To start off I am not a huge Star Wars fan as far as games go. There are very few of them out there that can catch my eye but, the ones that do are usually good game play and a good story line (Bounty Hunter (GC) and The Clone Wars (XBox). The good news is that this game is nothing different to report on game play or story line although some things are predictable.
Probably the best part of this game is when it takes place. The rebellion has not started but, the empire is slowly spreading their iron grip across the universe. Darth Vader is going around wiping out any and all Jedi that he knows of. . .and he starts at the Wookiee home world of Kashyyk. Now for those that have not played the game I will be telling all so if you just want my rankings just go to the end. Of course after you whip though the army of Wookies that throw themselves at you (don’t forget to kill 200 of them for your achievement) you arrive at an unknown Jedi’s hut and commence beating him down. Vader senses that he is not the Jedi he seeks and wants to know where his master is. Of course the Jedi tries to protect the identity of this unknown Jedi and then dies. Vader then gets surprised by none other than a kid about 2 years old. The troopers come in to dispense of this kid and Vader saves him! Ok ruthless, heartless Vader: are you going soft on me?
Years pass and this kid is twisted! He thinks that he is going to take out the Emperor with Vaders help where Vader is just using him to take out Jedi’s he does not want to face. Vader sets up some missions for him, so of course Vader lets the kid know that if he is captured he is on his own. He is not to let anyone live, Clones or Rebels. He also must prove his worth and is sent to go kill Jedi. The First one being General Rahm Kota.
Now after you (Starkiller) get jumped by Obi Wan (who is really your sparring partner (PROXY) who is programmed to kill you when it does not interfere with a mission) on your way to your ship and to meet your new pilot. you know the 7th pilot that Vader hasn’t killed yet. This time it’s a woman, Juno Eclipse. And of course he is a little intimidated by her and really doesn’t know how to talk to her without sounding retarded (you know like all men get around women they want to impress). She of course walks in when PROXY is imitating her. Embarrassed he puts on the tough guy act and they get to work. She is left out of the loop on most things. Starkiller gets his orders by Vader (through PROXY) and she gets told where to go. Of course with her background it does not take a lot of skill to know that they are hunting Jedi.
Here after going through Wookies and watching some cut scenes you get your first break and get to train. PROXY narrates commands that you are supposed to do with the force push or pull which is pretty normal. But later on in the game you get to combine actions that make the game fun to play while finding new ways to dispatch your enemy. Force grab getting you down? Try force grab over the edge bitch!
The missions are pretty much predictable. You find the Jedi hiding at the end of the level and kill him / her. Each mission you get new ways to fight and combine your powers into lethal combos. That guy shot you from so far away, get him back by throwing that 1 ton box on his head. That will make him think twice. If you are not fighting Jedi or Cannon fodder you are meeting people that you recognize from other movies, saving planets from enslavement, having a button sequence for mini bosses, or pulling down star destroyers.
As you continue hunting down the Jedi you find characters that you know from other movies (Shaak Ti), Jedi that you might know of (Maris Brood), and unheard of Jedi (Kazdan Paratus), and thanks to PROXY you get to see and fight Darth Maul.
Back to the story line. As you guess by now you take down your first Jedi General Kota and present his saber to your master Lord Vader. He sends you on another mission to take down Kazdan Paratus and then to take on the Jedi Master Shaak Ti. Of course with all of the excitement Starkiller has gotten sloppy and the Emperor finds out and pay you and Vader a surprise visit. You, being incredibly naive think that now is your chance to take down the Emperor. Unfortunate for you because you end up with a saber in your back and tossed out the window into the blackness of space. “AW, how sweet Vader, and I thought you didn’t care.”
The story doesn’t end there and neither does the missions that Vader has for you. wait a sec, this guy who raised you to assassinate the Emperor abandons you at first chance and kills you and you are willing to go on more missions for him?!?! You agree but, you save your pilots life before going on. Your mission now is to form a rebellion of the strongest opposer of the Emperor’s rule.
