Star Wars: The Force Unleashedcomes to the Switch in April, which is great news. It’s far from a perfect game, but in its time,Star Wars: The Force Unleashedwas a major milestone in the progression ofStar Warsgames thanks to its variety of offensive Force powers, intense melee combat, and lightsaber customization. While it isn’t canonical,Force Unleashed’s story also offers one interesting possibility for how the Rebellion against the Empire began. What’s more, Aspyr and Lucasfilm Games’Force Unleashedport inspires some hope that theForce Unleashedfranchise will get a second wind in the coming years, long after a third game got canceled.
However, one has to wonder if a port of the original Wii game is the best way to revive the franchise, or if a Switch remake would have been better. Putting the Wii version on the Switch is great for certain reasons; for instance, the Switch canemulate the Wii version’s empowering movement controls. However,The Force Unleashedis well over a decade old, and there’s a few significant ways that it hasn’t aged well; with only one trailer for the game so far, it’s hard to say just how much Aspyr will fix. As such,The Force Unleashedmay have been better off getting rebuilt from the ground up.
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The Force Unleashed’s Shortcomings
Certain parts ofThe Force Unleashed’s Wii version weren’t serious issues in their time, but have become unfavorable over time. For one thing,The Force Unleashedis an extremely narrow, linear game. Players move through a strict set of levels with few side paths to explore and no opportunity to replay previous levels without restarting the game. That campaign design is bound to feel claustrophobic compared to modernStar Warsgames likeStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.It’s also worth acknowledging that the Wii visuals ofThe Force Unleasheddon’t hold up too well nowadays. Many of the game’s characters have stiff animations and rough-edged, low-detail models that don’t look great compared to modern Switch games.
Perhaps most importantly,The Force Unleasheddeveloped something of a reputation among fans and critics for its bugs. Not everyForce Unleashedbug was game-breaking, but players still brought up a wide variety of issues, from faulty boss behavior to collectibles failing to register. Ideally, Aspyr will find fixes for the game’s issues, but until the game comes out, it’s impossible to say how many will slip through the cracks. A fullForce Unleashedremake could remedy these issues, opening up level design and polishing the game’s performance. Instead, Lucasfilm is just planningaForce Unleashedport.
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The Growing Star Wars Game Library
PortingForceUnleashedrather than remaking it is particularly significant because of how competitive theStar Warsspace is right now. Respawn Entertainment has multipleStar Warsprojects in development, Ubisoft has its ownopen-worldStar Warstitle, and Aspyr itself is also working on a remake ofStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.Force Unleashedwill beat these games to the punch since it’s releasing so soon, but if it’s held back by its original bugs and aging design, then it could quickly be forgotten as newStar Warsgames debut in the coming months and years. A full remake could’ve dodged those risks by givingForce Unleasheda fresh start.
Maybe Disney and Lucasfilm will consider investing in a properForce Unleashedremake if the port performs well.Star Warsis experiencing a renaissanceright now thanks to various new and upcomingStar Warsshows and movies, and that renaissance looks like it’ll persist for at least a few more years. That gives Lucasfilm some time to strike while the iron is hot. Opting for a port now instead of a remake certainly makes a laterForce Unleashedremake seem less likely, but hopefully Lucasfilm and Disney will see that a remake is whatForce Unleasheddeserves. As far asStar Warsgames go,The Force Unleashedis a classic. It just needs to be brought up to date.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashedreleases June 09, 2025 for Nintendo Switch.
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