Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed partially reminds me of The Godfather: The Game. I know that is a very odd comparison, but in both games you're basically the character who was behind so much without ever being seen in any of the films. While The Godfather beat you over the head with this feeling, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is much more subdued and it benefits greatly from this. While The Force Unleashed has a pretty good story, especially compared to the latest Star Wars films, the rest of the game doesn't hold up as well.

The game immediately makes you feel like a bad ass, but eventually the game mechanics become rather routine. You start out the game as Darth Vader himself, with most of the force powers maxed out, but the next level begins your journey as Starkiller (The Apprentice) and you're pretty much powerless at first. Over the course of the game you gradually unlock more powers, which does keep you slightly invested in the combat, but inevitably it all becomes repetitive. While the majority of force powers are fun to use, the melee combat is an absolute bore and isn't satisfying at all. The lightsaber feels rather weak at first and even after it's upgraded it doesn't feel that comfortable.

The voice acting in the game is pretty good overall and Chad Vader does an excellent job as Darth Vader no matter what any fanboy says. The story is well done and the characters are interesting, but I found the endings to be rather uneven. While you can choose a "good" or "bad" ending, the game heavily pushes you down the good path and I found that the "good" ending is the only real ending (much like Bioshock). The game is rather short, but that helps the game from getting even more repetitive. The difficulty can be rather uneven as well; you could breeze through one section and find yourself struggling to get through next. Though the difficulty never gets too difficult, or too easy, it still makes the experience more frustrating than it should be for the average gamer.

While Star Wars: The Force Unleashed might not be the great game that some had hoped for; it's still a good game and definitely worth your time. The story is well done and can hold the attention of even non-Star Wars fans. The combat may only be average at best, but using force grip to throw wookies around never gets old. Though the The Force Unleashed may not be a must-buy, it is most definitely a must-play.

Pixelated Sausage
Kush