This friendly-looking fellow is the protagonist of the game. The only name provided for him is "Starkiller." Joining Starkiller is a cast of interesting characters from the movies and some new ones. Starkiller's droid partner PROXY, pilot Juno Eclipse, and evil master Darth Vader are the major characters. All the characters are strong, and, most importantly, compelling. Sadly, the characters lack some development and I got the feeling that a lot of interaction between the characters was left unexplored. Perhaps this is a reaction to the infamous half-hour cinematics of the Metal Gear Solid series. If so, then the cinematics of The Force Unleashed are a woeful over-reaction. These minor shortcomings aside, the story of the game is its strongest asset. Those familiar with the story of Star Wars can easily predict the ending for the game, but that doesn't make the experience any less enjoyable. Perhaps the greatest praise I could give this game is that it reminded me of the original trilogy, not the prequel trilogy.
Action games live and die with gameplay. Unfortunately, the gameplay in this title could be equated to the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
As I said before, the game does deliver on the promise of "kicking ass with the Force." The Force powers are indeed over-the-top and made me feel like a genuine bad-ass. The leveling system is unremarkable. A similar system was used for Dark Forces: Jedi Knight II and that worked well enough. There are a number of unlockable items that encourage exploration and experimentation (costumes, lightsaber crystals and accomplishments). The combo system is surprisingly deep and lacks a steep learning curve (note: the aerial combos are awesome).
This is where the 20th century Ottoman Empire reference comes in. From what I wrote just now, you would think that this game is the great, but this game is the sick man of Star Wars games. The targeting system in this game is maddening. One can never be sure who or what they are targeting without stopping and delicately rotating Starkiller into position. This is anathema to action games. Aside from the targeting system, the toughest bosses and enemy encounter feel like they are tough because they are cheap. More than once, I found myself skulking like a thief behind barriers, popping out occasionally to attack before retreating once more. Many reviews of this game revile the inclusion of Quick-time Events (timed pressing of buttons as instructed on the screen), but I have no problem with them whatsoever (label me as "out of touch" or "old-fashioned" if you want). However, one encounter involving a Quick-time Event was egregiously bad. I don't want to spoil too much, but this should have been one of the most awesome parts of the game. Instead, this encounter qualifies as one of the most frustrating gaming moments of my life; which is saying a lot, I played (and raided) World of Warcraft.
The presentation of this game is, mercifully, a strong point. The art is stunningly beautiful, haunting, gritty, etc. The graphics are also very nice with some minor framerate slowdowns. I did encounter a few bugs where I got stuck in some terrain, but I was lucky enough to avoid some of the more serious bugs reported by others. The sound and music are top-notch as with nearly every Star Wars game, good or bad. Some of the voices are poorly casted (Darth Vader and Palpatine), but there are no weak performances. The voice acting of Starkiller and Juno Eclipse is particularly strong.
Overall, this game doesn't deserve some of the dismal reviews it has received. On the other hand, this game was heavily hyped and failed to live up to expectations. I had a lot of fun playing The Force Unleashed, but I would not recommend purchasing it right now unless you really liked the demo and you are a Star Wars fan. Wait for a price cut, borrow it from a friend or rent it.
Shameless plug: If you want to experience the story, but don't want to buy/rent the game, I would recommend going to your local purveyor of books and purchasing the graphic novel. The illustrations are fantastic and you'll pay less than half of what you would for the game.
Image sources:
http://s3.gadgetreview.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Stars_Wars_Force_Unleashed_3.jpg
http://www.xboxfocus.com/uploads/image/Crash_ForceUnleashed.jpg
Video source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YpuIsSdcFs
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