Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Ty Huston on 10.07.2008
The next chapter in the Star Wars saga comes to life on the Xbox 360!
Game: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
System: Xbox 360
Developer: Lucas Arts
Publisher: Lucas Arts
The story used to be that Star Wars was an awesome franchise when it came to merchandise. The movies, t-shirts, posters, action figures – anything Star Wars was not only cool, it was the shit. However, one area that was horrible was the video games. I could literally name ten games off the top of my head that sucked so much ass (Sidenote: Microsoft Word tells me that the correct phrasing is “sucked so many asses”. That is hilarious.), it made a person feel guilty about being a Star Wars fan. What was even more ridiculous, is the company that made these terrible games was in fact the same company that made the movies. How in the world George Lucas let his franchise be disgraced by all of those horrid atrocities is unbelievable. Well, I have seen Episodes I, II and III, so I suppose he probably has a lot of the blame.
Fortunately, in the past ten years we’ve seen Lucas Arts really start to get its act together in regards to Star Wars. The Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series, the Knights of the Old Republic series – these are now games of legend which have granted Star Wars aficionados the chance to play games with epic stories that also have the gameplay to back them up. Now, with the rumors swirling of a Massively Multiplayer Online game based on the Knights of the Old Republic games (including one today) looming in the distance, Lucas Arts has released a game they have hyped to death where you can harness the power of the Force unlike any game before – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Oh yes. I am a bad ass.
The game centers around an intriguing storyline. After invading Kashyyk (home world of the wookies, for those who don’t know) in his endless search to destroy all Jedi (the game takes place between Episodes III and IV), Darth Vader finds the child of the Jedi after slaying him and senses the young lad has an incredible gift in the Force – so much so that when Vader battles the Jedi, he assumes the power he senses belongs to the Jedi’s master.
Vader ends up taking the youngster under his wing as a secret apprentice and upon reaching an age where the child is now a teenager with a better grasp of his abilities and more sensibly lured down the path to the Dark Side, he enlists his apprentice to do his bidding across the galaxy.
I won’t spoil anymore of the game for you, but the story in this game is fantastic. It fills the void between Episodes III and IV perfectly, and really makes for a fun time.
Harness the Force.
Gameplay
The controls of the game are easy to pick up and roll with. This time around, instead of relegating a Force power to being chosen in a side screen and having a single button assigned to using Force powers, the powers of Force Push, Force Grip and Force Lightning have their own buttons which makes them quick and easy to use on the fly. By far the strongest power in the game is Force Grip, but a lot of time the targeting and control of the power can be a real pain in the ass. Early stages use it adequately, but later stages (and trust me, if you play this you’ll know what I’m talking about) can be so difficult you’ll be thankful the game saves at checkpoints.
Camera angles can many times be frustrating as well. When jumping down from great heights, being able to see down narrow areas can be blocked and cause an easy death. Another thing that can be difficult is with boss fights where you have to time which button to press when. It really takes away from the awesomeness of the battles as you’ll be forced to pay more attention to the screen for the next button to hit when you should be watching your character whip some ass.
A few things this game took from its predecessors is the ability to change your lightsabers’ look and powers through crystals you find. That is fine and dandy, but none of the power crystals pack a punch like the ones you’d find in KotOR.
Finally, you can occasionally find some pretty nasty bugs. In one area, a door which was supposed to open upon killing all the enemies on the screen failed to open and whilst trying to find an alternate route (it was my first run through that stage so I didn’t know any better at the time) the game eventually locked up with my character running in a circle and forcing me to reset the 360 since the bug disabled all the buttons on my controller.
This guy has a long trip planned.
Graphics
This game does not cheat you in the visuals department. The landscapes are amazing. You’ll constantly notice things in the background seem to have a life of their own, really making it feel as though the game is real. The trees will sway and creatures (specifically the airborne kind) will move on with their own lives while you’re battling through bad … err, good guys. The cut scenes are well done, moving the story along nicely. You can see discoloration on clothing and the aging lines on faces. It’s very nice. You can even see their facial expressions and understand them – such as grimacing or rolling their eyes.
Sound
The voice acting in this game is some of the best I’ve heard. Jimmy Smits has lent his voice for Bail Organa and using the original actors is always a plus. Unfortunately, James Earl Jones is not on board for Darth Vader. The music are cuts from John Williams’ work in previous Star Wars movies. Sound effects and sound bites play a great role in the game as well and the echoing thud of a missile landing near you or a Storm Trooper yelling “You’re dead now!” is always fun.
