Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (wii: 2008): Reviews

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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed


7.9

based on 15 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 35 votes
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Cheat Code Central

Official Website

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 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 assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny. 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 doesn't just Force push enemies into walls - he Force pushes enemies through walls. The Secret Apprentice doesn't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he Force grips them in midair, zapping them with lightning, then dropping 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 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 determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it. [LucasArts]

PUBLISHER:	LucasArts
DEVELOPER:	LucasArts
GENRE(S):	Action
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:	T (Teen)
RELEASE DATE:	September 16, 2008

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Official Nintendo Magazine UK

With a bit more to it we'd have no issues giving this a Gold Award. As it is, it's great fun but far too short. [Oct 2008, p.84]

3DJuegos

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed gives us the opportunity to go over to the dark side in order to enjoy addictive, durable and fun gameplay. It's also a bit monotonous, but nothing out of the ordinary problems of a game which has a very decent Wii version.

IGN

It can be a blast to play, and using the nunchuk and Wii-mote for force powers is unrivaled when compared to any other control scheme, but the gameplay isn't strong enough on its own to make up for the overall rushed feeling in the game.

NGamer UK

Not an Empire Strikes Back life-changer, but a Return of hte Jedi romp. Plenty of technical hiccups, but fun is never far off. Duelling is alright, too. [Nov 2008, p.50]

Nintendo Power

The multiplayer mode provides some good (if short-lived) entertainment - especially since the roster includes some fan-favorite "expanded universe" characters - but the story, the always-excellent Star Wars tunes, and the Force-powered combat are the real draws for fans. [Oct 2008, p.88]

GameZone

This is an above average action game with the added bonus of the Star Wars theme. The fighting is mostly good and the story is compelling. The controls could be tighter and the camera viewpoint better designed.

Nintendojo

Thus, like the game’s story, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed falls into a nice medium between both trilogies critically. It delivers a solid, but not spectacular, experience.

N-Europe

Despite its graphical shortcomings, camera trouble and repetitiveness, the lightsaber and Force controls were pretty much nailed, making SW:TFU a good action game and an experience that many gamers have been asking for since the unveiling of the Wii.

GameDaily

The graphics look OK, although clumsy camera issues hinder gameplay.

GameSpy

Force Unleashed may not be the mind-blowingly awesome "Star Wars" game that it was hyped to be, but thanks to some cool play mechanics and good use of the Wii Remote it's still a fun (if flawed) ride.

Cheat Code Central

The Wii controls are solid, and blazing a trail of destruction with the Force powers is a great game premise. But there are just some aspects of the game that feel half-baked and poorly-done.

GameShark

If you like combat-heavy action games and don’t mind a little repetition, and you consider yourself a Star Wars fan, you’ll have a great time with The Force Unleashed. It’s far from perfect, but as the score up top reflects, it’s worth the ride.

GameSpot

It's short and it's frustrating, but you'll still have a reasonably good time with this force-powered adventure.

Game Revolution

Unfortunately, though beating the crap out of Rancor is cool, it's quite flawed, thanks to the wonky camera and targeting system.

1UP

The days of Jedi Knight, Rogue Squadron, and TIE Fighter are quickly becoming distant memories of what it was like to sit down and feel like we really were in a galaxy far, far away -- The Force Unleashed on the Wii can't hold a candle to those classics.

