Star Wars:
The Force Unleashed
Review

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) and its sequel, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II are fighting-adventure games set in the Star Wars universe. You use force powers and lightsaber attacks to defeat enemies in fast-paced combat, and in the latest Switch version, use motion controls to control your lightsaber and the force. While many games place you in the shoes of strong characters, few offer the same feeling of sheer power as The Force Unleashed does as you destroy hordes of enemies in mere seconds.

You play Galen Marek (Starkiller), Darth Vader's secret apprentice, as Vader sends you out on various missions as your resentment towards him, stemming from your father's death, grows. Eventually, you choose either to turn to the light or take Vader's place by the Emperor's side as an agent of evil. In the second game, you play as a clone of Galen as you make a daring escape from the clutches of the Empire.

Play involves exploring levels and using your lightsaber and force powers, which include push, lightsaber throw, levitate, and force lightning, to kill enemies. Combat is fast-paced, and as you face off against large groups of enemies, you move from one to the next, destroying each in a matter of seconds with your powerful moves. You upgrade your abilities as you progress, increasing your strengths to ever-greater heights until you're so powerful you can pull even a Star Destroyer from orbit.

There are several different versions of the games, each with varying graphics, level designs, and abilities, but the core gameplay is largely the same in most. In the DS games, you use the touchscreen to perform attacks, abilities and jumps as you progress through slightly simplified levels. The iOS games, however, are a string of rooms where you swipe at enemies to attack them from a locked-off camera perspective. The Switch version, which is a remaster of the Wii game, features motion controls that allow you to perform lightsaber and force moves using a Joy-Con, and also has a Duel Mode where you battle as one of many different Star Wars characters against a friend in shared-screen local multiplayer.

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) DS, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation Portable, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Wii and Switch.
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (2010) DS, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Wii.

The result is a series of games that give you direct control over your character The sense of power from the in-depth combat and force abilities creates an experience that's not only fun and engaging but also rewards experimentation in combat as you use your powers in ever greater and more ambitious ways.

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 16 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.