Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

At first, it's impossible not to like this game. The hype has been overwhelming and the prospect of playing as Darth Vadar before stepping into the shoes of his secret apprentice is a thrilling thing for even a half-baked star wars fan. The intro is great- the rousing John William's score, the scrolling text, and then a pre-rendered, high definition intro. Good times.

However, even a few minutes into the game, the initial thrill begins to wane as the limitations of this new release start to unravel. Sand box this ain't. From the off you can move ten feet to you left and ten feet to your right and it is immediately clear that the only direction you are meant to (and allowed to) go is straight forward. This rapidly establishes itself as the overriding rule of the game, and it is not much of an exaggeration to say the environments are almost as restrictive as the old crash Bandicoot games. Remember them? Replace Crash with Sith and you're not in a galaxy far, far away from this. No sense of a leap forward in gaming technology here, then.

So on you plough, blasting things out of the way with force push, swinging your light-saber wantonly, rolling past huge wookies and bumbling stormtroopers. There's no doubt that using your force powers to hurl adversaries out of your path and over cliffs is great fun. This is strongest and best aspect of the game, so starting with Vadar at the height of his powers is a master-stroke.

Eventually, after a surprisingly short introduction level, you find your way to an expanded area, which, were this two generations ago, you would assume were designed to facilitate a generic end of level boss. You know the type of boss I mean- from Playstation one/two games. The type of boss that attacks you with repetitive moves, the aim being to learn this repetition and exploit the weak spots. Imagine my surprise, then, when exactly this type of boss strolls into my field of vision and battle ensues. His techniques are learnt, he is overcome, we proceed to the next level. And repeat. And repeat. And Repeat. In fact, by level five it is quite clear how bereft of ideas this game is. The core purpose of every stage (save for a very few token gesture later levels at Cloud City and other venues) is to stroll down a narrow predetermined route, dispatching poorly matched hordes, before arriving at end of level boss venue and duking it out. Plus, the levels are disappointingly short throughout and, as the game progresses, less and less interesting. Awards for game play and level design will not be on the shelves of Lucas Arts this year.

What you can say for the game, at least, is that it looks incredible. The graphics are first rate and the sense of being part of a larger struggle never leaves you. Look over a cliff, there's a huge star destroyer hovering forwards. Looks out a window and there's a brace of tie fighters deep in a dogfight. Magic. And no matter how limited the game play there's an impossible joy when bumping into familiar characters and (superficially) exploring familiar worlds. This is star wars- and its clear no expense has been spared.

But at its root that is the beginning and end of the problem. This game suffers precisely the same ills as episodes 1-3. Fantastic to look at but very, very, oh so very little underneath. How George Lucas can keep making this same mistake over and over again fills me with as much disbelief as it does rage. But that's a different subject altogether.

Bottom line is, if you like Star Wars, You'll be thrilled with the eye candy this game has to offer. But once you've finished it, the day after you bought it, it will go back into your draw and never bother GTA4 again.

7 out of 10 at best.

I orderd this game for my son as he kept going on X Box Live and looking at the demo.He was not dissapointed when it arrived. An excellent game with awsome graphics and agreat story line. Any one who loves the Star Wars films or other games won't be dissapointed to purchase this game to add to their catalouge. The game has kept him occupied for weeks now and he still keeps going back to it. My son is 12 years old and has found it just the right type of challenge for him, not too hard not too easy. A great buy and worth every penny.

This is a brief honest review from a game lover and a star wars fan.
Having now completed the game, one day after purchase I feel a little short changed. Although the game is fun, once you have gained control of your power (unlike other reviews I have not found that the game will throw items off in random directions when you send them flying, and simply attribute this to poor use of the controls)it is a very short game.
The game is fun, you do get a thrill from throwing around hoards of stormtroopers, electrocuting rancors, and blasting open doors with your force push. Also the story behind the game, I feel, is well done.
Unfortunatly the game does have many flaws, glitch's, you may hear about, being one of them. The game seems not able to keep up with everything going on and that causes the game to stutter at times, albeit very briefly, however once you are into the game and busy slicing up at-at's you hardly notice it. Also many of the boss battles are from an awkward POV, which cannot be changed, in some cases this is only a minor problem, but in some battles it means that the boss himself is off screen whilst he kicks your butt; this however does not take away from the end boss battles, which I enjoyed.
These however are the only major problems, repetition is not so much a problem as the game, as said before is quite short, and there is a lot of fun to be had from this game, however it may be worth waiting for the price to drop a little before purchase!