The average user rating for this game is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a9:
Having played both the 360 and Wii versions of this game, I'm going to be making several comparisons. From a technical standpoint, graphics and AI in this version are not as good as the 360 and PS3 versions of the game. Despite this, I would consider the Wii release to be the definitive version of the game. This game truly shows the capability of the Wii controller. In the 360 version, many moves were mapped to various button combos, which can cause gameplay to quickly devolve into random button-mashing. The Wii controls were mapped intuitively with most lightsaber moves being done by the remote in your right hand and most force powers done by the nunchuck in your left. While perhaps slightly harder to pick up initially (for seasoned gamers whom are used to control pads), this system proved far more robust and intuitive in the end. For example, to do a "sword in the stone" type ground slam on the Wii version, you simply jump, then make a downward stabbing motion with the remote. Most (but not all) moves follow this kind of logical setup. The result is a game that truly feels fantastic to play. While the setup doesn't quite hit perfection (I felt the nunchuck could've been better utilized when using force grip), it's still the most engaging and fun way to play through an adventure that I've ever experienced. In addition to unsurpassed controls in an action game, the Wii version features a multiplayer duel mode not found in the 360 version. The game plays something like a cross between Smash Bros and Sould Calibur, and is surprisingly robust for what I expected to be a cheap toss-in. In fact, with a few more arenas and an online mode, it could pass as a standalone game. As is, it's still a lot of fun and drastically increases the value of the game. In fact, without the multiplayer mode, I would likely only recommend a rental of this game since the single player campaign isn't all that long. Overall the Wii version of Star Wars TFU takes what is a good-but-flawed action game, introduces intuitive and visceral controls, brings in a fun multiplayer mode, and creates a game which is more than the sum of its parts. The technically poor graphics quality is overcome by excellent art direction, the low value of a short campaign is balanced by a multiplayer mode you'll want to play with your friends, and the repitition that is the nature of these types of games is easily ignored due to both the engaging story (for Star Wars fans, at least) and the control scheme that's a blast to use. If you're a Star Wars fan and you own a Wii: buy this game. If you don't meet one of the prior criteria, you still might want to give it a look.

Julian 21 gave it a9:
This, is defintely a great Wii game. The fact that you swing the Wiimote to swing the light saber sold me! It's so much fun. The only problem is the graphics (which are early PS2), but really, it's the most fun 8 hours you'll ever play !

wulfen gave it a9:
This game is quite enjoyable. Understanding that the basic interpretation of "motion control" is to use the wiimote/nunchuk gestures as "button presses" of their own (in other words, no 1-1 tracking with a light saber, which is upcoming according to e3 demos w/ a peripheral addon), the "waving" of the controllers does make you feel like you're somewhat executing what happens on screen, most particularly with force push and sith strike. I'd say the really good thing about the formula here is that they start you off with a nice array of power (immediately you can float an enemy in the air, then fling your light saber at him, finishing by force pushing him if he's not finished yet), then allows you to "level up" each of a variety of abilities. The power-up system feels much like the X-Men series of games that crosses platforms. Altogether, it's one of the few games I've purchased in the past year or so that I'll actually take to completion, if not beat twice (with all the upgraded powers).

Jimmus M. gave it an8:
Great game. Decent graphics, good controls made especially for the Wii, and a very well done storyline. Sure, it's short, but I thought it was worth every buck. Sad when a pathetic game like Samba De Amigo gets a better score than a game like this.

Graig S. gave it a4:
In a way. it's a good idea for a game. The character designs are cool, the voice acting is good. the cinematic sequences are good. Where this game fails is the game part. It's just not fun. Instead of using standard game play elements to kill bosses you use this sequence where you have to shake the wiimote, or shake the nunchuck. you have to shake the correct ones in order that it displays on the screen, and then you beat the boss. That's the part that kills it for me. Having to do that makes it a good cinematic sequence, but a terrible game. The other part is the attacks aren't very good, the control scheme is just off. here you are with a light saber. but you can only swing it once every second or so, if you wanna hit something really fast you can't. i know, this game is supposed to be more about force powers. but that gets old really fast. it's most efficient to just pick up and throw mobs into a wall. or off a cliff. Another problem with the game is that there's just no difficulty. If you die it just pops you back up again. over and over at the exact same spot you left off. the only negative is that it adds some health to the boss. but that does't even matter because you have to use the annoying sequence cinematic thing to kill the boss. Definately don't buy this before you rent it.

Aniqiewan gave it a7:
One amazingly epic story played out over repetitive and occasionally tedious levels. However the game is a goldmine of lore, missing links and has a truly awesome finale. Using gestures to control your force powers and lightsaber is a really cool way to experience being a jedi; and the duel mode, while being fairly simple regarding duel settings, can give you some epic battles straight out of the movies.

Jeff W. gave it an8:
Not the greatest game ever produced, but TFU for Wii is still a fun ride for SW fans. If nothing else, it's a solid "unofficial" sequel of sorts (in terms of gameplay) to Metroid Prime 3, with the addition of Force powers & numerous other SW elements.