STAR WARS The Force Unleashed (PSP)

"Do not forget that you still serve me." - Darth Vader

Anyone who knows me knows I love STAR WARS. They'd also know I love video games and when you put the two together it's like a pizza with all your favourite toppings at Pizza Hut.

Being a big time gamer I like to take games on the move. Whether it be on the way to, from and even during work. For that I have my trusted companion, my PSP. After playing the PS3 version of The Force Unleashed a year or so ago I thought I'd try throwing Stormtroopers left and right on the handheld version.

Now when someone says "PSP version", you get that small message sent from your ears to your brain that translates that to "Inferior version". Well with the TFU this isn't so. But it is neither Superior. In my opinion it's surprisingly on par with the next gen version. You play as a Sith code named "Starkiller" (real name Galen Marek), the secret apprentice of Lord Vader. It's your goal to hunt down some of the remaining Jedi in the Galaxy and destroy them using your amazing and somewhat over the top Force Powers that not even Master Yoda could pull off. This and the next gen version share the exact same story that fits into the SW canon inbetween Episodes III & IV.

So how is this version different from the console one?

Well obviously the graphics do not match that of the PlayStation 3's sharp Blu-Ray picture or the 360's... whatever. But for something as small as a UMD (Universal Media Disc) it packs more into the game than all other versions! Although it portrays the same story, it is told with more levels including a trip to Nar Shaddaa (where you find Master Rahm Kota instead of Bespin) and the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Coruscunt. Although the 'A' Jedi Temple level is downloadable from the PS Store or the X-Box Marketplace it is not the same. You visit it 3 times in the PSP version each with a different boss fight at the end. Besides story mode, it also gives you the choice of "Force Unleashed" mode. This mode gives you 3 game types to play.

1. Force Dual. This mode involves 10 stages, each where you fight a different Jedi or Sith or even 2 Jedi or 2 Sith. You can pick a character to fight as out of a wide variety that include characters from the films such Luke Skywalker or even Darth Maul (Although he uses a one sided Lightsaber and the hilt is Obi Wans). As you progress through each stage you unlock the character you are fighting. You also unlock arenas for when fighting in multiplayer.
2. Order 66. There are 24 waves of enemies in 3 different stages. You start in the control room of a TIE Factory then progress into the collesium on Geonosis and finally a hangar in the Death Star itself. You have 3 lives and can again use a variety of different characters. This is all about survival. If you lose all 3 lives there are no continues and you have to start all over.
3. Historic Missions. This is my personal favourite mode. As the title hints you play through missions or "scenes" rather, from the SW movies including Luke vs Vader in the Carbonite Chamber from The Empire Strikes Back, Anakin vs Dooku from Revenge of the Sith, The Pit of Carcoon from Return of the Jedi and Geonosis Collesium from Attack of the Clones. Each feature audio lines from the movies themselves (Including a rather embarrassing take on the "I am your father" scene). What makes this mode my personal favourite is you can use all the Force Powers you aquire in the story which gives you the freedom to rewrite the fight. (Using Force Lightning as Vader against Luke never gets old).

"Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father..." - Darth Vader, Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back

Another difference I particularly liked about this game is not only can you change the colour of your Lightsaber blade and power enhancing crystal, but you can change the hilt you use too. There are 10 to find in story missions. The only thing that I was a tad disappointed about was you have your 5 basic colours to choose from (Red, Blue, Green, Purple and Yellow/Orange) like in the console version, you could not aquire a black blade unlike the console version. Although only a small feature in the console version it does carry a HUGE sense of awesomeness!

But because so much was jam packed onto a small disc there are some and were some problems I came across. One being the loading takes fair bit of time inbetween levels and even cutscenes. Also I'm not sure if it was just my copy of the game I ordered (Although on forums others had this problem too) when I put the PSP into Sleep mode (turning it off and turning it on later enabling you to resume where you left off), turning it back I noticed some of the dialogue went missing. The subtitles were there and some lines were spoken but most were unfinished. Resarting the game from the XMB (CrossMediaBar) soon fixed this and I could enjoy hearing Lukes embarrassing "No... that's not true... that's impossible!" (seriously! In the movie it went well, in the game something just got lost in the translation. Could be that Luke's face looked a bit like Gollums due to the graphics). 

All in all I give it 8.5/10. A lot of fun when on the move if you liked the next gen version and fun to show off to all the kids holding Nintendo DS's at the train station or on the bus. I liked the idea of collecting Holocrons throughout the levels that unlocked artwork from designers concepts. Studying to be a games designer myself it's always good to see other designers work for inspiration. It's unfortunate that the Force Unleashed 2 has been scrapped for the PSP. I would have enjoyed giving that a go when I should be working.

Maris Brood

Master Shaak Ti