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Being such a well publicised title and carrying the Star Wars
heading, there was little doubt that Star Wars: The Force
Unleashed would perform well at retail. That it shot straight to
the top of the UK multi-format charts was also of little shock,
along with the reported sales in excess of 1.5 million units within
the first week of release. However, a lot of weight still rests of
LucasArts latest foray into Star Wars videogame crossovers;
having been touted as the missing link between the two motion
picture trilogies. With Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, known as
Starkiller, having already appeared in
Soul Calibur IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is
set to create a new legacy in the Star Wars saga crossing
multiple forms of media, with comic books, a novel, a role-playing
game and action figures already either released or in production.
But can just one game, albeit an ambitious one, support such a heavy
responsibility?
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a Third-Person Action game
with a rather traditional videogame experience. Taking place across
a variety of pre-structured linear Levels, the game deals with
Platform and puzzling elements, as well as Force-based combat. That
some of these areas are noticeably weaker than others from even the
first few moments of play is unfortunate.
The combat revolves around combinations of Lightsaber and Force
Power attacks. Playing on the advantages that existing in the
Star Wars universe brings, the combat is far and above the most
enjoyable aspect of the title. Lucky then, that the vast majority of
the game sees the player simply moving from one battle to the next.
Utilising a variety of the Force Powers at your disposal – Force
Lightning, Force Push and Force Repluser, to name a few – mixed-up
with swipes of your Lightsaber will earn more Experience,
which in turn (via an annoyingly disjointed Level-Up Screen) allows
the player to learn new skills or improve current ones. However,
until reaching the later Difficulty Settings in the game, the player
is rarely called upon to use any real variation in attacks – simply
finding a preferred technique will suffice.
The puzzle element is somewhat lacklustre. The player is
occasionally asked to make a gangway, make shelter or
activate/destroy some machinery, all with simple uses of Force
Powers on some almost insultingly obvious marked areas. The Platform
aspect too is at the most basic. Extended jumps and plotting paths –
again, using obviously marked areas of interest – is the limit of
the challenge when simply playing through the title. Things become
more interesting on a second play-through, when trying to collect
all of the games Holocrons, but even these more aggressive sections
won’t challenge as ardent Platform game player.
The game doesn’t use the added grunt of the Current-Generation
consoles to elevate the Third-Person Action genre above that which
was witnessed on the Previous-Generation of consoles, other than in
terms of graphical quality. The physics are lightweight compared to
other titles utilising the Havok Engine and basic issues, such as
not being able to lock-on to a target on a floor beneath you and a
poor distinction between traversable paths and those which are not,
raise their heads far too often. The
 game
is littered with glitches and, unlike Mercenaries 2: World in
Flames; these could do not be considered charming errors in the
slightest. Unfair deaths are one thing, but when the game locks-out
the player from progressing, forcing you to jump off a ledge or run
into electricity simply to force a restart, annoyance is simply not
the word.
For a game which claims to have such strong ties with the films
whose universe it resides in, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
has a surprisingly uninspired view of storytelling. Bridging the gap
between the two trilogies, the game has a plentiful pre-existing
structure from which to source material, and while the result is
satisfying, anyone having missed single episode of the series may
well be confused more-often-than-not. Book-ending each of the linear
Levels with Cut-Scenes devoid of choice (bar the obligatory Light or
Dark Side), much like Silicon Knight’s
Too Human, the player is pulled through the plot in a
predictably steady manner.
While Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is hardly a
tour-de-force of original design decision, graphically, things are a
very different story. Numerous glitches and errors are present here
too, but that doesn’t detract from the imagination on show. Some
characters have clearly been more fleshed-out than others, and
Starkiller himself may well be paper-thin, yet the detail the
title adds to the
Star Wars universe simply can’t be ignored. Some genuinely
fantastic creatures populate the world – new and old – including one
that looks and behaves suspiciously likes Too Human’s Trolls.
The Aural quality is just as distinctive, with a fabulous score and
a more-generous-than-most selection of quips from the game’s
protagonist.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is not the revolutionary title
LucasArts may well have wanted it to be. More reminiscent of the
Nintendo64’s Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire than the likes
of Dark Sector and Alone in the Dark, Star Wars:
The Force Unleashed could still be recommended to most based
purely on the coherency that the Star Wars universe adds to
the game. However, the numbing amount of issues with the title that
simply shouldn’t be present give Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
all the hallmarks of a game that was simply not finished, and
therefore may well be suitable for only the most diehard of Star
Wars fans.
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