You'll be able to get your hands on a demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed this Thursday on PSN. However, we had a chance to get an early look at the upcoming release. As with most every Star Wars game, there's a lot of excitement and anticipation over this upcoming LucasArts project -- in spite of the franchise's notorious legacy of mediocrity. However, fans have rallied for The Force Unleashed, due to its unique interpretation of Force powers, and the dark character that stars in it. Darth Vader's apprentice is, essentially, the Kratos of the Star Wars universe. Dark, brooding, conflicted ... and yet oh-so-powerful. Certainly, the premise has a lot going for it.
However, it becomes immediately apparent that The Force Unleashed isn't going to be the definitive Star Wars game that some are hoping it would be. The visuals are rather lackluster, with none of the environments, character models, or special effects looking beyond "par." Of course, it may be because of the demo: restricted to a rather clean, barren Imperial spaceship, there isn't much to see. Perhaps the game's later planetary levels will offer a bit more eye candy. Even the framerate didn't feel smooth -- and the camera seemed annoying, requiring manual adjustment throughout.