The first thing you do is look up a Jedi you might not have destroyed. Turns out you were right and you employ General Kota as your new mentor. You continue your missions by either saving people like Bail Organa and Princess Leia or destroying Imperial manufacturers. Here is where they are trying to save space on the disk because you are now fighting in the same places (like Felucia). Right before you get together the Rebel leaders you are contacted by Vader. you let him know when and where but, this time Juno catches your broadcast. She then speaks for the gamer letting him know that he is out of his mind and someday he will have to decide between the two.
Yeah well no words ring truer there is what happens next. Vader shows up with some clones to capture the leaders and make examples of them, and, for good measure, tries to kill you again. This time PROXY tries to save you by imitating Obi Wan and Vader makes short work of him and leaves you for dead.
It’s time to prove yourself. Vader has betrayed you more than you care to remember, tricked you, used you, and killed you. Are you going to let him get away with that? That’s right its time for you to pull down some righteous judgment on him and free the rebel leaders. With a good luck kiss from Juno its time to go. Of course when making an entrance you need to do this with style and what says style than dressing yourself in some noble Jedi robes and free falling into a Fighter bay full of Clones?
Finally after going though the constructing death star you get to Vader and get to work him over. After beating Vader down you start feeling pretty confident about yourself you decide to take the Emperor on too.
***Spoiler*** seriously, if you don’t want to know the end skip this part ***
After beating down the Emperor, Vader shows up with a bunch of troopers to take you down. You have of course freed the prisoners and are the only one that can put up a fight to make sure the Rebel leaders get out alive. Of course by this time the Emperor has regained his strength and now you face him again. The second round with them proves fatal for you but, the Rebel leaders make it out. Now, I can understand that he frees the Rebel leaders then fights the Emperor and dies but, if I were to take out the Emperor, I would take his head for good measure while I could. But, you let him live for you to die. Out of the entire story that is the worst part of it.
Gameplay throughout the game is awesome. The skills seem to build upon one another and you seem to unlock new ways to dispatch your enemies every level; from stopping a flying TIE Fighter and throwing it into troopers or other TIE Fighters, to charging your light saber with electricity and throwing it into some Rancor’s skull.
This game is really easy to run and gun through. I would suggest taking your time, check out the scenery, and find some secrets before you run your light saber through that trooper your are force grabbing (yes, you can grab a trooper, throw your light saber into them, then toss them into another trooper).
The Graphics are pretty smooth and it should be for how short the game is. They do use 3 different game engines to effect the environment though so, just because you throw a box at a trooper does not mean the next trooper is stupid enough to stand in the same spot. It also causes the game to be huge so that means the game play will be short.
There is not too much to report on sound. The music is the normal stuff you expect from a Star Wars and the sound placements are good.
Replay is excellent. After you beat the normal mode you have the option of going to hard, then to Jedi and I think to Jedi Master but, I like my 360 and I am content with beating it how I did. I would not mind at all to pick it back up when I need a break from other games just to change around how my saber looks and go kick the crap out of a few troopers. This is defiantly a game worth keeping just for the replay value.
Story was good. The reason it is not great is because of the simple fact that this guy did not bring Vader or the Emperor down when he had a chance and it looks like he was written so he would fail, not actually beat them and let them live.
You can play this over every consol so even you PS jockeys have your choice of how you want to play it: PSP, PS2, and PS3 are all available to you. Even the Wii gets in on the action but, I don’t know how it would play out. I can suggest to the reader to get this game. Here are my scores:
Graphics -9.0
Sound – 7.0
Gameplay – 9.5
Story – 8.0
Replay – 8.0
Overall – 8.5
Tags: apprentice, darth, emperor, force unleashed, nintendo, playstation, review, star wars, vader, video game, wii, xbox
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Ruth
thanks Ruth. I hope that some of my gaming reviews will help people coming back.
Can’t wait to get the new star wars theme on my Tom Tom GPS. Looks like It’s terrific!