It’s easier to say with the first part of the Force Unleashed game, since the second was a cliffhanger that went unfinished. The first part storywise is excellent. The game mechanics are (naturally) overpowered, and it’s clear that it was designed for a controller, not a keyboard. There are variances in game versions, but the book is considered the canon version.
The Story
The story itself is an excellent journey, a basic reversal of Anakin Skywalker being raised good and seduced to evil. Starkiller was raised by a Sith and lured back to the light. The concept that Vader and the Emperor might lure their enemies into one spot for a strategic wipe out makes sense, based on their other methods. After all, if you can’t stop a resistance starting, you may as well infiltrate and subvert it from the start for the final blow.
I like the characters, both in the game and in the book. Juno Eclipse is intriguing, and I’d have liked to see more of her. Proxy is like a dual personality 3PO who has no idea his programmed mission is incompatible with care for his Master.
The Game
It was clearly designed to work best with a controller. There are differences between various platforms. For instance, some have a playable Raxus Prime level where you steer down a star destroyer for a crash landing. It’s fiendishly difficult and some other platforms just turned it into a cut scene. The Force powers are over-powered on purpose as a game mechanic. The lightsaber play isn’t as big as the powers and it is definitely no successor to the Dark Forces series in that respect.
The Force Unleashed Continuity
First off, we have the concept of Vader having an apprentice at all. This honestly isn’t uncommon according to the Expanded Universe, and even the Clone Wars Micro series. Dooku had acolytes such as Skorr and especially Ventress. Vader’s mentioned include Skye, Rillao, Hethrir, Flint and Shira Brie.
The Jedi hiding on Kashyyyk is hardly unusual. Quinlan Vos survived the initial attack there, and several other Jedi went there seeking Yoda after Order 66, including Roan Shryne. The Wookiees were strong supporters of the Jedi.
The founding of the Rebellion
The earliest mention of this is far back in West End Games Rebel Alliance sourcebook. Given that it was written before the prequels, based only on the brief ‘journal of the whills’ bit in the original novelization, it’s’ impressively accurate. Anyone reading the Revenge of the Sith novelization or checking out the cut scenes can see the actual Cantham House meeting in the movie. That said, not all cutscenes are considered canon: even in the book. Shaak Ti’s death was cut, and that is good for the game in the end as she proves a worthy nemesis early on. Including the main mentioned characters: Garm, Bail and Mon Mothma, ties it in nicely…almost.
The Catch of Continuity:
There are continuity issues. You can check here for a full article on the Founding of the Rebellion.
The biggest issue with Bail Organa comes from within the game itself. Leia was once held hostage against his actions. So if they knew he was a leader of the Alliance, they surely would’ve gone for her again to force his surrender. Yet, she continues on to become a Senator after this.
It’s well established all the way back in the Star Wars radio drama (it had no subtitle at the time) that Bail was still visited by Imperials and on Alderaan in his own palace right before Operation Skyhook and Leia’s mission to pick up the plans. There is no sign he was wanted by the Empire for treason at the time.
He interacted with Lord Tion, the Imperial Officer in charge of pacifying Toprawa when Leia found the rebel that confirmed the Death Star was operational. He and Leia are trying to gently trick information out of him, when Leia lets slip the name “Death Star” and Tion realizes only if they were rebels could they know it. This is also cross-referenced in the Empire comic books. So how could he go from ‘being on the run’ in The Force unleashed after being caught in the act, back to Alderaan without the average Imperial officer knowing he had an arrest warrant out?
Finally, with Bail Organa out of the way, they probably wouldn’t have needed to blow up the planet, since it’s also established the only reason it didn’t have an Imperial governor is that he was clever enough to avoid it. This involved hiding any obvious anti-imperial activity on the planet. For that matter, it’s unlikely he’d have been on the planet when it blew instead of actually with the Rebellion if he was forced on the run. It would be the first place they’d be looking for him, and it would’ve endangered his people.
Garm Bel-Iblis also was still in the Senate sometime after this point. He didn’t go on the run until after his family was assassinated.
The small one is the sarlaac. It’s pretty well-made clear in all other sources you can’t survive the thing, yet you not only have to go through one as Starkiller, but the Empire has actual supplies in it as if using it for a store room.
To be fair to the continuity, again, The story arc actually ends before this point.
The Sequel
The Force Unleashed 2 ends with an outright cliffhanger, Vader imprisoned by the Rebels thanks to Kota and the Starkiller clone. So it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that somehow the continuity editors couldn’t have pulled a magic trick out of the hat to ‘clear’ Bail of the charges. Sadly, we’ll never know now (along with the infuriating realization, we won’t know how Vader escaped. Rather a big thing to leave unaddressed!)
Rivi Anu in a Clone Wars digest also slows a Star Destroyer that is falling, much like Starkiller directing the one crashing in The Force Unleashed.
The Force Unleashed Merchandise
Like Shadows of the Empire, The Force Unleashed got a full release of action figures to go with it. It also got a full size Felucian Rancor, and an Evolutions 3 pack of Starkiller in various forms: standard apprentice, Jedi, and Sith.
There has also been an Art and Making of book which includes some nice cards in it.
Continuity references:
- Star Wars The Last of the Jedi Series by Jude Watson
- Star Wars Radio Drama based on George Lucas’s movie story, script by Brian Daley
- Star Wars Empire: Princess, Warrior story arc
- Incident at Darknell by Michael Stackpole (short story)
- Planet of Twilight by Barbara Hambly
- Star Wars Rebel Alliance Sourcebook (West End Games)
- Star Wars Essential Guide to Alien Species
- The Crystal Star by Vonda McIntyre
- Classic Marvel Star Wars comics
- Star Wars Republic comics
- Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
- Clone Wars Micro Series by Genndy Tartovsky
- Clone Wars Adventures 6 “To the Vanishing Point” – Rivi-Anu holds back a crashing star destroyer long enough for her allies to escape. This is similar to Starkiller ‘steering’ one in its crash landing in The Force Unleashed.
