Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Xbox 360)

Author's product rating:   

Gameplay/Playability	A good game - good gameplay & playability
Graphics	Excellent Graphics - visually stunning
Sound	Excellent - makes full use of my speakers
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Great Story, Fun Gameplay, Good Graphics, Solid A . I & Technology
Disadvantages:	Short Length, Some Balance Issues, No Lightsaber Dismemberment

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It's not been completely perfect for Lucasarts when it comes to Star Wars games. A fact that's probably not unknown to most fans of the galaxy far far away. The greatest games based on the universe George Lucas created so long ago have always involved outside developers. Factor 5's infamous 'Rouge Squadron' games have been regarded by many as the definitive space fighter experience whilst Bioware 's RPG 'Knights Of The Old Republic' counts among the best Star Wars games ever made. Third person action games haven't been great in Star Wars. The ambitious but uneven 'Shadows Of The Empire' fell short whilst the enjoyable 'Jedi Knight' games were undermined by the very weak Revenge Of The Sith game. So when Lucasarts stepped out alone to produce 'The Force Unleashed' it was a bold step in more than one way.

Story

The Force Unleashed takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Its timeline being closer to the events of Episode IV. The player is placed in the footsteps of Darth Vader's secret apprentice known only as 'Starkiller'. Under Vader's harsh mentoring the apprentice has become a powerful wielder of the force and an instrument of his Masters will. Sent to destroy the few remaining Jedi, Starkiller must prove his worth before he can aid Vader in destroying the Emperor. Aboard the Rouge Shadow his only allies are his droid PROXY and the pilot of his ship, Juno Eclipse. On his journey the apprentice must face his own demons and learn the harsh nature of the darkside.

Basic Gameplay

Lucasarts have done a wonderful job of bringing the force itself to the forefront of this game. In the past its often been the lightsaber that has dominated the Jedi arsenal but that's simply not the case here. Sure you can (and will) lay waste to scores of enemies with your trusty laser sword but its with the force that the games physics and technology really shines. Force grip is surprisingly easy to get a handle on and soon enough with a mere flick of the right stick you'll fling all manner of implements towards hapless opponents at bone crushing speed. Using force grip is a fundamental element which somehow straddles between complete free aim and automatically homing in on opponents. Its not perfect but its very effective especially considering that it allows the player to lift enemies and opponents both delicately with accuracy and at any moment allows you to fling them violently toward a desired area.

Your force powers are extremely effective at making the most of the impressive physics in the game. Smashing a door open for the first time with force push and watching it bend and react to where you hit it and how much power you put behind it is a nice moment. Hurling metal crates, stormtroopers and glass alike off bridges with a powerful force blast is amazing. The reactions of enemies is always different and the behaviour of objects when slammed with force energy is always realistic. Add to that the addition of force lightning to your arsenal of abilities and you can unleash a storm of electric death on dozens of foes.

No Jedi or Sith would be worth anything without his lightsaber and its here dishing out the pain to Starkiller's enemies. There's a healthy set of lightsaber combos to issue as well as being able to throw and impale your enemies with your saber. In essence wielding your lightsaber is easy to get used to and pretty soon allows you to do very impressive moves. Combining force powers with your weapon of choice is incredibly satisfying. For instance charging your lightsaber with force lightning to enhance is damage or adding a blast of force energy to your strikes to send enemies flying.

Using force powers in conjunction with each other is one of the unique manners The Force Unleashed looks at using the force as a weapon. Electrify an opponent then fling him using force grip to create a living lightning bomb. Hoist an opponent and impale him with a throw of your lightsaber or maybe you'd prefer to simply use a stormtrooper as a human battering ram. Essentially you can dish out the pain in all manner of ways never seen before in Star Wars and you'll feel truly powerful because of it.

The Game

With its realistic damage and ability to use the environment as a weapon the games levels are often a real treat to enjoy. Graphics wise the characters are fantastic as well as the various costumes Starkiller wears. Special attention has gone into the likes of Vader and the Emperor and it really pays off in the looks department. This also extends to the levels featured within the game. Particular standouts include the junk wasteland Raxus Prime, The TIE Fighter complex & Death Star lower levels. The game is linear in fashion with a main objective every level and optional secondary objects (which unlock bonuses). Enemies are varied enough to offer something different from standard infantry such as stormtroopers or rebels whose main strength lies in numbers, hardier rapid firing commandos or turret guns, long range attackers that can be a pain unless you close in and finish them off quickly as well as rocket wielding foes. There is of course the larger towering machines and monsters that Star Wars fans will know well and each level ends with an epic boss fight. Bosses are varied but require a deal of tactic, basically learning their attack patterns or a weakness and exploiting them. During boss fights the camera switches to a fixed camera which is a wise decision that helps with keeping these fights epic and less frustrating view wise. Larger or more difficult foes are often finished off with a real time button mini game. Pressing the button shown on screen treats you to a punishing finisher move such as shearing a an AT-ST in half or destroying a boss character with a series of devastating force powers and lightsaber action. Impressive but perhaps too simple to do correctly.

