Starkiller, Jedi murderer.
Star Wars - The Force Unleashed was THE Star Wars game back in the day, a game that'd make every fan's dream come true by letting you play as Darth Vader's own apprentice,
wielding the Force with reckless abandon. Well, after going through Fallen Order I've been craving more Jedi action, so here we are. I
vividly remember watching preview videos before the game released, with the developers being quite happy and proud about what they were
achieving with the physics engine. But technology marches on, and what once was cutting edge turns dull.
The game starts with Vader murdering one of the last surviving Jedi and kidnapping his son to train as his apprentice.
Fast forward a few years and Star Killer is on his way to becoming a Sith Lord and aiding Vader in killing the Emperor, but first he must finish his training, so Vader sends him on
perilous missions to kill the few remaining Jedi. The story... is all over the place. The more the relationship between Vader and Starkiller gets explained, and the more information that gets revealed, the
less sense it makes for Vader to have taken him in. And the game also shows the way the Rebel Alliance gets formed and... your mileage may vary on that one!
At its core, the game is a very simple and
sloppy hack and slash game. Square produces basic light saber attacks, Triangle is force lightning(Which can end a few Saber combos and thanks to its electrifying properties becomes really
useful), Circle is force push(Which can also end a few saber combos) while you can hold R2 to lift, carry or
throw enemies and objects around.Sadly, the
targeting system isn't very good as the game will often mistake what you're trying to interact with or throw whatever you were holding at the
wrong target. Lightsaber combat
isn't very satisfying either, hits lack oomph, and the L1 dodge feels very slippery.
That said, in spite of how sloppy it is.... the game can be undeniably fun. Wielding the force is fun, the huge amount of costumes(A new one per stage!) and lightsaber colors is fantastic and there's a decent upgrade system. Plus, when the force works like you want it to, meaning you hit whatever you wanted to hit with your powers, it can get quite
entertaining. That said, bosses are definitely one of the game's worst aspects, since they are very, very lame. The second boss in the game is the hardest boss in it, because he will simply shrug off you saber combos and attack you through them. You're supposed to
slowly chip away at his health with force lightning.
Lame. And most bosses love to just attack through your second saber hit
just because they can. That said, the levels themselves are, for the most part, pretty good, although there's this one section in which you have to bring down a huge space ship, but it's very poorly thought out and the in-game prompts aren't quite right. Heck, the game
abuses QTEs to deal with bosses and huge enemies, which is all sorts of lame.
The game is 9 stages long, there are multiple items to collect(Which unlock the
aforementioned saber colors and a few extra colors) and you can replay any stage at any time. As a whole, it's pretty sloppy, sometimes a bit glitchy(This one time, Starkiller just stopped moving during a boss fight for no reason, and I wasn't able to move again until I was killed, and this other time during the final boss, when he hit me, Starkiller went through a barrier he wasn't
supposed to and I had to kill myself.
Somehow) yet not without its fun. Wielding the force can be fun, throwing enemies against each other is fun, when it works, and Starkiller's reverse saber grip is badass, so even if the combat isn't satisfying... it's still got
some flair and style. The Force Unleashed
isn't a must play, not even for the story since it makes less sense the more it progresses, but there are worse ways you could spend your time.
6.5 out of 10
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