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In this review for Star Wars: Force Unleashed II you have a choice. You can either read the next sentence, or you can read the rest of the review, it's up to you. This game was sickeningly, maddeningly short. I have to start out with that because after a mere five hours, I was done. This includes both game-play and watching the cut scenes. You may be wondering why this review is coming out a week after the game came out. That's because I didn't get it from LucasArts until a couple days after it hit shelves. Was that intentional? I have no idea; I don't think I'm that influential. However, just because it was once again, way too short, that didn't make it any less fun. Just not as much of it.
With Force Unleashed II there are two things included with the game. There is the game itself, a mere 10 levels taking place in 4 different locales - though one of them isn't much more than a quick power-up grab and a chat with Yoda. Then there is the playable movie within the game. This part was simply amazing. The animation is slick and more realistic looking than the entire final showdown between Obi-Wan and Anakin in Episode III. In fact I'd go as far to say that the Force Unleashed II movie is better than the entire prequel trilogy.
That being said, the story itself was a bit of a jumbled mess. Starkiller returns, but this time as a clone - maybe. Between that, trying to find his lost love in Rebel Alliance Captain Juno and trying to take down the Empire the story really never finds its stride. Still better than the prequel trilogy though. I stand by that. Basically, fight a bunch of Stormtroopers, crush some Tie Fighters and fall - a lot.
The completely linear game kicks you right into some fresh action with a free fall from a tower on Kamino. Using your Force Push, you burst through obstacles to land safely on a platform. The game uses this gimmick a couple times, each time thankfully just as exciting as the last. While the frame rate refresh seemed to be fine on the falling scenes, there were times in-between loads that the refresh would hiccup. Using the Havok engine, Force Unleashed II has to work pretty hard to combine all the elements needed for constant action. I think it could have worked a little bit harder to keep it all flowing smoothly.
What kept me going was the action itself. Starkiller is armed with two lightsabers this go around, and a good flow of power-ups give you the ability to adjust the properties of the lightsabers. From regenerating health to focusing your Force powers to disintegrating your enemies, the hidden lightsaber crystals are worth the effort. Starkiller has a few new tricks up his sleeve as well. Not only does he start off right away with the powers you ended the first game with, which can all be leveled up 3 times, but he has a new Force power of Mind Trick. This makes for some light entertainment, using it on a squad of Stormtroopers causing half of them to jump off a ledge and the rest to fight each other.
There are also some new challenging enemies that aren't Rancor eating creatures (I'll save that surprise so you can react the same way I did) or weird spider droids. New Stormtroopers joined the ranks, seemingly trained to fight Jedi. Some wield lightsabers themselves, others can teleport to attack you from behind. There are tricks to defeating them all. I won't give those away. Another added visual bonus is the way Stormtroopers are dispatched. While there are a few holds, and a bunch of combo moves with the lightsabers and Force powers, there is also the random dispatching of limbs. Entertaining to say the least.
With this high paced killing action, another major bug stood out. You can continue to attack a Stormtrooper long after they have been killed. As long as you continue to swing your lightsaber, that Stormtrooper will continue to cry out in agony, bouncing like a rag doll. Dead should mean dead.
One of the issues in the first game was the focus for using Force powers. Your target is highlighted, and that's what will be the subject of the Force powers. For the most part, the wonky aiming system for the Force has been resolved, though I still found myself shooting lightning at boxes that happened to be near Stormtroopers because I didn't get them quite centered. This didn't happen nearly as much as in the first game, so that was a bonus.
What wasn't a bonus was Starkiller himself. He's a bit of a whiner and cries out in pain or annoyance way too much, similar to a child wandering through a cactus field. Dude, you are fighting the Empire. Man up and quit your whining.
There are three playable levels of difficulty upon starting the game, easy, medium and hard. The fourth, unleashed mode, is unlocked after completion of the game. In unleashed mode you keep your current power-ups and force powers, but enemies take more damage out of you and there is no health regeneration. It's considerably more difficult. There are also challenges unlocked during the campaign. These challenges are similar to say, special-ops missions in Call of Duty. The part about unleashed mode that really ruined the replay value was you couldn't skip the cut scenes. I just watched that movie, I just want to play the game now. That's a problem. Games this short have to rely on replay value.
WIRED Kick-butt action, amazing scenery and sweet, sweet Force action make this game a killer five hours of solid entertainment.
TIRED But that's it. The length of Force Unleashed II is a major flaw. The story holes aside, there wasn't nearly enough action. Action games such as this should be 12 playable hours at least.
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Star Wars: Force Unleashed II available at Amazon.com. Copy reviewed was for Xbox 360. Image provided by LucasArts. Follow us on Twitter @cebsilver and @wiredgeekdad
