About two weeks ago, Mr. Kamshaft from here at XBA was invited by LucasArts to visit their studios in San Francisco and get some one-on-one time with their new game, “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.” Apparently, three thousand miles was a little far to go for a one hour presentation, so he extended the invitation to me. By pure coincidence, I actually had business in the Bay Area on the 1^st, which was in their window for dropping by the studio.

I was met in the lobby by a member of their PR team, and escorted to a corner office. Inside the office there were multiple HD televisions, with a PS3, 360 and Wii version of the game hooked up, plus the DS and PSP versions sitting on a coffee table. I watched the intro loop a couple of times before we fired up the game.

I’ll avoid any spoilers, but if you’re checking into the game at all, you’ll want to at least know the general premise of the game. Within the Sith order, there are only two: Master, and Apprentice. In this case, the Master is Emperor Palpatine, and the Apprentice is Darth Vader. The Emperor has ordered all Jedi, including Jedi in training, to be killed. A few have escaped, and Vader is sent out to clean up the stragglers. During one of these missions, he runs across someone that he decides would make his own good apprentice, and violating the Sith rules, he trains him outside of the watchful eye of his own Master.

The game is about the Secret Apprentice (in fact, it could just as easily have been named that), so I was kinda surprised to learn that I would be starting the game as Lord Vader himself. Lightsaber in hand, we’re dispatched to the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk in search of a rogue Jedi. This is the tutorial level and it’s a smart move to start us off with a known character.

There are some expected controls: use lightsaber and use the force. Vader doesn’t run, though… ‘cause he’s Darth Vader. Your two main functions have variations. You can swing your lightsaber, or throw it in an arc and it comes back to you. When you use the force, you can grab at a object or person, and then use your thumbsticks to move the item around in 3D space. You can throw it. You can wipe the room with it. And then also, you can let the force build up for a brief burst that pushes a wave through the area, disrupting enemies and objects.

As you progress through the game, you can find powerups in the form of lightsaber power crystals and Sith holocrons. In the books and graphic novels, a holocron is a device that gives information and power. In TFU, they unlock new abilities. Combined, these items serve as a kind of RPG element to what is totally an Action Adventure game.

I’m not going to even get into the part of the game beyond the point where you take over as the Secret Apprentice EXCEPT… to say that I am a hardcore, original Star Wars fan. You know, the one with the figures, the one who’s worn costumes and attended conventions, the one with every version of the movies… and the one who was REALLY let down by the prequels. I am happy to say that… I’m happy.

I asked the PR guys at LucasArts what they really wanted out of inviting me to their studio. Did they want story revealed, levels, actions, button commands? All they wanted, they told me, was to tell people if I had fun with the game. I can tell you this… when I hit the ground and started offin’ Wookiees, I was having FUN. Metal doors bent at odd angles when I used the force. Wooden doors exploded in splinters. Trees bent, trees broke, bark was blown off. Flexible wooden bridges rippled under the disturbances of the force. I force-choked Wookies, I beat clonetroopers against walls, I threw R2 units through glass windows and watch debris sucked out the depressurized hallway before the blast shields dropped, sealing off the breach.

And most importantly, it was like the Whiny-Vader ™ of the prequels never existed. The Bad-Ass Vader ™ that I grew up with was back, black, large, and in charge. The story – at least what I saw of it – was solid. The voice acting was great. The animations, both facial and the unscripted body and deformation animations – were really well done. A half-hour of this game was more exciting, more INTERESTING to me, than six hours of prequels. REAL Star Wars fans are going to be giddy, and my honest apathy towards ANOTHER Star Wars game has become excited anticipation.

Count me in.