Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PSP) Review

Posted by James McGee on 09.24.2008

Make a great game hype does not.

The Force Unleashed is a perfect example of just how much hype can hurt a game. It is slightly above average action fare, and a major improvement over the largely shoddy reputation Star Wars games have earned over the years. If the game had simply fallen out of the sky without any fanfare, that would be enough. However, Unleashed has been hyped for going on two years as the ultimate Star Wars game. If that’s the product LucasArts has been trying to sell us, that’s the criteria by which The Force Unleashed needs to be judged, and it simply doesn’t live up to that standard.

Players take on the role of Darth Vader’s secret Apprentice as he is tasked with various missions so covert, even the Emperor must be kept in the dark (side). Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, gamers will visit worlds both familiar and new, encounter a cast of compelling characters (some of which may look a little familiar), and witness the beginning of events that play a major part in the original films. In addition to slashing through hordes of Stormtroopers with his trusty lightsaber, The Apprentice also has the power of the Force on his side, allowing him to shock, toss, choke, and generally jack up anyone stupid enough to stand in his way.


Boss battles help break the tedium of general gameplay—but just a little

Gameplay

Immediately upon picking up the game, you realize that The Force Unleashed isn't the revolution it was touted to be. We were basically promised the ultimate Jedi simulator, but the reality is much less impressive. Remember that now-iconic trailer that features The Apprentice pulling a Star Destroyer out of the sky? Well, don’t expect to experience that kind of power anywhere in this game. While there are some impressive feats in cut-scenes and the standard quick-time button presses that are seemingly required in any action game since God of War, the coolness is reserved for watching, not actually playing. What you do actually get to experience is a pretty standard action game—one that is severely overshadowed by other entries in the genre.

The first strike comes in just how ineffective the lightsaber is. The coolest weapon in the history of cinema feels severely neutered here. Developers clearly wanted players to make use of the other powers, but a wimpy lightsaber just feels so wrong.

The favored power is obviously Force Push. This play mechanic makes use of the admittedly impressive physics engine to pickup and throw objects in the environment. The problem is that the controls for this action are pretty unwieldy. Targeting the item you want is a crap shoot, and getting it to hit your target is even harder. After a while, you get a feel for the controls, and you can see the glimmers of a great, fun game peaking through the flaws in the system. Still, it’s an inexact science at best.

So, with a nerfed laser sword and wonky telekinesis, you’ll likely find yourself spamming the lightening button until all your Force power is gone, then wading in with your lightsaber to pass the time until the meter recharges (which, thankfully, it does pretty quickly). While you can be more varied in your offense, it’s usually less trouble to follow this simple pattern over and over. The result is a game that gets repetitive very quickly. Boss battles offer a little variety, but usually deteriorate into the same monotonous combat. You’d think toppling a bull rancor single-handedly would be an awe-inspiring achievement, but it’s really just another enemy with a bigger health bar.

Simple, tedious gameplay isn’t helped by an utterly atrocious camera. Players have no control over the thing, instead finding themselves at the mercy of the game, which doesn’t always make the best decisions. The camera will snap in for a close up just as you’re trying to line-up a Stormtrooper to launch at one of his buddies, completely screwing up your shot. You’ll frequently be looking head-on at The Apprentice when all of his enemies are in front of him, necessitating that you fire blindly and hope for the best until the camera swings around to offer a better view. This problem has plagued 3-D games since their inception, but The Force Unleashed is the worst offender to come along in a while. For a title that was supposed to be a revolution, this one sure seems to suffer from all of the problems haunting other action games.


This concept art is as close you get to being as cool as you hoped in Unleashed

Graphics

There’s just no nice way to say this: the visuals in The Force Unleashed on PSP are pretty nasty. Edges are jagged. Textures are muddy (if there at all). Characters clip through objects in the environment. Both characters and environment have a tendency to disappear (it was not uncommon to see a lightsaber floating around with no one attached to it until, a few seconds later, The Apprentice would finally pop into place). Cut-scenes feature expressionless mannequins, which really puts a damper on the great voice acting. In short, this is not a very good looking game.

Aside from the aesthetics, there’s some looong load times, as well as major stuttering and slowdown during play. The action frequently grinds to a halt and takes several seconds to get going again. You kind of get the impression that the PSP is just straining to keep up with the game. It’s difficult to say whether these problems are due to the limitations of the hardware, or a shoddy port on the part of Krome Studios (the developer to which LucasArts outsourced this version of the game). But, considering the impressive visuals titles like Final Fantasy: Crisis Core and God of War: Chains of Olympus have been able to produce on PSP, I tend not to fault the machine.

To be fair, when you see the impressive footage from the console versions, it’s clear that Unleashed was designed to utilize the power of next-gen (current-gen? that’s still confusing) machines, and perhaps it just isn’t suited for portable systems. The physics engine is the star of the show, and that portion of the game has been more or less preserved in the PSP version. Inevitably, I guess something had to be sacrificed to make room for all the telekinetic mayhem, and the casualty ended up being the visuals. Still, the results are so bad—even by portable standards—that I wonder if this version of the game was even worth releasing.

