*SPOILER ALERT* This review contains some spoilers from TFU and TFU2. If you wish to play the games, but haven’t already, do not read this.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 is gripping from the start. It’s beautiful scenery and character animations reel you in, but they only take the game so far. At first, these things took me, but the game as a whole is pretty weak compared to the first. A short, rushed story combined with repetitive combat and lack of character depth make the experience less than tolerable. Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Wars, but I can’t fully accept TFU2 into my collection of loved games without raising a few points.
At the center of the core mechanic, the game brings back the same concept; supercharged versions of Force powers we’ve all seen in the movies. The character causes such destruction and mayhem that it evolves beyond the typical hack ‘n slash. You’ll slice and dice your way through enemies wondering if that guys’ head really just flew off. And with the exaggerated Force powers, I wondered if there was any skill to playing the game at all.
You play as Starkiller, Darth Vader’s secret assassin/apprentice who died at the end of the first game. At the beginning of TFU2, you find out that he is alive, but that he is a clone according to Darth Vader. After failing a series of ‘submit to the Dark Side’ tests, Starkiller manages to escape captivity. This is exciting enough, but what’s his mission? He sets off to find his former pilot and love interest from the first game, Juno Eclipse.
Cloning isn’t unfamiliar in the Star Wars canon, and the premise is acceptable enough to make a game out of it, but it lacked the meaty goodness of the first game. Fan service ensues as characters from the first game are reintroduced, but the entire thing seems like filler. Comparably, TFU was keen on telling the story of the events that took place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, the birth of the rebel alliance, and how Starkiller played a pivotal role in all of it. Now, the story of Starkiller seems to have been conjured just to make another game instead of adding to the plot of the first game.
The levels and scenes are equally stunning and give the player a sense of scale that Star Wars always seems to provide. However, despite the beauty and grandeur, the levels feel awkward and quickly become repetitive. Graphically, I appreciated some realistic aspects that were missing from the first game. Water and steam sizzles as it hits Starkiller’s dual lightsabers, but that’s about it. The environments felt redundant and I found myself starring at the same buildings over and over again.
The combat was a lot of fun- at first. I enjoyed freefalling from a tower and using the Force to destroy obstacles on the way down, but as I said, the abilities are overpowered, and blasting Storm Troopers off ledges the entire game bored me by the end. Actually, there wasn’t much in the way of variety to pace the combat so it didn’t seem like I was doing the same things throughout the game. I basically hack ‘n slashed my way through the entire game, and not by choice. Starkiller mercilessly slams through everyone in his path, and Major League Butt-Kicking isn’t what I signed up for. Sure, I don’t mind opening a can here and there, but all smash and no break makes V-Dub a dull boy.
The variety of enemies was limited in TFU2, as well. Once you realize that some enemies can be killed by lightsabers and that others can be killed with the Force, the challenge evaporates. At times, they were combined to make it a bit more challenging, but it was too underdeveloped for me to feel accomplished after defeating a large wave of bad guys.
Character development was an issue as there was quite little. I couldn’t feel anything for any of the characters since there wasn’t time to get to know them. A lot seems to have happened since the last game ended, including General Kota being captured, but we don’t see that at all, and it bothers me that I went from an in-depth story to one that is reminiscent of the Clive Owen suck-fest know as Shoot Em Up. Starkiller is confused about where his destiny lies, and if he is, indeed, a clone as Darth Vader has led him to believe. But with the non-stop action that kept flinging me from level to level, I had no time to really care about it.
The events in The Force Unleashed 2 didn’t last that long anyway, but the game was surprisingly short. I rarely had time to grasp any kind of real meaning from the pint-sized plot, and I literally rolled my eyes when Yoda showed up for a brief conversation. If I had to estimate how long it took me to beat the game (minus all the deaths I accrued from fighting that damned Gorog and every other enemy since I played it on hard), my playing time would be just above eight hours. Now, I don’t mind a short game, as long as the story grips me enough throughout, but toward end of the game is where my interest was peaked… and then it ended.
Starkiller is basically able to rip anything to shreds based on the fact that he starts this game with the powers he had to work to achieve in the last game. The only thing is that they need to be leveled up before he’s truly unstoppable. But even so, my need to be empowered as a player doesn’t mean that I need to play a character that was already supercharged in the beginning, and becomes even more supercharged throughout. And I have to say that it takes away from the mysticism and discipline of the Jedi and makes Starkiller a whiny punk with raw, destructive potential.
Overall, The Force Unleashed 2 was disappointing and didn’t live up to and exceed it’s predecessor like most sequels do. I was looking for a continuation of Starkiller’s gripping story, but what I received was the bare minimum that upped the action ante, but dialed down the story. There are some points that are fun, but they’re toward the beginning when Starkiller escapes prison. If there is a third installment on the way (which there probably will be due to the ending), I hope they bring a healthy combination of well-paced action and a meaty, enjoyable story. For now, it seems as though the Force is not with this title. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 has earned a solid 6 out of 10 from me.
Still writing, still believing…
-V
