Product Description

The Star Wars saga will continue in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a videogame developed by LucasArts, which casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

• During the period between Episodes III and IV, players hunt Jedi in the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
• Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
• The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls.
• The Secret Apprentice won't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb.
• In addition to new adversaries created just for the game, such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians, players will also confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader.
• Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility.
• Decisions made by players throughout the game will determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it.
• The Force Unleashed is LucasArts' first internally developed title for next-generation consoles, and it

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: ACTIVISION
• Released on: 2008-09-19
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: English, German
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.co.uk
The Star Wars saga will continue in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a videogame developed by LucasArts, which casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Join the Dark Side

You are Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice View larger.

Use The Force to disable your enemies View larger.

Artwork of the Jedi "Maris" View larger.

As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time: Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd. Paired with the powerful Havok Physics™ system, these new technologies create gameplay only possible on the new generation of consoles. DMM incorporates the physical properties of anything in the environment so that everything reacts exactly like it should - wood breaks like wood, glass shatters like glass, plants on the planet Felucia bend like plants on the planet Felucia would, and more. Meanwhile, as a revolutionary behavioural-simulation engine, euphoria enables interactive characters to move, act and even think like actual human beings, adapting their behaviour on the fly and resulting in a different payoff every single time.


Game Features:

• During the period between Episodes III and IV, players hunt Jedi in the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
• Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
• Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible:
  • The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls.
  • The Secret Apprentice won't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb.
• In addition to new adversaries created just for the game, such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians, players will also confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader.
• Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee home world Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility.
• The Force Unleashed is LucasArts' first internally developed title for next-generation consoles, and it represents the first in-game collaboration of talents and technology between LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic, two companies now finally under one roof at the new Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio district.
• The Force Unleashed debuts Digital Molecular Matter from Pixelux and euphoria behavioural simulation from NaturalMotion Ltd.
• LucasArts is preparing an unprecedented promotional effort around the launch of The Force Unleashed, encompassing a full line of toys and game-based action figures from Hasbro, as well as a full publishing program from Dark Horse, Del Rey and Palace Press.

Meet the Cast
The Star Wars Saga will continue in 2008 with LucasArts' biggest-ever video game event. Set during the "dark times" between Episodes III and IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed portrays the previously untold story of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice -- and now you can put a face to that mysterious character as well as the major supporting cast members as LucasArts unveils the actors set to star in The Force Unleashed.

The New Technology of The Force Unleashed
With The Force Unleashed, LucasArts not only introduces a new chapter in the Star Wars saga, but also two completely new and innovative technologies -- Digital Molecular Matter by Pixelux Entertainment and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd. These groundbreaking technologies combine with Havoc physics to create true next-gen gameplay and the Force like it's never been seen or experienced before.

Customer Reviews

For all its flaws, this is still a worthwhile game.
I will split my review in several key stages in order to make my opinion far more easy to understand. I will try to make this as unbiased as possible!

Gameplay: This game is fabulous fun to play. Manipulating the force in crazy ways, hacking your lightsaber at foes with fantastic feedback is simply a joy. The different combos keep the whole thing feeling fresh throughout, I never found it boring at any time during playthrough.

The AI and enemies: This is where the game shoots itself in the foot. For all the combos imaginable, you simply do not have the ability to use them efficiently. The scope of enemies you face are from the basic stormtrooper to walkers. Most enemies are killed in one or two saber swings, making it impossible to combo since they die so fast (I played the game on Sith Warrior, not too hard, not too easy). Then on the other end you will meet incredibly tough enemies such as the Purge Trooper (remember the name, they are horrific to fight) who take a lot of hits, allowing you to combo as much as you want, but its flawed by the preposterously efficient counter-attacking AI. Let me outline this problem to you like this: The AI is either dumb, or very good.
When the AI is good, it will wait for you to hit it a certain number of times to initiate a combo, and just before you hit the final button to exectute the combo, they will hit you with a powerful knockback shot, completely undoing your progress. When the AI is dumb however, they stand there as if their gun has jammed, easy prey. Ruins the immersion somewhat.

