A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…..
Back in 2008 (not so long ago, it turns out), LucasArts released Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (right here on Earth, actually). We were told to expect to really feel what it was like to be a Jedi, and to wield the Force itself as a weapon. While there were high expectations for the game, it turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag. The Force Unleashed featured some fantastic storytelling, but the combat wasn’t quite up to the level of the sales pitch. Fast forward to 2010 and LucasArts is at it again with the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. Did Lucas Arts learn the right lessons from the first game? In fact, they did. Unfortunately, they missed the boat on quite a bit of what charmed us about the first game.
The story of the Force Unleashed II picks up right after the original. The Rebellion has begun and has started to grow. That’s not a concern for our main character Starkiller though, as he’s currently being tortured by Darth Vader. Now, if someone happened to have played the original game through to the end and chose the Light Side ending, Starkiller appears to have been killed letting the rebel leaders escape the Death Star (yeah, we know….spoilers. But it’s kinda hard to set this game up without explaining what happened in first game). Lord Vader explains in the intro cutscene that the real Starkiller is dead and that the player is really a clone, created on Kamino. However, Starkiller still has visions relating back to his past memories (or scenes from the first game). This includes a strong attachment to Juno Eclipse, the love interest in the series. When prompted by Vader to succumb to the Dark Side, Starkiller is ordered to strike down a holographic image of Juno. When he refuses, he realizes that his life expectancy has just gotten significantly shorter, and makes his escape. This is where the game begins.
Two lightsabers. Two solutions to every problem.
When the player first takes control of Starkiller, they’ll notice a couple of changes. While he still sports his customary backwards lightsaber grip, you’ll notice he now carries a second blade. Having two Lightsabers ups the combat ante, creating new combos and animations that are powerful and fluid. Players will also recognize that the overall control scheme has not changed from the first game. However, there is a crispness to the controls that the first game lacked. Everything feels easier to control. As such, it’s much harder for the player to feel overwhelmed by the combat, or the number of enemies on screen. While there are still difficulty spikes, there are no boards (unlike the first game) that feel almost impossible at the normal difficulty level.
Also returning are the collectible Holocrons spread throughout the levels. Each Holocron has it’s own effects to improve Starkiller’s abilities. Yellow Holocrons offer up experience points for leveling up Force powers, Green extend Starkiller’s health bar, Blue extend his Force power bar, and red offer up new lightsaber crystals. Due to Starkiller having two lightsabers, players can choose to upgrade each saber with a different power crystal. Each power crystal has it’s own color, so thus the color of Starkiller’s lightsaber blades are determined by the power crystals chosen. Powers range from adding shock damage to all lightsaber strikes, to giving Starkiller regeneration.
Stormtroopers: The universe's favorite generic grunts.
The Force Unleashed II does not introduce any new Force powers, but the fluidity of control offered up this time around makes them feel almost new because they actually work better than in the first game. Powers and lightsaber strikes can still be combined for devastating attacks, such as a saber slash that also acts as a Force Push. Unlike the first game, these combos do not need to be purchased as upgrades. Once the power is unlocked, the appropriate button presses will unleash the desired combo. There are also throw moves that can be used in a similar fashion as fighting games, where the player hits two face buttons at once to perform grapple attacks. Also, there are a couple of boss battles that feel epic and really bring a lot to the table as far as creating an experience.
Overall, the combat in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II takes giant steps forward from the first game. In fact the combat is so good that when the game abruptly ends, you’ll be left wanting for more.
Yeah, this game is short. We’re talking on the order of a six hour experience. That’s roughly 2/3′s (or less) the length of the first game. There are a number of “challenges” that the player can undertake, but they really feel like they are secondary to the core game, and thus lesser.
Because the game is so short, the storytelling suffers as well. In fact, the entire crux of the story in The Force Unleashed II is as follows: Escape from Darth Vader, Defeat Darth Vader, The End. There’s a little more to it, but it feels extremely weak compared to the strong storytelling in the first entry in the series. With a very short game ending abruptly in a cliffhanger, we’re left wondering if much more could have been done but that the burden of creating an appropriate middle act led to a very short game. Obviously, we don’t have those answers. When the credits rolled after only about six hours of gameplay though, we were left somewhat slack-jawed.
Return to Sender: Rejected by Recipient
There are some other details we’d be remiss if we didn’t cover. Aesthetically, this game is very well done. The art design is a little crisper than the original effort in the series, but at the same time it’s much less ambitious. Because the game is so short there are far fewer new places to visit. As such, there’s not as much visually that’s new. The voice acting is also a strong point in the game, although the lines that are offered up are pretty weak. This is a case of the actors doing the most with what little they were given to work with. The combat sound effects are spot on with realistic sounding (well, for the Star Wars Universe) blaster shots and lightsaber crashes. And as usual, we’ve yet to play a Star Wars game that didn’t put a focus on a classical score that fits with the motif of the films.
Clearly, we’ve got some mixed feelings on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. While the combat has taken a dramatic turn for the better over the first game, the storytelling has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. We left this game wanting more, but for all the wrong reasons. As such, it’s hard for us to recommend that anyone go out and spend $60 on a six hour game. If you’re a fan of the Star Wars Universe however, we strongly recommend that you give this game a rental. Just understand going in that you might be done with it by the end of the day.
Overall Score: 7/10
