Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

So what do you all think? I've got it for Xbox 360 and I'm loving it, currently on the final level.

For anyone who hasn't gotten it yet here's my thoughts:

The story is much better than I expected with lots of links to the movies and familiar characters popping up which is very cool. The characters are well designed and especially your character Starkiller is very appealing, I kind of wish he'd been in the new trilogy instead of hayden christianson, haha.

The gameplay is great with the force powers being infinitely entertaining, especially when something unexpected happens like throwing a stormtrooper and it smashing through the window of the spaceship, sucking everything out before the emergency window closes when you never realised you could do that. The physics really are a lot of fun, especially on the plant world Felucia where everything is bending and moving as you fire of the Force in all directions.

Speaking of Felucia the locations are amazing and nicely varied, the game throws epic scenes at you regularly.

I also wasn't expecting the customisation of the character you play, Starkiller. As you level up or find hidden force points you can upgrade your powers, buy new attack combos and modify your lightsaber in colour and properties. You can also wear any costume at any time, as you gain a new one with each level.

Only problems really with the game:
- Some enemies attack too quickly, so if you've been knocked to the ground it can be hard to get up before they hit you down again.
- May be a little repetative, but experimenting with force powers keeps it fresh and there are often things in the environment like gas pipes to break and point at enemies with the force that make it interesting.
- Not the longest game (8-10 hours), but typical for most third-person action games.

So my overall ratings would be:

Graphics: 9/10 - there are some amazing sights and great lighting effects. Unlike most recent games this has a lot of colour.
Sound: 9/10 - it's Star Wars, so great music and often better voice acting than the movies.
Gameplay: 8/10 - Force powers are brilliant, saber is quite good.
Longevity: 7/10 - Customisation is great, and the game is worth a second playthrough.
Story: 9/10 - It's not just tacked on to the movies, it really has a lot of stuff revealed and changes the way you think about some elements of the Star Wars story arc.

Overall: 8.5/10 - A lot of fun, you'll enjoy yourself as much as you experiment with combining force powers and sabering.

NOTE: The PSP and PS2 versions are very different as they lack the physics that are a critical part of the 360 / PS3 version, making the force powers work differently.

The Wii version is different again as it uses motion-sensing for the lightsaber, but uses the same content as the PS2/PSP version.

The iPhone version has gesture-based force powers but no control over movement, but still a decent bit of fun.

So what version of the game do you have and what do you think of it?

 

Uh, no online play Wander. There's no multiplayer in 360 / PS3 version.

However, considering the reliance of the game on physics it's just the simple fact that the Wii CPU would not have a chance of handling the calculations, so really since they started the design with physics in mind the Wii, PS2 and PSP versions were always not going to be the "true" versions.

I've just been playing PSP one, and it's pretty good surprisingly. You can tell it's from a different developer as it has a very different feel and style, and the locations look and are laid out completely differently but it's still a good game well worth picking up.

 

I love the 360 version, and everyone I know who has come over to try it out (most going "uh, I heard it sucked") walked away preparing to buy it for themselves. It's really cool, I think perhaps just most critics were expecting more from the physics that were so hyped. Eg: only CERTAIN walls andobjects can be bent or ripped open, only CERTAIN wooden objects can be smashed through, etc. But it doesn't take away from the game at all, it's still got much more room for experimentation with force powers and finding new ways to have fun than any other action fighter like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden.

Try renting the game out and see if you like it, or if any of your stores in america have the deal our EB Games do here where u can return a game within 7 days for a full refund if you didn't like it.