For almost as long as there have been video games, there have been video games about Star Wars—the two entered the public consciousness around the same time, and there’s always been a significant overlap between the two fanbases.  But “Star Wars” and “video game” haven’t always added up to success, and for every Knights of the Old Republic, there’s been a Masters of Teras Kasi.  The Force Unleashed is LucasArts’ new action game, which promised to deliver the most impressive and destructive representation of the force ever seen in interactive form.  In reality, The Force Unleashed is a fun action game, but a flawed one nonetheless. 

Force Unleashed puts you in the role of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, codenamed Starkiller, during the time between the two film trilogies.  After killing your Jedi father, Vader raises you from childhood to be his personal assassin, unbeknownst to anyone, even the Emperor himself.  As the game begins, Vader sends you on a series of quests, which he considers training for your real purpose—to help Vader overthrow the Emperor so that you and he can rule the galaxy together.  As the game goes on, though, you discover that things aren’t quite as cut-and-dried as they initially appear.  Without spoiling too much, suffice it to say that the actions and choices Starkiller makes have serious ramifications for the entire galaxy, and are an integral part of the overall Star Wars mythology. 

LucasArts has put a significant effort into the storyline, and it shows—the tale is well-written, and the acting (especially by Sam Witwer, the actor who plays Starkiller) is better than most of what was seen in Episodes I, II, or III.  Still, the game is more focused on action than storytelling, so some important scenes get passed by quickly, and there’s not a whole lot of characterization going on—Starkiller and his crew (pilot Juno Eclipse and droid PROXY) seem like an interesting set of characters, but you never really get to know any of them.  Fans who are looking for a more in-depth handling of the plot will be happy to know that the game is only one part of the overall “Force Unleashed” multimedia project, which also includes a tie-in novel and a comic series.  Sound familiar?  If you’ve been gaming since the mid-nineties, it should—this isn’t the first time LucasArts has released a new canon Star Wars story by way of a game-comic-novel combo.  In 1996, they released Shadows of the Empire, a similar multimedia project, and the game version was released for the then-new Nintendo 64.  While the game did some things well and is fondly remembered for a few sequences, many considered it a disappointment with sloppy, problematic gameplay.  Now, twelve years later, the Force Unleashed finds itself in a similar situation—and while it isn’t quite the disappointment that Shadows of the Empire was, it isn’t everything the hype said it would be, either. 

Force Unleashed is a straight-up action title, and takes many elements from the top games in the genre: action fans will see influences from God of War and Ninja Gaiden all over the place, from the quick time event-heavy boss fights to the fast, destructive fighting.  But the game also takes heavy influence from a more obscure source: Midway’s Psi-Ops—like that game, a heavy focus of the action in Force Unleashed is the hero’s ability to lift, throw, and manipulate objects with his mind.  The action in Force Unleashed is a lot of fun, and if there’s one thing the game does really well, it’s making the player feel like a powerful Sith—when you’re ripping a chunk of machinery off the wall and hurling it at a group of soldiers, then rushing them with a combination of lightsaber attacks and force lightning, the game gives you a sense of power that’s exhilarating and exciting. 

But for everything the game gets right, it gets just as many things wrong, and while they’ve developed a fun combat system, some very basic gameplay elements got overlooked.  The camera, for instance, is troublesome; it gets stuck on the environment far too often, and never seems to be pointing it where you need it when the action gets frantic.  The targeting system is awkward, too—the lock-on feature is constricting and only works sporadically, but auto-targeting leaves you all too often attacking a nearby wall while stormtroopers shoot you in the back.  It’s frustrating to play sometimes, because you can tell that with just a little more time and polish, the action could be truly great, instead of fun but flawed. 

The game’s presentation is a similar mixed bag.  The graphics are good for a late-generation PS2 title, and the game features some flashy visual effects—force lightning looks great, and the colorful lightshow that accompanies every lightsaber attack is always impressive.  On the other hand, the environments are often visually repetitive, which can actually get in the way of navigating each stage—there were a couple of times when I thought I was progressing through a level, only to realize I’d been going backwards toward the level start.  Also, the cinematics’ use of in-game graphics really highlight the relative lack of detail these characters have when viewed up close.  The game’s sound, on the other hand, is remarkably good; as I mentioned, the voice acting is top-notch (the Vader sound-alike is especially impressive).  The music (a combination of John Williams’ classic score and original compositions) is just as epic and sweeping as any you’d find in the Star Wars films, and the sound effects are spot-on, from the screech of a TIE fighter’s engines to the instantly-recognizable whoosh of a lightsaber in action. 

Force Unleashed is a fun action game, no doubt about it.  But after months of anticipation and hype, it simply can’t live up to the extraordinary expectations.  With more polish, it could have been the be-all-end-all Star Wars action title many were expecting it to be.  As it stands, though, it’s an enjoyable romp through that galaxy far, far away, but not quite the classic it could have been.

Gameplay:  7.2
The action is fast and frantic, and when the game is firing on all cylinders, it’s a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, all too often the game gets bogged down in technical flaws.  Targeting issues and camera problems get in the way more than they should, but in areas where these flaws are less apparent (like wide-open stages with enemies scattered, not bunched all together), the game shows glimpses of the greatness that could have been.

Graphics:  7.5
The game’s design can be inspiring at times, and the animations and effects are usually impressive.  Character models look great in-game, but show their relative crudity during the cinematics, and the environmental graphics are far too repetitive.  For a PS2 game, it looks pretty good, but still doesn’t measure up to the visual powerhouses on the system.

Sound:  8.7
The audio succeeds in pretty much every way.  The original music is great, the voice acting is uniformly excellent, and the sound effects are straight out of the films.

Difficulty:  Medium
There are a few sequences that can get frustrating, like when the game throws legions of enemies at you who just happen to be immune to most of your powers.  On the whole, though, any reasonably skilled gamer should be able to finish the game without too much trouble.

Concept:  8.5
The story is a great addition to the Star Wars canon, and really bridges the recent trilogy to the original.  The idea of an action game starring an incredibly powerful Sith is a great one, and shines through despite the game’s execution flaws.

Overall:  7.4
Force Unleashed can be frustrating, and its flaws get in the way of having a good time far more than they should.  But while it might not live up to the hype and expectations, it is one of the better Star Wars games out there, and a decent action game in its own right.