Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Reviews

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is ranked in the 28th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10.0
Apr 20, 2022

Solid and definitely have an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

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75 / 100
Apr 20, 2022

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.

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Apr 20, 2022

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.

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8 / 10.0
Apr 20, 2022

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.

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60 / 100
Apr 20, 2022

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.

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Apr 25, 2022

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.

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5 / 10
Apr 20, 2022

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.

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Apr 20, 2022

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.

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3 / 5.0
Apr 20, 2022

Korme Studios' original take on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Wii was a noble effort back in 2008.

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6 / 10.0
Apr 28, 2022

The Force Unleashed's Switch version is a decent blast from the past, even though it feels a bit too conservative as a port.

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8 / 10.0
May 4, 2022

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed may be an older game, but it's still fun to play and Star Wars fans who haven't previously enjoyed this title should give it a go. The engaging story and excellent voice work help bring it to life, despite the slightly dated graphics and relatively simple gameplay.

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6.5 / 10.0
Apr 20, 2022

In the end, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed isn't a bad port. Warts and all, it's a faithful reproduction of a Wii game that is fun but not exactly a title that too many would consider to be a timeless classic. At a low asking price, it can be good for those who really want every Star Wars game they can get on the system. That said, it would've been more interesting if Aspyr were more ambitious and went for porting the PC/PS3/Xbox 360 version instead. That would've been a treat for longtime Nintendo die-hards.

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7.5 / 10.0
Apr 20, 2022

As for this particular version, Krome Studios and Aspyr deserve immense praise for their efforts to preserve this oft-forgotten version. Outside of the missing bonus levels from the PSP version, this is the definitive version of this release. This is by no means a masterpiece, but it is an excellent version of a fairly good game.

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6 / 10 stars
Apr 22, 2022

The Force Unleashed on Switch is a good port of a rather dreary game by today's standards.

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6 / 10.0
Apr 20, 2022

The fact the Switch version is a remaster of the massively inferior Wii version, by itself, is a huge disappointment. You’re getting less interesting visuals, worse controls, and shorter levels. Why was that version chosen to be the basis of the remaster? The Switch is underpowered, but it can handle an Xbox 360 game with ease. The motion controls aren’t even that interesting in this case. It saddens me to say this, but the Switch version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed isn’t the blast from the past you’re looking for.

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5 / 10.0
Apr 20, 2022

If you played the game on any other console, the Wii version of the game ported to the Switch isn’t the way to go when Xbox Game Pass has the game available on the Series X|S. While the story still hits, the gameplay is beyond dated and ultimately the motion elements remove any feeling of combos and replace them with constant wrist flicks and frantic waving.

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75 / 100
Apr 20, 2022

STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed is the new title remastered and relaunched by Aspyr Media, exclusively for the Nintendo hybrid console. We will once again have the opportunity to control Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice through several iconic locations from the Star Wars franchise. It should be specified that the chosen base is the 2008 version of the Nintendo Wii, with its local multiplayer Duel mode and its movement control, but with the obvious lack of technical and visual muscle of the HD versions of the time. Still, it's a good opportunity to learn about Starkiller's history in a remarkable game.

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Recommended
Apr 20, 2022

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Nintendo Switch is a perfectly fine rerelease of an already great game. However, there is no doubt that the title’s strange legacy will cause this iteration to come with some unfortunate discourse. Understanding why the Nintendo Switch version of The Force Unleashed is the way it is will be important to any Star Wars fan interested in picking up the game.

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Liked
Apr 21, 2022

So do I like this port and do I recommend it? I did have fun with this game but that did require putting up with some pretty rough edges. The combat often becomes a cluttered mess and enemies feel like inconsistent meat shields at times. But I can’t deny there were moments where I felt like an awesome Jedi. Star Wars fans will certainly love this game. I would also recommend this to lovers of the Wii console, a fan base I know exists out there. For everyone else, it’s a bit tricky, since this is a title that resides in the past with no modern quality of life improvements. It’s also hard to ignore that some will see this port as a downgrade from the Xbox 360/PS3 versions. But if you love your Star Wars or just want to play a game that’s a decent action-adventure this is not a bad pick up.

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8 / 10.0
Apr 21, 2022

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Nintendo Switch is an amazing port. You get to relive the moments and space adventures of Starkiller and his motley crew in a much cleaner and sharper version of what the Wii offered.

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