History YMMV / TheForceUnleashed

*** To a lesser extent in the tie-in comic, Starkiller wouldn't know what Juno really has to say about it no mater what Boba Fett tells her.

* FirstInstallmentWins: The first game is generally considered to be the best of the two due to the engaging story.

--> '''Emperor:''' You ''will'' give me the names of your friends, and your allies... Andthenyouwilldie.

** In ''The Force Unleashed II: DLC Edition'''s Endor mission, [[spoiler: the Dark Apprentice (that's the player character) kills Chewie and Han.]]
** You also [[spoiler:kill [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Princess Leia]] too.]]
** From the Ultimate Sith Edition's non-canonical extra missions, [[spoiler: you (as a fallen Starkiller) kill Ben Kenobi by stabbing him in the shoulder and disintegrating his body with the Millennium Falcon's engines. And ''then'' you destroy his Force Ghost with Sith Lightning for good measure. ''[[NoKillLikeOverkill Damn.]]'']]

** [[TheManBehindTheMan Emperor Palpatine]], aka Darth Sidious, is the despotic ruler of [[TheEmpire the Galactic Empire]]. Upon discovering that [[DragonWithAnAgenda Darth Vader]] had been training a secret apprentice, [[PlayerCharacter Starkiller]]--born Galen Marek--to overthrow him, Palpatine commands Vader to murder Starkiller to prove his loyalty. Initiating a plan to wipe out all enemies of his Empire, Palpatine, through Vader, manipulates a revived Starkiller into gathering all members of Rebellion in one place. After capturing the Rebels, Palpatine intends to torture information about their allies out of them and then execute them. When Starkiller arrives to save the Rebels and defeats Vader in a duel, Palpatine tries to convince him to kill Vader and become his new apprentice. In the game's non-canon Dark Side ending, where Starkiller kills Vader, Palpatine slaughters most of the rebel leaders, then orders Starkiller to kill the latter's own mentor, Jedi Rahm Kota. When Starkiller refuses, Palpatine responds by torturing him and having Starkiller rebuilt into a cyborg, outright saying that he intends to use Starkiller as a living weapon before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness casting him aside]] as soon as he finds someone better.

** [[TheManBehindTheMan Emperor Palpatine]], aka Darth Sidious, is the despotic ruler of the Galactic Empire. Upon discovering that [[DragonWithAnAgenda Darth Vader]] had been training a secret apprentice, [[PlayerCharacter Starkiller]]—born Galen Marek—to overthrow him, Palpatine commands Vader to murder Starkiller to prove his loyalty. Initiating a plan to wipe out all enemies of his Empire, Palpatine, through Vader, manipulates a revived Starkiller into gathering all members of Rebellion in one place. After capturing the Rebels, Palpatine intends to torture information about their allies out of them and then execute them. When Starkiller arrives to save the Rebels and defeated Vader in a duel, Palpatine tries to convince him to kill Vader and become his new apprentice. In the game's non-canon Dark Side ending, where Starkiller kills Vader, Palpatine slaughters most of the rebel leaders, then orders Starkiller to kill the latter's own mentor, Jedi Rahm Kota. When Starkiller refuses, Palpatine responds by torturing him and having Starkiller rebuilt into a cyborg, outright saying that he intends to use Starkiller as a living weapon before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness casting him aside]] as soon as he finds someone better.

* CompleteMonster: Just like in the films, [[TheManBehindTheMan Emperor Palpatine]], aka Darth Sidious, is the despotic ruler of the [[TheEmpire Galactic Empire]]. Upon discovering that [[DragonWithAnAgenda Darth Vader]] had been training a secret apprentice, [[PlayerCharacter Starkiller]]--born Galen Marek--to overthrow him, Palpatine commands Vader to murder Starkiller to prove his loyalty. Initiating a plan to wipe out all enemies of his Empire, Palpatine, through Vader, manipulates a revived Starkiller into gathering all members of Rebellion in one place. After capturing the Rebels, Palpatine intends to torture information about their allies out of them and then execute them. When Starkiller arrives to save the Rebels and defeats Vader in a duel, Palpatine tries to convince him to kill Vader and become his new apprentice. In the game's non-canon Dark Side ending, where Starkiller kills Vader, Palpatine slaughters most of the rebel leaders, then orders Starkiller to kill the latter's own mentor, Jedi Rahm Kota. When Starkiller refuses, Palpatine responds by torturing him and having Starkiller rebuilt into a cyborg, outright saying that he intends to use Starkiller as a living weapon before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness casting him aside]] as soon as he finds someone better.