Lasting Appeal
I played the game in about ten hours, and once you’ve beaten the game that’s really pretty much it. You can go back and try to acquire all the achievements or find each little power up you missed before, but the story stays the same either way.
Fun Factor
While it only took me a day to beat the game, I will admit that it was a very fun way to spend a Sunday. I’m not sure if I’d purchase the game (which is why I rented before buying it, also the same reason it took so long to review – the game was rented out for the past two weeks), but it is definitely worth a rent.
The 411
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is an incredibly fun game that gives you the power to do more with the Force than you’ve ever been allowed to do before. While playing as the lead character, you unravel a new story in the Star Wars universe. However, the very first level of the game where you get to play as Darth Vader really spoils you. Starkiller comes nowhere near as powerful as Vader and I think that kind of hurts the game overall. My suggestion to Lucas Arts? Give us the rest of the story from Episodes III and IV – except this time, let us be Vader. That is all.
Graphics
9.5
Amazing, stunning and beautiful - all of these words describe the visuals in this game. Simply fantastic work here. The only gripe lies in the draw distance sometimes being revealed in certain areas.
Gameplay
7.5
While the control scheme is well played, the game is plagued with some bugs and difficulty using Force Grip when you need it the most.
Sound
10.0
Some of the best voice acting I have ever heard mixed with John Williams score and traditional Star Wars sound effects. You could not ask for much more.
Lasting Appeal
5.0
Once you have run through the game, that is pretty much it and there are no side quests or anything beyond the linear gameplay.
Fun Factor
7.5
In general, The Force Unleashed is a great title. I am not sure it lived up to the hype of being the greatest Star Wars game ever, but a good weekend renter if nothing else.
Jimmy smits voices Bail organa, his character from the prequels. Sam Witwer the actor who voices the apprentice voiced the Emperor as well. The voice actor for vader is from the Chad Vader day shift manager Youtube series.
Posted By: snakedoctor (Guest) on October 07, 2008 at 09:48 AM
"the story stays the same either way"
Dude, there is both a light side and a dark side ending.
Posted By: Guest#4691 (Guest) on October 07, 2008 at 12:42 PM
This game was awesome! The only thing that it lacks in, is how long it is. WAAAAAAAAY to short. They could have had way more levels. Oh the thing that pissed me off was on the Wii you can use Luke, Mara ect. That would have been so cool to use them on the 360 version. Next thing they need now is a Expanded Universe game with The Solo kids and Ben Skywalker. How about a soul calibur type game with everyone, it would own SC.
Posted By: Guest (Guest) on October 07, 2008 at 04:37 PM
Geez, I cannot understand these low scores it's getting all over the place. I played the demo and LOVED it. I thought it was great.
"Lasting Appeal - 5.0 - Once you have run through the game, that is pretty much it and there are no side quests or anything beyond the linear gameplay."
That's GREAT! I want a game that I can just play through, beat it, and be done with it. Who has 80-100 hours to spend on a game. Plus there are sooo many games out there that I have to get to.
Posted By: matrix1004 (Guest) on October 07, 2008 at 06:20 PM
"Geez, I cannot understand these low scores it's getting all over the place. I played the demo and LOVED it. I thought it was great."
They specifically chose that level because it is (in my opinion) the best level. You just get to raise hell and you're pretty damn unstoppable. The rest of the levels? Not really as cool.
Posted By: Ben (Guest) on October 08, 2008 at 05:14 AM
snakedoctor: Thanks for catching that typo - I meant Bail Organa. It's been changed.
Guest#4691: I don't consider what is essentially an alternate ending as a different story. It's like buying a DVD and getting the alternate endings. Sure, it's cool to see a different conclusion but the story stays the same.
Posted By: Ty Huston (Registered) on October 08, 2008 at 11:25 AM
I would go a bit higher on lasting appeal (maybe an 8 or so) as the game does have two seperate endings... One of which cannot be done on the easiest difficulty level. Plus, who doesn't want the black light saber?
Another reason the lasting appeal should be higher is due to the leveling up of Starkiller. Dude you are going to want to play through the game with him maxed out, I actually managed to use force grab on a guy, electrocute him, stick my light saber in his gut, then threw him across the world with my force push.
Also, fun factor is subjective... it's all going to come down to how much you enjoy this style of game. I actually love this style of game, and I am on my second run through on a harder difficulty. Other than that I agree with your review.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on October 08, 2008 at 11:54 AM
