Almost fifteen years on from its initial release,Star Wars: The Force Unleashedrecently made a comeback with a modern port to the Nintendo Switch. Despite its age,The Force Unleashedremains an iconic entry in the vast library of games set in theStar Warsuniverse and one which many fans cherish to this day.
RELATED:The Best Star Wars Video Games That Let You Join The Dark Side
However, whileStar Wars: The Force Unleashedand its sequel have their fair share of aspects that have aged like fine wine, there are some elements that have not had the same grace. Some of these flaws were actually present from the beginning, but have become a lot more noticeable over the years.
10Loved: Sam Witwer As Starkiller
If there is any reason to go back toThe Force Unleashedgames, it is for Sam Witwer as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice known as Starkiller. Galen Marek AKA Starkiller gave fans a journey of a Sith who slowly turns to the light side of the Force with Sam Witwer giving a stellar performance.
Despite the shortcomings ofThe Force Unleashed II, Sam Witwer’s performance in the sequel is arguably even stronger than in the first. He not only makes the pain and anger of Starkiller feel real, but the fact that he’s not a flawless hero makes him one of the more grounded portrayals of a Jedi/Sith in the franchise.
9Loved: Hack And Slash Gameplay
Since Starkiller is not a morally righteous Jedi even at his best,The Force Unleashedallowed players to experience lightsaber combat at its most visceral and brutal. Starkiller’s combat borrows heavily from the classicGod of Wartrilogy, featuringhack and slash gameplaythat is both addictive and visually stunning.
Sometimes it goes a little overboard with theGod of Warinspiration, feeling almost like a clone at times. However, the gameplay remains fluid in both games, with the dual-lightsaber combat ofThe Force Unleashed IItaking everything that worked well about the first game’s combat system and making it even better.
8Loved: The Characters Are Memorable
Not only is there Starkiller himself, butThe Force Unleashedgames also introduced the likes of Juno Eclipse, Rahm Kota, and Proxy. They are an atypical cast of characters for Star Wars, which is fitting since Starkiller is far from a typical protagonist in theStar Warsuniverse.
Even returning characters from the Star Wars lexicon such asthe powerful Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and Bail Organa give these games a proper feeling of acting as a bridge between the prequels and the original trilogy; something thatStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderfollowed up on quite well.
7Loved: Different Lightsaber Colors
EarlierStar Warsgames featuring a Jedi protagonist forced players to be stuck with only one color for their lightsaber blade.The Force Unleashedchanged that by having unlockable Kyber crystals of many shades that not only changed the color of the blade, but also its form.
RELATED:Coolest Lightsabers In Star Wars, Ranked
The Force Unleashed IIdoubled down on the lightsaber color choices, allowing the player to mix and match the colors in any way they wanted. It may not have the hilt customization ofFallen Order, but simply being able to have so many blade color options went a long way, especially since they had different effects on gameplay.
6Loved: Many Costume Choices
So far, very few games have managed to give players the chance to customize their character from head to bottom. EvenFallen Orderhad very limited cosmetic options for Cal Kestis. TheForce Unleashedgames stuck to different costumes and skins, but they made up for it with a surprising amount of skins.
From detailed original costumes for Starkiller to being able to play as many characters fromStar Warscanon, the game had a lot to offer. The recent port ofThe Force Unleashedfor the Nintendo Switch added even more characters, such as Asajj Ventressfrom many iconic arcs ofStar Wars: The Clone Wars.
5Loved: Light & Dark Endings
Replayability is always a good bonus andThe Force Unleashedgames have that due to the number of holocrons to find and the fact that both games have two different endings. One is the more satisfying conclusion that is meant to be the canon ending for the game while the other is a darker ending that leads to a far more twisted future.
Both endings are always fun to check out on the first couple of playthroughs. It may not be as drastic as some of the other game endings that aredictated by player choice, such as those found inDetroit: Beyond Humanand theMass Effecttrilogy, but just having that option for a different ending is appreciated.
4Disliked: Quicktime Events
This is whereThe Force Unleashedgames borrowed too much from theGod of Wargames, even taking some less desirable mechanics such as the quick-time events. Even inGod of War, the quick-time events were tolerable at best, but annoying and distracting at worst. Unfortunately, the quick-time events in bothForce Unleashedgames are more of the latter.
RELATED:Games With The Most Difficult Quicktime Events, Ranked
They disrupt the flow of the combat and, during boss fights, the quick-time events are both over-abundant and last way too long. There’s a reason why quick-time events like these are not featured that much in gaming anymore; it’s just not needed and was never all that engaging.
3Disliked: Starkiller Is Too Overpowered
This does not take away from how fun it is to control Starkiller as a character. From beginning to end, both ofThe Force Unleashedgames are addicting and satisfying due to how much of a deadly force Starkiller is. At the same time, it is understandable why he was left out of the official canon ofStar Wars.
Not only does he defeat a massive Sarlacc Pit on his own, but he also kills masters of the Jedi Order, he fights Darth Vader twice, fights the Emperor, takes on a massive kaiju on Cato Neimoidia, and famouslypulls down an entire Star Destroyer. At that point, there would be no need for characters likethe famous Luke Skywalkeror Anakin because Starkiller would overpower them both.
2Disliked: The Mocap Is A Little Awkward Sometimes
This is an issue that the sequel fixes, but, in the first game, the motion-capture performances really have not aged well. A lot of the expressions on character models tend to be exaggerated, which can lead to some cutscenes being unintentionally humorous.
Luckily, the actors are still giving stellar performances throughout, which prevents the Uncanny Valley effect from ruining it. Some could argue that this is to be expected from an older game, but, even around that time, a lot of other video games managed to do better expressions.
1Disliked: The Sequel Was Too Short
It may have superior visuals, gameplay, and even better performances, butThe Force Unleashed IIwas far too short. Overall, there are only five levels across the entire game and one of them is simply a repeat of the first one.
Apparently, the developers were rushed and, as a result,The Force Unleashed IIended up feeling like only the first third of a story instead of a complete game. The game can be beaten in less than four hours, which is criminal for aStar Warsgame.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashedis available for PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PS2, and Nintendo Switch.
