Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition

EMAIL PRINT pc

5.8 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Aspyr Media

Developer: LucasArts

Genre(s): Action

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: November 3, 2009

Summary

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.

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

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...

GameStar

More than a year after the console versions, the Ultimate Sith Edition arrives for PC. The game suffers from problems with controls and balance and because it’s a quite linear game. But it’s Star Wars, nicely presented, with great atmosphere and new missions. And that’s more important in this case.

Read Full Review >

PC Format

Gives you all the power in the Star Wars universe, but it takes away your opposable thumbs in the process. [Jan 2010, p.85]

Game Over Online

I’ve played worse Star Wars games, way worse, but I’ve also played better ones. This one falls solidly in the middle of the pack.

Read Full Review >

SpazioGames

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed arrived with a one year delay on a PC, but nevertheless does not introduce any major news, except for an additional level and two unedited seen on consoles. The graphics are suffering from a bad optimization and feels the weight of years, although on balance is sufficient and is gifted of a great physics engine for the simulation of the Force. As for the gameplay, despite the repetitiveness is feels, the fun that can give handle a lightsaber and use the Force, balances the all. Moreover, thanks to a good storyline the atmosphere of Saga was returned faithfully. Also remain unchanged all the defects of the control system imprecise and at times frustrating already seen a year ago on the console. Ultimately, despite the myriad of action securities much more attractive and "new" published in recent months, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a good title. Recommended to fans of the saga.

Read Full Review >

IGN

It doesn't fix or change anything in the original game - it just gives you a few more levels and some new skins. If you don't already have the game, give it a look. If you do, you might just want to go the DLC route.

Read Full Review >

GameZone

Given the emphasis on storytelling and single-player action, The Force Unleashed is tragically flawed execution of a great concept.

Read Full Review >

Gamers.at

The gameplay doesn't really satisfy me, but what's worse are the technical issues. Still, the game has its moments and can be great fun because of the story and the force powers.

Read Full Review >

Multiplayer.it

The same game we played one year ago, with some bonus contents and a lack of polishing that makes this version the worst one.

Read Full Review >

PC Zone UK

A series of spectacularly presented levels. [Feb 2010, p.68]

Total PC Gaming

Only casual types will enjoy up to its conclusion. [Issue#28, p.54]

Absolute Games

The Ultimate Sith Edition additions are nice, but nothing special. In fact, the same can be said about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed as a whole.

Read Full Review >

PC Gamer

Mediocre. [Jan 2010, p.80]

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Strict linearity kills all fun in this yet-another-untold-story from Star Wars universe. Nice physics features soon become boring and Kratos can sleep at his throne undisturbed. [Issue#186]

Digital Chumps

The force was unleashed on this game alright, it just happened to be the dark side of the force. The controls seemed to have been programmed by Darth Vader himself.

Read Full Review >

Cheat Code Central

A plentiful amount of technical bugs and lazy development for the platform make for a frustrating experience despite there being a fun game buried beneath.

Read Full Review >

GameSpot

A slapdash porting job turns the Force into a farce in this Star Wars action game.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.8 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Johnny M. gave it a3:
There's not nearly enough in this game to either make it appealling to Star Wars fans, or PC gamers. The control scheme is wretched, and the number of holes in its plot (NOT just its disrespect for the canon lore, but its *ridiculous* attempt at a romance story, to the utterly uninspired "betrayal" or the lamest excuse to put Darth Maul into a game I've ever seen) In all fairness, Sam Witwer does a decent job as Starkiller, and the graphics are decent enough. But with repetitive levels (The level list goes: Kashyyk, Imperial Factory, Junkyard planet, Felucia, Imperial Ship, Bespin... uhhh... Kashyyk... again... Felucia again, Junkyard Planet... again... Come on REALLY?), awkward controls, a discouraging story, unengaging secondary characters and force powers that respond as well as a golden retriever with ADD amped up on meth this game has very little to save it. Last of all, this is the first Star Wars Jedi type game where I felt drastically removed from the powers of the force. Outcast, Academy and Dark Forces II all did a wonderful job of making the player FEEL like a part of the force... the games had a decent flow. This seems to take away from that... there's something very specific missing from it. Maybe it's the lack of first person, but I feel like it's more in the mechanics of the powers themselves. This though is more a personal gripe than an actual critique of the game itself. 3 for decent acting and nice enough graphics (that didn't have as much PC customization as I'd like).

Crow Bar gave it an8:
Yes, there are some flaws. One that stands out, taking down the Death Star "boss." Extremely long and boring and ultimately frustrating. But beyond that, this is a damn good game. Its true, it pisses all over Star Wars lore. I dont recall Luke ever battling Vaders apprentice in Hoth, but gamewise, its good. SImple as that. The powers are very cool. Its incredibly satisfying to impale a force held trooper with your black lightsaber. The little additions, such as costume and the different gems and colours for lightsabers add to it. If your a fan of Star Wars, but not a fanatic, you'll truly enjoy this game.

Paul gave it a2:
Clunky, awkward, and not very good. Hard to use force controls and a lack of first person view both suck.

Jeff H gave it a2:
Ok, it's fun. It's Star Wars. It's one of the worst ports I have ever seen. No AA, No Bloom, restrictive resolutions. If you are going to port a game to the PC, port it right. I have a PC because my GPU kicks PS3 butt. So I see no advantage of buying this for the PC. I want my AA, I want my Bloom. I want my 2048x1152. Hopefully this will be patched. I doubt it though, and I won't buy another stupid Port.

Nathen S gave it a9:
I agree with Alec M all the way this game was truely under rated by far to many it certainly doesnt take long to beat and that is absolutely the only reason I personally won't purchase this game yet but 29 bucks or less... my god you will get the bang for your buck. 50 to 40 however I felt was too much for such a short game but still a great game none the less easily to the point to where I would have bought it at full price if I had the money to throw away.

Michael S gave it a3:
While its great to see the closest thing to another Jedi-Knight game. The Force Unleashed misses the mark in production and cross-platform porting values. Simple things like missing textures, lack of a mouse GUI interface. (They also forget to tell you what changes pages until later. Hint: its the " ] " and " [ " As for game play, your character has issues selecting which object he wants to attack/throw. You'll often charge into a group of storm-troopers only to target a box to their left. It gets even worse when you attempt to force-choke a target, and instead force choke a box. Further complications occur when you try to use the enviroment to hit things. Launching a projectile at enemies is near impossible with wonky force-choke controls. Character movement is also sub-par especially for a game that has mild-platforming. There is no ledge-grabbing here, and your character will slide on any surface angled greater than 30 degrees. This generally leads to many quick-deaths as your character's feet miss the platform by a half-foot, and he slides off into the abyss. Lightsaber combat is also iffy at best. Stronger enemies will break every single combo you attempt to launch at them. It doesn't matter if its a lightning-saber in mid-swing, they will be able to attack through it. Certain moves like the "Cross-Slash" makes your character stand in place for five seconds after attacking. Which wouldn't be a problem if six enemies weren't shooting you. The keyboard arrangement is insulting for a PC Gamer. Instead of allowing players to bind abilities to the 1-5 and F1-F4 buttons, you have to attempt to press multiple buttons around your WASD keys. Some of these attacks require you to be moving while pressing combos. I only have five fingers, and I have to stop to press Shift+Q in order to do a dashing attack. What could have been a solid light-saber game has been marred by crappy port and production values. Hopefully the next true Jedi-Knight game will restore order to Lucas Arts saber-games.

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases