Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a solid action game that takes place in the Star Wars universe and uses cameos from characters from that lore very well. The cut scene visuals are fantastic and are worth a gander in and of themselves. Couple that with great sound and you have a recipe for success for any Star Wars fan. The game does come with its share of issues as well, but for the most part, the game is a solid experience centered around Darth Vader’s Apprentice, Starkiller.

The sound in the game is great and throwing a Wookie off a cliff never sounded so good. The Force abilities are done very well and provide some open-ended gameplay, giving you options to dispense your foes in a series of ways, ranging from impaling with a light saber to Force Chokes off a gorge. The Force Unleashed gives you many customization options as well, such as your clothing, light saber, and even fighting skills.

The Force powers and wielding them in great balls of fury is what saves this title. I could Force Push and Force Throw people all day long. The game lets you take on a huge array of enemies, each of which requiring different abilities to defeat, such as needing Force Lightning to stun AT-STs and then chopping them down. When you look at the light saber action by itself, it can be pretty fun hacking and slashing through levels. Add in the fact that you can hurl it at enemies, and the action even better. When you fight larger enemies or bosses, you typically get their health to a very low level which triggers a mini-game, much like in God of War. You have to follow a sequence of button presses on your controller in order to finish them off.

The ability to make your own style of Jedi is a good thing in The Force Unleashed. You can choose to level your Force attributes, physical stats, or combos, all of which plays into how you dispose of your enemies. In the early offset, you can build up your light saber skills and just hack and slash, or you can build your Force Push skill and start slamming enemies against walls. The ability to mold your Apprentice does a good job at providing some different views of the gameplay. You can even re-spec your character at a cost if you don’t like where you spent your points.

Targeting can be frustrating at times in the game. This happens a lot in levels where there are many objects that you can Force Grab. Typically, you will think you are grabbing one thing, but end up grabbing something totally different and hurling it in the opposite direction. Another frustrating portion of the game is the fact that the AI is cheap; they will pummel and shoot you while you are on the ground. Many times, I was killed because I simply couldn’t get up. Portions of the game have high levels of difficulty and frustration, which can lead to some angry moments. If you get caught in these moments, simply restart your game and start throwing Wookies off the bridge in the first level again. That should put a smile on your face in no time.

Many people have bashed this title, but I found it to be very entertaining and took it for what it was, an action game. If you do not like throwing your light saber at enemies or dropping boulders on peoples’ heads, then this game is not for you. If you do, than The Force Unleashed is right up your alley. If you are a Star Wars fan, this is a must grab and if you are not, this is at least a strong rental-to-purchase scenario.

Overall: 7 out of 10

Click here to see what our scores mean