Check out the next entry in our series, where we take a look at the best Star Wars video games ever!
Welcome to the next episode in our series where we take a look at the best Star Wars video games ever. This time we look at Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed, one of the last major games to be released before the Disney purge and arguably the best portrayal of the Force to date!
Read our rundown of the best Star Wars video games ever!
Transcript
Hey how’s it going guys! Welcome to the next installment in our rundown of the best Star Wars games ever. We run down a brand new game every week, and we’ve already covered the likes of Republic Commando and The Phantom Menace. So if this sounds like something you’d be interested in then hit the subscribe and the notification bell for more videos like this. And don’t forget to tell us what your favourite Star Wars game is in the comments below.
One of the last pieces of expanded universe content to be produced before the Disney purge, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is still worth your time. Bridging the gap between the prequel and original trilogy, you assume the role of Starkiller (born Galen Marek), currently Darth Vader’s secret apprentice after being kidnapped as a child. You undertake missions for your master (mainly taking out the few Jedi who survived Order 66), before Vader literally kills you to prove his loyalty to the Emperor.
But Vader is known to have abandonment issues. Still considering you useful, he brings you back to life in order to sow the seeds of what would become the Rebel Alliance, allegedly to destabilise the Emperor’s control so that he and Starkiller could usurp the imperial throne. However this proves to be a double (triple?) bluff, a ploy to lure potential rebels straight into the grasp of the Empire. Now more rebel than Sith, you’re left with the choice of whether to save your friends from the Emperor, or let them die and exact your revenge on Vader. With everything that leads up to this moment, it’s a genuinely difficult decision to make, and will give you definite pause for thought.
Despite no longer being canon, the plot of The Force Unleashed is brilliant, and it’s easy to see why George Lucas himself was happy to sign it off as the official origin story for the Rebel Alliance. Your betrayal at the hands of Vader demonstrates a more cerebral side to his villainy, adding substance to his character beyond what we see in the movies. What’s more the crywider cast of heroes that we’re introduced to in the game are largely fantastic too. Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse, former Jedi master Rahm Kota and your robot pal PROXY are all fully realised characters, and the fact they no longer ‘exist’ in the new canon is a real shame. Fingers crossed they can be woven back into the grand, interplanetary tapestry of Star Wars soon.
While the story of The Force Unleashed might now be ignored, its irrefutable legacy is how it gave us the best portrayal of the Force yet. Whereas other games might let you push, pull and double jump with the power of Midi-chlorians, here the Force is truly unleashed. You can throw TIE Fighters to the ground mid flight, choke an opponent into the sky then throw them against a wall and even pull a Star Destroyer out of space itself. It’s a power trip, and a damn fun one at that.
Bonus fact: Starkiller is modelled and voiced by Sam Whitwer, who would go on to voice Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Clones Wars and Rebels.
And that’s a wrap on this edition of the best Star Wars video games ever. Do you have fond memories of The Force Unleashed? Please let me know in the comments below, I’d love to read them. In the meantime, if you enjoyed this video, please hit subscribe as there’ll be plenty more all about the best Star Wars games coming very soon.
My name has been Tom, and may the force be with you!
While you’re here, please subscribe to Upside Down Shark on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!
If you’d like to support us, please check out our Patreon!
