The Star Wars franchise has a long gaming history with a magnitude of the titles being released by different developers during each console generation.
Even though not all of these titles expanded on the original canon, they offered intriguing tales and characters that became fan favourites.
One of these games was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed which returns in a remaster by developers Aspyr, fourteen years after its initial release.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a multimedia project developed by LucasArts in 2008.
It consists of two games, books, graphic novels and merchandise. Originally seen as a story that linked the first two trilogies, but after Disney rebooted the franchise it was declared to be non-canonical along with other works from the Star Wars expanded universe.
The game was released on multiple consoles during that generation with the Wii version receiving motion controls.
Aspyr’s remaster looks to be an HD return of the Wii version on the Nintendo Switch.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed follows Darth Vadar’s secret apprentice who after being raised in the Dark side since childhood is tasked with hunting down Jedi survivors who want to assassinate the Emperor.
On his quest, Galen, also known as Star Killer, learns more about his past and after being somewhat betrayed by Darth Vadar begins to question his master, which leads to Starkiller having to choose which path to follow.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a great story that largely explored the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
It features some of the best writing and characters featured in the expanded Universe. It does rely heavily on its source material so non-fans may have trouble getting into it.
But new younger fans should relish the opportunity to delve into a well-crafted story even if non canon.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has received a visual update from its Wii predecessor, which has greatly improved the clarity and sharpness of the game.
It now even looks better than the PS3 and Xbox versions which were significantly better than the Wii.
The game features all the great character designs and iconic locations from the original that feels right at home in the Star Wars Universe. While the graphics still look somewhat dated the developers have done a great job at remastering the game for the Switch, which runs smoothly for the most part.
The soundtrack was always a strong point of the original game and it returns in great form here with all of Mark Griskey’s tracks and Jesse Harlin's main theme returning.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a very straightforward adventure that offers intense action in its short playthrough.
Players will battle their way through each level until the boss battle. Stages are pretty linear with the odd puzzles here and there that require players to use the Force.
Players will also be able to customise their attacks which added some extra levels of strategy but nothing substantial.
Combat is at the forefront of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with the developers adapting the Wii’s motion controls for the Nintendo Switch.
Combat could become really repetitive in the original games with enemies and certain bosses requiring similar combos to be defeated.
However, the Wii’s motion controls added an extra layer of excitement to the experience by incorporating dynamic motion mini-games during boss battles and more.
The controls have been nicely ported over with the Switch recreating the experience and feeling much more responsive than its predecessor.
This version of the game features a duel mode where players can live out their dream matches in 1 v 1 fights.
Remarkably there is a huge selection of characters to select from but some of the same issues for the Wii version still remain.
All the characters are basically different skins based on one character build with slight differences in their stats.
They all have the exact same move sets which means that all Jedi will be able to shoot electricity for some reason and Darth Maul won’t wield his Dual lightsaber. Also, it would have been a nice feature if players were allowed to just fight the CPU.
Verdict 3/4
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
New fans will be able to experience this remarkable story filled with great characters and fantastic twists.
The updated visuals are leaps and bounds from the original with a smooth performance throughout.
The motion controls have been well ported over adding that extra level of entertainment to its repetitive combat.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is out now on the Nintendo Switch
