Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings [PEGI via Siliconera]

While The Force Unleashed pushes the graphics and, to some degree, the AI, forward, the experience of playing Unleashed was, as I had hoped, fairly similar to the hours of time I sank into Dark Forces II.

The game was enjoyable, at times a blast to play, but nothing that is going to shake the rock solid formula crafted by Dark Forces II.

I started my hands-on with the Xbox 360 version of the game (the PS3 version is said to be identical) playing as Darth Vader. I suspect this first introductory level is one of the only chances you get to play as the Sith mouth-breather. The developers nailed Vader's walk, though I went from awe struck to annoyed a few minutes into the game when I realized I couldn't force Vader to sprint through the level. Instead you have to make do with his majestic, shoulder-rolling walk as he obliterates everything in his path, rocks, trees, Wookies, with a wave of the hand.

After playing the Vader level to completion, I hopped into shoes of Vader's secret apprentice and played through an entire chapter with him. Unlike Vader, whose powers are already maxed out, the apprentice needs to unlock and strengthen his abilities over time.

The game's controls are fairly straight forward, allowing you to pluck things out of the air or throw them around with the Fore. Holding down the right trigger allows you to force grab and then you use the left thumbstick to move it around, or fling it places. You can combine this with other attacks as well. You can, for instance, force grab someone and then thwack them with a light saber. Or you can electrocute them as they dangle, struggling, in front of you. I personally enjoyed grabbing someone over to me and then Force pushing them off bridges or throw the outer glass of space stations.

While the game does have a few random, and easily solved puzzles, a bulk of the game is about tearing stuff up and tormenting people.

The fun in The Force Unleashed will most definitely be found in the mixing of powers to destroy places and wipe out hordes of Storm Troopers. This Star-Wars themed sandbox of destruction is likely to suck up hours of my time when it comes out, if only because I'll be obsessing over attempts to try and perform nearly impossible acts of Force abuse, like grabbing a Tie Fighter out of mid flight and smashing it into other spacecraft.

It's this little fat plastic cube... It doesn't look the least bit like me. How could it, a little yellow plastic cube? It wears a white hat at some point. It is better than Marian's, though. They haven't made her the most beautiful LEGO figure in the world, have they? Her hair looks a bit like a tea cosy. It's strange.

The DS version will be making use of the microphone to solve puzzles by blowing out torches and also included will be a cooking mini-game featuring the infamous monkey brains scene. Something tells me you won't be seeing THAT in Cooking Mama 3.

With all it's various in-jokes and trademark LEGO humor, I think that LEGO Indiana Jones will be a sure fire hit with fans of the genre and kids alike. I wasn't really on the LEGO Star Wars tip when it came out, but there is no doubt that LEGO Indy will be a permanent part of my game collection when it comes out this summer.

The graphics while nice, seem pretty generic in that space opera kind of way we are getting so used to with titles like Mass Effect. Nothing really stood out about them and they really could have been part of any modern space game. Frankly the parts of the gameplay that we did see just seemed to involve raising or lowering grounds to suit your needs and came off seeming a bit like a Mass Effect game with a Populous battle system. There will be a multiplayer mode but if the game continues as is, I doubt that will do much to sell the title. The consensus of the gathered media seemed to be one of general ambivalence so I hope that something can be done to make Fracture a bit more intriguing the next time we see it. I also can't help but think if we had seen this before watching the awesome Force Unleashed presentation instead of after it might not have come off seeming so inferior.

LucasArts has just confirmed to Kotaku that Jim Ward, longtime Lucas worker bee and current president of LucasArts, has resigned from the company "for personal reasons" and will be leaving LucasArts in a couple of weeks.

Ward, who began his career in advertising, started work at LucasFilm in 1997 as the head of their marketing division. In 2004 Ward was named president of LucasArts.

No word yet on the reasoning behind his seemingly sudden departure or where he will land, but we'll keep you up to date here.

Update: We've spoken with LucasArts about Ward's notice and gotten a comment from Ward.

There will also be a LEGO Indiana Jones game announced during the show and finally, Fracture, Lucas Arts earth warping video game, will get a July 2008 release date. The game, the tipster says, will take place in the middle of a second civil war, West Coast mutants against the East Coast cybers. The game will feature maps based in San Francisco (where global warming has dried up the bay), a desert in middle America, and Washington D.C. The gameplay will have defined mission objectives, and not sandbox play. The terrain deformation will affect buildings, which will be powered by the Havok physics engine.

