I was actually lucky enough to play this game back when it first came out... the Nintendo DS version. And any gameplay of the PS3 or Xbox 360 version was minimal at a friend’s house. Yeah. But hey, I'm older now, I can buy my own games for whatever system I want. Not that I think people would of really been upset over me growing up with the DS version because, well... this game wasn't actually that popular when it first came out back in 2008. It had very mixed reviews from people. I mean there were still people back then who did still love this, it would be stupid to say "nO oNe LiKeS oR pLaYs ThIs GaMe." I'm looking at you Super Smash Bros fanbase. As you might of guessed though as the years went on so did the positive reception also grew and some people even say it’s there favourite Star Wars game. It’s kinda ironic when you think about, this came out only three years after the end of the Prequel Trilogy which everyone hated now everyone loves them… Well, I don’t love the prequels anymore, I think they are poorly written, some of the special effects looks terrible nowadays and I can’t take Yoda flipping about the place seriously but that’s beside the point.

To me the best part about Force Unleased is defiantly the gameplay. It just feels really fun to slice your way through a whole bunch of enemies using both your lightsabre and all the different combos you unlock but also all the different force powers you get! Force lighting which you can actually apply to your own lightsabre, being able to grab and throw guys around with the force and not to mention the force repulse move! One of my favourite parts of this game though is actually the opening level because in this level your playing as Darth Vader with all the games abilities unlocked from the start and you can just go and let loose and it’s incredibly fun but it also works from a sort of meta standpoint because for the rest of the game past this point your playing as Vader’s secret apprentice Starkiller (fun fact, this was actually what Luke Skywalker was originally going to be called in the movies) who’s still new to all this and you have to work your way up to unlocking all those powers. Or you can just play the game on a new game plus save and throw any sort of progression out the window! I also love how there is actually a decent bit of customization as well since you can change the colour of your lightsabre by finding Jedi Holocrons around the levels as well as costumes. You get a new level specific one each level but your free to wear whatever you like. Once I found the Black Saber Crystal that was pretty much all I used both because I love the look of it and also because it does remind me a little of the Mandalorian arc of the Clone Wars animated series. Ironically, this release of the game also comes with a skin for Starkiller that makes him look like he just came out of the animated series. Then there’s the DLC that takes place in an alternate timeline where, and massive spoiler alert for the games ending by the way so stop reading if you don’t want this 13 year old game spoiled for you, it’s set after the main games bad ending where you pretty much change history by killing Darth Vader and Starkiller ends up becoming the Emperor’s new right hand man. In these DLC’s you play though alternate versions of the openings of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and no joke end up killing both Boba Fett, Obi Wan and force Luke to give into the Dark Side. Yeah, it’s incredibly dark but I honestly love the idea of the DLC being set in an alternate Star Wars history I wish more games would do something like this. Not just more Star Wars games but just more games in general.

So what don’t I like about this game? Well honestly, my least favourite thing about this game is actually the story. Spesificlly no one dies in this game! How the hell is Kota even still alive? The last time we see him before finding him again in Bespin is falling to his death on a space station on a crash course to the planet surface. Not only that Starkiller is thrown into a vacuum of space but he’s left out there for five months and he somehow manages to survive! At least in Force Unleashed 2 they use the Cloning facility on Kamino to justify his return even though I still think it’s a contrived way of bringing him back. Then PROXY is stabbed though the chest and crushed under the rubble of a Star Destroyer yet still survives. Also it’s hard to deny that the only reason PROXY even turns into Darth Maul during your battle with him is just for the sake of fan service. I mean they even play Duel of the Fates in the background. And do I even need to mention that terrible section of the game where you have to use the force to pull a Star Destoryer out of the sky but the prompts telling you what to do aren’t very clear?

But yeah, that’s my thought on this Star Wars game. Do I think it’s a good game? Yes. Would I say it’s one of the better Star Wars games? Just basing it on gameplay alone it’s one of my favourites. Would I put this as high as something like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta in terms of hack and slashes or beat em ups? No, not really. But again, I still think this is a really fun Star Wars game and one that I still enjoy going back to it, especially now since I have the main version that everyone else had.