As already mentioned - Spoilers below

Not a lot of reviews of the game, graphic novel, or novelization of The Force Unleashed around here yet, which is unusual given the scale of this addition to the Star Wars universe. I gather it's because a lot of folks are still playing and/or reading. The following is my review of the game primarily, along with graphic novel and a few other stuffs.

First, I still have yet to read the novelization, but I certainly will. What little of the story you get out of the game is enticing to the extent that you really want more, and hopefully it will lead to even more sequels in the form of books and video games. Let's not forget the roleplaying game that already adds more to the story.

My first foray into the TFU story was the highly anticipated video game, and I chose the next-gen platform (Xbox 360) to experience the Digital Molecular Matter/euphoria engines at work. The Lucas Arts team spent a tremendous amount of energy developing DMM, and I really expected to be blown away by it, which I was at first. That's not to say my excitement with the game waned shortly after; it's just that I became adapted to it rather quickly, which in my opinion is a good thing. The actual game play is challenging - even heart-racing at times. You need to have your wits about you to progress, and the intuitive game layout allows you to do that by leveling you up, even as you fail. In that sense, even though it's frustrating to get set back to the last save point (KOTOR players will miss saving on the fly), you'll need that experience to build on as the game becomes progressively more difficult. Watch out for using cheat codes - you won't be able to save your game properly unless you perform tiresome workarounds. Not worth it in my opinion, as it takes away from the progressive game experience, and may partly contribute to the dreaded *Default Text Glitch that many 360 players have been experiencing.

Of the four difficulty levels available for the 360/PS3 platforms, I started on the second - Sith Warrior, which is the default level. I think moderate gamers will find this challenging enough to really get a feel for the game, but not so easy as to become bored.

There are 10 different levels for the next-gen platforms (PSP, Wii, PS2, and Nintendo DS all have very different gameplay systems), and a new game starts you out as Vader on sunny Kashyykk. Soak up the sunshine here folks, it's the last you'll see of it in this dark, gritty adventure. After I played through once, I had to take a break to cheer up with some Lego Star Wars. Upon starting out on this level, some of my fears for this game came true - that I would have to play a ruthless and evil Sith throughout. I cringed at the thought of having to destroy hundreds of Wookiees, but after awhile I realized something - They were attacking me! Not much choice there, and that only made me feel a little better about it. You do get to play Vader first with all the powers that you will later have to build up from scratch in the next 9 levels where you play only as the "secret apprentice" Galen Marek, codenamed Starkiller. This first level is a good place to try out and learn everything, but beware: You will yearn for all this power as you really start the game in the next level only with measly force grip abilities.

As I worked through the game, I have to say, I didn't catch a lot of the cut-scenes at first, because I was concentrating so much on the matter(s) at hand. This, along with a few other elements, gives the game a moderately high replay value. When I did start catching on to the story is when I really started to love the story, and I slowly started to realize that the main character which I had assumed would be so evil, was actually good!

There are two different endings you can choose from. One is to attack the Emperor, which gives you the good "Redemption" ending. The other is the dark side ending, where you kill Vader as an act of revenge for what he's done to you over the course of your life (and for killing your Jedi father). The latter is not considered canon, since we all know Vader lives on to build another Death Star or two. My argument is that both endings could be considered "good" and both could be canon. Even though seeking revenge is not good, trying to destroy Vader would have been a benefit to the Rebel Alliance (and didn't Vader himself become redeemed from the same bad intentions?). Making this ending canon would only require that Vader be rebuilt again, after being left for dead. Which brings me to my next story point...

I still have yet to see how "open" this is in the novelization, but even though Starkiller was destroyed in the end, no matter which ending you choose, I still have hopes that the character can come back somehow in future installments. Heck, he was pretty much dead at least twice in the game before the conclusion. I'm pulling for at least a Force ghost. Part of Starkiller's quest was to learn from the Jedi what Vader did not teach him about the Force, and I think just as a couple of other famous characters did, this could be accomplished in the afterlife in very interesting ways story-wise.

I finished my Sith Warrior game with the dark side ending first, then went back to replay the Death Star mission for the good-guy ending (with my spiffy new Sith Stalker armor, and a killer black lightsaber). Now I'm in the midst of a massively harder, but not quite Ninja Gaiden 2 hard, Sith Master game. Playing at Sith Master level is a whole new strategy. I started as a new game, so I have to build up abilities all over again. In the first Sith Warrior game, I could mostly jump into battles and grip, throw, slash, zap, and force push my way out of them. Now in Master, I take my time, look for more patterns, and die like crazy, with much needed leveling up along the way.