Keep in mind these are only rumors. I'd say they sound likely, because of the rumblings of a new Star Wars game and the upcoming Indie film, but I'm still 50/50 on them.

Chris Kohler took a bunch of snaps at the recent Star Wars Celebration IV of an amazing display of Star Wars gamery.

That single display case, shown above, shows every single Star Wars game ever made, including the Japan-only Namco version that Kohler himself picked up in between bouts of eating fancy ice cream during his recent trip to Japan. Brian Crecente

Gallery: Every Star Wars Game Ever [GameLife]

I'd say this seems like Lucas Arts is milking this franchise, but I love it so much I don't think I care. Let's just hope that this time around the DS version doesn't ship completely broken and lead to me having another fit on the site and the developers writing to apologize. Brian Crecente

Ps. What? No PSP version, that's insane, the last game was unbelievable on the PSP... in a good way.

U.K. games website, PocketGamer, has posted a great list of games that they would like to see come to the Nintendo DS. I have to say the list is pretty dead on, especially in picking games that would take advantage of the DS's touch screen and control scheme. A few standouts on the list include Mario Paint, Okami, Marble Madness and a collection of Lucas Arts Games.

Okami might be a bit of a stretch, but a Lucas Arts collection with Monkey Island and especially Maniac Mansion would be sweet. I won't ruin the whole list for you, but instead point you to PocketGamer's site so you can check it out for yourself. If you have any genius ideas on old games that would make perfect ports to the DS, tell us about em in the comments. Come on, you know you want to. Flynn De Marco

DS Most Wanted: 10 games we demand NOW! [PocketGamer]

Ah, Maniac Mansion. You will always hold a special place in my heart and now you can hold a special place on my desktop.

This fan made Maniac Mansion website has a ton of info on what is arguably Lucas Arts' most famous game. There are game details, breakdowns of the characters and items, sound bytes, a walkthrough, scans of the manuals and poster and the pi ce de r sistance, two desktop pics and thirty five icons from the NES version of the game.

Drop by the site for your Maniac Mansion fix, just don't let Nurse Edna catch you. Remember, trespassers will be horribly mutilated! Flynn De Marco

Maniac Mansion Desktop Stuff [Maniac Mansion Shrine]
[via: GayGamer]

The first production run of the game (the one you have) was pushed out the door early. This was in part to coincide with the release of the Star Wars DVDs Episode IV, V, VI. The good news is that a second production run of the game has been tested and should hit store shelves after the initial stock runs out. However the game is still not bug free, but MUCH cleaner. The Endor Battle level has been tweaked so it is now user friendly. Although if I remember correctly the wireless co-op mode is still crap.

The moles also tell me that the U.S. version is actually far better than the one that hit Europe.

The whole thing is being blamed not on Amaze, but Lucas Arts, who, according to my sources, rushed the game out the door. The bugs were reported, the developers were trying to fix, but Lucas Arts just wanted the game shipped, according to the moles.

If you recall, this is the same excuse used for that abortive ending in Knights of the Old Republic 2.

Now I just need to figure out how to locate the secret second run of the game and try to swap it for the cruddy version I have. Brian Crecente

Lucas Arts really needs to do something about Legos Star Wars II for the Nintendo DS. I love the Xbox 360 and Playstation Portable versions, but the DS version just plain sucks.

First off the game relies on what sounds like midi music and sound effects and I've come to discover that much of the pleasure I got from playing the Lego Star Wars games comes from those very authentic sounds, from the laser blasts and chilling theme song to the fun little pop you hear when you get Lego Chewy to yank a Stormtroopers arms from his sockets.

Next come the graphics, which I could learn to live with, but certainly don't live up to the rest of the franchise.

And to make matters worse, the developers decided to completely redesign all of the levels, making them shorter and, frankly, much less fun to play. Forcing you to run back and fourth along levels to accomplish simple tasks simply to lengthy gameplay.

But I could live with that, in fact I was coming to terms with the sub-par graphics, repetitive level design and horrid sound and music, but to top it off the game is filled to the rim with bugs.

My son, who initially loved this game, was playing it during our entire trip to New York City and while killing time in cab rides. After a day or two of play we both started to notice that the game has some insane design flaws.

To start with, there are levels you simply can't complete because the sub-human AI built-into the game can't figure out that there are places where you need it to do things to get past a bottleneck in a level. For instance, there are levels where you have to trigger two levers at the same time and no matter what I, or my son, did we couldn't get the other idiotic Lego character to go flick the switch for us. This isn't a problem in the next-gen games, but apparently the Legos were lobotomized for the DS.

