Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

Posted Fri 18th Feb 2011 5:42pm by Gavin Lowe

TFUL2 in 10 seconds

Despite excellent visuals and sound, a lacklustre approach to gameplay and story has ruined a fantastic and intriguing Star Wars title.

Background

Wayward dark apprentice Starkiller returns in LucasArts’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Considering the climax of the first game, those who played the original Force Unleashed may be confused with the protagonist’s presence in the sequel, but all becomes clear as Darth Vader’s insidious plans are unveiled. TFUL2 starts well but it becomes apparent all too soon that the sequel isn’t half the game its predecessor was.

In stark contrast to the first game, TFUL2’s story seems slapped together in a haphazard way, aiming to take the game through the traditional Star Wars juxtaposition of environments as quickly as possible and get to the (anti)climax sharply. As such, the game played through on hard difficulty lasts about 5 hours. The first story was cleverly woven into Star Wars lore, careful not to interfere with the plotlines of the movies, but TFUL2 steps over that mark on a couple of occasions. The plot may even cause Star Wars fans to wonder how old Princess Leia actually is, and how she didn’t know anything about the Force prior to Episode IV.

Unlike TFUL, this sequel’s story seems to just jump through hoops rather than weave the kind of interstellar political intrigue we expect from LucasArts. A random Monkey Island cameo hints at the kind of idea vacuum the developers seemed to be working in (although battling the Empire dressed as Guybrush Threepwood has its charms).

Gameplay

The gameplay is almost immediately intense as you take control of what is purportedly Starkiller’s clone; this accounts for his sudden reduction in Force acumen after the conclusion of the first game. With a daring escape and a death-defying, edge-of-your-seat opening leap to freedom, players are lulled into hoping great things will follow. Unfortunately, moments of genius are extremely rare in TFUL2 as the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive.

The crux of the gameplay should be familiar to those who played the original title. Starkiller hacks, slashes, pushes, shocks and swipes his way through a seemingly endless wave of hapless Imperials. As he becomes stronger, the game becomes less challenging as it is easy enough to Force Grip a handful of Stormtroopers at a time and drop them over the plentiful chasms. Some Imperials can only be beaten with the Force and not with your trusty lightsaber. This was probably intended to create an addition sense of challenge, but once you learn everyone's weaknesses it becomes a simple and dull case of changing between the two tactics. At a few points during the game, players are presented with an arena sporting a variety of different enemy types. This is where the battles become interesting as you have to plan and prioritise to achieve the tactical edge. Unfortunately these opportunities are rare.

When facing more menacing foes, like AT-STs and killer droids, a quick time event is trigged to deal the cinematic deathblow. It makes for a good spectacle, but lacks challenge or a requirement for skill. Somehow, pressing X, X, B, A just because the screen tells you to is less rewarding than Force gripping a nearby object, charging it with Force lightning, and hurling the makeshift energy bomb at a fearsome foe. It’s actually moments of self-made Force magic like that which elicit a smile now and then. The lack of challenging gameplay encourages player arrogance. Players should doubt their ability to take on and defeat the Dark Lord of the Sith, but the ease with which you can dispatch all other foes in the game leads to a feeling of invincibility that even Obi Wan wouldn’t have felt when fighting Vader.

It’s not all bad though. There is fun to be had here. The inclusion of the Jedi Mind Trick into Starkiller’s arsenal adds a neat ability to force your enemies to commit suicide or attack their colleagues. Force Fury turns Starkiller into a Jedi equivalent of a PCP-tripping lunatic, enhancing his Force powers and ensuring that enemies on the business end of his rage will not live to tell the tale. LucasArts provide some large scale thrills in TFUL2, but these sequences are not quite on par with pulling a Star Destroyer from orbit, as seen in the first game. That said, when battling one of the Star Wars universe’s monster nasties in an arena, players are in for a giant treat.

These little gems, however, are still not enough to make up for the short campaign, the lack of real challenge, and a very questionable storyline.

Visuals

If only the story and gameplay in TFUL2 matched the visuals. As we’ve come to expect from LucasArts, the game is near flawless graphically. The universe is detailed and familiar, and the action is fast paced and explosive without any degradation of visual effects. Lightsabers glow convincingly, lifeless Stormtroopers drop realistically, and the whole atmosphere of the game is Star Wars to the core.

Cut-scene textures and lighting are sublime, with very detailed skin, shining glints of light in the corners of eyes, well-shaped features and mouths that move realistically when speaking. It comes across as though LucasArts spent all of their time on the visuals and approached the story and gameplay as an afterthought.

Like all Star Wars products, TFUL2 travels through a variety of unique environments, all with their own charms and usually in contrast with one another. My only criticism is that, at times, the game looks too polished. For example, Vader looks very shiny and made of plastic sometimes, and one of the great things about Star Wars has always been a weathered, believable aesthetic.

Audio

The familiar Star Wars themes mixed with the expected buzzes and hums of light sabers, pings and pews of lasers, and otherworldly warps of Force powers combine to immerse the player in an authentic Star Wars universe. The voice acting is convincing and, for a short while, makes you care a little about an otherwise uninspiring story. The score, composed by Mark Griskey, combines the classic themes of John Williams with his own Williams-inspired compositions. The theatrical score ebbs and flows with the pace of the action and always serves to enhance the visuals throughout.

Closing Comments

When I heard that LucasArts was making a sequel to The Force Unleashed I was eager and expectant. My breath was bated for months before its release. After playing this at best passable effort, I’m left feeling deflated and let down. LucasArts is better than this. Star Wars is better than this. The Force Unleashed 2 is an average game, but I want better than average from the series, and we know LucasArts is capable of it. If there is to be a further instalment of the franchise, we can but hope that LucasArts will return to the kind of form we saw in the first game and add the few, excellent aspects of TFUL2.

Anyone who hasn’t played the first game might enjoy this one, but those who played and loved the first game will come away from TFUL2 feeling a little robbed and sad.

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