“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” could be one
of the most hyped Star Wars games to ever hit
consoles and PC. But, while it is really great at
what it offers, it could have been better.
The story behind the Force Unleashed is that
you’re Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, sent out
in to the Star Wars universe following the Clone
Wars to destroy the remaining Jedi.
This is possibly the best story to hit the Star
Wars pantheon. The voice acting and character
models create some fantastic emotional elements
that were missing from the movies.
The character’s moral dilemmas make for great
drama even though as an apprentice to the Dark
Side he shouldn’t care about other people. It’s
elements like those that create such wonderful
stories.
You begin the game as Darth Vader who travels
to the Wookiee planet Kashyyyk searching for a
surviving Jedi. However, he instead discovers a
Force-enriched child whom he rescues from
Imperial stormtroopers. Vader then raises the
child as his secret apprentice who is dubbed
“Starkiller.”
From this point on, you control Starkiller and
follow his adventures as the secret apprentice of
Darth Vader.
The game’s story is top-notch, one of the best
that’s ever been written for Star Wars. The twists
and turns in the game make you wonder what
really happened between Episode III and IV. The
way that the story is intertwined with the characters
makes it all seem like it is a part of the movie
franchise. Some of the characters you meet along
the way are new and some are familiar from the
Star Wars movies, at one point you even save
Princess Leia.
This mix of old Star Wars lore and new characters
create a story that keeps you hooked until the
end.
The other impressive thing about the game is
the graphics and the art inside the game itself.
The planets and locations that the player travels
to are beautiful, comparing to something out of an
art book. The backgrounds and the characters in
the game itself are well designed.
Everything makes an appearance from Rancors
to Jedi, all beautifully designed. This is shown in
the new planets created for the game like Raxus
Prime and Felucia.
The physics engine that allows you to throw just
about anything is a great feature. The game uses
no less than three physics engines working simultaneously
to give you the chance to release the
Force on those around you.
For example, you can pick up a stormtrooper
with Force Grip and throw him into a squad of
back-up troopers and use Force Lightning on all
of them. Even better, you can use the Force to
crush an entire TIE Fighter.
However, with great design comes a lot of
flaws.
The extreme use of the Force powers is great for
a TIE Fighter hangar, but if you get into close
quarters and decide to unleash on the advancing
soldiers you may encounter some glitchiness with
the way the game functions.
It can be very frustrating because this is where
the game should excel and take the gameplay to
the next level- but it doesn’t.
Another annoying part is the camera.
The camera is so loose that when you try to use
Force powers to pick up something, six times out
of 10 it’ll be the wrong item.
This is frustrating in later levels that seem to
lose some of the design flair you notice at the
beginning.
As somewhat of a mixed blessing, the game is
only about eight hours long. While this is relatively
short for Star Wars games, it’s productive
because the later levels can get bland.
This makes it easy to sit down for a weekend
and play it all the way through, but since there are
so many things to destroy with the Force, you
may want to pick it up and play again on a harder
difficulty.
Overall, the storyline for the game itself is one
of the best written for Star Wars along with beautiful
graphics and satisfying game play.
But the physical aspects get too extreme in close
quarters and the camera looseness degrades from
gameplay.