Along with the cartoony yet curiously compelling Clone Wars and the innovative Fracture that is hovering at the very edge of my interest, LucasArts presented one more game at E3 2008, and this one is truly going to be epic. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a game I have been secretly drooling over since it was first announced, from both a technical perspective as well as the story standpoint. Sure, die hard Star Wars fans complain about continuity, but what else is Vader going to do during the gap between movies? Kick back and eat some Hot Pockets? Sure, but that only takes like five to ten minutes.

Between the LucasArts presentation of the game and my brief hands-on, I walked away feeling confident that this could not only be one of the most exciting Star Wars video games of all time, it could very well provide moments more epic than anything we saw in the three prequel films.

Entertainment Weekly got their hands on a new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed trailer that delves into the story of the upcoming Sith-centric game. I wouldn't go and watch if you want your knowledge of the game and its story to remain virginal. Otherwise you absolutely have to go check it out because it's got some amazing gameplay shown off, including walkers being cut in half and some blistering combo attacks by the apprentice. Makes me want to play it some more.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed [EW]

Hands-On The Force Unleashed Impressions

Going in to my time with Star Wars The Force Unleashed, I figured the best the game could do was recapture the fun of playing Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II on a console.

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.

The Force Unleashed Team Unleashed? [Updated]

Unconfirmed, but word has it that LucasArts just axed the team responsible for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. If this true, this rumor is reminiscent of rumblings we heard earlier this month that once The Force Unleashed ships, LucasArts will pinkslip 100 employees and cease internal development. All of this comes as LucasArts recently saw massive layouts. These latest, rumored layoffs were long-time staffers who had worked on big titles like X-Wing, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. If The Force Unleashed proves successful, LucasArts might find itself at a disadvantage if it plans on doing the game internally.

Eds Note: We were contacted by a LucasArts staffer who was part of the Force Unleashed team, stating these layoffs mentioned in the original Joystiq post were not recent and that there have been no additional layoffs since what we reported earlier this month.

LucasArts Cuts Hit [Joystiq via CVG]

Shacknews is reporting, via "a reliable source," that once Star Wars: The Force Unleashed drops in mid-September, LucasArts will pinkslip another 100 employees and quit internal development.

Force Unleashed is the first internally developed 360 and PS3 title for LA, and the first LA-developed title since Republic Commando for the Xbox in 2005. There is, as Yoda might say, another ...

That would be the untitled Indiana Jones third-person actioner, and according to Shacknews, the remainder of its work, left after The Force Unleashed hits the street, will be outsourced. Shacknews notes that past and present development partners include TT Games, Day 1, BioWare, Pandemic and, reaching way back, Totally Games (X-Wing, TIE Fighter).

Source: LucasArts to Halt Internal Development [Shacknews]

Yesterday it was revealed that Darth Vader's secret apprentice from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed would be appearing as a character in Namco Bandai's Soulcalibur IV, and now we've got pictures of the Mr. Secret himself in action, taking on the Soulcalibur regulars as well as the lean, green lightsaber machine Yoda himself. If this were a Star Wars game the screenshot up top would be immediately followed by a rolling Sith apprentice head, but who knows how things will go in the Soulcalibverse?

Check out the full gallery below, and hit the jump for the full video reveal, that promises, "New Powers Will Be Unleashed By A Secret Apprentice." Ooooo.

A brand new character is joining the cast of Soulcalibur IV and, surprisingly enough, this one isn't sporting Jabba the Hutt sized breasts. Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" Starkiller, star of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, will join Yoda and Vader in pitting lightsaber against blade when the game hits the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next month. Yes, Starkiller is coming to both versions of Soulcalibur IV, making your decision that much easier.

Soulcalibur IV Unleashed [GameSpot]

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Multiplayer Makes LucasArts PR Snappy

There are some touchy questions. Questions that might turn people curt. Questions that need to be asked. Questions like: Is there any specific reason why there is no multiplayer in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the PS3 and Xbox 360? Adam Kahn, Senior PR Manager at LucasArts, answers.

To be specific, there's no multiplayer in the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 versions, because there is on the Wii, PSP, and DS. As far as specific reasons are concerned, we don't really like to get into the reasons why we don't do things because I don't think there's really a satisfactory answer that people would really be happy with. So, there isn't multiplayer and that's kind of how it is...

Star Wars Feature [TVG via Go Nintendo]

G4: Video of Force Unleashed for Wii, Duel Mode

I don't mean to make anyone uncomfortable, but good Lord, this gets me hard:

Whatever your console, this trailer will convince you it's going to be awesome. Exclusive content and gameplay for all of them. God, now I want to buy a Wii. Right after I take a cold shower.

Flipping through my son's LEGO magazine over the weekend I noticed this ad for a new LEGO Star Wars ship, the Rogue Shadow, that is "exploding from the much anticipated videogame, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed!"

The ship comes with mini-figs of Juno Eclipse, Battle Damaged Darth Vader and Darth Vader's Apprentice. Hit the jump for close ups of the trip of little men. I wonder if this is going to be a new trend, LEGO screenshots.

Alleged LucasArts Staffer Gets Gossipy On Ward, ILM & More

Force Unleashed Tech Continues To Astound

WiiSaber Update!

This time from Game Informer, we have some fresh new details on LucasArts' The Force Unleashed (Wii) and the mythological WiiSaber. As we'd heard rumblings of before, swinging the Wiimote will not be 1:1 with the onscreen saber. Force powers will be motion controlled, but whether or not the Wiimote will do double-duty between lightsaber and said powers is uncertain. The only example we know of is Force Push, which requires the player to (you guessed it) push with the nunchuck.

I'm really, really hoping this will be good. And until we have the game in our hands to decide, expect bajillions of such updates as we get more info.

A few more Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Wii details [gonintendo]

Star Wars Coming to... the N-Gage?

No, you didn't just misread that headline. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is coming to N-Gage—not the phone, the platform.

The mobile version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be developed by THQ's Universomo in Finland using Cell Weaver technology and will support tournaments, score uploads and downloadable content through N-Gage's Arena service.

A press release that makes the whole thing official is after this.

Making The WiiSaber Is Hard

We already know that the WiiSaber (that's Wii lightsaber...learn it, live it, love it) is coming, but just how hard is the task of design? Very hard. Like, it will be tough to get right, hard. And it's not just because of the Wiimote itself—according to TT Games' Jonathan Smith—one major developer behind the original Lego Star Wars games.

...the way you have to tackle the animation for a character that can mimic your movements is quite intimidating...When I play a game I want to feel like I'm a Jedi, not like I'm some kind of imbecile who just keeps on stabbing stuff in the guts. You're not going to be able to fight with style because you won't know how to put the moves together.

Will we ever get complete control of Star Wars' lighty-up sticks? [gamesradar] [picture]