Which Version of The Force Unleashed Should You Buy? (Steam Deck vs Nintendo Switch)

We all saw it in the latest Nintendo Direct in which Star Wars: The Force Unleashed received a trailer and an official release date — 20th of April. However excited you might be about it, it's worth having all of the information before you make a purchase.

These comparisons are going to be made between the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch, as the two versions not only differ slightly, but it'll work to compare two handheld consoles in case you want to play The Force Unleashed on the go.

With that all out of the way, the first thing I'd like to mention is...

Ports

First of all, we have to talk about ports. Although the Steam port was received poorly (mostly due to the underwhelming implementation of keyboard and mouse controls), this issue will mostly resolve itself with the Steam Deck. 

In contrast, the Nintendo Switch will be porting the Wii release of the game; one of the issues is that, comparatively, the graphics on the Wii version are a significant downgrade.

It's important to mention that the Nintendo Switch version seems to have received minor graphical improvements during the porting process, but it still does not compare to the Steam release, which (seemingly) was ported from the highly-praised Xbox 360 iteration.

Price

One of the most important factors to consider is the price of the game. Since The Force Unleashed was released in 2008 (14 years ago at the time of writing), it's important to keep in mind that a lot of these graphics are dated. With that in mind, you might want to pay a fair price according to what you'll be getting.

While on the Nintendo Switch the port for The Force Unleashed will cost £17.99, the Steam version costs £15.49. That all said, the cheapest way to get the game is through discount sites, such as Fanatical, which has a discount (at the time of writing)

Gameplay

As mentioned before in the Ports section, The Force Unleashed for the Nintendo Switch was ported from the Wii release; this brings some graphical challenges to face, but it also offers the opportunity to play the multiplayer mode found exclusively on the Wii. 

On the other hand, the Steam version is the "Ultimate Sith Edition", which contains two DLC (the Jedi Temple and Tatooine), along with a Hoth DLC available only through this release. With a quick peek at the Nintendo Switch description, it doesn't seem like any of these will be released on that version.

Which version should you buy?

If you're interested in the motion controls incorporated in the Wii port, the Nintendo Switch is the right call. That said, in the Wii release, the motion controls were mandatory, so this might be a good thing to keep in mind. On every other front, however, I'd buy the Steam version.

Not only does the Steam version have three DLC (including an exclusive one) and better graphics, it also is far less pricey due to massive discounts because of the game's age. The cheapest recorded price on Steamdb is £3.74, and countless discounts on sites like Fanatical are sure to have accessible prices. The price is personally a big factor, as the game is quite dated nowadays, and the Steam release is by far the best way to get the most bang for your buck.