Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Review

The AI (if we disregard the bugs) can be a solid challenge in combat and a good test to your force-wielding skills. Technically, however, SW: The Force Unleashed lacks polish. During gameplay we've experienced at least three or four major bugs and occasionally less serious glitches. Early on in the game, we stepped onto an elevator, which went upwards, but left our hero floating in mid-air. Puzzled as I was when I first saw this, I found that my character could continue walking through the air (???). Similarly, AI glitches were present, exhibiting Stormtroopers that fall into holes or fissures and just jam until you put them out of their misery. The often horrendous camera positioning may cause some severe eye-twitching (as in my case), although we've witnessed worse.

Another disappointment comes with level design. Each section in the game has you following a more or less a linear path. During missions, you can opt which targets you take out first, but that's as far as it goes in terms of choice. Also, the main character (i.e. you) may sometimes plunge to a ridiculously anti-climactic death, usually through no fault of his own. This happened plenty of times when I rushed towards the edge of a bridge or platform, thinking that the railing wouldn't let me fall into the abyss below... unfortunately it did.

Such flaws have gone on my nerves ever since I began playing The Force Unleashed and are the main reason why I had the dreaded "meh-ish" feeling throughout a great portion of the game. Despite clearly serious technical issues, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed deserves a place in your collection if you consider yourself a Star Wars fan. There are certain aspects of the story you'll regret missing out on. The combat is fun, although it frequently seems too similar to recent releases such as Devil May Cry 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2.

It's a decent game, although not nearly as groundbreaking as we hoped. Once you complete it, I'm afraid there won't be much to lure you back. With no co-op or multiplayer option of any kind, there's practically nothing left to experience outside achievements or hidden items you might've missed the first time around.