Best Star Wars game I've played since Battlefront II
Let's hit the good news first. Lightsabers, one of the things that truly define star wars, were omnipresent in every level of the game, something Krome and Lucasarts can be very proud of, much an improvement upon KOTOR where I had to go hours on end without a lightsaber, driving me nuts. Even mashing the square button is interesting, as Galen Marek(aka Starkiller) is some kind of psycho freak who is able to spin and twirl his saber in any conceivable direction.
Also, very, very few of his moves actually repeat themselves, and it appears pretty cool. Of course, you could say there were games that the attacks appeared cool but did damage equivalent to a thrown leaf (such as Final Fantasy). The Force Unleashed is nothing of that. Starkiller's lightsaber strikes aren't that strong to kill a stormtrooper in one blow, and even if it did, it would look extremely fake (like Dynasty Warriors vol.2, in which you could kill anyone with one hit, and you're using pieces of wood and iron in that). Instead, it takes four to five hits to kill lesser enemies, which is generally more realistic and presents a greater challenge. It obviously takes more strokes to kill more powerful enemies, and you won't be expecting to finish off Darth Vader or Shaak Ti with a single wave of your pretty energy sword.
Secondly, I move on to the main focus of the game, the Force Powers. Firstly, the game shows that its main emphasis is on "Unleashing the Force". It certainly lives up to its name. There is a ton of different powers for you to choose from, ranging from pulses that push enemies away from you, to the classic force choke, to even throwing enemies up into the air and smashing them down with your lightsaber. For the sake of unfortunate people that have yet to experience the power of The Force Unleashed, I shall not further elaborate. Secondly, you would think that for a platform like the PSP, the graphics would not be good. You're sorely mistaken. Animations for the attacks are well-rendered and neither grainy nor extremely scratchy. Lightning is conjured smoothly, and when you invoke a force repulse, which pushes everything away from you, a "shock wave" ripples away from you and pushes everyone away realistically. There are plenty of force attacks to pick up in the game, and its best for you to try them all out and master one. After all, its not exactly a linear game with no abilites.
Thirdly, the graphics. Although I do gripe that sometimes blaster bolts may be a tad hard to see with their thin diameter and fast speed, if you're sharp enough and after playing for some time, you will be able to see them quite well. Cutscenes are rendered in realtime. Unfortunately, a consequence of this is that Starkiller appears slightly bland and emotionless, a little like Master Chief from Halo. Cutscenes should REEEAAALLLY be a little cooler like those in Halo 3. Of course, given the PSP's graphical limits, this cutscene problem is forgettable and easily forgiven.
I do have one complaint though, and no game is perfect except GTA IV. Firstly, the lock-on system is poor, and sometime i ended up strangling a crate instead of a Jedi Master, resulting in me getting killed. The targeting system could use a lot of improvement if there is a sequel. Apart from this, I don't actually find any other glaring problems with the game, apart from Starkiller turning invisible once during the whole course of the story mode.
All in all, The Force Unleashed in an excellent game, that would wow Star Wars junkies and non-fans all alike. Hopefully it will be influential enough to push some poor souls that have not experienced the magic of Star Wars over to the dark side.