After the less-than-positive reviews for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, and some unimpressive sales, the series was put on the shelf. However, some of the developers who worked on the project have been talking about the development behind the scenes, and what could have been, had Force Unleashed 3 been a real game.
During a Twitch.tv live-stream, former LucasArts writers and developers Sam Witwer, David W. Collins and Hayden Blackman talked about the development of The Force Unleashed games, and also discussed what would have been the story for The Force Unleashed 3. Project lead Hayden Blackman explained...
The one idea I had related to that was Boba Fett being sent after the Rogue Shadow and basically shooting it down and you literally play as Vader and the Apprentice trying to survive and they have to join forces together to work their way off the planet - and you never know when you can trust Vader. Then you find out Boba Fett has been sent by the Emperor to make sure neither of them gets off the planet because the Emperor has his own plot.
That sounds crazy.
In a way it's a bit like a buddy-up Star Wars story. Given the events of Force Unleashed and Force Unleashed 2, it definitely would have created a very unique atmosphere where the apprentice and Darth Vader would have been attempting to survive together against Boba Fett.
Also, making Fett the main antagonist would have been interesting, because a lot of people usually see him as a character they would rather play, not fight. Fett was a villain-type character in the Star Wars: Jedi Academy game, but later he received his own title in the form of the PS2 game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.
The whole sub-plot about the Emperor looking to take out Vader and Starkiller is also interesting. According to Sam Witwer, this would have fit in line with the Emperor's plans because he was always scheming and always making contingencies to make things unfold in his favor.
Of course, during that time, LucasArts was going through some management changes, as it was just before the big Disney buyout. During that time a lot of projects were being scrapped and shelved, including the most infamous cancellation in the form of Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
A lot of gamers were absolutely livid that LucasArts pulled the plug on the sequel to one of the best-selling Star Wars games of all time.
Over the years we've had drip-feeds of new info, screenshots and videos that reveal a little bit of what went into the development of Battlefront 3.
EA and DICE have replaced the series with a Frostbite-powered version of the shooter, but it's definitely a far cry from Pandemic's version. Funnily enough, Sam Witwer actually managed to stay under the Star Wars umbrella, even voicing the Emperor and Darth Maul in the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront 2, so he hasn't stepped out too far from the series. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like a third game in the Force Unleashed trilogy will ever get made.
