Star Wars is a part of my life. I just have to accept it. Seeing Star Wars at the movie theater is the first crystal clear memory I have of my childhood. Yeah, there are earlier ones, but they're kinda fuzzy. I even remember the empty blue screen before the movie started. You didn't have to sit through all those shit commercials back in the day. Theaters were dark and quiet except for the sound of people's voices back then. What ensued when the movie started was something that had never been and probably will never be again. Think Avatar with real actors and better characters.
The first trilogy is close to my heart, even though over the years, I began to despise Return of the Jedi for its ragged, non-blinking Ewoks. Empire became my favorite way before the too big to fly Kevin Smith declared it "The Best". The prequels always left me a little cold simply because it was so alien to return to the sacred universe that was Star Wars. But they were ok. I thought Menace was really good, Clones kinda boring, and Revenge overly emo in all the wrong ways, but with moments of tragic grace. I've yet to sit through all the movies in order although I might try it when the blu-rays come out next year. I've just wondered whether the movies would have a different impact in their chronological(?) order. I think that with time, other generations will warm up to the entire series rather than just the first 3.
But hey! I'm supposed to be reviewing the damn video game The Force Unleashed here! The main action of Unleashed is set right before the events of Episode 4. Darth Vader has a secret apprentice named Starkiller, who has been trained from childhood to help him overthrow the Emperor. To prove his strength and readiness to help Vader dispose of the Emperor, Starkiller is sent to hunt down the few remaining Jedi that still live. Nobody knows of the apprentice's existence except his combat training droid, PROXY, and his pilot, Juno Eclipse, who acts mainly as a chaeuffeur, ferrying Starkiller in his quest to hunt down Jedi. Of course, if Palpatine knew anything about all this, he would have both their heads. So the apprentice is told to kill all witnesses that see him in action. But there is a slight problem. Starkiller seems to still have some goodness in his soul, and because of this, will he be as ruthless as his master?
With its combos and acrobatic moves, playing The Force Unleashed reminded me a lot of playing Heavenly Sword on the PS3. Which is not a bad thing, because Sword is one of my favorite games. This is actually the first Star Wars action game I've ever played, not including Lego Star Wars. My experience up till now had been with the Star Wars flight sims like X-Wing and Tie Fighter on the PC. So it was really cool to pull out a lightsaber for once. The funniest part of the game is using Force Grip to pick up objects, sometimes huge ones, and using them to sweep and crush stormtroopers. It reminded me of those bug poison commercials where the roaches shout "Raid!". You could stand at a doorway, pick up a huge piece of metal and move it down the hall, around corners where you couldn't even see, and snuff out Wilhelm screaming enemies. You also have other Force powers such as Lightsaber Throw and Lightning Shield which you unlock as you progress through the game. Unleashed also throws in some RPG elements as you can upgrade your powers, unlock new combos, and modify your lightsaber with new colors and different crystals.
There are power-ups in the game, but the most important thing is to kill enemies. For every enemy you take down, you gain health, according to their strength. Tougher opponents give more health. I felt like the game was pretty balanced. I never felt completely overwhelmed or too powerful, except when facing the strongest or weakest foes. But there was usually a trick to defeating the bosses (who were usually Jedi), if you just thought about it long enough. And as for the weakest, the basic stormtrooper, was just funny to bully and scare before you dropped a tie fighter on them! Yeah, the powers were a bit over the top. Surely everyone has seen the trailer where a Star Destroyer is pulled to the ground by Starkiller. But it was all in good fun.
At times, I felt like there was a bit too much length between checkpoints. I HATE repeating myself. But it wasn't anything game breaking. It was just a little annoying. The other thing was that I felt like I played the game twice because you visit almost every environment two times. So it seemed pretty short simply because of the double dip. I finished the game in about 13 hours.
The music of the game was taken from the Star Wars movies, mostly by John Williams, but with some added score by Jesse Harlin.
Although it had some weak points, I enjoyed playing this game. There are 3 more downloadable missions available on Xbox Live for 800 points each. Or you could just buy the Sith Edition of this game which includes all the additional content. I just downloaded the Hoth mission pack. Wonder if I'm gonna get to face off against Luke? The sequel is due out on 10/26/10.
My Grade: B
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