Two years on, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II has arrived, marking the return of Starkiller who had seemingly died at the climax of the original game. Awakened by Darth Vader in a cloning facility on the stormy planet Kamino, Starkiller is informed by the Dark Lord that he is but one of a number of his unsuccessful attempts to clone his former apprentice. Spurred by memories of Juno Eclipse, a beautiful pilot with whom he had bonded in the original title, Starkiller escapes Vader’s clutches and embarks on an adventure to discover his identity, locate Juno and strike a blow to the evil Empire. Again, Starkiller does this by way of traversing a number of environments and destroying everything in his path using dual lightsabers and a bevy of force-fueled powers which allow him to lift, push and shock enemies with abandon.
The weather effects are often stunning to behold.
Combat in The Force Unleashed II is generally fairly satisfying, which is fortunate given the title’s heavy emphasis on fighting through multiple waves of enemies. Hacking limbs and pushing foes off walkways into the wild blue yonder is viscerally enjoyable, and the game is at its best when Starkiller is engaged in battle with garden-variety stormtroopers (for whom the term 'hapless' was undoubtedly coined). It is only when the combat mechanics are applied to larger enemies or those which require specific tactics (such as those who are resistant to force-based attacks or lightsaber attacks, respectively) that the system's mechanics are revealed as simplistic and a little bit clunky. Such stiff, unsophisticated combat was a prevalent issue with the original title, so it is disappointing to note that LucasArts has not seen fit to refine it two years on.
The biggest and most serious issue afflicting The Force Unleashed II is its startling lack of inspiration; the game feels rote, as if the development team took source code from the original and gussied it up with a few visual effects before shutting down their computers and fixing themselves a picnic. Starkiller faces the same old enemies time and time again and spends a whole lot of time flinging boxes into AT-AT units and flinging doors open with his force push ability. Even the context-sensitive Quick Time Events (which were a hoary and outdated standby two years ago) are deathly-dull, requiring a few perfunctory button presses which trigger repetitive and unimpressive canned animations players have seen time and again. The ubiquitous skill-upgrade system, meanwhile, is pared down from the slightly overcooked menu of the original title, and while new force powers are fun to mess around with, they do little to improve or enhance gameplay which has essentially remained dormant for two years, unaffected by the quality of competing titles in the genre. Tragically, there's simply no wit, imagination or inkling of creative spark to be found in the game, and the developer’s seeming lack of ambition renders The Force Unleashed II a largely uninteresting hack-and-slash scored by the memorable themes of John Williams.
Wanton destruction is still a hoot, but less-captivating the second time around.
Aesthetically, The Force Unleashed 2 is the proverbial mixed bag. Its visuals are oftentimes stunning and detailed, but they remain in service of level design which never evolves past a few open arenas linked by repetitive corridors (with gorgeous reflective surfaces) stuffed to the gills with sci-fi crates. Nonetheless, most character models are detailed and well-animated, certain background vistas possess the ethereal majesty of animated matte paintings, and superior weather and particle effects (combined with some nifty motion blur and smart use of the Digital Molecular Matter technology which destroys things real purty-like) truly help to bring the Star Wars universe to life. Artistically, the game often disappoints as much as it excels (the aforementioned vistas, for example); some late-game missions set in a besieged space cruiser boast all the spectacle of a walk through an abandoned shopping centre, and overall, the game’s uneven beauty makes its difficult to shake the feeling that the scope and quality of The Force Unleashed II was compromised by a frantic rush to retail.
Compounding matters is the fact that The Force Unleashed II utterly fails to capitalise on its license. Major characters from the saga's lore pop up for their obligatory cameo, replete with unconvincing sound-alike voice acting, and the sense of epic scope or operatic drama one associates with the best Star Wars tales is in absentia. Indeed, the game boasts only nine missions across four different locales, all of which wear out their welcome rather quickly. In lieu of the planet-hopping scenic tour one would expect of a classic Star Wars adventure, replete with fascinating alien cultures, wildlife and exotic terrain, The Force Unleashed II is content to offer up the equivalent to a quick stroll down to the local convenience store. This is a game destined to be blasted through in an afternoon and never again, and even though the original title could never be said to have overstayed its welcome, it certainly boasted more meaningful content than the meagre sample offered by The Force Unleashed II.
This later level proves to be a gloomy, prolonged chore.
This slapdash approach to the license sadly carries over into the game's feeble narrative, which is tremendously disappointing when one considers that the original title managed something of a feat in boasting compelling characters and a clever (albeit contrived) storyline which fit semi-tidily into the established canon of the saga. The Force Unleashed II feels something like a cheap piece of downloadable content in this regard, with no flair for drama, tension or adventure. The game's central mystery as to the origin and identity of Starkiller is a fizzer, and the dialogue has regressed to the point where it would have been preferable to commission George "No Ear for Dialogue" Lucas to write the script himself. Starkiller and his supporting characters, namely General Kota, are portrayed as shrill, unlikeable characters this time around, and there's a distinct lack of the derring-do and swashbuckling charm which defines and elevates the franchise. Watching the brief, unsatisfying tale unfold is akin to reading a 1,500 word piece of fan-fiction authored by a sullen, angry pubescent boy who mistakenly attributes the success of Star Wars to the presence of big robots and explosions. The game ends on a cliffhanger of sorts which heralds the inevitable arrival of The Force Unleashed III with all the joy of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but sadly it remains to be seen whether any subsequent installment in the franchise can render this game's plot any more palatable.
Conjecture aside, what gamers are left with is a title which spectacularly fails to capitalise on its opportunities. The Force Unleashed II is a confined, plodding, unrefined action adventure with neither the epic scope of a God of War nor the complexity and depth of a Ninja Gaiden. While slicing through stormtroopers before frying them with force lightning remains enjoyable enough on a fundamental level, stripping away the Star Wars trappings and slick visuals would leave little of substance. What LucasArts has delivered in The Force Unleashed II is a serviceable, slick but soulless product designed to sit alongside an R2-D2 piggy-bank and achieve healthy quarterly profits. The very least the developer could have done is offer up a game which properly harnesses the boundless charm and magic of the property and improves on the vast potential of its two-year old predecessor. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is perhaps worthy of a rental, but nothing more.
I wouldn't know though, I haven't played it.
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