The Force Unleashed plays like a game made by real Star Wars fans, and then handed over to some non-technical non-fans for a while to do some meddling. Parts of the game are amazingly awesome, and then some will have you screaming "DUUUUMB!" at the screen.

First, the good: You're a Sith, personal secret apprentice to Darth Vader himself, sent to destroy the enemies of the Empire. Pretty awesome, right? YES IT IS! You can throw your lightsaber, jump to the roof of buildings, and send a dozen storm troopers flying at once.

The story is great, the music is obviously awesome, and the force powers are just so cool to use. Especially the force grip, which allows you to pick up enemies and objects and hurl them impressive distances. Picking up a storm trooper and throwing him THROUGH a tree is just so cool you'll want to do it again and again.

Unfortunately, you can't do it again and again, because at some point during the clone wars, 90% of the storm troopers in the galaxy got force-negating shields and lightsaber-proof armor. They gave you Jedi powers and a sword that could cut through anything, and then decided that it made the game too easy. Of course it makes combat easy! You can pick up and throw BUILDINGS and your sword can cut through ANYTHING. Make the game hard by throwing dozens of enemies at me, snipers and rocket launchers firing from the sidelines. Don't give me three stormtroopers that are immune to lightsabers and the force, that's just stupid.

In one section of the game, you actually reach out and grab a Star Destroyer FROM SPACE and slam it into the planet. 10 minutes later you fail to lift a 200lb storm trooper 6 inches off the floor. The game is full of little things like that. Your character performs tasks in cutscenes that are immensely above and beyond your actual skills.

Also, the bigger enemies aren't defeated normally, you can choose to perform quick time events to kill them. When a large enemy like an AT-ST or a Rancor (or ANY of the bosses) is about to die, a big X or A or Y will appear on your screen, triggering a cutscene where you must hit all the buttons in the right order in order to kill the enemy. However, in these cutscenes you commonly perform tasks far beyond your skills. You can hit an AT-ST with your saber 40 times, then hit X B X in a cutscene and suddenly you CHOP IT IN HALF WITH ONE BIG SWOOP. It's ridiculous, and flow breaking. It's also possible to pick up an AT-ST with the force, and crush it into a little ball, which you hurl away from yourself. That makes it extra frustrating when a stormtrooper somehow resists the infinte power of The Force 10 seconds later.

Also, there are plenty of enemies that can kill you without you having any say in it. The Force Unleashed is one of those games where the enemies' attacks are timed for the exact time it takes you to fall over and get back up. If you get hit by a laser from an AT-ST, expect another one to hit you RIGHT as you get up. Sometimes you can go from full health to dead in the span of 40 seconds, without controlling your guy once during that time.

Bottom line is, the game is fun most of the time, but it can get frustrating. If you can get past the sometimes frustrating combat and the ridiculous asymmetries in the powers of your character in and out of cutscenes, you'll find it enjoyable. I highly recommend beating the game, then selecting the first mission (TIE Fighter Factory) again. The storm troopers there aren't immune to your force powers, and you actually have FUN for an entire level!

Also, don't worry about how slow Vader is in the first level, your actual character is capable of running.