As a kid I use to dream that I was a Jedi Knight like Luke Skywalker. I worshipped Star Wars like a religion as a kid. When I grew up I even sat through the lesser attempts of Star Wars Episodes 1, 2 and 3. I like Star Wars. And seeing the Lead Up to The Force Unleashed had me excited. Was this going to deliver like the original Star Wars movies ? Or will it flop like the newer movies ?
Well To say that I was underwhelmed is an understatement. I booted up the game with anticipation, even after hearing the mediocre reviews of the game. The trailers for this game were so good, How can it not deliver ? Well now I know why.
The 1st on level on Kashyyk was awesome. Using Darth Vader to decimate the Wookie population was nothing short of fun. I thought that the Wookie textures looked last gen.
Now the graphics of this game had me puzzled. I couldn't help but think that some levels were awesome in textures and some looked boring. Comparing Kashyyk to Raxus Prime is a firm example of this. Kashyyk looked bland, Raxus looked uber detailed. It seemed like some of the levels were rushed and others were detailed to the point where you could almost see a dollar coin lying on the floor.
Controls are terrible. The controls remind me of earlier Star Wars Games. When controlling Starkiller it felt very awkward. Controlling the Force while heaps of fun was quite difficult to master. Once you Master The Force it was awesome. To give you such freedom of the Force was an achievement, albeit a flawed achievement.
Combat was very repetitive. You unlock more combos yes, but you hardly use them. This is where they could of taken something from the God Of War games and made some uber combos that you will want to use. Even the Quick Time Events were very underwhelming. Now I remember in the Movies that whenever aliens saw a Lightsabre, they freaked out and tried to run away. If I was a Jawa I would not try and fight against Jedi or a Sith Lord.
Now the physics in this game are, In My Opinion, Its strength. Yes the physics are Awesome, and even its most harsh critic can't deny that. Picking up Jawas and shooting them into the sky with the Force was my favorite thing to do in the game. But it seems that they focused too much on the Physics and not enough time on the rest of the game. With a bit more time and effort on the rest of the game It could of been alot better.
That being said there is still a lot of good things in the Force Unleashed. The sound is typical Lucas Arts quality. The Music is typical Star Wars which isn't a bad thing. Music in all the Star Wars Movies is top quality, and the same applies here. Storyline is awesome. The whole story played about better than Episodes 1,2 and 3. If they made this a Movie Lucas Arts would of had Star Wars buffs screaming applauses. And Starkiller himself, is a damn cool character.
If I was to sum up Force Unleashed in one sentence, I would say "A Last Gen Game, With Next Gen Graphics" because that's what it felt like to me. Not a bad effort, but I am seriously glad I didn't buy it. Rental at best.
I hope that they keep the engine of this game, because it shows A LOT of potential for future games.
Following Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's conquest, it's the prime time to resurrect the Force-fueled action of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Coming soon on the UE4 Engine, preorder to guarantee access to the Force Stutter ability available exclusively on PC before it gets removed after the launch window.
I am not a Star Wars fan but I enjoyed the Force Unleashed and the sequel. Shadows of the Empire was another Star Wars game I also enjoyed.
I had Shadows of the Empire on N64 and I used to finish that game basically weekly. LOVED that game.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed took the Star Wars setting from a Space Opera to a Shonen anime, and did lasting damage to the franchise as a whole.
Then came Jedi: Fallen Order to revive it.
Jedi Survivor is truly amazing to experience, nothing better out there when it comes to Star Wars games.
That's a bit of a stretch. I loved the game, it was an amazing action filled pack and you could do so much weird shit (admittedly the sequel wasn't as great). However, under no point did I ever have any trouble separating it from Star Wars canon. The game has exagerated force powers because it's fun, everyone knows it's not lore-accurate. It's the same as the final boss of The Matrix game. The game almost ends as the movie, but then we get a message from the Wachowski sisters, explaingin how a the martyr ending works great for a movie... but a game should feel more epic, so instead you get to face a final mega Smith formed from all his clones. My point being, people can separate the epic exagerations of a game from the more grounded rules of canon/lore.
Edit: Just to add, that I aknowledge The Rise of Skywalker was a shitshow, but there were millions of other reasons for that, TFU is hardly to blame there...
Starkiller - the original Mary Sue (after Luke Skywalker bent a molten blaster bolt around a corner, and through a tiny hole in The Death Star, while flying an X-wing in space. And all despite having next to no training in how to use The Force.)
It did help ruin the franchise, but it was already ruined by silly novels and badly-thought-out comic book adaptations. The EU did enough damage to the universe that the trajectory was bound to hit “JEDI SUPERHERO WHO CAN WRESTLE STAR DESTROYERS OUT OF THE SKY” territory.
It’s part of why The Force Unleashed and The Last Jedi had such a negative backlash. The Force Unleashed copied and pasted the structure of A New Hope, which was enough for some people to buy, but I heard countless musings from people, whining that the characters were not as jumpy or powerful as Starkiller - with Starkiller being the one character mentioned for reference. The Last Jedi, for some people, is their favourite Star Wars film, for others, it wasn’t. What I didn’t like about TLJ’s backlash is how much people were moaning about it being different to the rest of the franchise, when it is about as derivative as The Force Awakens was.
"after Luke Skywalker bent a molten blaster bolt around a corner, and through a tiny hole in The Death Star, while flying an X-wing in space. And all despite having next to no training in how to use The Force."
Not to mention having next to no experience in piloting a fighter
Discover the reasons why Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is such a fantastic game. From its gripping storyline to its smooth gameplay and impressive graphics, this game has it all.
Very interesting review. I like the personal connections that you provided at the beginning of the review. It gives life to it, unlike some of the other mainstream media publications I see that post reviews. They sound like robots.
Well, great review, and keep em' comin'.