There's definitely something to be said for a franchise that's been alive for over thirty years. In 1977, Star Wars was born, a movie that would define the path of many film directors and fans alike. Even though the series' biggest fan base consists of thirty and forty-somethings, the younglings of the generations that followed were introduced to the popular films and followed suit. Today, with no more Star Wars movies to be made, their fandom continues to thrive with special edition film releases, memorabilia, toys, and of course, video games.

The Force Unleashed is the latest offering in the multitude of games sporting the Star Wars trademark. While gameplay is definitely among the utmost concerns in video games, Star Wars fans are equally concerned with storylines and how they tie into the movies. Players can surely expect such a tie-in with familiar faces along the way in a journey that took place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.


The game's story takes place during the undiscovered time between episodes 3 and 4 of the film series. Those who sat through episode 3, the latest of the six films, know that Palpatine, portrayed as the Emperor in the original trilogy, had devised a plan to destroy the remainder of the Jedi order in an attempt to take over the galaxy. In The Force Unleashed, we see the execution of this plan by none other than Palpatine's own apprentice Anakin Skywalker, otherwise known as Darth Vader. [Cue deep breathing sounds….]

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  • AnnonymousCoward - Tuesday, October 7, 2008 - link

    From http://tinyurl.com/49z2kg">http://tinyurl.com/49z2kg "so processor intensive and powerful that the kind of machine you'd need to run them is not the kind of machine most people are going to have...Every platform is getting a great game and they should all be able to stand-alone; we didn't want to deliver a sub-par experience for PC gamers."

    PC's have FAR greater single-thread performance than the Cell. That was the case even before the C2D, and now I'd bet that a dual-core C2D could compete with 6 fully utilized Cell processors. Not even mentioning quad core. Or GPU physics!!

    Aside from all that, how could they deliver par performances on PS2, Wii, DS, and PSP? Does the physics there just suck, and that level of physics suckiness would be sub-par on PC?

    Note to LucasArts: use the GPU for physics!
  • Jawadali - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    I have only played the demo of the Xbox 360 version of this game, but If you are looking for a game where you can use force-like powers, I'd recommend playing Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. In addition to being a decent third-person shooter, there are a decent number of powers that you can use not only to fight (or avoid fighting) enemies, but also to solve puzzles to progress through the various missions. For a PS2/Xbox game, I think the application of these powers was pretty novel and well executed in Psi-Ops.
  • jasonmellow - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    Star Wars Battlefront I was the reason I started building my own PC. Star Wars Battlefront II is the reason I keep upgrading my hardware and is still my favorite game due to the intense and competitive multi-player action. As a Star Wars fan who loves his PC, I bum that this new title is useless to me.
  • EddieTurner - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    If you make your next upgrade an Xbox 360, you'll be set. I do know that another Battlefront is at least being pondered over right now. Probably already in the works. No mention of platform though.

    Unleashed is still fun to play despite its repetition. If you're a Sta Wars fan, that'll make the experience even better.
  • TheFace - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    It's a rental. Why buy it with no multiplayer, no co-op. Basically little replayability.
  • Spivonious - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    What about the Wii version? It seems strange to ignore it.
  • EddieTurner - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    Lucas Arts didn't send me the Wii version. I did ask for it though.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    Didn't Yoda say "Always two there are, a master and an apprentice." How does a third fit that already established line?
  • mmntech - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    Vader takes on Starkiller as an apprentice in secret in order to overthrow the Palpatine. This is explained pretty early in the game, as well as in the demo. That's why he's charged with the task of leaving no witnesses, including Imperials.

    I liked this game but I think it was definitely overhyped. It was short for a console title and I felt DMM and Euphoria weren't used to their full potential except on the first level (as Vader). The highlight of Force Unleashed was finding out the fate of Jar Jar Binks. He can be found frozen in carbonite in the museum on Imperial Kashyyyk. I guess that's not him at the end of Episode VI (DVD) unless someone was foolish enough to defrost him.
  • slashbinslashbash - Monday, October 6, 2008 - link

    Wookiee (2 e's) and Kashyyyk (3 y's)

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