The canon of Star Wars games available to gamers up to this point is extensive and includes many games that are quite good. Games likeDark Forces, X-wing vs. TIE Fighter and Rogue Squadron were revolutionary and excellent in their own rights. However, up until now there has not been a game that adequately satisfied my age-old desire. That of wielding the powers of the Force, for good or for bad, against throngs of enemies and watching those peons bend to my will. Star Wars: Force Unleashed has been touted as the game to fill this role. The endproduct played like God of War and provided a story worthy of the Star Wars name.
As you may be able to infer, I’ve been a Star Wars fan since before I can remember. I even was able to recite all of A New Hope (with the movie of course) from start to finish during my younger years. For this reason, I was very excited when I first heard about Force Unleashed. I had heard very little about the game up until purchasing it, and so I was giddy as I put the disk in the tray of my Xbox 360.
In order to spare any readers from spoilers, I won’t discuss the specifics of the story line. The time frame is set between Revengeof the Sith and A New Hope. I will say that I was very pleased with the content of the story. It fit in very nicely with Star Wars lore and provides a perfectly plausible series of events. It also tied in to the movies much stronger than games like Shadows of the Empire, but serves a similar purpose. The game basically gives fans a glimpse of what happened between Anakin’s reincarnation as Darth Vader and his boarding of Princess Leia’s Tantive IV in A New Hope.
While the story is one of the major selling points of the game, I would also list the graphics among the better features as well. Playing the gamein 1080i is an absolute must. It is one of the better looking games that I’ve seen on Xbox 360, both during actual gameplay and cutscenes. The environments are also beautiful and fun to explore. Many times I found myself looking into the background just to see minute details that the designers had added.
One of the major features that was hyped before the release was the new engine for manipulating objects with the Force. While this game makes Force use a much more varied experience than games like Knights of the Old Republic, it still has problems. First, the good parts: throwing Stormtroopers into TIE Fighters. The value added with this single action cannot be understated. Nothing makes you feel better after being killed than sending one of Jango Fett’s clones flying into oblivion or careening into a group of his compatriots. However, completing this display of alpha-male dominance can be tricky as the targeting system can be finicky at times. As you play the game, you begin to get a better feel for the system but you’ll still send a few errant bodies, boxes and assorted other objects flying in non-descript directions. This can be frustrating, but it doesn’t ruin the game. After all, I could just be bad at gaming.
Along with the God of War analogy, comes the boss battles. The game uses cutscene finishes for both bosses and mini-bosses (AT-STs and Rancorsare plentiful in the game). This adds a personal touch to defeating each boss that makes you want to see how the next boss will fall. However,repeating the same performance over and over for the omnipresent mini-bosses can become tedious though there seems to have been a small effortto change each one up a bit.
The camera also presents a bit of difficulty at times as well, but those transgressions can be forgiven. The main frustration that I had with thegame had to do with its delivery. I expected something along the lines of Knights of the Old Republic, where the gamer is integral in formingthe moral compass for the character(s). However, the game felt more like God of War in that there is only one way to get through the world.For Action fans who like a simple RPG element, this game will be perfect. I simply felt like this approach did not allow for the requisite decisionsthat should be asked of each player.
Overall, I would say that this game is a must-buy for any Star Wars fan who enjoys a good story. The plot makes you want to keep playing, even whenthe gameplay becomes frustrating. However, if you were looking for this game to deliver something along the lines of Knights of the Old Republic you may wish to do a little more research before committing.
If you do make the buy/rent, get ready and may the Force be with you.
