Its been a while since i written anything. Its been a while since I played a proper console game that I could really get into. I did have a lot of games to try, but since I only had a Wii, PSP and a DS, there was a point of drought in gaming. So, when Star Wars The Force Unleashed came out, I really couldn’t wait to play it. Being a Star Wars fan myself, this is one game that I can’t miss out because of its strong impact in the Star Wars universe. To people who don’t know what Force Unleashed is, this is a multimedia project which involves several formats including video games, books, comics, pen and paper role playing games and more. This was only done years ago with Shadows of the Empire.
The story of the Force Unleashed is set between the events just before Episode IV A New Hope. A Dark Jedi called Starkiller is secretly trained by Darth Vader who he found during the attacks on Kashyyyk, the wookie planet which can also been seen at the near end of Republic Commando. When Starkiller was old enough to finish his training, he is now brought out by Vader to finish all the Jedi who has survived Order 66. The story gets more interested from that point, so why not try the game or get a book or even a comic book to understand more of it.
I was able to get my hands on the PSP version, I haven’t tried the DS version yet. So I really can’t expect very good graphics in comparison to the Xbox360 and the PS3 which the game was really designed for in the first place. Although visually, I was satisfied as long as I don’t compare it to the next gen systems, I should feel fine about it. It was nice to see new environments to play that I haven’t seen in other Star Wars games. Light saber duels worked great too, visually stunning and fun.
The story is great, and very important to get into if you are a Star Wars fan. I suppose it’s just as important as Shadows of the Empire. But I do have problems with the story telling, it seems like it was skipping on a lot of important details. You do feel the sense of how important this is to the Star Wars universe, but then again, you can’t deny the feeling of being left out of it. Which makes me feel that I need to buy a book or a comic book to get the fullfillment. But then again, I haven’t seen any other version yet, except for the PSP.
The camera is a pain. There is no way to directly control it. There were times that I can’t see who or what I’m targeting. It will center itself properly if you stay steady, but that won’t work in large groups of enemies. The controls to move Starkiller seems okay, it takes a while to get used to using all the force powers, although I couldn’t use them all since I was happy enough with the Force Lightning skill. Using the lightsaber doesn’t seem powerful enough, seems like Starkiller is not good in melee combat. But the Force is unusually strong, very strong especially for him that he can even divert a falling Star Destroyer, if he’s that strong, why keep using the lightsaber in the first place? The lightsaber can damage enemies that don’t block, but if the enemies does any blocking, it seems like it takes forever to put them down. But this does encourage the player to use other force powers. The game plays like any traditional action game, but it does mix in a few timed button events, which reminds me that so many games are trying to be follow the success of God of War. The action is cinematic, but after a while it gets very redundant.
I have another problem with the game, it goes back and forth with locations, like I’ve seen it before but why to keep returning. The story does explain a lot, but as a gaming perspective, it just gets dull at some point. Although its good to see that locations do give alternate routes, but it still doesn’t show more variety that it could have been.
The bonuses in the PSP game is nice, I like the challenges and the characters that you can unlock. It even gives you an opportunity to play some parts of the movies you have seen like the desert scene where Luke escapes certain death from being eaten by the Sarlac. Although the Jedi Holocron bonus felt like it should have been more informative than just plain artwork collection. Don’t get me wrong, the game has tons of information by looking at the Database.
Overall, the game was fun, great story, but it always gave me a feeling that there was something missing, in everything. It was fun, but the controls are not perfect. The story was good, but it left a lot of details that I still need another media to fulfill my need. The graphics was good, but I know there is something better out there, which kinda irritates me, then again, what can you expect with the PSP? Would I buy this game or not? Unfortunately we can’t rent this game in our country since its a PSP, but its a game I’d like to play once in a while. I’m enjoying my time to play it all over again. Maybe finishing the game twice or more will be enough to satisfy me, since i haven’t gotten all the force powers yet.
