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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Posted on September 13, 2008, 11:11am and updated on September 16, 2008 at 8:20 am

Star Wars games have been tough to fall in love with in the past, with a couple of exceptions – Star Wars Battlefront and Lego Star Wars.

Star Wars Battlefront put you in the middle of the movies’ epic battles, playing your role, but it still left you with a slightly empty feeling.

The coolest part of Star Wars was The Force and no game had managed to capture the essence of the key component to the star Wars universe… until Lego star Wars came along.

It allowed you to take control of your favourite Force wielding characters and brought about the best use of the mythical powers ever seen.

Now there is another contender for anyone wanting to wield the supreme power of The Force – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed released by Lucasarts.

And unleashed it is, from choke holds, to levitation of objects, to lightsabre battles.

For true Star Wars fans, a giddy sensation hits you as your first mission begins, with you taking control of one of the greatest villains in movie history, Darth Vader.

The Force Unleashed is a brainchild of Lucasarts and so brings as much of the Star Wars universe into the fold as possible and while fans of the movies will feel a little nostalgic meeting all their old friends once again, it is also the one of the two major downfalls of the game.

It just feels like a blatant mash to cram as many of the Star Wars crew in as possible, which just leaves the original storyline jumping all over the place.

The you have the fact that in essence, this is still just a third person shooter with a lightsabre instead of 15 types of guns.

You battle through levels that, while cosmetically are different to look at, but since you rarely have time to stop and take in the scenery, it does not distract you from the fact it is just a case of kill this guy, kill that guy, rinse, lather and repeat.

What saves the game is that it is the only game to have truly mastered the art of bringing The Force to your hands and that alone will have fans flocking to their nearest games retailer at lightspeed to take control of the greatest power in the Star Wars galaxy.

The storyline, while original and somewhat interesting (I won’t go into detail as it would ruin the surprise), but it still only feels like it is there to try and find reason to complete the same levels over and over on different planets.

If you are looking for variety, probably not the greatest buy as Lego Star Wars has greater variety while still remaining a platformer at heart.

But this is not a game that will be opened, played and then thrown into the back of the cabinet.

It will be pulled out every time there is an urge to wield The Force, and in that regard it is the best offering going around.

Verdict (score out of 10): 7.

Closing comments: A solid addition to the Star Wars gaming saga, but without The Force this is still just another basic platformer.

BRAD GRAY

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Comments

8 Responses to “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed”

  1. Jake on September 14th, 2008 4:48 am 1

    It’s Star Wars Battlefront. Duh. Wow…

  2. James on September 14th, 2008 6:39 am 2

    It’s Battlefront, not Battlefield…

  3. toby on September 15th, 2008 7:29 am 3

    epic fail @ battlefield

  4. Brad Gray on September 15th, 2008 8:09 am 4

    Yes, I’m sorry, obviously wasnt concentrating too hard when I wrote it. But good to see some games fans checking in. Just out of curiosity, how many of you are planning on buying Star Wars: The Force Unleashed? What future releases are on the wish list? What console are you using?

  5. Chino on September 16th, 2008 12:46 am 5

    I need to c the trailer on a sckul PC. How?

  6. Jake on September 16th, 2008 1:22 am 6

    Lol, no prob. I definitely plan on getting TFU. And definitely for the PSP. The PS2 and PSP versions of the game have gotten the best ratings, by a good sized percentage. The two new TCW (The Clone Wars) games coming out look good. Too bad I don’t have a Wii or DS, though.

  7. Andrew on September 16th, 2008 1:29 am 7

    I am by no means a fanboy of Star Wars. I enjoy the movies. I’ve enjoyed many of the games.

    No game IMO has captured the force and made it feel comfortable with a control scheme.

    I played this demo on PS3 probably 100 times. It’s just amazing. There are numerous bad reviews of this game. I guess they are coming from serious SW fans or hardcore gamers. I cannot see how you would not have the best Star Wars “force” experience than in this game.

    The depth might not be there but that is not what this game is about. This game is about making a TIE Fighter hover in mid air and slamming it into a group of storm troopers. Or about flinging a storm trooper so far in the air, the camera slows down and shows the violence in slow motion and you obtain a “massive damage” achievement.

  8. Jake on September 17th, 2008 4:27 am 8

    I couldn’t have said it better myself, Andrew.

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