Chances are, if you own a next gen console, you haven’t checked out Star Wars the Force Unleashed for your PSP.  Well, you are sorely missing out on one of the best games I’m seen pop up on that platform.  It seems Lucasarts has been able to Force push all of the awesome action from the console game into a bite size PSP package that not only plays great, but offers a much more family friendly God of War style Star Wars Force weilding experience that you don’t have to hide from your children.  As a side note, the events of the story have been deemed official Star Wars cannon, and are chronicled in both a Dark Horse Publications comic book graphic novel, and a novel penned by the story’s author, Seam Williams.  The novel, by the way, is also the only place you will be able to learn the Apprentice’s true name, although why this was done remains a mystery to me.

For those of us that are not rabid Star Wars fans, or those who have just emerged from the Bio-dome (NO weezing the ju-u-uice!)Force Unleashed chronicles the story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice,the man codenamed “Starkiller”.  The story in the game falls between Episodes II and IV, following after the birth of Darth Vader, the fall of the Jedi and the Old Republic and the birth of the Empire.  While the Empire works to eradicate the last of the Jedi, and contain the planetary systems of the galaxy under it’s thumb, Darth Vader is summoned to the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk, where it is believed one of the remaining Jedi has survived.  It is here that the game opens, as you control Vader in the opening level. Searching for this unknown Jedi, you wield Vader’s dark Force abilities in all their glory, leaving destruction and flung Wookiees in your wake.  During this level, we meet the child Darth Vader “adopts” and raises as his apprentice in the dark side of the Force, hoping one day the two Sith will be able to unite and overthrow the Emperor.  As Vader’s power seems vast and endless at the game’s onset, the first time you step into the shoes of the apprentice, your health and Force bars are noticeably less, as also are your Force abilities.  Power-ups scattered throughout the game’s levels allow you to increase your health and Force bars, and all of your Force powers are increased via points you obtain as you dispatch anyone that crosses Starkiller’s path.  More Force powers will be unlocked as you progress though the game, while some are there from the start, lying dormant awaiting your first upgrade in that category.

As for the actual game, the graphics really look fantastic.  We are talking about the PSP, so we won’t see the thousands of fragments of tree bark on Kashyyyk that we could see on the next-gen consoles, but all told the graphics look phenomenal on the PSP and really help with the immersion of the game.  I did notice some glitches with the camera/graphics when you get caught up in certain corners, but nothing that detracted from the overall experience.  The subtleties in the graphics also contribute to convincing the player of the immense raw power Starkiller has, which I’ll touch on later.  Subtle Force waves during your Force push, and choke just add to the game’s immersion and action.  The levels are rich in some new, some old locations, backgrounds look amazing, and even reflections in certain floors or areas caught me by surprise.  The camera left a little to be desired, but truth be told, it’s faults did not seem to detract too much from the game, or lead to many unexplainable deaths.  For some odd reason though, the camera seems to lock on during a boss battle, making your dashes for that heath power-up waaaaaay over in the corner near impossible, unless you manually took the lock off and risk dying as you try to run while simultaneously pressing the right bumper and the down key on the D – pad.  i would have liked to either see the lock-on camera improved, or oh, I don’t know maybe just not activated unless I pressed the indicated manual buttons!  But who am I to look for sense in a video game.  Since we’ve mentioned the controls, I’m sure you are wondering how Starkiller can be controlled with many less buttons.  The controls on the PSP work amazingly.  On the first level as you step out as Vader, the controls are simple to learn, and make it very easy for you to access the plethora of abilities Starkiller redeems with ease and satisfaction as you seemlessly transition from one Force power to the next.  I would have liked to see more actual combat combos unloacked or available, but overall I guess the devs choose to amp up the Force powers to bring you away from relying too heavily on the lightsaber.  The triangle button controls Force push and your manipulation of objects through the force, the circle button controls you choke and lightning abilities, the square attacks with your lightsaber and the X button activates your Force jump.  The right bumper allows you to doge when used in conjunction with the analog nub, and the left bumper is used in conjunction with the face buttons to activate your Force abilities.
So the game looks great, the game controls great, but how IS Force Unleashed on the PSP?  Personally, i think it is one of, if not the best action game on the PSP, hands down.  It offers a good story, a fair amount of length, and lots of replayability.  As far as I can tell, you will not get multiple endings on this platform as you will on the 360 and PS3, but you can opt to play through the game for a second run while retaining all of your unlocked abilities from the first run through.  Also, you can then go back and look for all of the lightsaber hilts, lightsaber color crystals and Jedi Holocron images to satisfy the completist in you.
There are cool local multiplayer duel features as well as Single Player duel games, a game mode called Order 66 where you pick a character and attempt to dispatch wave after wave of troops with the Force as Order 66 has been activated.  More characters can be unlocked through specific achievements and story progression.  Also, unique to the PSP, is the addition of Historic Missions. There are a handful of historic battles from the movie that you can play through with all of Unleashed Force abilities of the Story Mode of the game, for example duel as Vader against Luke in the Carbonite Chamber where both of you have all of the Force powers that you have unlocked in the Story mode.  Again, this adds a great deal to the replayability of the game, making this an amazingly well rounded addition to the lackluster PSP library.

Ok, I’ve sung the praises of Force Unleashed on the PSP for a while, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some faults here. First and foremost, I have some qualms about the story, and how it fits into the overall Star Wars storyline.  Away put your weapons, I give you no spoilers!  Suffice to say the sheer power Starkiller possesses can be both the best part of the game and the downfall of the story.  While it makes for an amazing game, it seems to upset the balance of the Star Wars universe by having a character that seems more powerful than Anakin, Luke and the Emperor combined.  Not to mention, there seems to be a plethora of Jedi and Sith during a time where technology and knowledge of the Force were supposed to be heavily suppressed by the oppressive presence of the Empire.  If you can get past that, the story does address quite more intimate details of the Empire and Rebellion that I was neither prepared for or happy to see.  Making an offshoot game is a great idea, it worked wonderfully with Shadows of the Empire, which fleshed out the gap between Empire and Return of the Jedi, however the glaring difference is that Shadows didn’t upset any of the major story plot in the way Force Unleashed seems to.  My other big complaint about this game are the boss battles. I missed the trailer videos, so I was totally in awe the first time I controlled Starkiller and watched him crumple an AT-ST with the Force like it was a beer can on the forehead of a frat boy.  What an amazing site.  And then, through the course of the game it was revisited over and over and over and over.  Ditto for the many needless Rancor battles.  Force Unleashed attempted to capture the epic boss battles found in a game such as God of War, but failed miserably by not using variation.  I don’t mind fighting countless Jedi and Sith, but tackling AT-ST’s and Rancors got very very old very very fast.
That being said, despite some faults, this still seems to me to be the best game on the platform.  There was no cursing or taking of the Lord’s name in vain.  There was no blood, that I could tell.  All violence from the game was basically simply the same content from the movies, amped up on Red Bulls and steroids, but keep in mind the control the player has.  This maybe a linear game, but the combat is completely sandbox, as the player you can be only as brutal as you want to be.  If you choose to progress through the game using primarily your lightsaber and straying from the darker Force powers, it can be done even though you may miss quite a bit of the fun in the game.  I personally am playing through the game with my 8 year old, who also has a PSP and we are loving it.  If you have a PS3 or a 360, then I would classify this game as a rent.  If you have a PSP, and no next-gen console, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up.  Even if you have a PSP that is collecting dust, blow it off and give Force Unleashed a chance, it may disturb your lack of faith in the PSP!

by: HolyHeadshot