christiangamer

It’s the game I and my fellow geeks have been waiting on for years.  This is the one that bridges the gap between the good movies and the OK movies; the one that give you unparalleled use of outrageous force powers with which to sow large amounts of destruction and mayhem; the one which all other Lucasarts titles should be as good as.  And it turned out very good.

The story is excellent and an homage to the classic Star Wars movies in every way.  The fact that George Lucas put his canon stamp of approval on the game makes it so much better (it’s a true story then right?).  The acting is great, the characters are great, and everything feels like a true return to the galaxy far far away…  I wish some of the cut scenes were longer and had more to them; but what’s there is very good.  These are the highlights of the game.

The gameplay is excellent in most areas.  The fighting to some may seem repetitive but I enjoyed it.  There is a wonderful sense of satisfaction playing the game as your character plows through waves of stormtroopers AT-ST’s and cool characters from different parts of the expanded universe.  There’s a ton of fun to be had with the different force powers and varying up your attacks makes for some very interesting combos that never really get old.

The parts that I didn’t like were some of the boss battles.  They were somewhat varied and you fight against some very cool characters in what should be very interesting moments – but in many of those moments I found myself distracted by cheap boss tactics, some difficulty spikes, and some frustrating moments of tedium.  I don’t mind difficulty – but there is a fine line between engaging gameplay that forces you to outwit a boss, and frustrating tedious gameplay that has you wanting to chuck your controller at the TV screen (it’s not fair to the TV, you know).

Everyone will have a different experience with the gameplay – I found everything but some of the boss battles to be very, very fun.

The game is absolutely beautiful in the graphics department.  There are bugs and glitches scattered throughout, but nothing I found was game-breaking.  There was a lot of screen-tearing.  The atmosphere and huge levels are fun and interesting.  There are some cool treats for Star Wars fans here.  The places you go and events you see happening are definitely geared for the geeks.

The game is appropriately rated T for Teen with the descriptor of “Violence”.  The game can get fairly violent.  Your character is using force powers and a lightsaber to kill bad guys AND good guys throughout the game.  The combat is realistic (as far as sci-fi can be realistic) thanks to the technologies used in the computer controlled opponents.  If you force grab a stormtrooper he will struggle to get free and will grab on to stuff (other stormtroopers, debris, ledges) while you throw him around and smash him into walls, ceilings, and floors.

There is no other content that I noticed in the game.  I highly recommend it for Star Wars fans (teens and up).

The good:

• Awesome story full of Star Wars-y goodness
• Beautiful graphics and environments
• So much fun fighting with the force

The not so good:

• Bosses were sometimes very frustrating
• Some glitches and bugs

Content:

• Some might find the game too violent for kids even without lots of blood and gore.