Game Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a foray into the Star Wars Universe that takes place not too long before the first movie (for the record, I mean Episode IV: A New Hope).

Genre

Action. Platformer.

Platform

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS.

Story

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, as Darth Vader hunted down and killed all the Jedi. With the last Jedi, Darth Vader found a child strong in the force. Years later, Vader has trained his new apprentice to be his personal assassin. As he is follows through on his mission, the apprentice starts to realize that he’s not on the side of right, and has to decide between the dark side, and starting a new hope.

Gameplay/Mechanics

Once upon a time, there was a PS2 game called PsyOps: The Mindgate Conspiracy that utilized telekinetic abilities in a third-person shooter. In this instance, The Force Unleashed has a similar format, only with the hack-and-slash combinations of the Devil May Cry series.

Music/Graphics

The music wasn’t bad for a John Williams variant. Frankly, I would have preferred it if they just shelled out the money to John Williams already and be done with it. At least it wasn’t Hans Zimmer.

The graphics are pretty good. They aren’t so good that they look real, but they’re workable.

Morals/Appropriateness

It’s a Star Wars game, and just as inoffensive. Although the lightsaber should, theoretically, be leaving cauterized body parts all over the place, this is not the case here – it is as bloodless as your average Star Wars film. The language is just as tame.

I’m not sure how much of the “player as assassin” is immoral in this case, since almost everyone in this game tries to kill the player’s character on sight. As for how much this premise is balanced out by the redemption storyline in the second half of the video game, that’s up to you.

Community/Multiplayer

None.

Addiction Danger

I’m sure this has a lot of replay value between the various force powers, lightsaber abilities, and combinations involved … but there’s only so many stormtroopers one can fight off before it becomes tedious.

Problems/Ending Comments

At the end of the day, it’s an average game that you can let your teenager play, maybe even a little younger, and no more offensive than Star Wars: A New Hope.

ESRB Rating: T for Teen

My Rating: 6/10. It’s worth the (maybe) $10 used from Gamestop.

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Copyright 2013 John Konecsni