What a shame... It isn't a bad game...why isn't it played...
Lets start with what went wrong. First, I believe that standards have gone way to high. This may explain EGM's and many other site's negative reactions. People expect a triple A title like Super Mario Galaxy or Call of Duty 4 with every release that has even a little hype because of last year's stellar lineup of titles. When a product falls even a bit short, the reviews tend to be disastrous. Really, all that is bad enough with The Force Unleashed so that I should mention is that with 1 or 2 boss battles, the boss would become invincible via programming glitch, causing you to restart the battle. This proved the only major detriment to the game's score. The visual bugs and frame rate drops aren't frequent enough to make a significant difference, and JEEZ, maybe it wouldn't kill you to twiddle your thumbs a bit if a loading time god forbid lasts longer than 8 seconds?!
Now for what went right; don't trust many review sites, there is a lot. To start, the graphics are pretty spectacular minus a few (very few) visual bugs. Character models are detailed and well rendered, includng the majority of Starkiller's costumes, and the backgrounds are BREATHTAKING. Every bit of the art is right up there with other very artistic next gen titles like Bioshock and Ratchet and Clank Future, and 80% of the non-human objects are photorealistic. Not near photorealistic. Photorealistic. The other 20% is, while not quite as mindblowing, does the job. And honestly, how can we let a few simple frame rate issues and bugs kill a game when half the trple A FPS's on the market have them as well. Plus, while it is an improvement, you definitley don't need an HDTV to appreciate the graphics. They are that good.
The music is also great, making full use of normal or surround sound. Plus, this is the John Williams score with a few great additions. There is no way it can be bad.
The gameplay is intense. While the puzzle elements and a very few action sequences aren't up to snuff with the rest of the game, the majority of the action makes you feel like a cross between Kratos and an energy hurricane. Every unleashed ability supplys a ton of satisfaction, and it helps that the physics are fantastic for virtually all of the game. Seeing stormtroopers hold on for dear life to anything as you blast them into oblivion never seems to get old.
The story is maybe the best part of the game. It tells the long untold story of what happened in the two decades between the two trilogies and of the birth of the Rebel Alliance. Not only does this story surpass the mediocre prequel trilogy in writing, it may surpass the fantastic original trilogy's storytelling as well. This is one of the best stories I've seen in a video game period, and not because I'm a major Star Wars fan; that fact just makes the story even better. The characters have great personality, and the dark tone brings the age old Star Wars story concept of redemption to full fruition. The only thing that could make the story better is if the game were longer, the average play time clocking at only about 10 hours. But otherwise, this is one tale you best hear.
All in all, The Force Unleashed is a great action adventure game that simply doesn't seem to live up to the hype because the hype was of near-impossible-to-reach-standard. It is far from perfect due to a few technical issues and some slight gameplay problems, but it is still definitley worth your money if your a fan of the genre, and even more so if your a fan of Star Wars, because after hearing this long unknown story, you will never look at "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" the same way ever again.