The Force Unleashed - updated impressions

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The next mission we saw took place on Felucia, the fungal world where Jedi Knight Aayla Secura met her demise in Episode III. Shaak Ti, initially believed to have been killed in the raid on the Jedi Temple, is discovered to be training the Force-sensitive natives of the mushroom planet - something Vader clearly can't allow. Using Force Push on giant mushrooms looked like mind-bending fun, and proved that DMM works beautifully for soft, rubbery stuff. During a fight with a Rancor and a legion of Felucian warriors and Force-powered Shaman, we were also introduced to one of many "Force combos": the Lightning Bomb. It goes something like this: Force Grip a hapless enemy, zap him with Lightning and toss him into another enemy. Upon impact, he’ll explode in a ball of lightning, killing them both. Bringing the Rancor to its knees triggered a brutal, God of War-style finishing sequence, and while there's no penalty for failing the timed button presses (the creature will still die), success means a more cinematic payoff.

While button-mashing your way through lightsaber brawls is certainly an option, there are plenty of more refined tactics available. Great care has been taken to integrate Force powers with the lightsaber, enabling you to do stuff like hurling the ‘saber at a Force-Gripped foe to impale him, or charging it up with Force Lightning for extra damage. If the insane freedom of using ramped-up Force powers isn't incentive enough on its own, creating combos with your powers will add crucial style bonuses to hasten The Secret Apprentice along the path to Sith-hood.