Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Platform: PS3
Reviewed By: Giuliano V.
Gameplay: 8
The gameplay of The Force Unleashed really feels like you are taking control of a Jedi. With numerous lightsaber and force combos, you can take out your enemies however you see fit. The actual Force engine is always fun to play around with and you could easily entertain yourself by just swinging around a Stormtrooper. Unfortunately, while the 1v1 lightsaber duels are fun, they can easily become repetitive and tend to rely on the player spamming Force Lightning or Force Grip in order to win.
Story: 8
The story of The Force Unleashed is quite good in itself. The story follows the basic Star Wars formula, maintaining the genre of Space Opera whilst giving a great origin story for the Rebellion from the Original Trilogy. However, certain aspects of the game seem unlikely and inconsistent with the films. For example, the idea that Starkiller could actually defeat the Emperor at the climax of the game is quite far-fetched, as Palpatine was one of the most powerful Sith Lords in existence. It also seems very unbelievable that the Rebels would want Starkiller to spare Palpatine and Vader, seeing as the only way to truly stop the Empire would be through their deaths.
Sound: 7.5
While none of the music in The Force Unleashed is necessarily new, Star Wars music in general tends to be fantastic, and really helped the game realize its potential. For the most part, the voice-acting was quite good, such as Matt Sloan as Darth Vader and Susan Eisenberg as Shaak-Ti. However, Sam Witwer, who voiced both Starkiller and Emperor Palpatine, did not deliver the best performance. Starkiller's voice-acting was good, but Witwer tended to go in-and-out of a British accent at random points during the game, which seemed quite odd. His voice acting as Emperor Palpatine was absolutely dreadful and seemed like LucasArts was too lazy to hire an adequate person to voice the iconic villain of the series, which is quite unfortunate.
Presentation: 8.5
The visuals of the game were nice, but nothing special considering when the game came out. However, the large array of enemy types was refreshing, as nothing was more fun than killing Jawas. The level-design was also quite good, although many of the levels seemed to reuse textures from each other, which made some levels lose their unique qualities.
Lasting Appeal: 7.5
The Force Unleashed is a pretty short game, racking in an average of eight hours per playtime depending on the difficulty you play on. However, there are loads of collectibles and objectives within each level, so a completionist will have tons to do. There are also two endings, so while most people would simply reload their last save and choose the alternate path right at the end, some may use it to warrant and entirely new playthrough. In addition, there are 32 costumes and 7 lightsaber colours, which allows for a player to play through the game as Palpatine or a Stormtrooper and have a little bit of fun if they just want to fool around within the Star Wars universe.
Final Verdict: 8.3 / 10
The Force Unleashed is a fantastic game for any Star Wars fan. At the price you can find it now, it is definitely worth a purchase, especially if you can get your hands on the Ultimate Sith Edition which comes with many "What-If" DLC levels that provide fantastic fan service.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Platform: PS3
Reviewed By: Giuliano V.
Gameplay: 8
The gameplay of The Force Unleashed II is roughly the exact same as the first game. However, the main difference is that Starkiller has access to all of the combos from the beginning of the game, making for the combat to remain the exact same throughout the game, instead of slowly developing like in the first. There are also way less pieces of the environment to use the Force on, which seems strange seeing as it is called The Force Unleashed. 1v1 lightsaber duels are also absent from the game aside from the final boss fight, but there are multiple enemies who use lightsabers now so it is not too big of a change. For the most part, if you enjoyed the gameplay of The Force Unleashed, you should enjoy the gameplay of The Force Unleashed II.
Story: 7
The story of The Force Unleashed II is nothing special, however, it does not necessarily hinder the game. While it does not have the same feel and relevance to the series that The Force Unleashed had, it still is a decent personal journey for Starkiller, even if there were fan-favorite characters introduced like Yoda and Boba Fett who barely played a role in the story. However, the story does focus on the relationship between Starkiller and Vader much better than the first game did.
Sound: 8
Much like the first game, The Force Unleashed II does not have many original tracks, but Star Wars music is always fantastic. The biggest improvement in this title is that Sam Witwer's voice-acting as Starkiller is consistent, and he no longer breaks into a British accent at random points. Even the voice-actors for Yoda and Boba Fett sounded very close to their movie counterparts, which was very nice to see.
Presentation: 8
The Force Unleashed II improved on certain aspects of the first game but also lacked certain aspects. While the visuals of The Force Unleashed II were beautiful to look at and a huge improvement on the first game, the actual enemies were basically all Stormtroopers and Imperial Guard. In addition, The Force Unleashed II only featured five levels, and two of those levels took place on Kamino which meant much less diversity. However, one detail that is absolutely fantastic that was added in this game is the ability to actually slice the limbs off of enemies, making a more realistic lightsaber effect.
Lasting Appeal: 6.5
While the first game had tons of collectibles and challenges, The Force Unleashed II's collectibles were almost all hidden in plain sight. In addition, the collectibles were not as incentive as the ones in the first game. The game was also significantly shorter, and could probably be beaten in close to five hours on the easiest difficulty. Once again, the karma of your character is determined after the final boss, which means you don't actually have to replay the game in order to see both endings. Thankfully, the large abundance of costumes returned, so if you want to run around Kamino as Boba Fett or Bail Organa, you might be able to warrant a couple playthroughs.
Final Verdict: 7.7 / 10
While The Force Unleashed II may not be as good as the original, it is still a decent game in all fairness and a great purchase for any Star Wars fan, especially at the low price you can find it for today.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - Endor Bonus Mission
Platform: PS3
Reviewed By: Giuliano V.
Gameplay: 8
The gameplay for this DLC mission of The Force Unleashed II is exactly the same as the standard game. Thankfully, all your data from the main game carries over, so if you want to use your other lightsaber colours or costumes, you easily can. There are also two boss fights within this expansion, both of which are against fan-favorite characters. One of the boss fights is mediocre, but the final one is very good and adds a new 1v1 lightsaber fight to the game.
Story: 8.5
The story of the expansion is a fantastic "What If" scenario set during the Battle of Endor during Episode VI. In this version of the story, Luke Skywalker died on Hoth and Princess Leia became a Jedi to replace him. Vader dispatches Starkiller to eliminate Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia as they try to shut down the Death Star II's shields.
Sound: 7.5
Not much more to say about the music that hasn't already been said above, but the main component of sound in this expansion is the voice-acting. On the plus side, we have some fantastic voice-acting for Princess Leia and Han Solo that actually sound like their original actors. On the down side, we have Sam Witwer reprising his role as Emperor Palpatine from the first game, delivering another cringe-worthy performance of the fantastic villain.
Presentation: 9
Endor is designed fantastically. Not only does this expansion depict the planet from the movie well, it also provides not one, but TWO new enemy types, both of which are fun as hell to kill. Who doesn't want to go on a rampage throughout Endor murdering both Rebel and Ewok scum alike?
Lasting Appeal: 6
I'll be quite honest. I loved this expansion, but I probably will never play it again. It was fun for a one-time thing, but there are no collectibles and it only lasts about thirty to forty minutes long. To be fair, at the $1 price-tag, that is quite a lot.
Final Verdict: 8.2 / 10
If you have bought or plan to buy The Force Unleashed II, you better buy this DLC. It costs the small price of $1 and is easily the best level in the game, especially if you are a Star Wars geek like myself.
Article By:
Giuliano V.
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