I rented, I played and I conquered. The Force Unleashed is one of the most anticipated Star Wars games in a while. After taking a spin with the Apprentice in the Demo I was pretty much sold. Plus the Soul Calibur thing actually made him a total bad ass. A pretty fun game that takes us back to a long long time ago in galaxy far away…

Let’s start with the Gameplay. Much like various other hack and slashers this game is pretty much the same. No where near the unforgiving AI that is Ninja Gaiden more attuned to the God of War style. You essentially play Darth Vader’s secret apprentice and hack n slash or is that saber and … I dunno what rhymes with saber. Anyhow, during the progression of the game you will unlock various lightsabers, costumes and powers to make the ultimate secret apprentice. They broke it down into 3 basic combos, Force Power and Stats. Combos are the moves you perform, Force Powers are the cool “Unleased Abilitys” and Stats are like your health gage and how hard you hit. Oh and there are Glowly Cubes hanging around that you pick up resulting in more experience. I think having a custom saber I a s pretty cool feature. I always liked Mace Windu’s and it was nice giving it a personal edge to the character. Another interesting thing is there are some really costumes to be had. I did find it to be funny that our Secret Apprentice has a new outfit per level. Made me chuckle a bit but I guess dude just likes to dress up. The fighting needs a bit of work however it’s solid none the less. I found the block button to be almost useless until the end fight.

The graphics are amazing. Of course they come with a price but that’s cool. One of the things that seem very present was glitches. Sometimes things would slow down or get choppy. It didn’t ruin the game but it is certainly noticeable. Overall the effects are solid. The engine used in the game is also pretty impressive. It didn’t really take too much shape though cause you were mostly in Imperial Areas. The first level on Kasykk looked great. Splinters were flying from Trees, Buildings collapsing and of course Wookies screaming.

This brings me to the stunning sound. I was smiling a lot during the game like a kid in a candy shop. Mostly cause the sound and everything brought me back to one of my favorite Star Wars games Dark Forces. That’s the kind of vibe you have for music. Yet it’s done very well. The voice acting is top notch as well. Things got a little repetitive when fighting and having to hear the same four sentences over and over however it still made for a great sound. Explosions were loud and everything just came off so well. Oh it was neat to hear R2 Units beeping all around they use the surround sound oh so well.

Overall this is a pretty good game and a lot of fun. I wouldn’t go out and buy it though. It’s not that long of a game and I clocked in at about 7hrs. Granted 30min of it was with that frustrating Star Destroyer scene. I won’t spoil the “fun” but you’ll understand when you play it. You can get most of the achievements in one play through. Check it out and go rent it see what you think. If your a Star Wars fanatic this is a top notch Star Wars game.