Following a huge launch party in San Francisco, which George Lucas himself attended, the long-awaited new Star Wars title, the Force Unleashed, has been, well, unleashed.

Lucas Arts’ would-be breakthrough title was simultaneously launched for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, iPhone, mobile phone, N-Gage, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable. You’ll notice that there’s no PC version, yet. There are rumors, but those are… unsubstantiated.

The story, set between the times of Star Wars Episodes III and IV, sees the player assuming the role of Galen Marek, aka Starkiller, a boy with immense Force potential which has been discovered and trained by Darth Vader without the knowledge of Emperor Palpatine, and who Vader uses for undercover wetwork and covert ops, to eliminate all Jedi who survived the Episode III purge, and eventually to overthrow the Emperor. Starkiller is quite literally a force of nature, as a vast array of force powers are available to him, among which the most impressive are the telekinetic ones – Force Grip and Push allowing him to hurl around massive objects and enemies into each other, bring down bridges and even at one point crash a star destroyer from orbit. Unfortunately the game is plagued by sloppy control problems, such as the difficulty in properly targeting the powers, and even an instance (the aforementioned Star Destroyer incident) where incorrect instructions are given, leaving the player to guess the correct way to complete the objective.

Other problems include the relatively short gameplay, and the fact that the 12 missions get progressively repetitive and less detailed as the story progresses. The difficulty, by the way, is artificially increased in rather unpleasant ways, such as enemies suddenly developing immunity to some of your powers, or snipers who can pick you off from great distances. This makes the character, although gaining in the number and strength of Force powers, seem increasingly limited in options, and less of a bad-ass.

Speaking of that, we realize it is a matter of taste, but it seems that Starkiller is not all that evil, The Force Unleashed director Haden Blackman calling him "really just [a] damaged kid," and his journey eventually takes him down the path of redemption. You may or may not like this, but this character archetype has been used before in Star Wars, in the character of Darth Vader himself, who although was a villain, atoned for his wrongdoings in the end.

Technically the game is gorgeous, the levels are beautifully designed, even though they could do with a little more detail, and some bring classic Star Wars environments back, such as the lush forest-world Kashyyyk, which is the home of the Wookiees, while other new environs are beautiful and intriguing, and will draw the player in. The decaying and mysterious junk world comes to mind here. The motion-captured cut scenes make the characters believable and connected, while the voice acting is well-done, and in some cases classical Star Wars actors reprise their roles in this installment of the story.

If you can overlook the game’s small but cumulative blemishes, then this is a game you’ll enjoy playing, even if you’re not a Star Wars fan. If you are – you’re a Sith, you can bring down the house, what are you waiting for?