Star Wars: The Force Unleashed [Xbox 360/PS3]

This was the first of two games where we took control of a (then) previously unheard-of apprentice of Darth Vader known as starkiller, as such it was (to my knowledge) the first time where we controlled a Sith apprentice which I feel makes it a good premise for a Star Wars game.

The star of the show here is the combat as this is primarily a beat em up with elements of platforming to spice up the gameplay. As with most modern beat em ups, there's a system where you earn higher points the more combos you pull off against your enemies, these translate into force points which accumulate to skill points which you can then use to upgrade your powers. The game also gives you powers as you progress through it to give you new ways in taking out your enemies who naturally become stronger and the campaign progresses. The story is solid as we have our titular starkiller initially indoctrinated to serve Vader at a young age only to switch sides to the rebels once he's betrayed by him, although he does so by tricking him into thinking he's merely infiltrating their ranks which shows how clever he is as a protagonist. He has a love interest with his pilot Juno which of course leads to predictable drama throughout the campaign, he also has a robot sidekick who wants to kill him due to his programming, this leads to hilarious banter between the two that lightens the mood of the otherwise dark story. It starts off with our hero finishing order 66 by killing the jedi who survived the purge (including shaak ti who was meant to die prior to order 66 but didn't due to her scenes getting cut in Revenge of the sixth.) Naturally these jedi are dumbfounded by their defeat at such a young Sith warrior, thus leading to his inner turmoil as the story progresses. There's not much more to say about the gameplay itself as its basically copies the formula of devil may cry and applies a Sith filter to the combat to keep it distinct from that franchise. We have cramped levels to ensure that our hero can consistently pull off combos to increase his score, the levels also allow for secret areas which usually have holocrons in them he can collect for extra abilities and bonus content. There's also a training room where he can practice his abilities at any point during the campaign, these are useful to familiarise the player with their abilities to better their technique against the enemies.

It's a fantastic game with a great story and awesome gameplay, hopefully once Disney has the star was brand revoked from them, this series will be revived as its currently non canon to the franchise.

The initial prologue mission is played as Darth Vader who discovers Galen “Starkiller” Malek as a child, and raises him as a secret apprentice (even secret from the Emperor). The rest of the game is played as adult Starkiller. Vader tasks you with helping hunting down the last of the remaining Jedi after the purge at the end of The Clone Wars saga.

Since Starkiller's existence needs to be a secret, you have to kill Stormtroopers as well as Alliance soldiers. It doesn't seem to make sense, especially after the twists happen. I'm not convinced it really ties well into the film's story given that you'd expect Starkiller to be referenced (his presence can't really remain a secret, given how powerful he is).

Starkiller is very powerful, the most powerful Force user I've seen depicted in the films or games. The initial missions puts a focus on grabbing and pushing, so you will be tearing through enemies, launching them about - putting the rag-doll physics to good use. There's many objects to throw about, causing havoc and crushing enemies. These initial sections are very fun.

As you play, you will unlock new force powers like lightning. However, the difficulty ramps up, so you won't feel indestructible. When you level up, you can assign points to increase your abilities. You get points in 3 categories, Talent, Combos and Power.

You can block to deflect blaster fire, grab objects/enemies, slash with your lightsaber, Force Push, and Force Lightning. You can chain Force powers onto your basic slashes (when unlocked) which do larger damage.

For grabs and Force Lightning, the game will auto-target unless you use the lock-on function. Either way, I found it often targeted something undesirable, leading to many frustrating moments.

You have a limited amount of Force, but it regenerates quickly. Health regenerates with every enemy defeated.

Some enemies can knock you down or temporarily stun you. These can be very frustrating because sometimes it is impossible to escape before they land the next blow. You can also be sent flying with the rag-doll physics, so sometimes are unlucky and be pushed down to the abyss.

Special enemies and bosses require Quick Time Events to finish off. These are very simple to complete.

There are power-ups in certain sections which give you powers like extra damage, health drain, or restore your Force or Health. Some power-ups are positioned awkwardly; they are floating above you so you have to jump to collect them.

The bosses were often very frustrating. I felt there wasn't much feedback to allow you to understand what was expected from you. The Jedi battles seemed inconsistent that there are times when they block you, but other times they have their guard down and yet your slashes don't seem to deal any damage. They can counter your Force powers but sometimes they seem to damage you, and other times there's a small Quick Time Event where you get the opportunity to damage them. So you never know if you should use a Force attack because you never know what the outcome will be.

The Star Destroyer boss is ridiculously bad. You have to zap a wave of Tie Fighters, and you definitely see how bad the targeting/lock-on is. Once you have defeated a wave; using the Force, you have to rotate a Star Destroyer to drag it to the ground. It is incredibly slow to do so, and for some reason, you have to point it towards you and perpendicular to the ground, before pulling it down. You won't have time to do it in one attempt, so you end up defeating 4 or so waves. It is slow, boring, and makes no sense. Furthermore, a few times, I was hit, then rag-dolled to the railing where I got stuck and couldn't enter the platform; leaving the only choice to suicide and start the battle again.

There's plenty of glitches in the game. From enemies failing to move, committing suicide, to sounds failing to play; meaning some sections don't have music, or limited sound effects.

The graphics are very dated too, but probably looked decent at the time of release. Force Unleashed often feels clunky and lacks the polish you'd expect from a major title. The difficulty is quite erratic, it is often frustrating, but there is some fun to be had in parts.

This game was a mess from the get go. It advertised itself as being an expansion of the Universe where you played as a secret apprentice of Darth Vader and carry out evil deeds for your Sith master. It even features some characters from the actual movies. Its essentially just that, a side story where you play as an evil Sith renegade who is betrayed by his master and then seeks revenge. The problem with the story is it doesn't even matter. We all know that Darth Vader and Palpatine both survive in the end and nothing happens to them so the games final boss is essentially pointless. For the most part I did not find Starkiller interesting at all, he just felt so dull and generic. The gameplay and combat was competent but not great, especially when I felt games like Devil May Cry 3 did the whole hack and slash thing better. The force controls were just awkward and never came out half the time and the design was essentially going through linear paths, fighting a wave of enemies and then progressing to the next area to do the same thing with almost little variety in design or gameplay. The game just felt pretty generic and bland, it had a cool idea but squandered it and it didn't change anything in the Star Wars universe since we already knew Vader and Palpatine would emerge victorious in the end no matter what. At least with KOTOR they played it safe and made it take place so far in the past that they could have their own story and it wouldn't interfere with the movies, but this on the other hand just feels like a waste. It is an okay game but the story and design are just mediocre at best.