In last year’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Ultimate Sith Edition videogame, there was the most curious of bonus levels, set on Hoth. It was an Infinities mini-storyline, where the protagonist, Darth Vader’s apprentice, is sent to Hoth to kill Luke Skywalker.
The apprentice – having been turned to the dark side after slaying his old master – has to wade through armies of Wampa ice creatures before doing away with the whiny-voiced, petulant wannabe Jedi. Following a nice sequence where the apprentice pops out the side of an AT-AT and downs a Snowspeeder, the action escalates in abstract fantasy land.
When fighting Luke in the Hoth hangars, players are given the opportunity to bonk Luke’s head against a Snowspeeder using the Force, before a small video at the end shows Luke becoming the apprentice’s…well…dark apprentice. Essentially, Luke goes bad.
Sorry, what? Although I enjoyed the game tremendously, despite its technical shortcomings (something that’ll be ironed out in this year’s sequel, apparently), this was oddly contrived. I’ve never really been a fan of Star Wars Infinities storylines – I just think much more can be gained out of embellishing the existing canon.
Still, what do you think? Is the idea of a ‘dark Luke’ getting his head smacked against a Snowspeeder just a storyline too far?
