Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Ok. I bought this for $39.95 at the Apple Store because I wanted to play the Hoth, Tatooine and Jedi Temple levels. I played the game originally on the Playstation 3, and liked it very much, but I did not buy the Sith edition which had the other levels (did not know this otherwise I would have both the Sith edition for PS3). Everywhere I look the PS3 Sith version is being scalped by crooks on eBay for $100+. So I decided to get it for my Mac and try to play the extra levels and get the story that way for only $39.95 +tx. I also have an Xbox 360, but the Xbox360 version is not much cheaper than the PS3 crooked version.
Ok. Performance. The graphics on the Mac (or computer version), is noticeably sharper and cleaner than the console version (PS3). It's pretty clear that the console version graphics are probably less detailed and "beautiful" so that it will work at a decent frame rate. But I did like the PS3 version and I thought the graphics were also good there. The Macintosh I have is a 2010 21.5" iMac. It has a 512MB Radeon 5670 graphics (decent but not great), 8GB DDR3 1333Mhz (more than enough), and a 3.6 GHz Core i5 processor (fastest dual core out there) with a 1 TB hard drive, running MacOS 10.6.4. I play the game at 1920x1080 resolution which is the native resolution of the iMac screen (21.5"). If I play at lower resolutions it just crops in on the left and right or top and bottom. I have checked the High Detail box in the start up window of the game, which I guess means max settings--adjusting the game settings is really poor since you don't really get to change anything other than resolution, unlike StarCraft II which allows you to change almost every aspect of graphics and game performance settings. The initial level in snow outside the cave before fighting the snow beasts slows down a bit but does not get jumpy. It looks very slightly like a gentle slow motion kinda thing. Once inside the cave the slow motion is gone and it's very smooth and responsive. If I try to run the game at 11280x1024 that same snow part is faster and has no "slow motion" affect. I ran it full screen and in window mode and the result was the same. There was a 25GB or so game install from the 2 disks inside which seems on the VERY large side considering StarCraft II is only about 9-10GB.
I ran Activity Monitor with the game in windowed mode and as my iMac has both hyper threading and turbo boost, I could see VERY clearly that the CPU was not working very hard. It was probably pushing 20-30% maybe 40% of the bars and never went beyond that. So where is the slow down? Real simple. The graphics card. While the Radeon 5670 with 512MB is a decent card, it is really not meant as a gamer card--for that matter neither is this iMac, but it's decent as a midrange system. There are/were better ATI systems than that. I suspect the 2010 iMac 27" with the 5750 1GB card would have done a much better job, but I could not afford a 27" iMac and I got this iMac from a friend for a used 3 moth price of $1500, who upgraded to a MacPro. But still I think it's a pretty good iMac over all, and even though it plays StarCraft II really well in mostly HIGH settings, SWFU bogs down a bit. Clearly a quad core iMac might be a better option than my dual core, but I suspect the real issue is the video card, which in my iMac is good but not great.
My only conclusion is that the game is probably not coded as well as it could be and not optimized perfectly for the Mac, MacOS X and a Radeon 5670 or only 512MB of dedicated video memory. But it still plays fine...enough...and I get the extra levels I wanted to play for only $40 instead of 2X-3X that.
I would have preferred the Playstation 3 Sith edition. If I can find a PS3 version of the Sith edition for cheap I will get it and sell/donate/toss the Mac version.
It's not a bad game, sure not perfect, but it's fun, sounds great, has super graphics and once you learn the game controls it's very manageable. Interestingly, the console version is easier to control than the computer version. There is a 360 controller option but I have not figured out how the set that up. Sure there are better games out there but for $40 on a midrange iMac 2010, it's a good game.
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Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition combines the original Star Wars The Force Unleashed videogame with three entirely new single-player levels and a host of new costumes and character models. The three new levels introduce an exciting new "what if" scenario into the Star Wars universe and send players on dangerous missions to iconic locales such as the Jedi Temple on Coruscant Jabba s palace on Tatooine and into the thick of battle on the ice world of Hoth. New character models allow gamers to play as a legendary Star Wars character such as Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi. Features:Use the Force like never before with devastating attacks and combos on enemies. Discover the untold story of Darth Vader s secret apprentice and the major events in the Star Wars universe after the rise of the Empire. Digital Molecular Matter technology lets you feel the true power of the Force. Objects in the environment break bend shatter splinter and shift as they would in real life. Enemies are influenced by euphoria a behavioral technology that allows characters to react in different and unique ways every time that you play the game whether they are jumping to safety or on the receiving end of your Force power and lightsaber attacks. Format: MAC X10.4.9/DVD SOFTWARE Genre:ENTERTAINMENT Rating:T Age:618870122403 UPC:618870122403 Manufacturer No:12240
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