The name says it all. The one thing that Star Wars games hadn’t done before is let you go hog-wild with the Force, but this videogame port takes the handcuffs all the way off. Romping through that far-away galaxy while fully exploring the power of the Dark Side is such a blast that it almost overshadows Force Unleashed’s shortcomings. Almost.
I think Luke's about to feel the Force.
You begin the game as Vader himself, rampaging through the Wookiee homeworld and doing a lot of downright mean things to giant brown furballs. As TIE fighters zip past in vast numbers and you Force-blast, -throw, and -strangle everything that moves, you’ll realize two things. It’s fun to be bad. And man, this game has beautiful scenery! As the action moves to new planets like Felucia and old stomping grounds like Cloud City and the Death Star, there’s no shortage of dramatic, sweeping vistas that you’ll pause to savor.
The story itself is pretty interesting too, taking an alternate-history look at what would’ve happened if Vader had an apprentice who eventually surpassed him and stomped through the central scenes of the movies, rewriting history in a fascinatingly evil way. In fact, evil is the other good part of Force Unleashed. The game’s developers went for epic--you can throw the vaste hordes of your helpless victims across stunningly large distances, rip aircraft from the sky and throw them at foes (or friends--it is the Dark Side), or just barbecue them all by dousing them with some good ol’ Force Lightning.
But when those twin charms of Force Unleashed start to lose their luster, you’ll be bothered more and more by the finicky controls. Enemy lock-ons are slippery, not precise; jumping’s often a hassle; and the camera feels like it’s fighting you instead of working for you, particularly in boss battles. And when you run into one of the inevitable and too-frequent platform-hopping sequences, the game can become seriously frustrating. None of these flaws are fatal, but they’ll make you Vader-style grumpy for sure.
So will the game’s sometimes-sputtery performance. Unless you’re rocking a quad-core iMac or Mac Pro, expect to dial the resolution down to 800x600 and still tolerate some choppiness. Our 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro (bought late last year) definitely struggled with this game at times, which is just nuts.
If you’ve got even a lick of Star Wars fan in you, Force Unleashed is wicked but flawed fun. Just be prepared to suffer some indignities--none as grave as Jar Jar Binks. We promise.
The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition
COMPANY: Aspyr
CONTACT: www.aspyr.com
PRICE: $39.99
REQUIREMENTS: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Mac OS 10.5.8 or later; 2GB RAM; Nvidia Geforce 8600, Radeon HD 2600, or better video card with 256MB VRAM; 26GB disk space.
The Dark Side is fun! Epic Force powers. Great scenery. Absorbing alternate-history storyline. Works with wired Xbox 360 controller. ESRB rating: Teen.
Controls are a pain. Lots of lame platforming and boss fights.
