...is a spectacle-fighter platformer. Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice, is sent on a quest to create a diversion that will take Emperor Palpatine's attention away from Vader's own plans.

You follow a specific story-driven list of levels, traveling to specific waypoints, jumping on platforms or following the path while encountering various waves of enemies. Attacks consist of your lightsaber, force grip, force push and force lighting attacks. You will often encounter mini-bosses such as a bull rancor, an AT-ST or a junk beast, which will first require you to deplete their life bar before finishing them off in a quicktime event. Each level usually ends with a boss fight such as a Jedi or a challenge of some sort.

Force points, which serves the role of experience points, are gained in different ways. You will get more force points from destroying enemies in a spectacular display of force. Completing secondary objectives will also award bonus force points. With each level, you gain force spheres for Force Talents (to increase your base attacks and defense), Force Powers (increasing their effectiveness which each rank) and Force Combos (to unlock increasingly powerful attack combos). Holocrons will also give you force points, force spheres, or lightsaber upgrades.

Assuming you take the time to upgrade your combos and learned them, you can do devastating attacks on entire groups of enemies. There are 27 combos to unlock, and many can chain up with each other. You may use a combo to launch an enemy in the air and shock them with force lightning, then a second combo to strike them multiple times mid-air, them another to slam them into the ground, and close with a force explosion that will send surrounding enemies flying to all corners of the area.

While the game's story was relegated to "Star Wars Legends", removing it from modern canon after the Disney acquisition of Lucas Art, it was a very interesting take on events taking place between Episodes 3 and 4, starting when Darth Vader was still hunting Jedi after Order 66, culminating with the founding of the Rebellion with some recognizable characters making an appearance. Minor adjustments to Rogue One would have sufficed to keeping it in the lore, and it still holds pretty good today.

Each level consists of a narrow corridor or path with little to no branching path, making the level extremely constraint and the game terribly linear. Usually upon reaching a waypoint, something will prevent you from backtracking any further, so it certainly feels like a series of small levels. There is little enemy variety per level, often consisting of pallet swap with an additional skill or power. Mini-bosses repeat over and over, and always end with the same one or two mandatory quicktime event.

There isn't much variety in visuals, either, as most locations repeat: Kashyyyk, Raxxus Prime and Felucia are visited twice, and most imperial facilities look alike. They certainly don't hold a candle to games like Star Wars | Knights of the Old Republic which was released years earlier. Time hasn't been too kind to it graphically, either, as the image quality shows its age. Furthermore, the game feels way too much like a port, with no mouse control in menus.


Don't get me wrong: Star Wars | The Force Unleashed is a good game, but it is by no means a great game, at least not by today's standards. You have a lot more "force" to work with than previous Star Wars action games had to offer, but if you don't have 15-year-old nostalgia, you'll want to lower your expectations to actually enjoy!

This was just my opinion.

If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up, and feel free to check out more of my (purely opinionated) reviews.

[h1]Star Wars | The Force Unleashed – Ultimate Sith Edition[/h1] ...is a spectacle-fighter platformer. Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice, is sent on a quest to create a diversion that will take Emperor Palpatine's attention away from Vader's own plans. [h1]⚙ [u]Game Description & Mechanics[/u] ⚙[/h1] You follow a specific story-driven list of levels, traveling to specific waypoints, jumping on platforms or following the path while encountering various waves of enemies. Attacks consist of your lightsaber, force grip, force push and force lighting attacks. You will often encounter mini-bosses such as a bull rancor, an AT-ST or a junk beast, which will first require you to deplete their life bar before finishing them off in a quicktime event. Each level usually ends with a boss fight such as a Jedi or a challenge of some sort. Force points, which serves the role of experience points, are gained in different ways. You will get more force points from destroying enemies in a spectacular display of force. Completing secondary objectives will also award bonus force points. With each level, you gain force spheres for Force Talents (to increase your base attacks and defense), Force Powers (increasing their effectiveness which each rank) and Force Combos (to unlock increasingly powerful attack combos). Holocrons will also give you force points, force spheres, or lightsaber upgrades. [h1]☺ [u]What I enjoyed[/u] ☺[/h1] Assuming you take the time to upgrade your combos and learned them, you can do devastating attacks on entire groups of enemies. There are 27 combos to unlock, and many can chain up with each other. You may use a combo to launch an enemy in the air and shock them with force lightning, then a second combo to strike them multiple times mid-air, them another to slam them into the ground, and close with a force explosion that will send surrounding enemies flying to all corners of the area. While the game's story was relegated to "Star Wars Legends", removing it from modern canon after the Disney acquisition of Lucas Art, it was a very interesting take on events taking place between Episodes 3 and 4, starting when Darth Vader was still hunting Jedi after Order 66, culminating with [spoiler]the founding of the Rebellion[/spoiler] with some recognizable characters making an appearance. Minor adjustments to Rogue One would have sufficed to keeping it in the lore, and it still holds pretty good today. [h1]☹ [u]What bothered me[/u] ☹[/h1] Each level consists of a narrow corridor or path with little to no branching path, making the level extremely constraint and the game terribly linear. Usually upon reaching a waypoint, something will prevent you from backtracking any further, so it certainly feels like a series of small levels. There is little enemy variety per level, often consisting of pallet swap with an additional skill or power. Mini-bosses repeat over and over, and always end with the same one or two mandatory quicktime event. There isn't much variety in visuals, either, as most locations repeat: Kashyyyk, Raxxus Prime and Felucia are visited twice, and most imperial facilities look alike. They certainly don't hold a candle to games like [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/32370]Star Wars | Knights of the Old Republic[/url][/i] which was released years earlier. Time hasn't been too kind to it graphically, either, as the image quality shows its age. Furthermore, the game feels way too much like a port, with no mouse control in menus. [h1][b]My Verdict[/b]: ★★★☆☆ - [i]"It's up to you."[/i][/h1] Don't get me wrong: [i]Star Wars | The Force Unleashed[/i] is a good game, but it is by no means a great game, at least not by today's standards. You have a lot more "force" to work with than previous Star Wars action games had to offer, but if you don't have 15-year-old nostalgia, you'll want to lower your expectations to actually enjoy! [i][b]This was just my opinion.[/b] If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up, and feel free to check out more of my (purely opinionated) [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/CJsOpinions/]reviews[/url].[/i]