Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Trailers
STAR WARS™: The Force Unleashed™ | Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer
STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed | Nintendo Switch Announcement Trailer
Critic Reviews for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Solid and definitely have an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed still provides a highly entertaining experience despite its few issues, and the Switch port does a great job of bringing the stellar title to newer audiences.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed's Switch port tries to capitalize on nostalgia but ultimately fails to capture what made the original game so special.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a nostalgic trip for fans of the original who can now take the game on the go on the Nintendo Switch.
The Force Unleashed is a fascinating slice of video game history. Unfortunately it’s not exactly fun history, not anymore. Again, your mileage may vary. Perhaps you’ve lately grown wistful about motion controls. Maybe you long for the days when quick-time events were a much bigger part of mainstream gaming. For me, revisiting this chapter of gaming’s history was downright unpleasant at times. I loved messing around with force powers and lightsabers, but that only gets you so far. If you’ve got fond memories of this game, they’ll likely survive a subsequent playthrough. Otherwise, I’d be wary of jumping into Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed can take you back to 2008, with all the good and mediocrity that comes with it. Do you need to play this if you like Star Wars? I think so. It's a story that feels right at home with the original trilogy, some plot is good, some goofy, it's certainly Star Wars. Some shortcomings like basic level design, targeting, and boss mini games. But using your force lightning to attack clone troops is satisfying. Not a perfect game, but darn near close to a perfect Star Wars game.
The original version of The Force Unleashed had a lot going for it when it was first released, as there were few Star Wars games that offered the player the chance to play a Sith in a canon storyline that happens alongside the movies. The Force Unleashed is now showing its age, especially in an era when Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has done many of the same things, but better. The Force Unleashed offers a short ride through a galaxy far, far away, and it does have some moments of making the player feel like an awesome Sith warrior, but it doesn't manage to sustain this feeling, with its lightsaber swinging soon becoming like a chore.
Is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed worth picking up? Eh… potentially. What we have here is a shallow, short, and rather mediocre action game that's relying awfully hard on nostalgia and the popularity of the Star Wars IP to draw in players. Based solely on its own merits, there's little here that's really worth your time. Simplistic level designs, weak combat, frequent quick time events, and low replay value make this one hard to recommend. It's got a decent story and soundtrack, but neither of these things are good enough to outweigh the negatives. If you're just looking for another Star Wars game to add to your collection, this certainly fits the bill; if you're looking for a high-quality hack 'n' slash, it doesn't. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is simply a passable game; not one we'd actively avoid, but you're not missing much if you choose to skip it.
