Star Wars The Force Unleashed, which from here on in I'm going to refer to as Star Wars FU (which ironically, after experiencing Jar Jar Binks, a big FU was one of the feelings fans wanted to share with George Lucas), is the latest in a long, long line of Star Wars games that have been with us almost since gaming began in a galaxy far, far away.

While almost everyone I know wants a new instalment of Tie Fighter or even more-so, X-Wing Alliance, the last few years of Star Wars games have seen a constant dribbling of subpar Bantha fodder with Pod Racing being one that still sticks horribly in my mind. The exceptions have been the Battlefront, Jedi Knight series and Knights of the Old Republic which is one of my personal all time favourites on the trusty old Xbox 1.

I'm sad to report though that dreams of massive X-Wing, A-Wing and Tie Fighter battles in Xbox 360 graphical sexiness over Xbox Live will have to be put on hold. This latest game in the Star Wars series takes place somewhere between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope and puts players in the boots of "Star Killer”, Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice. Apparently Order 66 didn't get rid of as many of those pesky goody two-shoes Jedi as the Emperor intended and Vader has tasked you to head out and track a few of them down for work experience.

Being a "Secret” Apprentice definitely sounds cool but has the added issue of severely increasing your workload (your secret status needs to be maintained after all). Therefore it's not only up to you to take down all the Rebel troops that you come across, but also every single Storm Trooper as well and accomplishing each mission will see you force pushing, force lifting, force lightning(ing?) and lightsabering everyone you come across through some incredible looking Star Wars locations.

It's these locations, the always outstanding music and voice acting with some solid story telling that lifts Star Wars FU and makes it a very enjoyable game. Going the extra step and making this the story in the recent Clone Wars animated feature would have probably gone quite far in redeeming Star Wars in the eyes of the many fans sick of the sound of that whiny Anakin Skywalker. As a matter of fact, Sam Witwer (the actor that voices, and whose likeness Star Killer is based on) is a nice change from the blandness that is Hayden Christensen and does quite a solid job in the role (in as far as acting in a video game allows). Apparently a novelisation of the story is on the way, and while not by Timothy Zahn, it will definitely be worth a read as fans are no doubt pretty eager for anything taking place in that Episode 3 to Episode 4 gap.

But, it's not the story telling and Sam Witwer that's been the subject of all the pre-release discussion around Star Wars FU. It's been the use of an all new A.I system and a funky new physics engine called DMM (Digital Molecular Matter) combined with a bunch of kick arse ‘unleashed' Force abilities that everyone has been waiting to get stuck into. DMM is a new system, used for the first time in Star Wars FU that aims to give objects in the game properties and behaviour just like their real world counterparts. Timber breaks and splinters like real wood, glass shatters and breaks like real glass, plants wobble when brushed against or metal objects can bend or be as rigid as needed.

DMM, working alongside the ever reliable Havok physics engine, with the new A.I creates not only wobbly new plant filled levels or bendy metal but enemies with an elevated sense of self preservation. A lot of XBW readers may have seen the pre-release videos of Storm Troopers holding hands while spinning through the air and luckily, it seems like it's been toned down just a bit. Force Grip one of the countless grunt troops and if they're near a ledge or a crate they'll do their best to try and grab it to avoid flying to their doom. As mentioned, it looks quite cool but feels weird when for some reason you can't seem to break some Troopers grip on a hand rail, yet you've got the Force power to yank a Tie Fighter out of the air. As Yoda mentioned, size matters not - doesn't it? In this case it seems to be slightly working in reverse from time to time. DMM is a cool technology though, used pretty well here and it will be interesting to see it develop in future games.

Running through the levels, force blasting grunts left right and centre is enjoyable and anyone that's played through the Jedi Knight series will be instantly familiar with what's expected of you. The levels are amongst some of the best looking yet seen on the Xbox 360 and the only complaint is that a couple of them are "re-visited” towards the end of the game. While it's not handled as poorly as in some other games that have done this, I can sympathise with some Star Wars fans that may feel slightly cheated. With the wealth of worlds and content to draw from, surely LucasArts could have included at least one more place to visit? Perhaps Alderaan, it's not blown up yet in this game so why not? It would have been extremely cool to visit Aldera or somewhere like the Castle Lands as they're just some of the areas in the Star Wars universe that have never been explored or experienced by gamers, hell – or even movie goers!

The levels included do look absolutely fantastic though and as you blast your way through them you'll earn Force Points which go towards upgrading your combo moves, Force Powers and your health as well as defensive powers. Scattered throughout each of the levels are Jedi Holocrons which will give you a Force Points bonus or unlock new crystals to alter the colour of your Lightsaber or give it a special ability. While the upgrading in no way resembles anything from a RPG it's a worthwhile feature that offers up plenty of new moves to learn and try out. After the end of my first run through I still hadn't maxed out the Force Powers or unlocked all the combo moves so there's room there for a few replays if you want to fully "Unleash” Star Killer or grab the achievements for playing through on each difficulty.

And while discussing replay value, playing through again to go achievement hunting or simply for the enjoyment of slaughtering countless Storm Troopers, of many varieties, Rebels and anything else that gets in your way, in terms of replay value that's it. Unfortunately Star Wars FU has absolutely no multiplayer modes and no cooperative modes of any kind whatsoever. Now while not every game needs multiplayer, a massive part of the history of Star Wars gaming has been about just that. Jumping online in the Jedi Knight games running around with Lightsabers and your friends was always a blast and is a disappointing omission. The Wii version has a Duel mode with 5 extra levels and if multiplayer can be included in the PSP version then there's simply no excuse for the Xbox 360 completely missing out. I don't want to sound too dirty but I'd be lying if I said that it's not missed.

Now without trying to finish on a downer, as there's so much about this game that I really enjoyed. At times it looks amazing but as well as the lack of multiplayer there is a problem with the targeting system that will drive you nuts at times. It's not always an issue, but when a fast moving puzzle relies on a system that's inaccurate and unwieldy there can be some teeth gnashing. The other issue is the glitches when you'll get stuck on some part of the scenery or knocked down for the fifth time by some enemies ranged attack that hits you just as you're getting back up. Lastly, and it has to be mentioned – and the question asked, is why in a game that's all about unleashing hell, and your fury via the Force, do the boss battles have to end with those terrible QTE (Quick Time Events)? I for one absolutely loathe them and they're so out of place in this game that one wonders at the reasoning behind their inclusion. There's also one other boss battle that on paper, must have sounded amazing but unfortunately its implementation in the game is too drawn out, confusing and through poor design choice, kills what should have been one of the highlights of the game.

Well I hate to say it but I guess I am going to have to finish on a downer because there is another glitch in the game that, weeks after its release, there is still no update for – and is a terrible oversight from LucasArt's testing department. On some of the levels, and I noticed it on the last one (other people have noticed it earlier in the game), there is a bug with the level objectives. For some reason no matter how many Holocrons I collected in the game's final level, it persisted in telling me that I hadn't collected any, wouldn't tally up how many Force Points I'd earned and listed my Bonus Objectives as "Default Text”. In this day and age, that just doesn't cut it and quite frankly, for a game from LucasArts, is almost unforgiveable. It's shame because as mentioned, I loved playing through Star Wars FU, but the glitches are numerous and in your face. For the record, I actually hurt inside giving this game the score that I have, there's a great time to be had here, but the number of glitches really hurt it.