Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

"Is the force strong with this one"

STAR WARS THE FORCE UNLEASHED
Review by: FOXHOUND DELTA

Star Wars the force unleashed is a game that has been in the making for a few years and has really been all about one thing unleashing the force in a way that has never been done before. The developers have cleary shown that that's what they have been working on and they even made a new engine Digital Molecular Matter or DMM and Euphoria ( Euphoria was used in games like GTA4) to have realistic physics on the world and the characters.


Now star wars the force unleashed was set out to use the force in a way its never been used before it and it completes this task you are able to grab enemies and throw them where you like also you can use force lighting and force repulse on your victims and the games graphics really show the force powers true power when you electrocute and enemy you see the electricity flow through his body and if you throw him you will see his body fly. The games engine works very well while you force push enemies and objects you see their bodies and parts go flying but its not the most realistic for example force pushing a bush will result in it just to wobble but if you hit a tree with it the whole thing goes flying. This doesn't hamper the experience but it would have been nice if the developers would have worked everything out and made every object act realistically to the force.


The story takes place before episode 4 but after the events in episode 3 the story revolves around a young sith jedi named Starkiller who is Darth Vader's secret apprentice. The game starts off on a prologue level where you play as the sith lord but after it you'll spend the rest of your playtime as the apprentice. The story is very deep and great it has some of the best moments where you will be wondering what will happen next then literally the next laughing at some of the characters. The story ties up at the end making a lot of questions about the rebel alliance answered. Now the voice actors do a great job in the dialogue in the game its has great writing in it and it was written as if it were a movie. That being said the game does have some problems where some characters don't seem as convincing as others. As for characters the main ones are Starkiller, Vader, Proxy (Starkillers robot sidekick), Juno Eclipse (your pilot) and a few jedi knights that you will fight I won't spoil there names.


Gameplay in Star Wars the force Unleashed is the main attraction of the game and the main combat is using the force but you also will have a lightsaber you can also purchase upgrades for combos with your lightsabre and force upgrades. Also hidden in the games nine levels are holocrons that you can find that will give you force points new lightsabre crystals and talent spheres that you can use to upgrade your character. The enemies that you fight in force unleashed will range from a standard stormtrooper to a AT ST and jedi knights. The game runs vary smoothly and its fun to just grab and throw or electrocute enemies or throw your lighsabre at them but some of the cooler larger enemies are finished off with contextual button combinations. This is not a problem but slicing an AT ST in two would be a lot funnier if you would do it on your own but its still fun none the less. The average player should get around ten hours of play time over the nine levels now there are nine levels but really threes only around four to five because you revisit three levels. Now most people may think slashing your way threw ten hours of nonstop fighting can get boring but if your using your force powers in combination with your lightsabre its hard to get bored epically since there's a deep combo system that tends to get overlook because the basic three hit combo will work from beginning to end.


The visuals in force unleashed are great on a standard TV and on a widescreen they just look even better. There is some minor screen tearing issues to be found but nothing that hampers the experience of the game. One thing that in my opinion does are the lackluster puzzles in the game yes this is a action game but that doesn't mean it couldn't have some cool force puzzles in the game most revolve around just using either force push or lighting. To get to use the force is some cool puzzles you must find the hidden holocrons some include using your force grip on tie fighter wings to access a platform to high to jump to.


The game includes a few things to keep you interested after you beat the game they're achievements that add a few more hours to the game and a databank where you can look at all the vehicles people and environments you've seen. Now a lot of people say there's no replay value but I find that I want to just keep on going back for another play through but if you don't usually replay games you beat then you might want to consider renting this game.


Overall force unleashed delivers what is said it would and is a great action game I would recommend giving it a try if you own a 360 and like action games its fun, it is around a ten hour game, and it just uses the force in a way you haven't used it before.

FINAL SCORE: 8.0

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/08

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