** The [=PS2=]/Wii/PSP version of the original tried to compensate for the unsettling graphics and smaller levels imposed by hardware limitations by adding in more levels in all 3 versions and motion controls for the lightsaber in the Wii version, but the extra levels were poorly done and became unwelcome ''Padding'' and the incompetent wiimote controls often turned the game into a LuckBasedMission.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The physics engine is impressive, but it sometimes will lead to hilarious results. Such as a bent metal beam wobbling around on its own like it's made of rubber.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: At the beginning of the second game, when the clone of Starkiller questions why he's having such distressing visions and recollections, Darth Vader explains that the cloning process is incomplete and that, like the clones before him, this Starkiller is fated to be driven mad by the memories of the dead man he was cloned from. Due to his armor, we can't see his face during this conversation, but Vader's body language and tone seem somewhat and surprisingly ''remorseful'' up until Starkiller turns on him. Was he pitying the clone that seemingly had no chance to live a mentally-stable life due to the flawed methods of its creation, did he actually just feel annoyed that even after all this time and all these permutations the process ''still'' isn't working, or [[TakeAThirdOption was it a combination of the two]]? [[SubvertedTrope Or was he just feigning that so Starkiller wouldn't see his backstab coming?]]

* MemeticMutation: "Your feelings for her are not real." "THEY ARE REAL TO ME!!" [[labelnote:Explantion]]Recently, it's become [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Qh38x2xBE something of a joke]] to post the above two lines alongside a picture of a (usually female) fictional character to demonstrate a fan's PerverseSexualLust.[[/labelnote]]

* CompleteMonster: [[TheManBehindTheMan Emperor Palpatine]], aka Darth Sidious, is the despotic ruler of the Galactic Empire. Upon discovering that [[DragonWithAnAgenda Darth Vader]] had been training a secret apprentice, [[PlayerCharacter Starkiller]]--born Galen Marek--to overthrow him, Palpatine commands Vader to murder Starkiller to prove his loyalty. Initiating a plan to wipe out all enemies of his Empire, Palpatine, through Vader, manipulates a revived Starkiller into gathering all members of Rebellion in one place. After capturing the Rebels, Palpatine intends to torture information about their allies out of them and then execute them. When Starkiller arrives to save the Rebels and defeats Vader in a duel, Palpatine tries to convince him to kill Vader and become his new apprentice. In the game's non-canon Dark Side ending, where Starkiller kills Vader, Palpatine slaughters most of the rebel leaders, then orders Starkiller to kill the latter's own mentor, Jedi Rahm Kota. When Starkiller refuses, Palpatine responds by torturing him and having Starkiller rebuilt into a cyborg, outright saying that he intends to use Starkiller as a living weapon before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness casting him aside]] as soon as he finds someone better.

* AnticlimaxBoss: [[InvokedTrope Done on purpose]] in the first game’s Dark Side ending. The Light Side ending requires that you EarnYourHappyEnding by fighting the TrueFinalBoss ([[spoiler:Emperor Palpatine]]) in a duel far more difficult than anything before it. The Dark Side Ending is an underwhelming quick time event against [[spoiler:a weak and near-defenseless Darth Vader]] that allows Starkiller to [[EvilIsEasy easily get revenge]] against [[spoiler:his old master]], but doesn’t feel satisfying in the slightest. This point is driven home soon after when [[spoiler:Palpatine almost immediately attacks Starkiller, murders all of his friends and [[HistoryRepeats turns him into a twisted man-machine hybrid living on borrowed time]]]].

