Ok, so I actually wrote this review on a gaming website in the comments section a couple of months ago, but have been meaning to review it here, anyway.... So, without further ado, poorly pieced together and slightly reworked is a review of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition...........
Quite frankly, it sucks. It's the epitome of bad Western video games:
Poor hit detection (right next to an enemy, facing directly and the lightning doesn't hit)
Bad balance (having to replay a section 10 times on normal difficulty? they added waves of bad guys to padden the length of the game, because it's otherwise very short)
Reusing of assets/levels
Lousy voice acting (particularly the Emperor, more of a caricature than gloom, seriousness, and gravitas of Episode VI)
Rather bland/odd looking character models (particularly the female pilot)
Also, it's called the Force Unleashed, so just skip all of the awkward pseudo RPG elements and let me be a damn Jedi/Sith with power. Don't give me a small Force meter for recharging, give me UNLIMITED POWER (zap).
And the health system... this game has made me of the mind that, instead of having "difficulties" in games, bad guys should always be of a certain level, but players should be able to choose how their own character has health and energy (e.g., instead of the normal 100% health, you could have 900% health). I am so tired of dying in games, it's an archaic design from the days of arcades and needs to stop.
As for the story... it's got some good and bad. I don't think the characterizations are very good (particularly Vader). The actual plot seems rather cheesy.
Force Grip is another issue I had. As "fun" as locking several people together, it was unnecessary (apologies to those who worked on the physics of the game - I commend the work, just didn't use it much).
For Force Push (which was worthless for the Purge Troopers... more on them later), I would have much preferred simply pressing a button and automatically having the nearest object fly at the nearest enemy (or directed enemy). Or the nearest enemy go flying. Would have preferred something like that significantly more.
Also, that reminds me, the game had very little clear direction in what to do (poor level design). Just so flawed. Bah, must stop before I go off the deep end.
Terrible jumping and platforming. Let's also throw in the mediocre camera, made worse due to the bad platforming and level design.
And the unskippable cutscenes. Ugh
All around bad logic - you can manipulate an entire Star Destroyer but not a single Purge Trooper? As one of hte other commenters pointed out, "they supposedly had magnetic boots which allowed them not to be picked up. Which for one, why not give everyone magnetic boots? And also, if the character is strong in the force enough to do all the force grip "puzzle" portions, why can he not pull the Troopers apart an the shins?"
On the whole, I have no idea how it got a Meta score in the low 70s. While the game is playable, I would rate it somewhere in the mid 40s, low 50s, and recommend this as a rental only (I prefer the CAG method of giving a recommended buying price, but I can't recommend anyone buying this. Maybe, maaaaybe, $5 for the Ultimate Sith Edition).
