Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

"“The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the end boss is.” But it doesn't break the game."

I've tried to be spoiler free. I don't mention the plot but I do mention minor characters from the Star Wars trilogy and the usual cannon fodder. If this is all okay; read on.

I've had a couple of good runs through this game now and its' a game that, as a huge Star Wars fan, I was torn over to begin with. It is beautiful. It is challenging but accessible thanks to a simple easy / medium / hard setting and the main game itself is far better than the rather limited demo.

I cackled like a giddy Emperor Palpatine as I chucked Wookies around with gay abandon on the first level, felt the force as I explored the over the top powers and combo's given to the main character. You can play this just by doing the same things over and over again but you'll miss the point. You are not given these powers to merely survive and race through the levels. It encourages you to test the game. It isn't a perfect system, I'd have liked to be able to chain more moves together but you will still enjoy hurling NPC's around and watch them flail helplessly, grabbing at anything that might save them.

I'll cover the disappointments first. There are very few but this they are the kind that had me swearing like a storm trooper and crushing my pad in my hands. (I am quite weak fortunately and my pad survived.) The camera. I know what you are thinking. In a third person action adventure game where the player is constantly leaping around the camera is going to very difficult to get right. In the main game it will very occasionally get stuck but it is rare. You are given control of it but you tend to target the things your character is looking at, not what you point the camera at. Couple that with an auto target that sometimes decides to play 'eeny meany minie mo with the target reticule and you can understand the frustration it can cause. It rarely matters in the main game since there is plenty of rubble to throw around and throwing a Jawa at an enemy is just as effective as throwing that explosve barrel you were aiming for (I'd like to thank the developers at this stage for not making the Jawa's cry "Oodeeni!" at any point in the game. I was dreading the sound.)

It all turns into a bit of a Vader's Yer Father (Rhodian Rhyming slang for "a Palaver") when you get to a boss stage. I won't spoil it for you by telling you who you fight but the in a couple of these boss battles take control of the camera away from you. Until you figure out what to do to win these bouts they become extremely frustrating. Not only does the camera choose to give you the worst possible game playing angle, occasionally not even showing you or the boss you are fighting in favour of the beautiful backdrop you are trying to avoid falling into, but it also makes it very unclear what to do. There were a couple of times where I was doing the right thing to win and yet the game didn't give me any signs of me making progress. If these moments had been shorter it might have been more acceptable but to force you to endure the same set piece over and over again in the hope you are doing it right is just torment, especially after such a superb, super hero pacing and joy that comes with the other ninety percent of the game.

While I'm ranting I'd like to also whine about QT's. Why do developers insist on these timed mini games? I thought we'd seen the back of those years ago!

For minute I'm finding myself not liking this game, and this is what the game itself is like. You'll get a poorly designed bit, slow to a crawl, then suddenly hit another couple of hours of brilliance. And most of the game is brilliant. The game-play is superbly simple and easy to get into. The voice acting is the best in the business, the script is Star Wars genius. You will want to see this through just to see how the story ends. Even if you know how the story ends you need to SEE the story end because this game is gorgeous. this isn't just the technology behind the graphics this is pure artistry. Go and see the concept paintings for the Star Wars films. See those fantastic paintings with rich colours and fabulous detail? That is the force unleashed. Every bit of the Force Unleashed. It's not just the force been unleashed it's art director unleashed.

You will forgive the work experience kid from the 'special' school who named the main character "Star Killer" (Oh it was Lucas? Sorry George..) just because he is so likeable. You will care about him, you will see him grow from... no hang on I can't mention that or I'll spoil it for you. Suffice to say he is good. Well performed, well animated and well written.

One more niggle and I can wind this saga to an end. If Star Killer is a Sith Apprentice why can't he get up faster? You don't worry about dying in this game. you worry about tripping over because he takes ages to get to his feet. "Use the force" Yoda would say. Vader trained him though so he must have been a little more relaxed about it. "In your own time," perhaps," or "No point in getting up too quick. May as well catch that rocket between your teeth while you are down there as well." It rarely catches you out but when it does you will again be cursing the game. Then he will get up, you'll force lightening a Jawa, launch him at a Storm Trooper and then force push both off a ledge and get your health back just before you chuck your lightsaber through that rebels spies neck and send it spinning into that annoying R2 unit.

If you can forgive the very nearly broken bits in this game it is one of the best Star Wars games ever. Sadly that is an easier statement to make than it should be but this is a far better story, better gameplay and far better performed than Jedi Knight. It isn't as long, but it's prettier than any Star Wars Game. If you are a fan, add two to my score. If not then this is 8/10.

You will love it while you are playing the good bits, curse it when it turns brilliant ideas on their heads by taking away the ability to see what was going on (could it be a virtual blast shield?) and then teases you with instructions that make no sense (it only happens once and you will know it when you see it.) you'll play it twice at least thanks to two endings (that I know of) and it will last about 8 hours a play-through. Add a little more time if you are not as good at games as you'd like. I took a bit longer on the first run.

In short; this is a game that was almost one of the greats but didn't quite get there. A few niggles on the boss stages, a few set pieces that seem out of date in game play terms and slow the game down at the precise moment your heart should be in your mouth just knock a couple of points off. Star Wars fans need to play this though, if only to be able to talk about the story with everyone else. You will have something to talk about.

I'd like to thank the developer for giving us hope that one day we will have the perfect Star Wars game. They almost did it this time. I'd also like to apologise for the Rhodian Rhyming slang. I made that bit up.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/08

Game Release: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (EU, 09/19/08)