Enter The Force Unleashed. The tech-demo-turned-full-fledged-game is the latest creation to become a multimedia event, much like Shadows of the Empire and The Clone Wars before it. The game has all the trappings of an olive branch from LucasArts to the still-disenfranchised fans such as myself: It takes place in between Episodes III & IV; the protagonist is a Jedi; and the Force is central to both the gameplay and story.
The first trailer made me reach for that olive branch, that's for sure. I watched a Dark Jedi bring down an Imperial Star Destroyer with the Force, then a montage of stormtroopers dying from a plethora of Force-related injuries. I've never witnessed Darth Vader's famous line, "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force," so fully realized. It's any fanboy's dream.
I quickly snatched my hand away as this Dark Jedi turned out to be Vader's apprentice. Apprentice Luke can barely lift Artoo; this guy looks like he can kick Palpatine's ass without breaking a sweat. Nothing in the game looks like the Force I saw in Empire Strikes Back, which seems to be the point: Crank the special effects up to 11, give the player control and hope that's all the fanboys want.
LucasArts hasn't revealed much of the story at this point. We know it will involve the apprentice, an imperial love interest, a droid companion, a grizzled veteran and Darth Vader. The theme is supposedly redemption, the major theme of Return of the Jedi. Lucas himself gave direct input to the narrative. So if the story will be Lucas-certified as official, what's his stance on the gameplay abilities of the protagonist? One can't be canon while the other is considered alternate-reality. I guess there's a 19-year time period where the Force is magnified twentyfold, then drops back to normal when Luke steps out into the Tatooine sunset.
Maybe all of this comes down to personal bias. Debating the correctness of a fictional mythology is like arguing on the internet; but there is real beauty in creating a consistent narrative in storytelling. And The Force Unleashed, despite looking spectacular, is not fostering consistency. To do that, Star Wars needs another Knights of the Old Republic. The game resides in the new media empire of LucasArts and adds its own story, planets, and characters to the mythos. But it doesn't fall prey to the "this or that" mentality that one so easily falls into with the two trilogies. It pays homage to the Tales of the Jedi comics, and in that way, to the Original Trilogy vision at large.
So where does that leave us? Wishing for the elimination of all things associated with the Prequel Trilogy. A happy dream, to be sure, but not feasible. So perhaps, after the game is released and I've played it through a few times, I can find room in my heart for both my beloved pre-Episode I universe and the bold vision of The Force Unleashed. The Star Wars universe is friggin' huge, after all.
Andrew Taylor studies physics and loves Star Wars, even though Special Relativity dictates that Luke and Leia would never see each other again after the Battle of Hoth.
