Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Xbox 360)
Kratos, a lightsaber, a gravity gun and Darth Vader: Will it blend?
9/17/2008 7:40 PM | 5 Comments | Page 3 of 3
What's Hot: The story
What's Not: The actual game
This is my Soul Reaver look. Like it?
The gameplay is also confused about the kind of world in which it exists. A lot of it has a great
Dark Forces feel, recalling the classic Star Wars games. But the apprentice plays like he was dropped in from a Japanese game such as
Devil May Cry. It's downright goofy to see him flip out and cut an AT-ST in half. Are we supposed to think that's cool? Because, yeah, maybe it is, but shouldn't there be other considerations here -- like whether or not it makes any sense in the Star Wars universe? This all comes to a head near the end of the game, during an absolutely unforgettable (that's not a compliment) moment with a Star Destroyer. If you've seen the trailer, you'll know what I'm talking about. This moment exemplifies the problems of
The Force Unleashed: It's entirely over-the-top and inappropriate, and it makes no sense in the context of the game so far, much less the Star Wars universe. As if that weren't bad enough, it's unclear what you're supposed to do. It's like being told you have to wrestle a drugged elephant, but then gnats sting you to death. And finally, it's so tedious and drawn-out that it stops being over-the-top and instead ends up being screw-this-stupid-game. Here is
The Force Unleashed in a microcosm: a game that should have been cool, but instead squanders whatever goodwill it may have earned by simply being a bad game.
This review was based on a review copy of the game provided by the publisher.