Worse than that, there are levels where you have to switch between characters to make it through. For instance, in one level you have to take turns using Luke's force power and Lando's grapple ability. But the game has these glitches where your idiotic followers either continually kill themselves by jumping or walking off areas or, much worse, the game makes them materialize underneath things or in areas where they get frozen.

I saw this happen multiple times in multiple places. In one case Luke starting materializing underneath a skywalk and immediately dropping to his death, over and over and over and over again. Finally, we just had to turn the DS off and start all over again.

In another case R2D2 got frozen behind a bad guy and no matter what I could do I couldn't get him out, kill him or even switch to another character.

Finally, after a few hours of play the game started showing graphic's bugs, with the icon for the characters turning into a multi-hued mosaic of bits or the character itself beginning to look janky.

I'd say the Traveler's Tale developed game borders on needing a recall and certainly doesn't live up to the rest of the titles in the franchise. Brian Crecente

While the game will feature tons of unlockable characters from the original trilogy, you will have to buy a pack to get the 50 or so prequel characters for the game.

I saw your recent post about LEGO Star Wars II on Kotaku and wanted to clarify the situation with characters. There is indeed a Marketplace fee to purchase all of the 50-plus prequel characters on the 360 version, but it's a nominal one — 200 points, or about $2.50. So that's basically a nickel per character. The characters are not quite available yet, but I'm told it will be soon. I'll keep you posted.

Less than $3 I can handle, good move LA. Brian Crecente

Ps. Yes, yes, I know, I'm on vacation. You sound like my wife.

Hmm, I wonder if they're going to be relaunching a Star Wars MMO? That would kick much ass.

Star Wars fan site The Force put together a little Lucas Arts wishlist for 2006. The only official title coming from the developer next year is strategy game Empire at War.

* Knights of the Old Republic III: This one is a given. After the amazing results of the first two titles, LucasArts would be silly not to explore this series just a little bit further. Most will recall that some of KOTORII was removed due to time constraints, and that before LucasArts culled it's staff, KOTORIII was in some form of pre-production. So there must be something bubbling away in the pot. If there is, look towards E3 for the announcements, if not sooner.

* LEGO Star Wars II: The 2005 sleeper hit, without a doubt, was LEGO Star Wars. While not a LucasArts developed game, the title went on to become a huge success, possibly even bigger then anyone expected. Again, it would be silly not to expand this into a franchise. Personally, I believe you could get more then just one sequel out of it. But for now, look for a Classic Trilogy edition of LEGO Star Wars some time next year.

* Star Wars Galaxies: As we've already mentioned, Galaxies pulled many punches this year, some hits some misses, but mostly the series of expansion packs this year based around Episode III has helped settle the fanbase after the major changes made. There should be at least another expansion in the wings for 2006, it's just a question of what content will be included. Wise men will put money on a title forming the links between Episode III and IV. The outsider's vote may fall upon an Expanded Universe title.

* Darth Vader: This is an interesting one. Many rumours have been around for some time regarding a Jedi Knight/Outcast style game revolving around the rise of Vader and the Empire. It's all quiet on the Vader front lately, but it's possible this game may re-appear around E3 time if LucasArts make it a reality.

* Indiana Jones: We might not see our old friend till 2007, but there will be some announcements and screenshots of the new adventure over the year.

* PS3/Xbox 360/Revolution: Who knows what may come of our favourite Star Wars titles for the new console war. Already Nintendo's Revolution controller has people thinking of many original ideas, while the power of Sony and Microsoft's entries will always be interesting to follow. LucasArts' next generation titles will be on show over the coming year. Don't forget, of course, the PSP and Nintendo DS, both of which should have at least one Star Wars title released over '06.

Looking through the list, the only one I see coming down the pipeline is a Knights of the Old Republic sequel and a follow-up to surprise hit LEGO Star Wars, but keep on wishing man.

LucasArts in 2006 [The Force]

Grumpy Gamer, aka Ron Gilbert, aka the creator of the Lucas Arts Maniac Mansion script language, is singing the praises of the SCUMMVM group. The SCUMMVM project has been deligently porting the old adventure games from Lucas Arts so that they work on current operating systems, PDAs and even the DS.

As the person that created SCUMM and along with Aric Wilmunder coded the original system, my hat is off the SCUMMVM team and contributers for this undertaking.

I am in awe.

Especially since I could never get anything to run from one version of the system to the next...

Ron Gilbert Supports Illegitimate Ports [I m a Human Inbox]