Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Review

First, I would like to point out some observations.  The metacritic score for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a rather dismal 73, dismal given the relatively high production value, technology, and effort that appears to have gone into this game.  Curious about this, I read several of the reviews that were on the low end and have formed an opinion about those reviewers as well.  My second observation is that while the game did get mentioned in Time's rather laughable "Best Games of 2008" list, it didn't make the cut on a more dedicated site like Joystiq.  What surprised me more is that it did not get mentioned by any reviewers as either "Best of the Rest" or "Biggest Disappointment"...  It would seem to me that this game deserved some sort of recognition no matter where you fell on the fence about the gameplay.

The easy part to critique is the story.  Most agree that it was well done, fit into the Star Wars universe nicely between III and IV, and actually added something to the story, making it a worthwhile prequel.  Since the story covered a very limited timeline, it did not do much to expand on characters, but it did provide an insight into some of the settings in Star Wars that I thought was nice, and I'm not even a Star Wars fan.  This alone made it worth playing through in my opinion, as the settings were all well done, unique, and interactive.

The star of the show, as evidenced from the title, is the Force.  Many reviewers complained that they didn't get enough diversity of force powers, although I think this game included all of the known powers and actually did add a few (in comparison to Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic there were definitely new powers).  I find it difficult to find fault when a designer is relatively restricted by an established IP.  Furthermore, there was unlocking of powers throughout the first play through, so I felt a natural progression, even if I tended to use some of the original powers more than the unlocked ones.  Another complaint was the targeting system, and my only reasonable guess is that this was fixed in a patch because I never found it difficult to target enemies that I wanted to attack.

For me, the question was whether I felt like I was controlling a person very strong in the force, and one powered up force push alone gave that impression.  As I fought the miscellaneous enemy here or there I would occasionally fling them into the air as if they weren't even worth my time to bother fighting.  If I had to complain about the force powers, my complaint would lie in how they were controlled via the controller because I think that the designers could have designed the force lift/throw mechanic better.  In the game once you lift an object/person with right trigger you control the throwing of that person either up or down with the right thumbstick or left/right/forward/back with the left thumbstick.  The reason I tended to throw characters up into the air is that I would naturally pick them up with the right thumbstick and use the same thumbstick to attempt to fling them forward but instead they would fly up and to their deaths.  While flinging them up was entertaining at times, it was an unintended consequence.  Alternatively they could be flung forward on release of the trigger with no coaxing on the left thumbstick and that also would have felt natural.  Using both did not feel natural.

What felt the most unique throughout the game was the environment.  While many aspects were clearly in place purely to provide a demo for the "Digital Molecular Matter" technology by Pixelux Entertainment, it was all done very well.  To put it simply, they modeled glass, plants, wood, and metal to all act appropriately when interacted with by the force.  In an early stage of the game you come across a giant wooden door that also has a steel frame.  As you use force push to knock it down you cannot help but feel impressed as the wood shatters and flew away while the metal deformed in exactly the shape you would envision if a huge gust of force blew through it.  Throughout the game there are metal doors that must be pushed through and the deformation is always slightly different which adds to the realism.  Plants act rubbery, glass shatters, but only falls where force is applied.  It all felt right.  What really showed this all off were settings that included these elements but in a normal fighting scene, where glass would shatter and fly around purely because you were using the force powers on enemies you fought.  In a world of plants, they even showed off a combination of elements, with plants that would respond with a rubbery reaction, but pulled too far and they would break off like a rubber band snapping.  New technology that is put to work and not just a gimmick definitely warrants some praise.

Boss battles are the area that I was most critical of, but not for the reason several reviewers pointed out.  I do not mind dying on a boss battle in medium difficulty.  I think I would find a game too easy if I played through and beat every boss on the first effort so I was surprised that some reviewers faulted having to replay a boss 5 times.  What's more, the game actually saved some progress made for bosses automatically to reduce the amount of replay required.  I did find that repeating one technique of using lightening then attacking with the lightning light saber combo seemed to get me through most battles, but they were still challenging and I found them consistent.  My biggest complaint was that just at the finale of the fight, a script kicks in to show you defeating the boss, but the player is required to push buttons corresponding to the characters actions.  This resulted in me not fully enjoying the final moments of the battle because I had to focus on the button pressing or else the sequence might have to be restarted.  I found this to be a very poorly designed flaw in a game that is suppose to focus your attention on seeing the devastating power of your force.

Everything else worked so I would say that it was a good game.  Whatever score you want to attach to that recommendation is your business but I think that it was worth playing, not frustrating, and a very unique experience.