The Force Unleashed Was the Most Video Game-Ass Star Wars to Ever Exist

Star Wars has been a fixture of video video games for many years, and spanned nearly each potential style and platform you could possibly fairly consider. There are sure ones which have resonated with audiences over time, like the present Jedivideo games from Respawn Entertainment and the Knights of the Old Republic sequence from BioWare and Obsidian.

Among that pedigree of well-liked titles is the short-lived Force Unleashed video games. Its first installment is now 15 years previous, and its massive promoting level was proper there in the title. Far from the first recreation in the franchise to let gamers wield the Force, its novelty got here from giving gamers the probability to use it at what was then its fullest, most violent potential with telekinetic blasts, thoughts management, and simply straight up cooking dudes with Force lightning. Narratively, its goal was one thing a bit extra grander because it tried to tie the Prequel and Original trilogies collectively by an unique story and model new character through Starkiller, who Vader kidnapped as a toddler and groomed int changing into o his secret apprentice to search out Jedi survivors of Order 66.

For a franchise with various characters who really feel like somebody’s enjoying favorites for particularly them (generally to mentioned character’s detriment), Starkiller is the most OC to ever OC in all of Star Wars. Over the course of the unique recreation, he finally ends up brushing shoulders with various Expanded Universe and mainline characters, helps kickstart the Rebel Alliance, and manages to survive dealing with off towards each Vader and Palpatine regardless of each males being the finest swordfighters of their time. Among his supporting forged are a love curiosity who serves as the pilot of his ship, and a droid who takes on the type of earlier lightsaber customers to practice his grasp in the methods of fight.

It’s all very foolish in the means that this franchise can typically be, even now, but it surely was additionally simply as endearing. At the time, Lucasfilm needed to actually promote the concept that Force Unleashed was an vital piece of Star Wars media on par with the movies, therefore its opening crawl and transition wipes pulled proper from the movies. But it additionally needed to be its personal factor, which it did by placing a spin on the Force’s capabilities. The prologue set on Kashyyyk had Vader slaughter his means by so many Wookies like they’re principally nothing as the Imperial March performs. Starkiller may blast enemies to the different aspect of the area, catch TIE fighters mid-flight, and even carry down a Star Destroyer, the latter of which was a promoting level in its personal proper. As a 14 occurring 15-year-old again then, this was the good form of energy fantasy recreation: lightsabers, like all swords, are superior, and utilizing them in tandem with telekinesis and lightning to slice up monstrs and woefully underprepared troopers was the coolest factor ever.

The unique Force Unleashed was only a bestseller at the time, and spawned a sequel in 2010 that wasn’t fairly as well-liked as its predecessor. Even with that, and after the video games had been subsequently declared non-canon, each titles made an vital mark on Star Wars followers. For many, the Force Unleashed video games grew to become a semi-definitive textual content for a way they considered the franchise. If the Prequel trilogy made the Jedi into superheroes with their backflips and lightsaber twirls, Starkiller was the newcomer billed as massive recreation changer who a writer would construct a complete occasion miniseries round earlier than he will get a strong run of solo books of fluctuating high quality. Still, followers love themselves some Starkiller, and have hoped he’ll make his means to the official canon as soon as once more in some kind or one other. (Many put their hopes on Marrok, a latest Inquisitor-looking character on Star Wars Ahsoka, being a brand new model of Starkiller, which…didn’t pan out.)

For the bigger Star Wars franchise, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say Lucasfilm paring down the Force’s capabilities was partially in response to Unleashed and completely damaged characters like Starkiller. In common, you may see how the two video games have knowledgeable the franchise going ahead: Respawn’s Jedi video games have the same dedication to feeling as Star Wars as potential, fairly nice moments of energy fantasy, whereas additionally being significantly higher at when and the way it makes use of pre-existing characters. And with out the video games, Starkiller’s voice actor Sam Witwer in all probability wouldn’t have gone on to voice Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Clone Warsand Rebels.

The Force Unleashed is completely ridiculous, however that provides it a sure attraction that’s clearly let it endure over the previous decade and a half. It’s the kind of recreation that may’t actually get made anymore—video video games primarily based on vital manufacturers like Star Wars both have to adhere to bigger canon or have their very own sturdy sufficient spin on issues to stand on their very own. But generally, you simply want a recreation like Force Unleashed to exist, if solely as a result of the galaxy’s extra enjoyable when it breaks its personal guidelines in a gleefully silly method like these video games did.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is playable on the Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation Plus’ Premium tier, and Xbox Series X|S through backwards compatibility. At time of writing, The Force Unleashed II isn’t on the Switch, however it’s on the two aforementioned platforms.

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