So this new game reviewing thing sounds pretty cool.  I figured I'd try it out.

*WARNING*: spoilers ahead.

*ahem*  Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is definetly one of the better game's I've played, despite a plot best described as "meh-iffy".  The game, taking place just after the Clone Wars and before the beginning of the formal Rebellion, follows a secret apprentice of Darth Vader's, codenamed "Starkiller" (although this name is not mentioned in-game until one point at the end, which kind of bugged me).  At the beginning, he serves Vader faithfully, and goes on a few missions killing renegade Jedi.  Eventually, Sidious (a.k.a The Emperor, if you didn't know) "discovers" this, and has Vader kill his apprentice by hurling him out of a starship window, which was pretty epic.  After that, Vader recovers his apprentice from space and brings him back to life (which, honestly, could have been better addressed in-game; he came out of space completely intact).  After this, Vader has Starkiller start up a rebellion, presumably to distract the Emperor from his existance.  So you go find a Jedi you supposedly killed in the beginning, and you, him, and a few other people start up the Rebellion.  At this point, Vader finds you and attacks the group, kidnapping them all and leaving you to die on a frozen world, which you don't.  Instead, you launch a raid on the Death Star and manage to not kill Vader or the Emperor and neatly get yourself killed in the process.

A few things about the plot bugged me: the ending wasn't well handled, and, as mentioned, the "recovery from space" thing could have been handled better.  What I did like, however, was the Force mechanic.  Using "Force Points" you collect from killing people, you could upgrade your existing force abilities, including force push and force lightning, as well as buy some pretty awesome new abilities, including one that sends and exploding ball of lightning at your foes.  Where the game really shines, though, is with the implementation of force move.  Most objects throughout the game are subject to being picked up and hurled at people.  It is even possible to pick up enemies and hurl them at other enemies, a technique that I often enjoyed using.  By far my favorite levels were the Jedi Temple levels (you revisit that particular locale a number of times), in which most piles of rubble that could be found were movable - yes, each chunk of pillar could be picked up and hurled out of your way - and the statues could also be broken apart and thrown at people.  The game comes with a one-on-one duel mode, which wasn't as fun as the main game as you did not have nearly the breadth of force moves you had in the campaign mode.  If I had to choose one thing to improve about the game, though, it would be the replay mechanic.  Once you beat the game, you had the choice of going back to the beginning with all force powers unlocked, or staying at the end and replaying the ending level to your heart's content.  For me, this significantly detracted from the replay value.  However, that urge to find all the different lightsaber colors - ranging from purple to my personal favorite, orange - stayed with me for a little while.  Over all, I'd rate the game at 4 out of 5 stars.  Or mushrooms.  Or headcrabs.  Whatever.  We should have an official ranking thingy.  I vote headcrabs.

• ShadowPwn's blog
• Login or register to post comments