As you progress through the game, you earn experience for the enemies you defeat. At each level gained, you acquire Force Spheres which can then be used to upgrade Starkiller’s abilities. He can learn new saber combos, increase various Force Talents such as strength and health as well as increase the strength of his Force Powers. You can also find crystals that change the color of your saber – which is purely cosmetic – as well as power crystals that will grant you certain added bonuses such as increased blaster deflections.

To use the majority of your Force powers, you need to highlight a target to lock on to it and then let loose with whatever means of death you feel like handing out. Unfortunately, as awesome as it sounds, it is much easier said than done. The targeting system is wonky at best and when you have the object of your desire locked on to, moving a slight bit left or right more often than not causes the targeting reticule to jump to another object. Trying to nail that one Stormtrooper who keeps shooting you from afar because you can’t quite get a solid lock on him becomes an all too common occurrence.

Thankfully you are more than your powers and will find that using your lightsaber is more effective the majority of the time. Striking down enemies becomes quick and effortless and as you learn new combos and the ever impressive saber throw, your Force powers become less and less needed in combat. The only main gripe with the saber combat – other than the quicktime events that seem to be a requirement for every game to have nowadays - is that sometimes you’ll find yourself fighting an enemy near the edge of a cliff or high platform and while performing a combo of multiple hits, Starkiller will just keep on going, hacking and lunging as he pushes himself over the edge, committing unintentional suicide.

As good as the game is - aside from the targeting issues and the falling to your death over and over - the story that unfolds is the definite high point. It’s a well paced and engrossing look at the events that happened during the birth of the uprising against the Empire. The voice acting for all the characters is exceptionally well done, the saber combat is refreshing and using your Force powers to push back a crowd of enemies, as they scurry across the floor, is a delight to watch. Although there are some noticeable gameplay issues within it, The Force Unleashed is definitely one of the best Star Wars games to come around in a long while.

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