Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

The first game was good and it set the story up but the gameplay fell short on trying to deliver an epic tale. The combat was clunky and malformed while some graphical details were just plain ugly. I got my hands on the demo for the force unleashed 2 yesterday and must say that I believe that this is what have shoul've been from the start. The new saber mechanics and dual-wielding combos and a graphical boost give a very compelling sensation when cutting down stormtroopers like butter. The force powers have a new look and are improved in lethality and provide a nice looking combat scenario allowing for choices on dispatching enemies. A new feature includes ‘force fury’, almost like God of War's spartan mode, except, I don't think that has got much on this. His fury mode makes him mind-blowingly strong and feels like your in control of the most powerful weapon there is, all combos turn into lightsaber frenzies and the force powers are enough to blow anyone into the atomic levels. The story at first may seem like a cheap cover-up for a lack of trying to tell how startkiller had died and come back but it becomes clear that there is something more to it, but basically the whole first game is essentially the beginning of how ‘you’ came to be in the second game and why you have these memories of someone else. Simply your a clone with your host's memories, not exactly a spoiler. The story grows on you though, in the short time I had to play it due to demo length, I felt like the gameplay implemented the story well and the good part is, for you guys in the first game, is that this clone comes with the package. He has most of the abilities from starkiller as he recalls memories and is fully capable of wrecking havok from the get-go. A definitely fun experience is to be had here in this game and should be throughly enjoyed by the players from the first game and all others new to the franchise.

While this is a very good game with many improvements over the first, such as faster and more fluid combat, it is far from perfect in many ways the story is weak, skipping over some plot lines. Also the game is short, my first play through lasted 4 hours from start to finish on normal difficulty, that said there are challenges to help extend the life of the game.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 is a good game, and a vast improvement on the first. I have enjoyed and still enjoy playing it however conflicts within Lucas Art during production for this game have made them selves apparent.

The new force powers, combos, and the ability to grab people are pretty sweet and adds a lot of enjoyment to the game. With the targeting system being upgraded it seems easier to grab objects and manipulate them. However the odd random thing happens which sends an object or person flying in the opposite direction from where you wanted it to go.

The new combos are sweet however it is still too easy to button mash. However as the player we are enticed to play with a more accurate use of combos in order to gain more force experience points.

The story is good but could be more in depth. Now this would solve another of the games problems, it's story length. I have bowled through this game in about five hours. This is short, I and a lot of other people like our games to last. The Dagobah level for example could have been made longer and included more game play rather than making it almost one large cut scene.

Boss fights seem to have been almost ‘dumbed’ down they are simple and easy and almost always end with the exact same clip. Dash moments have been added which adds a new complex to the game. I liked this addition as a new take on evading combat.

The graphics have been vastly improved and now run smoother. The cut scenes are less like the dated Jedi Knight series and more like an animated HD video. That being said at times when a lot is happening on screen things do slow down a bit. Some may say this is a bad thing, however this slowing down seems to happen at times when really large explosions are happening or a massive amount of force power is being used. This makes them look totally awesome. It is hard to tell if it was programmed to do this or if it is a glitch due to overpowered awesomeness.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II continues on with its hidden Holocrons as well. However they are a bit different this time around. You will find no Sith Holocrons or Jedi Holocrons. Instead you will find Holocrons that are a number of colours and unlock a number of items including saber crystals, force points, costumes and much more.

There are heaps of other new features I could tell you about, but I best let you find out for yourself.
Now I am the biggest Star Wars fan this side of the Galactic Republic, and it is pretty hard for me not to enjoy any Star Wars game. And I can safely say that I have enjoyed this game (and am looking forward to the DLCs and rumoured TFU3) and the wait was well worth it. However as mentioned earlier, there were conflicts inside Lucas Arts before this game was released. This has largely impacted the game in both story and game play. I would say this game was intended to be larger than life, but due to difference of opinion had been altered and subsequently rushed. At times it is possible to see where two trains of thought have taken to a single level, sometimes it has worked. Others times it has left out possible game play and or story explanation. That being said I still give it a 5 bananas out 5, but perhaps I'm a little bias
This game is a must have game for any Star Wars fan.

Ok, so the force unleashed 2, one word, AWESOME! the gameplay is silky smooth the graphics are first rate and the enviroments are so beautiful it almost feels like you are there. I do have one slight niggle with it, the story is a little short, well not strictly true the levels are massive and quite drawn out, it just seems short. But all in all it is a fantastic follow up to the single finest star wars game on the market today.

Good at the start, found it to be very similar to the first with the hack and slash.