Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a 2008 multimedia project created by LucasArts, in collaboration with Dark Horse Comics, Del Rey, LEGO, Hasbro, and Palace Press. It was originally slated for release in 2007, and billed as "the Expanded Universe multimedia event of 2007". However, problems in game development caused the project to be delayed until 2008. The project was created with the direct input and guidance of Star Wars creator George Lucas. Similar to Shadows of the Empire over a decade earlier and The Clone Wars a few years earlier, it features products across different lines, all covering the same story. This includes two games, a game guide, a novel, a graphic novel, a toy line, a reference book, a Miniatures set, and an RPG supplement.

A sequel to the video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, was announced during Spike's 2009 Video Game Awards. The video game, as well as an accompanying novel and graphic novel, were all released in October 2010.

Main story
The Force Unleashed features a young man by the name of Galen Marek (codenamed "Starkiller"), the secret Sith apprentice of Darth Vader, and his missions as such in the year 2 BBY. At the beginning of the game, Darth Vader led the forces of the Galactic Empire against the revolting Wookiees on Kashyyyk, searching for a Jedi Knight that Vader had sensed. At the end of the level, Vader finds a young Starkiller, choosing him as his apprentice.

Starkiller is dispatched by Vader to eliminate several Jedi who survived Order 66. His first target is Rahm Kota, who used militia instead of clones and thus survived Order 66. Starkiller sets out with his pilot Juno Eclipse and droid Proxy in order to track Kota down. This first level takes place on board a TIE-Fighter construction station in orbit around Nar Shaddaa. After defeating a large number of both militia and stormtroopers alike (causing this level to in fact be one of the hardest to beat on Sithlord difficulty, Starkiller finds the general, and defeats him in a fierce saber duel. However, as he is about to be executed, Kota predicts that Vader won't always be Starkiller's master, and that someday Kota will be instead. Starkiller casts Kota out of the burning space station and leaves, taking Kota's lightsaber as proof of his defeat and apparent death.

Vader, still not convinced of Starkillers ability, turns him loose on the junk world 'Raxus Prime' where he hunts down an insane jedi master who has constructed an army of junk monsters and titans. Destroying these with his new-found lightening abilities and destroying a large number of scavengers in the process, Starkiller ascends an enormous junk tower to find the Jedi Master - 'Kazden Paratus' talking to junk statues of the jedi council, saying he will defend them against this 'sith trash'. After defeating 'Kazden Paratus' Starkiller is informed that he will have one more test before he can join Vader in a hostile take over of the empire against palpatine, namely, another Jedi Master - 'Shaak Ti'.

This final test takes place on the world of Felucia, a gargantuan landscape dominated by enormous mushrooms, plants and the mouth of the oldest living Sarlaac. After fighting his way past felucian natives trained by master Shaak Ti, Starkiller makes his way past rancors and the occasional shaman to the mouth of the Sarlaac, making use of his newly discovered repulse abilities. There he encounters the Jedi in question and defeats both her, some aiding felucians and the Sarlaac itself. Interestingly, felucians have the ability to counter lightsaber strikes using their blade-like arms without physical damage.

Returning with another lightsaber to add to his collection and Shaak Ti's ominous final words 'The Sith...Always betray one another, but you'll learn that soon enough' ringing in his ears, Starkiller returns to Vader and learns that they will now face the Emperor. This turns out to be a trap and it is revealed that Palpatine knows all about Starkiller, Vader is instructed to kill his apprentice to prove that he is still loyal to the empire and to the Emperor. Vader apparently does so, impaling starkiller on his lightsaber, throwing him around the room and finally blasting him out of a window into space, apparently dead, his body is recovered by a medical droid shortly after.

Starkiller awakens onboard an enormous medical station that proxy has set on a collision course for a nearby sun. Starkiller is instructed to escape the facility by Vader and to begin building a rebel alliance to kill the Emperor. Vader claims that this was his original plan all along, and that it was necessary so that he could train an apprentice to help him without Palpatines knowledge. Grudgingly accepting this, Starkiller escapes, after significant combat with evo-troopers who can resist his lightning based abilities and large heavy troopers resembling large robots, with his pilot Juno for whom he is developing feelings against the advice of proxy.

Starkiller heads to cloud city where he encounters Master Rahm Kota, now blind after his near fatal battle and together they escape after more fights with new enemies wielding lightsabers and having limited force ability. They resemble imperial guards but with less cloak and more armour, their lightsabers are mounted on the staff's they carry.

After rescuing Master Kota, Starkiller gains his trust and heads to rescue what is referred to as an 'important contact' on the wookiee homeworld. After battling more troopers to a large defensible building, starkiller learns that this is none other than Princess Leia, the daughter of Kota's contact. After helping her escape, Starkiller murders the head of the military on the planet, a hunter of wookiees, and wins the freedom of the wookiee nations. (Scenes showing much cheering and the destruction of the slave built 'Sky hook' are shown)

Finally, it is learned that the contact that Kota was relying on has vanished, heading to Felucia to look for Master Shaak Ti. Starkiller returns there to find it has become corrupted by the dark side. He battles his way past dark felucians and a large garrison of Stormtroopers. He heads inside the Sarlaac from earlier in the game and after passing through its digestive system, emerges to find the contact, revealed to be senator Bail Organa trapped by Shaak Ti's former apprentice, now sith, Maris Brood. After defeating both her and her 'pet', an enormous bull rancor. Starkiller releases Maris and she flees to places unknown to recover and leave the dark side forever.

After a meeting of rebels orchestrated by Bail Organa, Vader arrives and kills a large number of rebel leaders and attempts to murder starkiller, revealing that this was merely a plot to destroy an hint of rebellion.

After a level on the Death Star which is nearing completion, Starkiller confronts Vader, defeats him and is then given a choice. Kill Vader or Save the rebellion.

If Vader is killed, starkiller turns on both Vader and the emperor, but is anticipated and knocked unconscious. All the rebels are murdered and Starkiller, Destroyed by guilt and hopelessness, becomes an assassin for the emperor.

If the emperor is attacked, he is defeated but not killed. Instead, the rebels escape and Starkiller is apparently murdered by the emperor, to become a Martyr for the rebellion.