by John Kalanderopoulos, Gaming Reviews
November 13, 2010
Before I begin this review, I have to preface it by saying that I am a huge Star Wars fan. Not only have I built a Darth Vader costume (aside from the helmet), I have tried to construct my own lightsaber before giving up and just getting one of the Force FX ones. Now given that the prequel trilogy has taken away some of the mystique, darkness, and power of the series, it still remains an epic saga.
In the first game you play as Galen Marek, a boy that Darth Vader finds on Kashyyyk (the Wookie home world) after killing his Jedi father. Darth Vader then takes you on as a secret apprentice and you become Lord Starkiller, an assassin sent to find and kill all remaining Jedi in the galaxy who have survived Order 66 (The Great Jedi Purge). Vader then tries to use you to infiltrate the developing Rebellion that is occurring but in the process you learn about the Light side of the force and actually become a willing member of the Rebellion, ultimately leading to a final confrontation with Darth Vader and your death.
The Force Unleashed II takes place about 6 months after the first game left off on Kamino where Vader has been attempting to clone Starkiller. You wake up with Vader looming over your body but the memories of the original Starkiller still haunt you and you immediately break out of the facility on Kamino and go looking for your allies from the previous game.
I played through the first game 2 or 3 times (including the downloadable content) and aside from some detection issues with the force powers, I loved every moment of it. What was really capturing was the storyline and how they not only described the formation of the Rebellion but how they linked Episodes III and IV together. I found that this game fell short from even comparing with the first. Other than an appearance of Yoda on Dagobah, and Darth Vader hiring Boba Fett, I found there was little real tie in to the Star Wars universe as compared with the first. Another frustrating point (and this is true about most if not all Star Wars games) is the ability of random troopers to have force-resistant shields, or even to be wielding lighsabers. I don’t remember that from any of the movies.
The audio matches up with any Star Wars game as being a large, orchestral score but the visuals are where this game really shines though. The graphics are truly amazing and I really didn’t appreciate how good they were until I was running around on Kamino in the rain and I could see the steam coming off of my lightsabers from the water hitting the blades. That being said, I did find that the levels seemed to repeat themselves and that I was going through the same hallway, or taking the same road moment after moment. I would have liked to see some variety in the level design.
The game still has the same detection issues as the first, and I find that the camera did not move fast enough. But these are minor gripes in the end. The real flaw with this game is the repetitive actions by the player. Was there a reason we couldn’t pilot a ship or vehicle considering that Star Wars is truly about space battles? After the first hour, I found myself killing the same Stormtroopers with the same force powers over and over again. I actually got bored and I really just wanted to get to the end to see how the story played out.
Sequels, in video games more than any other genre, are supposed to be grander, finer tuned, and more fun than their predecessor. Think about games like Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, or Call of Duty where the sequel just gets bigger, more intense, and more fun that the ones before. This game falls short on all those expectations. While I find the ideas in the Force Unleashed intriguing, I find much of the story telling flawed. You, as Starkiller’s clone (not even the original), have so much power that you can actually rival Darth Vader? This is one game whose lack of faith I find disturbing.