Given that this is a new breakthrough technology, it can be expected that it won't be perfect. I had a few freeze-ups which made me have to reload to save points. The worst one was while fighting Vader in the circular chamber on the Death Star (second Vader fight), where he froze 7 or more times, all right before moving the fight onto the far platform. Another funny spot for me (although not a freeze) was the second part of the Shaak Ti fight. As we both tumbled down to the Sarlaac, I somehow fell into the pit. I did not die, nor did I become a Sarlaac snack. I was simply underground, and could not get out. I tried to go in any direction to no avail, and when I tried to jump, a little bit of my robe could be seen emerging from the dirt. Before I bailed to restart the fight, I realized that my powers (lightning and push) were actually working against my enemies above me. After awhile, I sucked back my life from the Felucians, and chipped away at Shaak Ti until she "died" - all from under the dirt where they couldn't touch me. Not too hard, yet not too exciting either, but a relief after taking forever to figure out the first part of this fight.

A lot of people are not pleased with the targeting system, which you really have to get a feel for to control well. I hear setting it to toggle works wonders, but haven't tried that yet. The 360 controller has always been a bit sluggish though. It's one of those things you should be able to adapt to as you build the game. There are some pretty hefty load times, which I assume are due to the complexity of the game engines. The PS3 version performs a partial install which should make the gameplay much smoother than the 360 (and the PS3 controller is usually more responsive). If you don't care about achievements, it looks like the PS3 version would probably be the way to go.

* The Default Text Glitch, is something I have luckily not had to endure (Yet. Knock on wood), but seems to be a pretty big issue for 360 users. I would expect that Lucas Arts is aware of this problem and will work out a patch for it. The DTG is when the game stops tallying your holocrons in your mission menu. I've browsed through some forums to try and boil down what is causing it (as to avoid it), and it seems that it can happen whether or not you're using cheats, and may be linked to changing costumes at mid-mission and/or using new found holocrons (lightsaber crystals) immediately after acquiring them and before reaching a save point or leveling up. Some people have suggested clearing out your 360's cache to avoid the problem, as well as not abruptly changing costumes or lightsabers. Worse case scenario is restarting the mission from the beginning with the default costume.

After I finished the first playthrough, I picked up The Force Unleashed graphic novel. The TPB only adds a little more to the story, since Haden Blackman's script is taken right from game. I was surprised to see that there are three artists penciling, which usually happens when a single issue series precedes the TPB compilation. It kind of jumbled it all up since the characters didn't look consistent, but I was glad to see one of my favorite Star Wars artists, Brian Ching, draw the bulk of it, and I'm really stoked to have been introduced to the work of Wayne Nichols.

The art behind (and within) TFU is simply amazing. The game itself looks incredible. In the game, you unlock the concept art, much of which was revealed in the "Secrets of 07" Hyperspace exclusive last year. Sometime this year, Hyperspace should also be giving us new TFU related webstrips, featuring "Shaak Ti: Unleashed" (I thought to myself so many times during the game "Shaak Ti isn't dead yet? DIE! WHY WON'T SHE DIE?") written by Pablo Hidalgo and drawn by Tom Hodges. And check out Grant Gould's awesome Starkiller "How to Draw"!

To sum up - I absolutely love the game and the story, and I really hope to see it continued. I fell in love with Starkiller, and am now a total Sam Witwer junkie/fan. Did anyone watch the most recent episode of Smallville and see Sam's premiere on the show? [* Smallville spoiler*] d00msday![*/end Smallville spoiler*] If you're a Sam fan now too, and haven't seen season 2 of the new Battlestar Galactica (or any BSG), go watch it. Right now.


Edit - How could I forget the incredible soundtrack by Mark Griskey? Listen to it here.

Judging by the Lucas Empire's track record in media pioneering, I think we can safely assume that the DMM and other technologies will only progress and improve. Next up to bat is the PS3/360 Indiana Jones. Now that TFU is out, this is the next biggie I'm waiting for. I've heard whispers of January or February 2009, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Note to Lucas Online - TFU blog images and avatars pleeze. Thankskbye