Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Review

• 24th Nov 2010

This jaunt through the Star Wars universe was all too brief for my liking. I kept my calm of course, being the Jedi that I am. I did not give into the dark side and play the game as soon as I received it. I waited until night time when I would not be disturbed and was at one with the Force (despite the fact that I had been waiting for TFU2 since the rumblings of the force last year).

With the lights off, gaming food at the ready: biscuits, wine gums… erm and some healthy stuff too, grapes, water… you get the picture, oh yes, and a tube of Pringles, I was ready to undertake my calling as Starkiller, Darth Vader’s not-so-secret apprentice.

Embarking on the adventure as Starkiller, who despite getting killed in the last game, now finds himself in the cloning facility on Kamino serving Darth Vader (again) who tells Starkiller he is a clone (can his day get any worse?….it sure can). Haunted by visions of his past exploits, love, betrayal and his untimely demise that helped to create the Rebel Alliance, Starkiller escapes from Darth Vader and is now compelled to sort his head out.

Off he goes into big bad space meeting familiar faces from the last game. Starkiller soon meets up with Jedi Master General Rahm Kota in the hanging city of Cato Neimoida which looks graphically awesome. Then Starkiller even bumps into Yoda in the Dagobah system and follows the same path as Luke Skywalker and heads into the cave where Luke sees the visions on Darth Vader. This was not like a level but more a cut scene lasting only a few minutes. Then he heads to once again of to meet up with Master General Rahm Kota to find and rescue Juno Eclipse (Starkiller’s love interest from the original game) who is also being pursued by Boba Fett as Vader has put a bounty on her head. Then it’s off to the Starship Salvation and a cameo moment with Boba Fett; you kill some Stormtroopers blah, blah, blah then the repetitive level ends. Once again you go star tripping across the universe back to…. you guessed it, Kamino and finish the final mission.

The story in TFU2 is very short, blink and you’ll miss it, you can finish this in about five to six hours. You also get two endings if you’re willing to go that extra mile.

The game play is smooth and fluid. Graphically TFU2 is amazing and the cut scenes are well acted and wouldn’t look out of place in a Star Wars film.

There are improvements on the last game, Starkiller now wields two light sabres which you can customise and his Force powers are now flowing on overload. He can pick up more than one object at time and create massive damage and destruction from the start. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more powerful gaming character.

The fact that you could now dissect your enemies was indeed satisfying, but some of the same issues as with the last game still plagued TFU2. Boss battles can get annoying by pressing the same buttons in sequence (yawn) when all you want is the freedom to dispatch the bosses how you see fit (open ended battles…yes please). The bodies of your enemies disappear once their dead (would like to see the bodies of my fallen combatants spiralled out amidst the debris). After an hour the game gets very linear and is only broken up by the beautiful cut scenes. On the plus side, there are level challenges once you’ve finished the game and you can compare your online rankings with your friends.

TFU2 though, is over far too quickly and you feel as though something’s missing. You never really get to connect with the story of Starkiller’s plight. If there is going to be a third instalment or, should I say, when TFU3 is released let’s hope it follows the open endedness of the innovative, and still the best Star Wars games to date, The Knights Of The Old Republic 1 and 2 .

If, like me, you’re a fan of the Star Wars games then this is for you, and although you may be left feeling a little hard done by, TFU2 does not look out of place within the Star Wars universe.

Donnie Tulloch