Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Story – 8/10

First off, like any typical Star Wars game, there are two endings, one for the light side and one for the dark side. What I really liked was that a specific ending is designed to fit in with the franchise storyline. I’m sure there are some errors with this, as would always be the case with a prequel in the middle of the series, however, it really worked for me, especially as a fan of the franchise.

Picture – 5/10

The graphics are not that great, even though the game was released in 2008. There are a lot of background stuff that kind of gets in the way a lot of the time and it’s not very neat and often takes away from the gameplay.

Sound – 9/10

Like any endorsed Star Wars game, it uses the familiar soundtrack which never fails to be epic. Darth Vader and the emperor are almost carbon copies of the movies despite being voiced by different people. Having checked this on IMDb, I also found it very strange that Starkiller's appearance is modelled on the actor that voices him!

Gameplay – 2/10

This is where the game can suck my dick. Getting the above right should always come secondary to making a decent game. However, at some points the game is unplayable. The best example of this is the fight with Kazdan Paratus at the end of level two. There is no pattern or consistency to his attacks. If you use one ability, it will work, if you use it again, it won’t. There is no rhyme or reason for this – it just seems to depend on how the game is feeling that day.

Also the camera controls leave a lot to be desired. Walking close to a wall will upset the camera and often cause it to point directly at wall. This would normally happen when I was fighting purge troopers which means you only have 2 seconds to live on Sith Master and I really resent dying because the camera didn’t feel it was appropriate for me to look at the guy that’s attacking me.

Which links nicely with my next point – the lock on system is a pile of garbage. It is automatic apparently but there is no way for it to differentiate between say... an angry Felucian Warrior and... a rock. So when I’m fighting three bad guys at once and try to do force lightening on them and end up shocking the nearest rock you can imagine the difficulty in not launching the controller at the wall.

Achievements – 1,345 points – 59 Achievements

So in order for a game to be reviewable, I have to obtain all the achievements, which I managed over the course of a month. The main difficulty with this is the Sith Master achievement for completing the game on the hardest difficultly level. This would have been easier if the controls were good, however, this difficulty leaves it more down to luck than skill.

Downloadable Content – Value for money?

The short answer is no. There are two DLCs that feature achievements and they are both overpriced, especially considering the game was released in 2008 and has a sequel. They are also painfully short for what they are.

Summary

Was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed worth playing the whole way through? Probably not. The story drives it and the game play elements feel like interference; something a game should be ashamed of.