Bosses: Boss fights are a key part of the game, and it's such a shame that they only exist in two seperate spectrums - either very easy, or very hard. Some bosses are simply spammed and comboed to death, which to me is great as it's hilarious fun. But other times you will meet not only one boss, but perhaps 2 of them! The annoying part of this is that you pick up tactics and strategies for dealing with certain enemies throughout the game, only to have one boss utterly obliterate you and making your tactic void. This does stimulate a strategic element of thinking where you need to adjust to defeat a certain boss, but at other times the odds are horribly stacked against you, meaning you will die many, many times. Either it's me who sucked, or the boss fights can get really frustrating at times as the boss seems to have some godly moves, which leaves you in the shade thinking...ok... It's not nice having to beat one huge, really tough Rancor who knocks you down every few seconds, but then having a stealthed sith jedi pop out of the air and stab you in the back for big damage.

Story: This is one really important factor for the game, as it tries to tie 2 episodes from the insanely popular movies together. It has a lot to live up to, and it certainly delivers. The scripting is humorous and witty, and some cutscenes are utter genius. But what really impressed me was how the story managed to catch me off guard, leading me down one path, when in reality you are heading down another. All without me knowing! This is the best part of the game, as you don't have any choices to make until the end, but you are still cunningly decieved.

Content: Reviewers complained about this game's maps being virtually the same, and I agree. To an extent. You play on just a handful of maps, but there is a hint of variety in the zones and areas that it's bearable. Visiting Kashyyyk for the second time is interesting as the setting has changed since your first visit. Open areas are plenty, with big boulders to hurl at your victims. There are corridor sections too, especially near the end (big surpirse there?) which can bore, but using force lightning on 6 enemies at once in a tiny room is hilarious.
New costumes are available after every mission, with several unlockables too! Lightsaber crystals can either buff or colour your blade, and some options look fantastic. But these are all aesthetic, they don't make your lightsaber more powerful, just prettier. Spheres can be found and gained, allowing you to purchase force powers or buffs. In the last level, your character will be a god and he will look amazing, and the enemies get tougher too so it doesn't become a cakewalk by any means.
The puzzles are either dumb common sense of putting this here for that to happen, or they can be interactive and interesting. The former happens quite a bit however. There are a couple of bugs lurking around, specifically sound bugs. Nothing really gamebreaking from my experience on the PS3.

Replay value: Great fun and unlockables will undoubtedly keep you playing for perhaps a second run through, but after that the game will get stale. Without multiplayer, your looking at keeping this game for a week or so. It's only 10 hours long anyway.

Overall: Simply put, if you are a Star Wars fan by any measure, get this game and try it. It is definately worth playing for its huge fun factor. I consider as an on and off game. Don't play it for long stretches as you will get bored. Play it in bursts.
Good game overall, I firmly believe its positives outweigh the negatives. An excellent effort by Lucasarts, but the execution is sloppy in places.
My percentage score would be: 80%

The Force is Strong in this one
Having played the demo, and not being a major Star Wars nut I was uncertain about this game. I replayed the demo and ordered the full version and boy did I do the right thing.
The game is awesome, throwing your favorite Star Wars characters around like puppets, utlising the various sides of the dark side has never been so much fun. My only negative is online play, I like to be able to take a game online, but this is a minor gripe, because as a single player game this has it all, a great upgrade and unlock system, and a solidly playable game.
I gave this game a 4 overall because of a lack of online play but this should not detract you from this game, it gets a 5 for fun because that is what you will get playing this game. It will keep you gripped for a long time.

Good fun
I'm not a particularly experienced gamer. I like my games fairly simple and Star Wars - Force Unleashed is just about right for my level. There are a few very difficult bits, but mostly it's fairly easy fun. You get to brandish a lightsaber and go around slashing folks to pieces with it. You also get to fire lightning bolts from your fingertips. What more could I want?
I had hoped for a little bit of puzzle solving, but there really isn't much. It's a simple slaughter-fest and I can't really have too many complaints about that. There's also a few nice cameo appearances from some of the best characters from the Star Wars movies.
Not a bad buy.