Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Pros

• Stellar Graphics
• Bonus Levels
• Cinematic Cutscenes
• Several New Characters
• Original Storyline
• Exaggerated Force Powers

Cons

• Too Easy
• Unintuitive Controls
• Lacks Long-Term Appeal
• Basic Content

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a game that centers around the secret apprentice of Darth Vader in between Episodes III and IV of the movies, and despite its flaws, it is an amazingly fun take on what it means to be a user of the Force.

The game focuses on the secret battle between the Jedi and the Sith that is underplaying the public battle between the Rebels and the Galactic Empire during that point of the overarching primary plot. Vader's secret apprentice is never alluded to in the movies, but the expanded Star Wars universe is much larger, and it encompasses a lot of background and supplementary material that includes much of Vader's activities outside the cinematic originals.

The gameplay of The Force Unleashed is certainly what will draw players to the game. The pretext of the game is that the player controls Vader's secret apprentice, who happens to be exceptionally gifted with the Force in a natural way, very similarly to Vader himself. This makes the character a perfect apprentice, and it gives enough artistic license to the game that the makers were able to exaggerate the abilities of the apprentice to make the game that much more fun.

When gamers think of the Star Wars universe, they don't typically imagine the battles between Storm Troopers, or even the incredible space battles between hordes of space fighters. They tend to imagine what it would be like to wield the power of the Force, and this game excels at that single expectation better than any other Star Wars game ever created. The game operates in a third-person style, which allows players to get a good feel for the breadth of their power.

The player will start off with limited Force abilities, but even the level that the player starts with is higher than any Jedi or Sith depicted in the movies. Not only that, but as the player advances through the levels, they will gain experience that allows them to improve and strengthen their Force abilities to their maximum. Players will get a rush of adrenaline the first time they use Force Lightning to incapacitate their foes, and the ability to pick up and hurl items using the Force is amazing.

One downside to the game is that it doesn't include enough content to make the prodigious powers accessible to the player worth having. The game is exceptionally easy to conquer, even at its most difficult, and there aren't very many levels. Since the game only encompasses a small segment of the Star Wars saga, there is little room for structure.

Players who have always wanted to control a super-powered Force-user should consider playing this game for no other reason than the rush of using such powerful abilities.

Pros

• Stellar Graphics
• Bonus Levels
• Cinematic Cutscenes
• Several New Characters
• Original Storyline
• Exaggerated Force Powers

Cons

• Too Easy
• Unintuitive Controls
• Lacks Long-Term Appeal
• Basic Content