Sound

The one area in which Unleashed truly excels is in the audio department. I know—a Star Wars game with great sound design…what a shocker. John Williams’ score is featured prominently, and the game’s original music blends in seamlessly. Weapons, creatures, and vehicles all sound exactly as you would expect, as the effects are again pulled directly from the films. Even the voice acting is great—still a rarity in modern video games. The performers deliver their lines with such passion and aplomb that it’s a shame the visuals and story (more on that in a minute) don’t carry their weight. A lot of the work was done for the developers years ago, but at least they knew how to incorporate Star Wars’ signature sound flawlessly into the package.

Lasting Appeal

The Force Unleashed is a little on the short side, clocking in at around 6-8 hours. There are two possible endings, but both can be achieved from one save file. After completion, players can restart with all of the upgrades they’ve earned and try to find every last collectible. There are hundreds of these in the form of lightsaber crystals (which change the color of your blade) and Jedi Holocrons (which unlock concept art), but finding every one involves scouring each level and moving every object that isn’t nailed down. It’s a tedious and ultimately unrewarding process that is unlikely to bring many players back for a second run-through.

The PSP adds some longevity to the experience with multiplayer and a number of challenge modes. Up to four players can compete in versions of deathmatch and “King of the Hill,” but the game only supports ad hoc play—no jumping online and doing battle with would-be Jedis across the globe. The challenge modes include Force Duels (essentially a Boss Rush mode against Jedi and Sith from all corners of the Star Wars universe), Order 66 (where you choose a character and then fend off wave after wave of enemies), and Historic Battles (recreations of famous scenes from the six films). In all honesty, these modes are more fun than the actual story mode. They strip out the tedium of moving through levels and allow you to play around a bit more with the Force powers at your command. Playing through iconic film scenes is especially a treat, as it’s sure to bring back fond memories of the best duels in each movie. It’s pretty sad that the supplemental material is the best part of The Force Unleashed on PSP. They’re not really enough to recommend the game, but they certainly make up for the length of story mode and some of the other shortcomings.


It just wouldn’t be Star Wars without a whiny, angst-filled hero

Fun Factor

Star Wars fans can be very forgiving, and a great story would likely be enough to erase the bad taste of such a mediocre package. Unfortunately, The Force Unleashed once again fails to deliver on the promise it made. Not only have fans been expecting the best Star Wars story in years, but this one has the Darth Lucas Seal of Approval. This tale is actually part of the official cannon—in other words, this is what really, honest to goodness happened between Episodes III and IV. With such pomp and circumstance, you’d think there’d be some earth-shattering developments here. You’d be wrong. Don’t get me wrong—the story is fine (though unnecessarily convoluted at times). It just doesn’t shake up everything we know about the Star Wars universe. One of Episode III’s deleted scenes accomplishes in a couple of minutes what takes The Force Unleashed eight hours of mediocrity. Heck, that scene may not even be deleted any more—I can never keep up with George Lucas and his ever-evolving versions of the movies. The narrative is strong and engaging, but at the end of the day, it’s just a throw-away story. Not exactly what we’ve been anticipating all this time.

With both gameplay and a story that is unspectacular, The Force Unleashed still just barely manages to be fun. Part of this may be the fanboy in me, but it’s always nice to play around in Lucas’ toybox when a developer does even a half-decent job of translating that world into a game. The gameplay is undeniably fun when it comes together properly, and with some tweaking, it could have really been something to talk about. It’s hard to recommend a purchase for even the most die-hard fan of the series, but The Force Unleashed is definitely worth a rental to see what all the fuss is about.

The 411

I kind of feel like I’m giving The Force Unleashed a raw deal. Other than the graphics and camera (which are really inexcusable in this day and age), we’re not dealing with a terrible game here. The gameplay is repetitive, but I’ve played far worse. The story didn’t rock my world, but it kept me interested and compelled me to keep playing, which is the first and last responsibility of any game’s narrative. The problem all comes down to promises. We were promised so much more than what Unleashed gives us. It isn’t fair to judge a game by what its not, but in this case, it is only right to evaluate the final product by what we were promised it would be. Bottom line: This is not the game we were looking for. Move along.

Graphics	5.0	Ugly even by portable standards, Unleashed dumps visuals in favor of its physics engine. The results are not pretty.
Gameplay	6.5	Ultimate control of the Force isn’t what you’d expect. This one degenerates into a repetitive button-masher pretty quick. And the camera is broken to boot.
Sound	9.0	The diamond in the rough for this game, sound design is excellent from top to bottom. Music is awesome, effects are pitch-perfect, and voice acting is superb.
Lasting Appeal	7.5	A short story mode is made up for by multiplayer and some excellent challenge modes that give the game some legs.
Fun Factor	7.5	Unleashed is an above-average Star Wars game with some neat (though flawed) gameplay concepts. It’s a fun diversion for fans, but just not what we were hoping for.
Overall	7.0   [ Good ]

Screenshots
All 3 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PSP) Screenshots