A good Star Wars game is a rarity. For some reason, the fine people at Lucas Arts are unable to transplant their movie-making abilities to video games, all but guaranteeing that when we do get a title that takes place in that far, far away galaxy it will be a messy pile of bad controls, a glitchy camera system, a token Hoth level, and a lackluster experience overall (kind of like Episode 1 - Zing!). It’s obvious that with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, they’re trying to change their image. After all, it is an official new entry into the Star Wars canon and it actually features some cool game play elements, specifically a focus on crazy Force powers and the destruction you can cause with them. Does The Force Unleashed break from tradition and deliver a gaming experience fans and newcomers alike can enjoy, or should you stick your head back into the sweltering sands of Tatooine and keep waiting for the next elusive good Star Wars game?

The Force Unleashed places you into the exceedingly bad ass shoes of Starkiller, Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, and tasks you with assassinating key Jedi throughout the galaxy. Of course, the story takes place after Episode III and before Episode IV, so for all you non-Star Wars fans (or as I like to refer to you - normal people), this means that the Jedi are basically on the verge of extinction anyway. Starkiller’s mission is to help finish the job. While this is far from a noble cause, it’s refreshing to actually play as the bad guy for once. However, rest assured that there are enough twists and turns throughout the story to keep you guessing as to what Starkiller’s real role will be.

Combat promises enough wanton destruction and saber slicing to satisfy even the most aggressive gamer. Star Wars fanboys will finally rest easy, knowing that tattooing the Rebel Alliance symbol on their back wasn’t that much of a mistake after they pick of a TIE Fighter and drop it on a Stormtrooper’s head. The Force powers deliver, and unleashing them tears up environments, sending wall paneling, glass, debris, and even enemies flying everywhere. Force Pushing a Jawa 100 feet into a molten pit of grease is fun…and easy!

The range of Force Powers isn’t huge, though the ability to upgrade them, as well as your lightsaber combat prowess, as you level up distracts you from that fact. Sadly, lightsaber combat doesn’t fare as well. While still an efficient killing tool, simple button mashing will easily earn you the deadly results you seek; don’t expect any in-depth sword stroking here. Some combos allow you to finish a flurry of strikes with a quick Force move, such as Force Push or Force Repulse. This alleviates some of the saber battling’s repetition, but it’s still a shame that such a core component of the Star Wars universe got short shrift. Yes, the Force is cool, but lightsabers are iconic.

One of the game’s more glaring problems is that you play through most of the levels twice. Starkiller may be dropped off on the other side of a planet to complete a new mission, but it’s painfully obvious that you’re stuck on the same rock as before. So if you despised a particular level the first time, have fun trudging through it later in the game with even tougher enemies and more obstacles to overcome.

Another odd decision was the inclusion of Jedi holocrons scattered around each level. At first, these well-hidden collectables are a neat bonus; instead of simply running around ships and planets tearing everything apart, you can search a little bit between raining Force Lightning down on enemies’ heads and gather these power-ups, which include bonus Force points, lightsaber crystals (which alter the color and powers of your beaming blade), and secret costumes so Starkiller can play dress-up. Eventually, finding these secret bonuses becomes a chore, as they are often very difficult to ferret out, usually requiring you to spin the camera in circles every few steps. It’s a nice try at injecting some adventure elements into the game, but ultimately only serves to slow down the action, which is the game’s strongest point. Who would want to be a nerf herder when they could be cutting down swaths of foes with a simple hand gesture?

For Star Wars fans, The Force Unleashed will prove to be an amazing experience. The tale it tells is important to the overall fiction and gives new insight into events leading up to the original trilogy. Even Star Wars n00bs will find an enjoyable, action-packed adventure, as long as they can get past the required yet sometimes convoluted and cliché space opera trimmings. The Force Unleashed provides plenty of entertainment and even with its faults manages to keep you playing, whether it’s for the next Jedi boss fight or to learn the next Force power.

Try out the demo, which can be downloaded now from both XBL and PSN, for yourself. If you despise it, direct any hate mail to Massouken@the-minusworld.com. Of course, don’t expect an immediate reply; Lucas Arts paid me 10,000 Galactic Credits for this “glowing” review, so I plan on hitting up Atlantic City this weekend. Anyone know the exchance rate for Galactic Credits to USD?

Plusses

Ever-expanding, over-the-top combat lets you live out your wildest Star Wars fantasies, minus the Twi’lek dancing girls threesomes.

This shit is official! No more relying on poorly written fan-fics to imagine what happened before Luke met Obi-Wan. The Force Unleashed gives you all the nitty-gritty details and even features some previously-established characters to further sweeten the pot.

The Force powers are great. Thanks to some fancy physics, which probably took some fat guy with a pizza-splattered t-shirt 2 years of his life to code, you can lift enemies and the ever-present explosive red barrels alike and toss them all over, creating a domino effect on anything that your target hits.

Minuses

Jedi boss fights can be thrilling, but they are far from fun. Spamming the same lightsaber attack and Force Lightning is usually more than enough to finish your prey. Some mini-games pop up to help decide the winner of a Force Lock (when you and your opponent both attack with a Force power simultaneously), and QTEs ensure a cinematic finish to the battle, but at their core, these are little more than the traditional ‘whittle their life bar to nothing before they do it to you’ boss battles.

Replaying the same levels twice. I didn’t like fighting through a droid junkyard the first time. Why would trudging through it again be any better? Part of the allure of Star Wars is the unknown. What planet will we see this time? What new alien race will try to cut off our testicles for dinner?

The addition of collectables will keep some gamers playing for a while after the credits role, but the sheer quantity coupled with uncovering the frustrating places they’re stashed will quickly annoy many. Who the hell would hide a Jedi holocron behind a neon bar sign anyway? Unless you’re a dedicated completionist or a self-hating masochist, don’t sweat these distractions.