Even though it was plagued by clumsy platforming and somewhat repetitive gameplay, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed quickly became the fastest-selling LucasArts and Star Wars title of all time, selling a million copies in the first month and over 7 million in total. Thanks to some recent behind the scenes information unveiled, The Force Unleashed could have been a vastly different game if not for George Lucas of all people turning down a seriously ‘wookie’ pitch. Hey, he had to make up for Jar Jar Binks eventually.
During an interview in the June 2010 issue of Gamepro, Haden Blackman and Julio Torres talked about how their small team was tasked with coming up with a pitch for an all-new Star Wars game back in 2005.
At one point we were kicking around an idea where you were playing a Wookie. It was going to be a big open world, and you’d be running around, and you’d be able to grab the heads of AT-STs and throw them at stormtroopers. It was a very over the top-style superhero game.
Thankfully, George Lucas immediately turned down the idea.
He just looked at me and said, ‘I just spent the last half hour talking to you about the importance of characters talking to each other, and you pitch me a game idea where the main character can’t talk?
Thank you George! Even if Episodes 1-3 weren’t as good as the originals and the Clone Wars cartoon needs to be put on the back burner so you can make the live-action Star Wars show, turning down the Wookie pitch was seriously a good decision. Besides, I had too much fun throwing their hairy asses around the Kashyyyk stage as Darth Vader.
For those that loved the original SW:TFU, you’ll be happy to know that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II forces pushes its way to retailers this fall on October 26th.
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