What would have happened if Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 3 was ever made? That game would have turned Darth Vader into a fusion of Hannibal Lector and the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, by the sound of things.

The success of Star Wars doesn’t just come from its cinematic source material though. It’s the canny positioning of this franchise and its ability to evolve into other forms of media that have helped it emerge as a pop culture phenomenon. You look at the video game side of the equation, and this was a brand that was a recipe for success when handled correctly. Which explains the deliciousness of the amazing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Since I’ve played Force Unleashed and chose the path of the Darkside, I’ve wanted to know what it would be like to play the role of StarKiller as The Emperor’s right hand. So when I heard about LucasArts’ plan to make Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Ultimate Sith Edition, thats when I officially became a fully pledged fanboy. So …

Star Wars : The Force Unleashed bagged top honours in 2009’s Writer’s Guild Awards’ videogame writing category. Winning it for Lucasarts were Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford and Cameron Suey who have written what many fans consider the best Star Wars story since the original trilogy.  The Force Unleashed managed steal the accolade from other contenders like Fallout 3, …

by Nick de Bruyne [Second Opinion by Daniel de Bruyne] I want to kick this review off by saying that my experience reviewing The Force Unleashed on PSP has been quite an interesting one.... In order to ensure that I haven't been tainted by the console version, I have also included a second opinion by my brother, Daniel de Bruyne [Yes, there are more of us]. He is perfect for the job due to the fact that he has never really been big into console gaming, but is a handheld aficionado through and through, so look for his impressions after my review.... Feel the Power The Force Unleashed is essentially a 3rd Person Action game that brings forward a twist to the gameplay by empowering your character with a hefty amount of force powers as your primary means of kicking the asses of on anyone stupid enough to get in your way.... What did blow my mind is that the PSP version actually has more settings that it's big brothers as well as more enemies and bosses too, giving any console owners another decent reason to play through the handheld version as well. This comes as a bonus because while the Xbox 360 version took me around nine hours to complete, the PSP version clocked in at somewhere in the ten to twelve hour mark, not including any other modes. The game also comes with a "Force Unleashed" mode, which comes in the form of historic battles from the movies such as Luke escaping from the Sarlacc pit or Obi-Wan and Anakin taking on Count Duku in Episode 3 as well as a mode called "Order 66" which pits you against waves of enemies. There is a Force Duel mode as well that let's you try and make your way through battles with all the major characters (and more!).... When All Is Said And Done Krome Studios, who developed the port, have really impressed me with their efforts and given me full reason to hope that they will be given a full budget and a next-gen title to work on soon.... Value: 8/10 [ A fairly lengthy story, multiplayer and the "Force unleashed" modes give you a fair amount to do] Overall: 8.5/10 [ The Force is strong with this one ] ___________________________________________________ Second Opinion: Daniel de Bruyne From the word "go", The Force Unleashed is what I would call a "quencher".... The Force Unleashed puts you straight into the fight as none other than the ruthless and infamous galactic bad-boy, Darth Vader, who during his mission to destroy a wanted Jedi Knight, discovers that the Jedi knight has a son which he takes under his wing as a new apprentice, and is the character you will become and must develop throughout the game.... Don't worry, you can still enjoy tantalizing light saber battles, but why waste time swinging your light saber at a storm trooper when you can use the force to choke him or pick him up and thrash him into whatever you like, killing him long before you even get close enough to swing a light saber at him? The game makes sure that there are plenty of loose items lying around so that you can use just about anything as a projectile to lob at your enemies or use to just plain break stuff and giggle about it. Besides for an awesome Star Wars setting, good story line, great cut scenes and the ever satisfying flailing of storm troopers and a host of other enemies all over the place to keep you entertained, you can look forward to hectic one-on-one fights with Jedi Knights and other boss characters that will call on all your gaming finger-mojo and button bashing skills to fight at top speed and pull off combo activated finishing moves similar to God of War. In my opinion this is not only a quencher for the Star Wars fans in need of sustenance, but also for anyone that likes a game with satisfying fights with hack and slash elements leaving you feeling like you can open a can of whoop-ass on just about everything.