A interesting story mixed with equally fun and annoying gameplay.
The Force Unleashed is an interesting little entity. It connects itself right into the story of the original trilogy without virtually any of it ever being mentioned in the movies. It might sound dodgy story-wise as hell but it actually works. You play the game as Starkiller, who was saved by Vader as a child and became his secret apprentice. The game will take you to some intriguing locations and has some entertaining game mechanics but there will be quite a few moments that you'll want to strike your controller down with all of your hatred and turn to the dark side due to annoying and sometimes downright frustrating gameplay.
The game starts off with you playing as Darth Vader on the Wookie planet, Kashyyyk. Your main objective is to walk around killing a sizable number of its inhabitants without breaking a sweat. This is also where Vader finds the main character, Starkiller. Only a child at the time he is extremely powerful in the force and as such, Vader takes him under his wing as a secret apprentice.
The story of the game is actually pretty good. After starting off as Vaders assassin hunting down Jedi you are then told to go undercover and root out the people wanting to form a Rebellion against the Empire. Of course joining up with the goodies(even as a spy) and being a Star Wars game, I think you can tell how it all ends. Being a Dark(ish?) Side character is a nice change from always being a Republic or Rebel hero and lets you freely use powers to toss, electrocute and maim everyone and everything in site. Starkiller is a decent character and there are some appearances from others out of the movies such a Leia but there isn't really anyone you feel attached too. The two crew members you join up with over your travels is Juno, a skilled female imperial pilot and Proxy, a training droid whose primary programming is to catch you off guard and kill you. Both are ok but again, none of them are iconic. For the game though, I liked them.
You'll come across locations such as the Super Star Destroyer under construction, Bespin, Felucia, and a Tie Fighter Factory among others. They do get reused in the second half of the game which is a bit of a let down but they mix the areas up enough that you aren't just retreading where you were a few hours before.
Some of the level design gets pretty bad in some places. There were a few times I didn't know where to jump and thinking I could land of one platform has me slip right off and die. I seemed to get used to it because later levels didn't seem as bad as the ones near the start and middle but over all it could have been better. However, the levels definitely look nice with lots of detail put into them even if a few of the textures look a bit muddy from time to time.
Gameplay is where the game has its best aspects and its worst. Using force powers is a blast, literally sometimes. With Force Push, Lightning, Saber Throw, Grab, and others it gives you a great range of abilities. Picking up soldiers and throwing them into exploding containers can be heaps of fun. Or charging up a Force Push to blast an entire group off an edge. You also get combo moves for your lightsaber which can be essential in the later stages of the game where many enemies can block your basic attack. You can upgrade your powers and combos with an upgrade system. Get enough kills or collect enough hidden light side holocrons and you level up. Each level gives you points to spend in each section. You can also earn extra points by completing secondary objectives in each level. The real issue with the game though is how it can sway from very easy to annoying as hell in a split second. For example in one level I was slicing and dicing everything in sight like there was no tomorrow. I reach one room and get my arse kicked again, and again, and again and only by luck did I get past, finally. There will be times when you start getting hit over and over and simply can't get away or block which becomes rage inducing. Other times I'll be getting hit by snipers, so I force grab an object to throw at them just for it to target some stack of creates near the sniper instead of hitting the enemy. Other times I find it hard to even grab the object to begin with. It can lead to you dying a lot more than you'd want. And while the the game saves quite regularly, if you get stuck in one area, every time you die you have to do that area again even if you just spend 10 minutes trying to get past it.
Overall, I did find the game to be more fun than not and there was never an area that I simply couldn't get past. The game is also fairly short with a six and a half hour completion time(excluding bonus levels) on normal difficulty. If you want all achievements and unlocks then you'd need to perform a second playthrough but most people will probably be happy with just the one.
If you want a game with a competent Star Wars storyline, lots of fun powers to use and all while Star Wars music plays in the background. Then this will do just nicely. I did enjoy myself and never found myself really hating the game, just annoyed by a few of its aspects. It can be found quite cheap these days and is worth the money is you're a Star Wars fan like me. If you aren't...best stay away.