* AnticlimaxBoss: [[InvokedTrope Done on purpose]] in the first game’s Dark Side ending. The Light Side ending requires that you EarnYourHappyEnding by fighting the TrueFinalBoss ([[spoiler:Emperor Palpatine]]) in a duel far more difficult than anything before it. The Dark Side Ending is an underwhelming quick time event against [[spoiler:a weak and near-defenseless Darth Vader]] that allows Starkiller to [[EvilIsEasy easily get revenge]] against [[spoiler:his old master]], but doesn’t feel satisfying in the slightest. This point is driven home soon after when [[spoiler:Palpatine immediately betrays Starkiller and [[HistoryRepeats turns him into a twisted man-machine hybrid living on borrowed time]]]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: In the sequel, Starkiller flees Kamino in Darth Vader's fighter, the TIE Advanced x1 prototype, which has deflector shields, a low-grade hyperdrive, and no life support system (it's Vader's ship, and [[{{Cyborg}} being Vader]], he always has one on). Although Starkiller does show up in the next level in an Imperial Pilot's uniform. Maybe Vader had a spare for his valet?
** Alternatively, the spare flight suit was just a design redundancy from when Seinar was planning it as a production model. They included a spare flight suit in designing it, and there wasn't any reason to take it out, so it was left in there. Plus, it may have been left in for the off chance that Vader were to die (say, he got taken out by a Jedi he was hunting, or gunned down by an ambush), and someone else were to be given the fighter.

* FakeDifficulty[=/=]NintendoHard[=/=]GuideDangIt: All at once! Inexact controls, difficulty with the autotarget mechanism, occasionally-slow-to-react cameras (split seconds count in boss fights), the tutorial level giving the novice player an inflated sense of confidence ("Click lightsaber spam to win!") can make this game more challenging in ways that aren't related to enemies/AI. May count as a PortingDisaster on PC.

* DemonicSpiders: Imperial Purge Troopers in the first game and their insanely precise [[ShoulderCannon shoulder-mounted]] homing lasers. Their shots are unblockable, are harder to dodge than anything any boss will throw at you and will easily perform nigh-immediate 180 degree turns to smack you in the event that you do somehow manage to duck under or jump over one of them successfully. Oh, and if the shot hits you, it'll take about 20% off your health and knock you down. If you ''dared'' to jump in an attempt to dodge it, the knockback effect will last long enough for him to shoot it at you again, this time without any chance at all for you to avoid it. If you manage to get close to them, however, they're easier to kill, at least if you're fighting them alone. Now imagine, if you will, facing off against ''four'' of these guys at a time, each one at a different range. It gets a tad hard to get through something like that.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The fanbase seems to absolutely adore Maris Brood even though she was a minor character in the first game. You can even see people claiming for her return in the sequel.

* GoddamnBats: In the Wii game, any enemy using a jet pack. They can't be thrown, have an impossible-to-block flamethrower (for close range), encourage you to whack them with your saber (in which case, they blast you with a flamethrower), have tons of hit points, and can attack you while you electrocute them. Luckily, you can quickly kill them by dangling them over a ledge and impaling them.

* PlayerPunch: In ''The Force Unleashed II: DLC Edition'''s Endor mission, [[spoiler: the Dark Apprentice (that's the player character) kills Chewie and Han.]]

* PortingDisaster: The company responsible for the PC port did the absolute minimum necessary to have the game run on a computer. The system requirements are ridiculously high, the graphics and controls have to be changed before launching the game (and the graphics options are limited to screen resolution) and the game itself is riddled with bugs and prone to [=CTDs=]. Oh, and game data is duplicated for each level, making the full game take '''27 GB''' of disk space. Not to mention the fact that if you change the key bindings (which you can only do in the game launcher), while you have to use the new keys in QTE's ''it doesn't show the button change,'' forcing you to memorize what you mapped the old key to! It's a direct port and nothing more. The second game did much better, although in that case it was developed alongside other console versions and not just blindly ported.

* {{Padding}}: The key criticism of ''Force Unleashed II'' is that it had a half-hour of substance stretched to four hours, resulting in a game that is too short to justify the cost and yet feels like it lasts eons. One level, Dagobah, is a very short run that leads to a cutscene. The levels on the ''Salvation'' are especially egregious, because the game forces you to play through most of the level ''twice'' (albiet in reverse the second time) to finish it.
** The Jedi Temple levels added to the Wii, [=PS2=], and PSP versions have no bearing on the main story, on top of being poorly designed, and are only there as a attempt to make up for the hardware limitations of the respective systems.

