I thought playing the DS version of mid-September's "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" would be a waste of time. When I put the game in my DS yesterday morning, while riding the subway to work, I expected a derivative and crippled experience.
I felt that after playing the first two levels of the Xbox 360 version the night before, I didn't think playing developer N-Space's DS interpretation of those same levels was going to be very interesting. Certainly, if one wants to play a definitive version of the "The Force Unleashed," the DS is not the version to choose over the 360 one. The technology doesn't match. In the first level, for example, Darth Vader rampages upon the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk. On the 360, the Sith Lord's cape billows like real cloth. On the DS, it bends like a bunch of polygons tacked together. The trees don't splinter like real wood on the DS; the use of force powers isn't powered by a physics engine that can send enemies and objects in any direction you select.
But the DS version was worth a look because it showed me a control scheme with which I'd like to play more. Character movement is implemented with either the d-pad or the DS face buttons, depending on whether the player is left-handed or right-handed. Attacks, jumps and most uses of force powers are controlled with a stylus tap of specific, marked regions of the DS touch screen. None of that was that new to me. What was new is that N-Space has demonstrated a clever way to execute combos. Traditionally, combos are triggered by a memorized or accidental pressing and tilting of buttons, d-pads and control sticks. N-Space's way is more inviting and more fun to experiment with. All the player has to do is connect pictures, to draw a stylus stroke from a jump icon on the touch screen to a lightsaber attack one, illuminating both in green to show that a combo has been found, and triggering a special leaping attack. Connecting a Force grab and a Force push icon causes enemies to get heaved to the air and slammed to the ground.
I may have missed a control scheme like this before, but I'm sold on it at first touch.
Bring on more picture-connecting combo attacks in DS games. It makes the act of executing tricky combos a little simpler for those of us with poor reflexes are faltering memories. It lets a person like me -- who can't always memorize that XXBY does this move and YYAB does that one -- experience the pleasure of chaining two good moves into a great one. I'm glad I tried that DS version after all.
Next: "Castle Crashers" and "The Last Guy" may dominate the early part of the holiday weekend. And then there's a big PC game I want to try.
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