With the proposition of controlling the force like never before, The Force Unleashed is hit by numerous problems.
The Force Unleashed is by and large a smash-em-up action game going from one end of a level to the other pretty much annihilating everything and everyone in your way with the help of a nice physics engine and some nifty particle effects. The combat itself is pretty straightforward; take down the enemy in front of you with either your trusty lightsaber or sweet force powers. While some might say that this is a button smasher, with the exclusion of the force powers, you'd be surprised to see that there is some sophistication and skill involved. Combos are the way how you can deal enormous amounts of damage to any given enemy, and these do take a good deal of practice to learn and even test your skills if you want to have a chance of successfully landing one on a tougher enemy. There is nothing better or more satisfying than slashing an opponent followed by launching him in the air before smashing him back down to earth with a lightning bomb, of which I managed to do to a rather unlucky Purge Trooper .
But of course combos and saber fighting aren't the big pull here. Everyone just wants to chuck enemies around the map. The force powers themselves are rather varied. Going from Force Push to Lightning to Force Repulsion each of the powers are a delight to see executed on screen. But also included with the powers is the ability to pick up objects and enemies and chuck them willy nillie around the maps. Between picking up simple object like boxes or explosives to large rocks to those hapless stormtroopers, it is a joy just to watch the effects of them bouncing around or landing into other enemies. Also, you get to chuck a ****ing TIE Fighter. There is nothing as cool as chucking those into enemies or even chucking enemies into TIE Fighters.
With the force powers at your disposal, The Force Unleashed helps these powers look even more grand with the help of some pretty impressive engines in the game. Each object isn't just tossed, but they're literally thrown Randy Johnson style (if you don't know who he is, then shame on you . Watch more baseball ). Stormtroopers are quite the site as they try frantically to save themselves when they're helplessly being taken for a ride. This can often lead to some humorous scenes in which stormtroopers will try to grab on to ledges, rails, or even other fellow troopers, often leading to two troopers in the air at once. And if you're the destructive type, there is quite a delightful particle engine that loads the screen with fallen debris at certain times. But unfortunately, all of these engines aren't used consistently as some objects can be destroyed and others can't, and the same can be said for the number of objects and enemies that can be launched into the air. It's not a huge deal, but if you're in a destructive mood and that little tree insults you, you probably won't be able to knock it down. This leads into the problems of the game, and there are quite a lot.
Looking at the combat engine, and most notably some of the enemies, nothing is as simple as facing the stormtrooper varients as some enemies have some uncanny abilities that can lead to frustration. For instance, some enemies have the ability to time your saber slash perfectly, resulting in a parry and no damage on either side. While I'm sure this is supposed to create a challenge, but when they keep on blocking and parrying your attacks, it does start to become rather frustrating, especially when you're surrounded by enemies, and in the process of parrying, you're left wide open to attack from the sides and behind. Also factoring in are the larger enemies. These guys, usually the AT-ST varients, love to stomp the ground, causing quite a lot of damage. While they're not tough, but if you somehow land on the ground unexpectedly, you can be hit and land on the ground face down. While there is a recover button, but if you're caught completely off guard, certain enemies will continue to attack you while you're down, leading to massive amounts of damage and in some cases these attacks will knock you back down to the ground once you just get up. Speaking of the larger enemies, they unfortunately are rather immune to most of the force powers and really all have one way of taking them down. This would be a good variety in battle, but when you have to face them in a group, it gets tiring just using the same old trick to knock each down, really disabling the fun a little. Sadly, there are even problems with the force system.
The force system uses a targeting system that at times works perfectly, but at other times doesn't. This mainly occurs in large groups, or facing the larger enemies. It can be difficult to target the right enemy at times and the targeting the larger foes doesn't always help. It's not a big negative, but it factors in.
The bigger problems that I had with the game came with jumping. The apprentice, like all good Jedi/Sith, comes equiped with a double jump. While the first jump works, the second is where all the problems lie. The second jump sends our plucky hero up in a burst of speed, but unfortunately, this burst of speed is still activated when he starts to come down, leading to you falling like a rock. This means that you have to be ****ing perfect in double jumping to get from one ledge to another, or you'll going to have to keep starting over again. Jumping, luckily isn't a big factor in the game, but if you're like me and want to grab all those juicy goodie-filled Jedi Holocrons, then you're going to have quite the frustrating time. To make matters worse, there's a problem in the overall mapping of the terrain. Any angle of about 30 degrees is considered too steep for the apprentice. It doesn't affect the game a lot, but when you can't run up a tank tread, and you keep on slipping down it due to being awful at jumping (which I am) it can lead to frustration. Even if you factor in that there's a stromtrooper raining orange laser on you while you try this. Luckily I got mad enough to say **** it and double jumped and toasted his ***. This mapping problem really becomes prevalent when looking for those holocrons. Some surfaces require you to literally land on one exact spot, otherwise you'll slide right off. This becomes a relative pain. But fortunately, it doesn't affect the main game itself, just all of us overachievers.
Of course, every Star Wars game comes with a story, and this is a main reason why The Force Unleashed gained so much hype. Needless to say, the story is magnificent. The writing, the characters, the voice acting, and the presentation are unbelievable. With all the problems the main game faces, this is its saving grace. Even with me being frustrated at times, I was just ****ing compelled to finish the game just to see what happens. It's rare that a game has this great a story connected to it.
The Force Unleashed has many good and bad things going for it. The force powers and the good combo system are met with the problems of inconsistency and the lack of polish really keep this game from rising to the top. But luckily, The Force Unleashed contains one of the best stories in an action game, making it a memorable play not just for Star Wars geeks (like myself) but for everyone else.