** The [=PS2=]/Wii/PSP version of the original tried to compensate for the UncannyValley graphics and smaller levels imposed by hardware limitations by adding in more levels in all 3 versions and motion controls for the lightsaber in the Wii version, but the extra levels were poorly done and became unwelcome ''Padding'' and the incompetent wiimote controls often turned the game into a LuckBasedMission.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The second game looks much better and plays far smoother. It also applies to the Wii port of the first game, which used waggle styled motion controls for swinging the lightsaber, which proved unpopular with Wii-owning Star Wars fans due to the action in the game being very frequent to the point of tiring arms (and not offering 1-to-1 styled controls that games like ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' would later benefit from). The sequel, handled by another company, instead used standard button presses for attacks, making it more appealing to gamers who don't like waggle. The Wii sequel also saw much better graphics that averted the below mentioned UncannyValley problem, and unique level designs.

* UncannyValley: The [=SD=] versions' character models are unable to produce ''[[DullSurprise any]]'' emotion whatsoever.

* InformedWrongness: * Many players feel that a lot of the "evil" player choices in this series just veer too far into this territory instead. The first game's Light Side ending paints Starkiller as HeWhoFightsMonsters if he kills [[spoiler:Palpatine]]... Never mind that (A) Starkiller has repeatedly used Dark Side methods and powers for good purposes before (including in this very battle) anyway, (B) he clearly just wants to finally be rid of this complete {{Sociopath}} rather than outright replace him, (C) [[spoiler:Palpatine]] has frequently proven throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise that his continued survival is only an overwhelming negative for the Galaxy, and (D) [[spoiler:Palpatine]] is not above [[ISurrenderSuckers feigning defenselessness]] to throw the good guys off guard, which means he remains an active threat so long as he's alive, [[spoiler: and he proves this less than ten seconds later in this very scene, forcing Starkiller to make a HeroicSacrifice that [[StupidSacrifice would have been unnecessary]] if he had [[KillHimAlready just killed him]] without distraction when he had the chance]]. Likewise, the respective Dark Side ending paints Starkiller's decision to kill [[spoiler:Darth Vader]] as a MoralEventHorizon deserving of a [[spoiler:FateWorseThanDeath]]... even though (A) Starkiller has already suffered plenty in advance because of the guy; (B) [[spoiler:Vader]] here retains little-to-none of his famous NobleDemon qualities from other parts of the franchise; and (C) Starkiller still tries to help the good guys afterward, thus being more of an AntiHero instead of actually invoking FaceHeelTurn. And the sequel's Dark Side ending [[spoiler:doesn't even give the main Starkiller clone the chance to act on anything remotely consequence-worthy, simply giving him a DiabolusExMachina death right then and there (in the form of another Starkiller clone, the Dark Apprentice -- who, mind you, makes absolutely no appearance in the respective Light Side ending -- suddenly appearing and stabbing you from behind with his lightsaber)... In addition to this, the Dark Side ending also somehow results in the death of Juno; instead of merely being unconscious like she was during the Light Side ending, she's inexplicably dead]].

** Kazdan Paratus nearly always blocks all of your moves except Force Lightning, and, if you play on difficulty above normal, starts blocking Force Lightning too, if it's used repeatedly. He has hard to block light-lance attacks and can hit for about 70% of your life if he catches one of the objects lying around in his Force Push. He's not as bad in the Wii version, though, despite having a double-bladed lightsaber instead of his lightsaber pike. Taking his place however is [[spoiler:the ghost/hologram of Galen's father, Kento,]] who not only blocks every attack you throw at him, but also seems to move and react twice as fast as you.

