A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..... ah yes, it's Star Wars brining to video gaming once again! Lucas Art has been developing a handful of video games based on the Star War franchise in the last few years, some of these include the critically acclaimed Knight of the old Republic, and its sequal Knight of the Old Republic 2, Jedi outcast, Jedi Academy 2 so on and so forth. Force unleashed is another Star War video game to join the franchise, so is it any good? Let me review this game for you.
Introduction:
Force Unleahsed wsa originally released on console only: playstation 2 and 3, wii, xbox360 and the like back in September 2008. However, Lucas Art decided to add three more chapters of the non-cannon ending to the Force unleashed game (the what if.. kind of ending) and re-released the game with title :Force unleashed - the ultimate Sith edition on PC in later 2009, so PC gamers can also experience what it is like to "unleash" the force!
Storyline:
To begin with, I love the story of Force Unleashed! The story takes place between the time of Episode 3 (the revenge of the Sith) and episode 4 (a new hope). The player will play as Galen Marek (starkiller), whose father was killed by Darth Vader during the purge of the last remaining Jedi. As a little boy, Galen Marek was adapted by Darth Vader after Vader killed Marek's father. Darth Vader pretended that it was he who saved the Galen Marek before the imperial troopers after Vader sensed that Marek has very strong force potentials. Vader raised Marek to be an ultimate Sith warrior, a raw force user who is totally bound to the dark side of the force, and will not hold back when using the force. Marek grew up in the most harsh way, Vader often push Marek to the point when Marek could be killed in the training, and Vader showed Marek neither love nor care, and installed Marek with values that he should only obey and have absolute loyalty to Vader and the dark side of the force. Marek became Vader's secret apprentice, and Vader was hoping to use Marek to assassinate Emperor Palpatine, and send Marek out to a few missions to purge the remaining Jedi. Later through Vader's betrayal, and under the guidance of a blind Jedi master, Marek will discover the true nature of the dark side and his master Darth Vader, and he will have to make a choice..
(warning, spoiler)
Personally, I think Galen Marek is the most interesting character in the whole star war universe, because he started out as a sith apprentice, brain washed by the propaganda of his evil master, and later discovered the evil nature of the dark side, and not only has to just make a change about himself, but minor spoiler here, Marek will have go out of his way to make a decision to sacrifice himself to save the ones he cares and loves by overcoming the tormented, and dark memories of his childhood under the parenthood of Darth Vader. During the story, Galen Marek falls in love with the pilot of his ship Juno, and I found it very touching that after Galen Marek's death at the end of the game, the blind Jedi master told Juno that, in all of Galen Marek's dark life, Juno was Galen Marek's one bright spot that he held down to until his death. Personally, I think this is a story about redemption, after Galen Marek realized that the dark side is evil and wrong, he turned to the light and did amazingly self sacrificial things, I think the story fits in perfectly with two passages: Isiah 43:18-19 "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert", and Philippians 3:13 "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus".
Gameplay:
This is an action game, so as Galen Marek, you will fight a lot, the story progresses by completing mission after missions. This game has the title of "force unleashed". Well, I have to say when you play the game you will really feel like you are "unleashing" the force. Galen Marek was trained by Darth Vader to use the force at no holds barred style, and since Galen Marek, as you will see can defeat Darth Vader and the emperor consecutively, he is no doubt the most power Jedi/Sith of his time. In the game, the light sabre action is intense, the amount of force power that gets used and its power of destruction and devastating, and makes the game quite fun to play. The game also uses a sort of "leveling up" system, as Galen Marek gather more experience, you can unlock and purchase new force powers or upgrade force powers. However, the gameplay can feel a bit repetitive, because the enemy AI isn't very well designed, and it becomes sort of a routines exercise to defeat enemies. The boss battles are quite hard, and will probably leave you to press buttons on your keyboards like a maniac. The control isn't very well designed, as it is quite hard to aim at the target with your light sabre. The mission design is also very linear.
Graphics:
For a PC game that comes out at the end of 2009, Force Unleashed isn't graphically impressive. The graphics are not bad, but when compared to Batman Arkham Asylum, Mass Effect 2, or God of War 3, the graphics is not in the same league with the newer games. However, the amount of gore and blood is minimal, there are no blood nor flying limbs from all the light sabre action.
Sound:
All the soundtracks are star war soundtracks, so scores from the Star war movies are the main score for the game. The voice acting is pretty good, and all the sound effects are very Star Warish.
Final rating:
Storyline (5/5) - Galen Marek is the most interesting and cool character in the Star Wars universe, and this is an interesting episode in the Star Wars universe based on teh theme of redemption and second chance at life to make the right choice. What a great and inspiring story!
Gameplay (3.5/5) - It is fun to play as Galen Marek the raw force user, he is very powerful and has awesome moves and powers. However, the gameplay becomes a bit too repetitive and the gameworld is too linear to have real re-play values.
Graphics (3/5) - The graphics isn't bad, but it is not very impressive either, it is at best average.
Sounds (4/5) - the soundtrack and sound effects make this game feel very star warish..
Final verdict (4/5) - To be honest, Force unleashed is not a particularly great game due to its average gameplay and graphics. However, the story is a gripping and touching one that makes the game worthwhile playing if you have about 10 hours to spend. I heard that Force Unleashed 2 is coming out, and I eagerly anticipate the release of force unleashed 2.
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