Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

The new and much-hyped Star Wars game is unleashed on the Xbox360, PS2&3, PC, PSP, DS & Wii (and soon to be on iPhone & N-Gage)

The excitement surrounding the latest in a long line of Star Wars games revolves mainly around one thing: finally being in control of a fully fledged Jedi (or in this case Sith) and literally being able to ‘unleash’ the force on your enemies. All of the moves fans would hope for are there: Force Lightning, Push & Grab which can be used to fling around rebels, storm troopers, wookies and even Imperial Cruisers.

The action is fleshed out by a deep and involving storyline which takes place between the new and old trilogy’s, of Star Wars films. You play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, tasked with eradicating the final remaining Jedi’s that stand in the way of the Empire, improving your already impressive skills on the way.

The fantastic physics engine, sound effects and graphics really help to bring out your ‘Dark Side’ and it is a lot of fun wielding that much power. Especially as being evil, you can be utterly ruthless. The only tedious moments of gameplay come against the bosses and ‘harder’ enemies who have a variety of frustrating ways to counter-act your powers (I killed you! No you didn’t! I’ve got a lightning proof vest on!) , reducing the game to a slow paced generic hack and slash, testing your patience rather than skill.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is undoubtedly the best Star Wars game for some time and definitely worth playing for movie and game geeks alike.

(The biggest disappointment of the game is however reserved for Wii owners. Movements of the motion sensitive wand controls don’t unfortunately translate into real lightsaber moves. A New Hope is however on the horizon with Star Wars: The Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels. Look out for the review later in the year!)

Ric Reeves