Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the latest episode in the exciting Star Wars series, has just been released. Although it’s not a perfect PSP game, it’s a great title for any PSP gamer who is a Star Wars fan.

The plot of The Force Unleashed is pretty standard Star Wars stuff. You play as Starkiller, Darth Vader’s secret apprentice who does his bidding behind the back of The Emperor. You’re on a mission to track down the last of the Jedi.

The story takes place between Star Wars Episodes III & IV, and is over in less than 8 hours. It contains multiple twists, features some friendly and not-so-friendly faces, and is both explosive and remarkably intimate.

The first thing you’ll notice about The Force Unleashed is that it’s a very user-friendly PSP game. From Darth Vader’s infamous death grip to the new Force Repulse move, veteran PSP gamers will have no problem mastering the game’s control scheme, as it’s very similar to past Star Wars games.

Novice gamers can use the tutorial levels to learn the basics, and to cause even less confusion in the midst of battle various items and set pieces come equipped with a blue force field, letting you know you can use your Force powers on them.

Using your Force powers to counter Jedi attacks can be difficult because of the game’s auto-targeting system. So it demands a little attention to what object or enemy you’ve locked on to in combat. For example, sometimes you may threw an item into nothing but air or accidentally grab an item that you don’t intend to, thus creating an open attack for the Jedi to openly attack you. Persistence is the key to the boss battles, so discover what powers work for you and go with it!

Every time you kill a foe or destroy an object in this PSP game, their life energy will be used to upgrade your Force powers and array of abilities. But as you get more Force powers, the game amps up the challenge so you’re not plowing through the opposition like paper dolls, which might keep the game fun for you.

You can also modify the intensity of the lightsaber as well as its color by collecting and using unique color crystals acquired in combat. Perhaps, this will give you the impression that Starkiller’s powers are constantly growing throughout the game, making it a much more personal experience.

Some battle scenes tend to be harder than others, as certain enemies are immune to specific Force powers, so remember to change up your moves instead of sticking with the same one or two slash attacks.

Now for the best part of the PSP version of The Force Unleashed: ‘historic missions’. Historic missions is PSP exclusive, and basically saves the game from being an automatic weekly rental to an overnighter. You re-enact scenes from the films with all the force powers. So basically go nuts and have fun. It’s more challenging then the single player campaign due to having a more modest number of health pickups per scenario.

There is also Force Duel Mode which is exactly what it sounds like and Order 66, which is like a survival mode. These short but sweet modes work well with the portable aspect of the PSP unlike the single player campaign that has hardly any save points during a level.

But what is Star Wars without its superb sound effects? Playing with a set of good headphones transports you directly into the Star Wars universe with every light saber crash, blaster shot and alien conversation that you would expect in a movie presentation of Star Wars.

The familiar sounds of blasters and sabers are still the same, and there’s even some exciting new sounds and fantastic new dialog from the game’s cast of characters. The voice acting is all quite good, and the voiceovers of the famous scenes seem to be lifted directly from the films.

Graphically, the game looks excellent on the PSP and the visuals are pretty well done for a PSP game. Character models and environments are rendered competently, although some low-resolution textures pop up in places. Force powers are all rendered in an over-the-top style that makes them feel really menacing, with lots of sparks and warped space-time.

I would have to say the graphics are the best yet for the Star Wars series on the PSP, but as most fans know, with Lucas Arts you tend to expect the best.

Multiplayer adds further value, and though it isn’t a make-it or break-it feature in this case, it’s good fun, letting you slash up and fling around up to three other local participants, assuming that they all have copies of this PSP game.

Overall, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a PSP game you’ll enjoy playing, even if you’re not a Star Wars fan.