Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

"The Review Unleased"

First and foremost, I'm a Star Wars fan, which I wished more people in the world were, so my review may be at one point or another somewhat biased. This is not intentional; please believe I'm trying to be as fair in my review as possible.

At any rate, let us begin the review. I'll start with the graphics. I'm fully aware of the Wii's watered-down graphics engine when compared to the other two next generation (or rather, now current generation) platforms; I certainly wasn't expecting the characters and environments to give me the feel of a live-action experience. But Lucasarts can blame whomever they want: the visual presentation of the game was a slap to the face of all the Wii users around the globe. Wasn't the release date pushed back at least ten months from the initial date of November something? What was n-Space doing all this time? Regardless, to continue, that's not to say the look of the Force powers and in-game character designs weren't terrible, surprising since it's usually that exact point lacking while cut scenes get all the attention.

Next at bat: voice acting, sound, and musical score. The music and sound effects were absolutely stunning. If the music wasn't taken directly from the original score of the films, I'd be shocked. The voice acting wasn't the best, though I certainly loved it nonetheless, save no more than a handful of lines. I did miss James Earl Jones, however, as I'm sure everyone else did.

The all-important gameplay: personally, I loved it. It felt smooth, it felt clean, it felt natural. There were a few times where I found it frustrating to pick up a specific object among a pile of others, though such a nitpick shouldn't make much of an impact. (I'll give you a break this time, Lucasarts.) The motion sensor feature really did a lot to the gameplay as well, even if the lightsaber didn't react exactly as you told it to 100% of the time. Furthermore, the replayability factor is made relatively high with the inclusion of those need-to-obtain items, such as lightsaber accessories and holocrons (otherwise, eye candy viewable on board the Rogue Shadow). Despite the short -- perhaps six hour -- story, those bonuses will have you playing for days, toppling and destroying everything in sight. Always fun, isn't it? Lastly, there's a multiplayer feature, which many should enjoy, though I've yet to be given the chance to try it out myself.

Overall, this game wasn't bad. Die-hard Star Wars fans are going to love the concept (all other factors are going to vary drastically, of course), and Wii owners who aren't necessarily absorbed in the Star Wars universe might want to consider picking this one up as well. However, I recommend either the 360 or PS3 versions if at all possible, with the Wii version being the alternative. With that said, I give the game an eight out of ten.

As a final note: Ackbar. Kudos to whomever suggested his inclusion as an unlockable skin.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/08

Game Release: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (US, 09/16/08)