Throughout the game the player collects force points by defeating enemies. Ending the lives of foes with style and combos means gaining more points quickly. With these points you can eventually unlock abilities and upgrade your characters move set or make him more powerful. For instance you can chose to focus on making him take more damage making him harder to kill, recover force energy quicker after use or become more efficient at lightsaber combat. Collecting force spheres spread throughout levels during the game allows you to gain more points to upgrade, new lightsaber crystals that effect damage dealt or the blades colour and even different costumes. Allowing those who explore to gain some reward in the game and a degree of customisation.

Many of you may already of heard of the fact that this game allows the player to experience different endings. Whilst very true this is a little misleading. The game progresses in your traditional level format along a very specific storyline and pathway right until the climatic battle. Essentially even if you want to be a Jedi or a Sith from the offset you won't be able to make that choice until the final confrontation of the game. I won't spoil any of the details, after all you know there's always a final fight, so I'll just say that there's no Knight Of The Old Republic choosing to be evil this level or good the next. Your along for the ride with Starkiller's story pretty much until the ultimate choice is presented. I will say the game does do an excellent job of putting you in the position of sinner and saint. This makes the climatic choice an ultimately believable one either way. Oh and neither ending disappoints by the way.

Problems?

It's a great step in the right direction for action based Star Wars games, one that will no doubt produce something even more impressive in the future. But despite all its positive attributes its held back from ultimate greatness by a number of factors. The length isn't something you'd really expect comparing it to other Star Wars titles of the past. I mean its not an RPG or free roaming action title but considering that's no excuse given the sheer size of other action titles. I don't believe given the cost of games that a shorter experience is acceptable. It isn't. Longevity is more an obligation than ever in my opinion. There is reply value in the harder difficulties. For instance Sith Master isn't unlocked from the beginning. But it is a perhaps a compliment of sorts that I wanted something more. The unlockable costumes, crystals and Sith holocrons (collectable bonuses) are a welcomed distraction but I'd trade them for a few more hours of gameplay.

The variety of enemies is commendable however some of their methods feel a little frustrating at times especially when they break the usual fast flowing combat. For instance some enemies will have resistance to certain attacks meaning you need to deal with them in a tactful way. Nothing wrong with that. However take on larger enemies for example like a Rancor or an AT-ST and you'll see your options become limited compared to ground troops. There's no way for instance to specifically damage a Rancor's legs manually to bring it down quicker or destroy an AT-ST's weapons to lessen its long range threat. Sometimes enemies even seem to take advantage of cheap tactics such as snipers shooting you whilst your in the middle of attacking another target (sometimes mid-air) or other foes hitting you whilst your down making getting back up a difficult. Then there's the lack of counters to some specific attacks. Some enemies frequently block saber strikes forcing you to stop in your tracks and slow things down. So your forced to shock them and move in for the kill. Other have small combo or grapple moves that once in motion have to be taken. It'd nice to have the opponent try block only for a quick counter to move around it, cut off the arms of someone grabbing you or strike a laser blast back at your target faster than it can move. A greater defence would have meant an awful lot to iron out these problems.

Which bring me to the issue of lightsaber damage. Impaling someone is fun in this game, it's the most violent you can be with the blade alone. But that's just it the lightsaber doesn't have the slicing power it should. It does the damage but there's no sign of the scars. Not one severed hand, be it in mid combat or the cut scenes. Effectively the only real damage it does is in two instances. Being driven through people (nice) and slicing protocol droids in half. Not once can you burn through a door with it, Janjo Fett some-ones head form their shoulders or even see a saber burn on a stormtroopers armour. This game is rated 12. It could have gotten away with quite a bit of lightsaber damage but I'm not asking for God Of War, I'm asking for the same as the movies. In this case Revenge of the Sith being the equivalent rating. It's far too much to expect the entire level to receive lightsaber specific damage but not so much for the enemies to receive it now and then. It almost reduces the lightsaber to more of an electro-staff than a weapon that can do serious searing damage.

Finally there was the issue of not enough puzzles taking full advantage of the technology and realistic physics. For instance making the puzzle element glow blue made them too obvious and removed much of the thought process. Either it needed to be moved be it force grip or force push or hit with force lightning. Really wished they didn't make them so obvious. A few are really clever even with point them out so I just wish they'd had more faith in the player to do it on his or her own.

Conclusion

A commendable piece of gaming that shows an awful lot of work and attention to detail from those involved. When you play a game like Unleashed you know people have made the effort and tried their best to be ambitious. There's a lot of things that reach the lofty heights of the great games. The story is brilliant, the characters played brilliantly (yes that is the actors actual performance your seeing) and the graphics amazing. On top of that we have enjoyable action and a game that makes you feel like a very powerful Jedi. It's not perfect but it's made a real move in the right direction for Lucasarts to build on this type of game in the future. Star Wars fans will buy this I have no doubt and for the most part it delivers the goods for them. For those just interested in an enjoyable game its got enough action to hold it own without the Star Wars brand. It's length is an issue but the downloadable content available such as the very enjoyable Jedi Temple level and the promise of more might be enough to keep you interested in the future.