Game review – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
By Matthew Price
THE NEXT LEVEL
Become Darth Vader’s secret apprentice in “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.” “Force Unleashed” is set between Episodes III and IV of the “Star Wars” saga. Vader’s apprentice is Starkiller. Vader keeps his apprentice’s moves secret even to the Emperor. Starkiller follows Vader’s commands in this storyline, officially sanctioned by George Lucas.
Starkiller was orphaned during a battle on the Wookiee planet of Kashyyk. Sensing Starkiller’s strong Force abilities, Darth Vader takes the young boy on as his apprentice. Years later, as the Clone Wars come to an end, Vader sends Starkiller on a mission, to find and destroy the remaining Jedi.
Starkiller’s joined in his quest by the android PROXY and a female pilot, Juno Eclipse.
There’s a lot to like in “Force Unleashed” — the storyline is one of the strongest ever for a “Star Wars” video game. Also, there are plenty of fun gameplay moments, especially in Starkiller’s ability to use the Force. The art design and sound design are both just right, pulling the gamer into the “Star Wars” universe.
There are negatives that take “Force Unleashed” from being a groundbreaking game into just being a solid one.
The targeting of Starkiller’s Force powers is inexact, and often frustrating. And the camera movements can be unhelpful, especially in levels with close quarters. And, unfortunately, there’s no multiplayer.
However, “Star Wars” fans will likely want to tackle “Force Unleashed” more than once, both to search for special items hidden throughout, and to find out both possible endings. The game is available for the Xbox 360, which was played for this review. It is also available on the PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP and Nintendo DS.
For the Wii: Compared to the Xbox 360 version, the graphics are not as good on the Wii. It also seems as if the number of characters to battle has been scaled back. However, the Wii makes up for it in the control department — the motion controls, which allow many of the Force attacks to be controlled by gestures, are a lot of fun. In fact, it could get even more fun — I received an e-mail yesterday from dreamGEAR, who are sending me some lightsaber-style Wii controllers to try out with “Force Unleashed.” Look for more on that once I get a chance to try ‘em out.
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My son loves this game. He got it for Christmas and plays it all the time.