Well The Force Unleashed is out and yeah most reviews haven't been extellar, honestly out of all of them that I read I agree the most with Game Informer (Reader for 8 years). The reviews though you have you realize are not biased at all which is the reason why they were scored lower if you don't take into account the actual flaws. If you put this game in the hands of a person who has never heard or seen any of the Star Wars' films or games before they will most likely not enjoy it as much as a person who knows it and or is a fan. The reviewers obviously have seen the films before and enjoy them but they review the game as the core game not just what its about.
Gameplay: The best way to describe The Force Unleashed is a hack n' slash where almost every combo works unless if it is an enemy who is resistant to specific attacks. I love the fighting in this game, it doesn't get old with all the Lightning and Push configurations as well as grabs it's just plain fun. Honestly my favorite combo in the game is the simplest one, Lightsaber once + Push. The enemy AI is something that could of been done a little better, on harder difficultys they do more damage but they are the same intelligence wise on Apprentice mode. The QTE are meh... I mean on boss fights they are awesome but seeing the same thing over and over again on the Rancors and AT-STs are just like bleh, if you could choose your finisher I believe that would of been great like once the enemies get to a low enough health you can grip them and do something special with each one.
8.7/10
Design: TFU is an absolutely stunning game. I am playing the PS3 version and I was just blown away by how good it looked, there were some occasional slow downs on the Darth Vader intro but other than that smooth as a whistle. There have been some glitches for me where the enemies get stuck in a wall or even me haha but it's pretty solid in the bug area. The DMM works great nothing wrong with it, fun to mess around with plants on Kashyyyk and Felucia and glass and just eradicating the interior of buildings. The euphoria is very fun to mess with but doesn't get good til you chain people together more easily later in the game. The engine will be insane next generation since it will be able to animate probably everything in the environment with them supercomputer consoles. The planets I wish they would of gone into more depth in. I hated the fact that you revisited 2 of the planets, I would of love to of seen maybe a Tatooine or Dantooine.
9.1/10
Story: It's Star Wars, it's awesome, any fan will love it. Both endings are good and you will be happy to just play the game to see the story. It has all the elements which the movie had just much shorter cutscene wise. But sometimes what happens in the story doesn't seem to make much sense but other than that it is great.
9.4/10
Audio: John's pieces that are placed in here are definately rememorable and the new pieces are fantastic (I love TFU theme). The sound effects are top notch especially the lightning in the game later on.
10/10
Entertainment & Lasting Appeal: This game is great because you can pick it up wherever and have fun with it, the holocrons give you some replayability to play again as well as optional sidequests. I have played through the game twice and still find it enjoying. But the whole story may seem to short for others to play through again after they have done both endings.
9.1
Overall: 9.3
You will have fun with this game and enjoy the story if you are a fan. If you like complete destruction and ripping enemies brutaly you will enjoy this game. It is the first Next-Gen Star Wars game and I believe it was a good start and hopefully will bring other great games to us in the future.
*Side-Note, MAJOR SPOILER*
I have to say the worst part of the game is easily the bringing down the Star Destroyer. It was the most frustrating that I think I have ever had to do in a video game. I won't explain how it works but trust me, once you get there it will be rather annoying, they could of made of what should be the greatest scene in video game history into rubbish.
You're saying that the game kicks ass as long as you've never played a good Star Wars game. That's stinkin' thinkin'. A game should pretty well be able to stand on it's own using its established setting to accentuate its polished and inventive gameplay. It should not rely on fond memories of a franchise as life support to generate inflated, biased reviews in its favor. I can't in good conscience condone of a slanted review no matter if it's subject material I know and love.