While rumors of a new Star Wars title spread a few weeks back, LucasArts officially announced Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be coming this November to the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS.
The Force Unleashed is set in the movie void between ‘Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ and ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’. There you’ll play as Darth Vader’s “Secret Apprentice” with your own force powers: force push, grip, repulse and lightning.
These powers are unlike anything you’ve ever seen before in Star Wars games or even the movies. Force push doesn’t just throw your enemies into the wall, it throws them through walls, or Force grip others in mid-air and strike them with your lightning attack. With these new powers, your job is to hunt down the remaining Jedi and eliminate them.
As you set forth on your journey of evil, you’ll encounter familiar friends and foes including Darth Vader himself, a new fugitive Jedi and “Force-sensitive Felucians.” You’ll also visit locals such as the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk, Felucia, Raxus Prime and the Imperial Tie Fighter construction facility.
LucasArts is also quick to say that three very unique technologies are being brought together for this incredible title. The Havok Physics engine, Euphoria by Natural Motion, and Digital Molecular Matter (DMM) by Pixelux Entertainment are all playing a role in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Havok is already a popular engine which will provide LucasArts with real world physics interaction between objects. Things will behave as they would in real life such as falling stone bouncing off the floor. DMM is also being used for realism allowing objects to break and splinter instead of with set animations. Stone columns will crumble and the ceiling collapse as a result. Finally, NaturalMotion’s Euphoria gives a unique AI to NPC and objects. Stormtroopers will attempt to balance themselves and gain control after a Force push. Everything you see will be simulated, not animated. This means no two actions will ever look exactly the same.