just played it for about the past two days on and off.
I gotta say after beating it that i'm glad I rented it.
Really glad.
Don't get me wrong, The environments, art, and graphics kick ass (I'm talking about the ps3/360 version folks). the physics engine is excellent too, along with all the particle effects. When I break glass, bend steel, split trees, etc… they all react as they should. For example, when I force push open a door, It's not some bullshit cutscene or pre made animation. The position and size of my blasts effect the door as if it was a real steal door being fucked open by the force. very cool. The Euphoria engine wasn't really necessary for this one since you don't really have the time to be watching how a single storm trooper reacts when you lift him up and shit. It's a nice touch, but kinda goes unnoticed during your rampages. Bonus art, different lightsaber colors and attributes (Black light saber FTW), a few awesome outfits, and did I mention awesome art, graphics and, Level design? What really pleases me about this game is the little details they added to the world.
And speaking of storm troopers. Killing hordes of them with force haxs never get old.
And as far as the gameplay goes, that's really what The Force Unleashed does best.
Which kinda sucks in a way.
The main drawbacks of this title is how irritating and inconsistent it feels at times. This will come up when you're up against a room full of guys all firing lasers at you and you have to sort of dash around constantly from one guy to another and pick them off with the same light saber combo or respective force power (over and over. And yeah... using force lightning does get REALLY old after a few levels). Standing and blocking is not really an option because it limits you to just STAND THERE, block, and do nothing (which is lame since you'd expect more from a jedi). But these situations are manageable and can be fun when you destroy a whole group of dudes at once.. picking off the survivors by tossing them off a cliff or smashing them into the ground (very fun). NOW add in a couple of melee enemies that nibble at your shins constantly, an AT-ST (OR TWO) that pound you with gunfire from a distance or stomp on you up close, and maybe a heavy armor storm trooper with missiles (that make blocking useless... oh wait it already was) and you have one a very irritating jedi experience. In fact.. I stopped caring at certain parts about how powerful I was.. makes no fucking difference if I keep getting knocked down 5 times in a row (embarrassing for how cool you're supposed to be. Dante wouldn't stand for that shit).
It's not that the game itself becomes hard or anything... it just doesn't allow you to reach the potential you should be able to at times. Don't get me wrong, there are some definately good times with this one.. but that's usually when you're owning ordinary storm troopers.
And there's little bullshit that makes me mad, while I play this one. Game bugs, crappy lock on system, inconsistent fighting (i'm attacking an enemy that can interrupt my combo, but I cannot interrupt his, so i have to take the entire attack, time and time again. Oh did I mention I just hit him with a fucking light saber?), enemies with LIFE BARS!, return trips to levels, a bunch of useless combos/force powers/ skills, and SHITTY jedi battles that force you to resort to lame hit and run tactics just to survive (The episode 3 game had better light saber fights than this... seriously. That's all I gotta say for that).
Sorry for the Rant people.
Yeah.. glad I rented it.
Oh, the story is decent