** The [=PS2=]/Wii/PSP version of the original tried to compensate for the UncannyValley graphics and smaller levels imposed by hardware limitations by adding in more levels in all 3 versions and motion controls for the lightsaber in the Wii version, but the extra levels were poorly done and became unwelcome ''Padding'' and the incompetent wiimote controls often turned the game into a LuckBasedMission

* PortingDisaster: The company responsible for the PC port did the absolute minimum necessary to have the game run on a computer. The system requirements are ridiculously high, the graphics and controls have to be changed before launching the game (and the graphics options are limited to screen resolution) and the game itself is riddled with bugs and prone to [=CTDs=]. Oh, and game data is duplicated for each level, making the full game take '''27 GB''' of disk space. Not to mention the fact that if you change the key bindings (which you can only do in the game launcher btw), while you have to use the new keys in QTE's ''it doesn't show the button change,'' forcing you to memorize what you mapped the old key to! It's a direct port and nothing more. The second game did much better, although in that case it was developed alongside other console versions and not just blindly ported.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A common treatment of Starkiller's adventures given he retcons so much about the early Rebellion. [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-starkiller-fits-into-expanded.html Other fans, vehemently disagree.]] Nevertheless, with the acquisition of Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company, the game, as well as other Expanded Universe stories, have been declared [[Main/CanonDiscontinuity Canon Discontinuity]], much to the [[Main/BrokenBase dismay of some fans.]]

* DemonicSpiders: Imperial Purge Troopers in the first game and their insanely precise [[ShoulderCannon shoulder-mounted]] homing lasers. Their shots are unblockable, are harder to dodge than anything any boss will throw at you and will easily perform nigh-immediate 180 degree turns to smack you in the event that you do somehow manage to duck under or jump over one of them successfully. Oh, and if the shot hits you, it'll take about 20% off your health and knock you down. If you ''dared'' to jump in an attempt to dodge it, the knock back effect will last long enough for him to shoot it at you again, this time without any chance at all for you to avoid it. If you manage to get close to them, however, they're easier to kill, at least if you're fighting them alone. Now imagine, if you will, facing off against ''four'' of these guys at a time, each one at a different range. It gets a tad hard to get through something like that.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheManBehindTheMan Emperor Palpatine]], aka Darth Sidious, is the despotic ruler of the Galactic Empire. Upon discovering that [[DragonWithAnAgenda Darth Vader]] had been training a secret apprentice, [[PlayerCharacter Starkiller]]--born Galen Marek--to overthrow him, Palpatine commands Vader to murder Starkiller to prove his loyalty. Initiating a plan to wipe out all enemies of his Empire, Palpatine, through Vader, manipulates a revived Starkiller into gathering all members of Rebellion in one place. After capturing the Rebels, Palpatine intends to torture information about their allies out of them and then execute them. When Starkiller arrives to save the Rebels and defeated Vader in a duel, Palpatine tries to convince him to kill Vader and become his new apprentice. In the game's non-canon Dark Side ending, where Starkiller kills Vader, Palpatine slaughters most of the rebel leaders, then orders Starkiller to kill the latter's own mentor, Jedi Rahm Kota. When Starkiller refuses, Palpatine responds by torturing him and having Starkiller rebuilt into a cyborg, outright saying that he intends to use Starkiller as a living weapon before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness casting him aside]] as soon as he finds someone better.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Darth Phobos dropping her Juno disguise in the middle of the battle.
** Starkiller defeats Darth Sidious in battle and has him dead to rights. Kota tries to talk him down from dealing the final blow, claiming that if he strikes him down in anger, he will only be back where he started. To repeat, he wants Starkiller to leave the Emperor, the man who wiped out the Jedi Order and single-handedly screwed over the rest of the galaxy, ''alive''. Unsurprisingly, Sidious revives and whips out his Force lightning, leading Starkiller to sacrifice himself.
** The climax of the second game has Vader using Juno to bring the Starkiller clone to heel. He makes it very clear that if Starkiller tries anything at all, Juno dies. He then takes his eyes off Juno, allowing her to take a swing at him with one of the fallen lightsabers. Instead of disarming her, Vader ''Force pushes her out the window'' to her supposed death. Having just killed his only bargaining chip, Vader proceeds to get licked by an enraged Starkiller.

* FoeYay: When he defeats her, Maris Brood actually seems to be trying to seduce Galen into sparing her life. Made [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160317034643/http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/e/e8/DirtyGirl.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20090402015925 more explicit]] in the comic adaptation.