I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand the arcane geometry of public relations. I will never truly grasp the Orwellian mechanics of crafting the elegant, eloquent bullsh*t that comes out of some developers’ mouths.
Speaking with Eurogamer,Force Unleashedproducer Cameron Suey explained that sinceStar Warsis “such a great license,” it was easier for LucasArts dev teams “to get excited about that and not set the bar high enough.” Thisvery clearlyexplains why the past handful ofStar Warsgames have been wholly mediocre in every way. It wasn’t that the games were poorly written, or sloppy, or featured broken and tired gameplay — they just weren’tambitious enough.
What does that evenmean? I don’t get it. Did the developers and designers get together and say, “Ok, guys, here’s the deal: we’re just going to half-ass this thing every step of the way. And people will buy it, and it’ll be pretty rad.” It’s not that you guys didn’tset the bar, you just did a bad job.
And really, that’s ok. As long as devoted fans keep buyingStar Warsshovelware, it makes absolute sense to squeeze more blood out of the franchise. I can sleep soundly at night, knowing that supply and demand is in full swing.
Nevertheless, Suey promised that the upcomingForce Unleashedis plenty ambitious, adding that LucasArts “really fulfilled the high bar we set for ourselves.” To be honest, this is the only Star Wars game to really spark my interest in the past five or six years, andearly reportsseem to suggest that Suey is keeping his promise. I only hope that therecent delaywas to give them enough time to crank that bar a little higher.
[ViaEurogamer, viaKotaku]
