The Force Unleashed hits the U.S. on Sept. 16, Southeast Asia and Australia on Sept. 17 and Europe on Sept 19., LucasArts announced today.

The game will have you playing as Darth Vader' s secret apprentice and takes place in the era between Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The game will have players assisting Vader in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi.

" Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of the most ambitious projects LucasArts has ever launched. The combination of a great new Star Wars story with revolutionary new technology and game play means more fun than you' ve ever had in the Star Wars universe," said Peter Hirschmann, Vice-President of Product Development, LucasArts. " We can' t wait until gamers get their hands on it this September."

LucasArts teamed up with Spike TV to air segments about the upcoming game during the channel' s upcoming showing of all six Star Wars movies this weekend. The channel will be airing six different segments about the game " each with an exclusive announcement or new game play footage."