM 17/7/08
@brownboyinbc:
I don't know if you go to any other tech blogs, but the iPhone is a pretty hot topic on just about all of them. It will settle down soon, just as soon as some other company actually makes something they say they are going to make.
I was just thinking... That's why Apple actually has "fans". They don't hype things up 2 years in advance, showing us an unfinished product that will never make it to stores. Imagine how disappointed everybody would be with Apple if they showed us everything in their arsenal (hundreds of little gadgets), but only released 1 of those items per year or worse, never released them at all. I could just imagine how many people would complain about them then.
Other companies show us all of these mockups of "future" devices and software that hasn't even begun discussing the "HOW TO" part of the equation (kind of like a concept car). By the end of development, the product doesn't resemble anything we saw originally - disappointment (aka the same Ford Focus with a different spoiler).
I think we can all take a wild guess as to what the next IBM Thinkpad is going to be like.
... which brings me back to my point. Apple Fanboys only get 2-3 times per year where we get to celebrate (product releases & new Pixar movies), let us have our moment. :)
donlphi
gloveofpower
Posted 7:57 AM 17/7/08
Did I just hear somebody say Lego Star Wars on the iPhone? That's like... the supreme gizmodo orgiastic triumvirate if I ever heard it.
(long pause)
No but for real, when are they gonna make lego iphone star wars?
gloveofpower
lantinian
Posted 6:49 AM 17/7/08
Get one of those and stop complaining
[www.imaxpower.com]
lantinian
lantinian
Posted 6:31 AM 17/7/08
Guys, you should stop complaining about the iPhone battery and get an external battery with a cable. I have one that is almost equal to 3 internal iPhone batteries is smaller and lighter than the iPhone.
lantinian
lantinian
Posted 6:27 AM 17/7/08
Hey Guys, there are better alternatives to replaceable batteries. They are called external batteries. I have one. Its over 4200 mA and its basically equal to almost 3 of the iPhone internal batteries. It is smaller and lighter than the iPhone and I can carry it in my backpocket.
If I need extra juice, I just take the cable from the back pocket and plug it into the iPhone which is in the front pocket.
Swaping internal batteies is not the way. Imaging you are on a call and you have thing complicated case over the iphone. How are you going to change the internal battery if there was an option withough getting of the call?
With the external battery you just plug in the cable and for a while you have a wired iPhone :), plus its had huge capacity. I saw the same manufacturrer getting ready a 9000mA one that will make your iPhone last a full weekend playing just the Forece Unlieshed.
lantinian
Hilo
Posted 4:10 PM 16/7/08
The shots honestly don't look half bad, and if it's price is positioned correctly ($15 or less) I could see it really taking off.
These are the types of games I was looking forward to when I listened in on the app store intro. (needless to say, I was a bit disappointed at what we were ultimately shown)
Cell phone gaming is just starting to become enjoyable. Can't wait till we have cell phone dating sims!
...as though driving and texting weren't bad enough, if I don't pick out the correct flowers in time for Asuka's kendo practice, she'll never attend the school festival with me...
Screw watching the road, this is important!
Hilo