Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

"Prepare to Unleash the Force"

First off, I must let you all know that I am a huge Star Wars fan so this review is biased, but I will try to be as objective as I can. Also, keep in mind that the acronym TFU = The Force Unleashed. Ok, let us begin...

STORY: 10/10
Star Wars the Force Unleashed tries to bridge the gap between Episode III and Episode IV, and throughout the game you learn about the last surviving Jedi, and the birth of the Rebellion. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that the game is about Darth Vader's secret apprentice, who is tasked with finding and killing the few remaining Jedi who survived Order 66. As the game progresses, you will be treated to unexpected twists and turns which really add depth to the story. You will also see familiar characters from the films, and learn what role they had in starting the Rebel Alliance. It's Star Wars through and through, and the story has officially been canonized. Star Wars fans will love the story from this game, and even people who aren't big Star Wars fans will probably appreciate the insight into the period of time after Episode III.

SOUND: 10/10
Like I said above, its Star Wars. The sounds, music and weapons are all classic Star Wars and match the movies perfectly. Not much to say here; the game does a great job of bringing you an authentic piece of the Star Wars universe.

GRAPHICS: 9/10
This game looks beautiful, from the forests of Kashyyyk, the snowy mountains on Corellia, to the fungus on Felucia. Even the junk and sludge of Raxus Prime looks good. This games doesn't have the best graphics ever by any means, but the graphics are still very good, and fit the art style of Star Wars perfectly. Some parts of the game just look magnificent. So not the best graphics in the world, but they do look great.

GAMEPLAY: 8/10
Gameplay is the meat of every game. In this case, the gameplay is great, but the game does have its share of flaws. Let me start by saying what is wrong with it, and move on to what is good.

First, there is still no game that really does as good of a job as the Jedi Knight series when it comes to lightsaber combat. In those games, if you swing your lightsaber at a Stormtrooper, Rebel soldier, or any other ground fodder, they die. Its that simple. Lightsabers cut through everything but cortosis, and as a result, you swing your saber, and things die. However, if you fight a Dark Jedi, it takes several hits to kill them (especially the ones with cortosis-coated armor.) The Jedi Knight games were able to do this and still be challenging. That is how it is in those games, and that is how it should be here. Unfortunately, the LucasArts team forgot this. Their motto for TFU was apparently: "make the game hard by making your run-of-the-mill enemies Force and lightsaber resistant." It doesn't make sense to me why it takes a rebel soldier 5 hits to die, or a Stormtrooper with a shield is completely resistant to all my Force powers. Similarly, I don't understand why Dark Troopers cannot be picked up with Grip, or why Rebels with an electro-staff can take down a Sith Lord. Its stupid, and can really take away from the whole "authentic Star Wars experience" that the story and music do such a great job of. Like I said before, the Jedi Knight games were better in this aspect, where every regular soldier WILL die in one hit 99% of the time. Sometimes they would get lucky and get an arm cut off, but the next swing would kill always them. In TFU, I could Grip a Jet Trooper, impale his stomach with my lightsaber, and all that would happen is that his health meter will drop a bit, and he would continue flying around and shooting at me as if nothing happened. Its stupid things like these which the developers should have done a better job with. As far as lightsaber combat is concerned, the Jedi Knight games were better.

There are only 2 other negatives I can think of. The first is with Boss fights, the camera goes into a wonky angle which makes it hard to aim attacks like Push and Lightning. Also, when you Grip a boss, it can be hard to aim a throw, and many times instead of throwing them into a tree or an explosive canister, you throw them into a soft bush or a bendable railing. This doesn't apply to mini-bosses like Shadow Guards, Rancor and AT-ST's, but only to the Jedi-bosses. The last negative is infinite drops. I have died several times because I was hit and I fell off a platform, or I hit an invisible wall in the level and fell into an abyss, or I was knocked down and my character just rolled off a bridge. It gets very annoying when things like this happen, and I have a hard time understanding why there is an infinite drop inside of a Star Destroyer or on Kashyyyk. It is also a hassle because when you die, you have to go back to the last save point which many times is all the way back near the beginning of a level.

That's it for the negatives, and now lets get into what the game does right

Force powers. There are times where I just feel like the most powerful badass in the Galaxy. Take, for example, the prologue level with Darth Vader. Just tossing Wookies left ad right, snapping their necks with Choke, and pushing them into trees and bridges which then break apart and collapse all around you is a very satisfying sight. At least 10 times throughout a level I will do something (such as Gripping an enemy, Impaling him with my lightsaber, and then Pushing him into an energy field whereupon he is instantly incinerated) which just brings a smile to my face and give me a sense of extreme power. Other examples are using Force Repulse to blast every living thing around me into nonexistence, or charging up a Push and watching as every enemy in the corridor goes flying into explosive barrels and watching the chaos ensue, or picking up an R2 droid and smashing out a window in a space station and watch all the enemies get sucked into space. Things like this really give the sense of power. In the early levels, enemies almost seem to die on command, and it gives you the impression that the Apprentice is pissed that they are wasting his time. He almost seems angry that you made him raise his arm to Push you away.

The leveling system is great, and works like an RPG. You can upgrade Force Powers, Abilities and Combos by getting Force points, which you can acquire by using Force Powers, collecting Jedi Holocrons, and defeating Bosses. You can also customize your character with several outfits. Your lightsaber can also be customized with power cores and crystals. By collecting different crystals you can change the color of your lightsaber, and power cores give your lightsaber different abilities like extra lightning damage, or increased power. The only gripe with this system is that you start the game with too little. I know that you need to work your way up, but surely after all those years Vader taught the Apprentice more than just the basic Force Push and Grip. RPG fans will no doubt have fun with this system.

The main point of the gameplay is that its fun. It can get frustrating at times, but for the most part its just plain fun.

REPLAYABILITY: 8/10
Originally, I was going to score this lower. Once you beat the game you unlock all of the cutscenes, so there isn't much incentive to play it again, right? Well there are several Achievements for the 360 version which cannot be obtained on the first playthrough. There are also several you COULD get on one playthrough, but you probably wont until the next one or two. Even with this, I was going to score this about a 5. But then I beat the game, and the best replayability factor appeared. You can go back and play through the game again with your character already leveled up, and use all the different outfits and lightsaber upgrades, and Force upgrades that you got with the last playthrough. It really makes going through the game again a lot more fun.

So to sum it up, the game does a great job of presenting an authentic Star Wars universe that looks and feels like classic Star Wars. The story is great and will keep you guessing to the end. The gameplay has some flaws but is still solid and fun, and you can probably find some reasons to go back and play the game another two or three times.

My overall score for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is (not average) 8/10

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

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