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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed -- Ultimate Sith Edition

Genre: Action
Publisher: LucasArts Developer: LucasArts

Release Date(s): US: 2009-11-04

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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition Review

by Chris Roper - IGN.com | 02 November 2009 12:00

The Force is indeed a little stronger this time around, but is it enough?

It took LucasArts longer than it expected to put the finishing touches on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but when it was finally released last year it went on to put up huge numbers for the company - record setting numbers in fact, and considering the success of previous Star Wars titles, that's no small feat. Given that it might be a while before we see a direct sequel, assuming one is even in development (and you have to assume that it is), we're now seeing the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition.

Essentially, this is the collector's edition that we didn't see last year, coupled with all of the available downloadable content and a brand-new exclusive level. For the retail price you'll get the original game, the Jedi Academy, Tatooine and Hoth levels, all of the downloadable skins, a collector's card and a nice tin case to hold it all in.

Click the image to watch our full video review.

In terms of the tangible stuff, the collector's tin is really just the metal case that a lot of other special editions ship in, which, while cool and nice, isn't anything new. The collector's card is just a thick piece of paper with some artwork on it and is hardly worth collecting. In fact, there's a paper pamphlet that shows what all of the cards look like, and that's probably enough for most everyone out there.

Now, before I get into the actual details of what's in store for you, let me point out that most of this content is also available for the original release of The Force Unleashed. The Jedi Academy level has been out for some time, as have been the downloadable skins. The new Tatooine level will be available as a download as well, leaving Hoth as the only exclusive gameplay element. So while this is also being targeted at existing fans of the game, its ideal customer is someone who didn't pick up the game in the first place and wants everything in one shot.

The base Force Unleashed experience is the main star of the show, and nothing has changed. The code looks to be completely untouched, for better or for worse. If you haven't played the game or want to know our thoughts on the original experience, be sure you check out our original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed review. In short, it's still a fun, if somewhat flawed, experience that gives you a great set of Force powers to play with.

Obi-Wan is a pushover.

In terms of the additional content, what you're getting here is an extension of the base game, something that simply adds more content to the experience but doesn't actually change (or even fix) anything. What's sort of nice is that each of the three additional levels are standalone options, so you don't need to play through the game in order to get to them. The downside to this is that none of your powers or anything carry over, nor does anything that you earn carry back into the main game. However, that largely doesn't matter as you start almost fully powered-up for each of these levels anyway.

I won't spend too much time talking about the Jedi Academy level as it's been available as DLC for some time, but it's a pretty decent bonus level that has you wandering through the academy in order to get to a personal test of sorts. It doesn't seem to fit into any specific part of the secret apprentice's story and instead acts as a random side mission that he goes on for himself, which is nice as you don't need to know what's happened in the base game to appreciate it. There's a small bit of simple puzzle solving towards the end that helps break up the pace a little bit, and while it won't tax your noggin, it's a nice change from all of the killing. The Tatooine level picks up after the main game and goes under the assumption that you wind up killing Vader and taking the apprentice position under the Emperor. The Empire has learned that R2-D2 has the plans to the Death Star and Starkiller is sent to go "talk" to Jabba to get them. So, you head into Jabba's palace, kill a bunch of guys, wind up taking on the rancor beneath Jabba's throne and then escape to find the droids at Mos Eisley.

After some big battles with rancors in the original Force Unleashed story, the battle here is pretty disappointing as there's an invincibility orb in the room that lets you just quickly slash it to death. The rest of the level is basically just running through and killing everyone dead until you make it to Mos Eisley and take on both Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Given that you're packed to the brim with Force powers, both of these fights are pretty much a joke on the default difficulty level as you can just Force Lightning them to death.

Wielding the Force is still pretty fun.

The Hoth level, which again is the only exclusive bit to the Ultimate Sith Edition, isn't quite as exciting as either the Jedi Academy or Tatooine levels as the Hoth base is essentially just a series of square rooms and corridors connecting them. This is simplifying it a bit, but you get the idea. It looks great, mind you, and is pretty much dead-on with what you see in Empire, but it doesn't really make for the most interesting level to fight through.

After slicing and dicing for a while, you'll face off with Luke Skywalker. The battle with him is much tougher than the fight against either Boba Fett or Obi-Wan, but that's because he can be pretty cheap. He has attacks that can't really be blocked, or at least not that I was able to figure out, and there can be guys out of the area that you're in that constantly shoot at you. It's not a terrible fight, but it's not nearly as fun as I had hoped it could be.

As I mentioned, the Ultimate Sith Edition didn't change anything in terms of the original content at all, and the bonus levels follow suit. The same issues that I had with the base content remains here, including enemies that hit you when you're down, wonky physics in some spots and the like. It's still fun as Force throwing someone off a ledge never really gets old, but it is what it is. It's worth noting that a lot of the Digital Molecular Matter tech that was used well in some spots of the original release (though not nearly as much as we all would have liked) is used a little more sparsely in the add-on levels. It's mostly relegated to things like statues or other background items, though Hoth does have plenty of glass to break into bits, which is always a cool effect.

The battle against Luke can be somewhat aggravating.

Really, whether or not you should pick up Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition comes down to whether or not you already own the original. If you do, just pick up the DLC if you want more as you're not missing a ton without Hoth. If you don't own it but are still interested, then it's worth a shot at this point. You're getting a fair bit more than you would have originally and the DLC is included in the purchase price, which is nice.

Closing Comments
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition is just an extended version of the game that was released last year. It doesn't fix or change anything in the original game - it just gives you a few more levels and some new skins. If you don't already have the game, give it a look. If you do, you might just want to go the DLC route.

Supplied by IGN.com

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