REVIEW: Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2
You know, one might ask if this is even necessary? Like, really, why would anyone care about a review of a game that is almost five years old and not even canon anymore? Well, why were people going crazy over Knights of the Old Republic 2 when it was re-released last week? A good Star Wars game can stand the test of time regardless of what happens to the franchise. This game, the sequel to the hit 2008 game, The Force Unleashed, is not a good game. However, is it a crappy game? Well, let's find out.
Graphics and Audio
Let's get the obvious one out of the way first. The game, even after nearly five years on the market, still looks really good. The textures and lighting are top-notch, the weather effects are incredible, and tne game runs the vast majority of the time in a smooth framerate.
The music and audio are Star Wars, it's good, enough said. Also, the indivdual performances of the game, especially Sam Witwer as Starkiller and Matt Sloan as Darth Vader, do a really good job as well. Overall, when it comes to the looks and sound, the developers nailed it.
Plot
Now, it's time for me to rant. This was easily the worst and most disappointing aspect of this game. The story of the game sucks. It sucks bad. Regardless or not if you liked the first game, you have to admit that the game told an interesting story and at the time before the Great Canon Purge, told the orgin story of the Rebel Allaince. This story is just lackluster, bottom line.
The story starts interesting enough. It turns out that this Starkiller is one of many clones of the original Starkiller. What is it with Star wars and clones? Anyone, it turns out Vader is trying to make the perfect clone to kill the members of the Alliance and help him kill the Emperor. He "defects" and regains his memories of the original body and turns on Vader and escaped Kamino.
From there, he goes to Cato Nemodia, rescues Rahm Kota from the first game who was prisoner there, goes to Dagobah for two minutes, leads the Alliance on an attack on Kamino and defeats Vader in order to rescue his love interest from the first game, Juno Eclipse. There, I just told you the story to this game. Yeah, pretty weak huh? Well, let me go further.
First off, the game is very short. On the noirmal difficulty of the game, it could take you around 5-6 hours to beat. Thats it. Also, the game ends on a freaking cliffhanger. Back then, when this was part of the Star Wars canon. The game ends with Vader being captured with Starkiller and Juno being followed behind by Boba Fett. Yeah, he's on the game for like 2 seconds...so just like the movies! Anyway, this drove me crazy. It's obvious they were trying to pull an "Empire Strikes Back" for the franchise. Here's the thing, the Empire Strikes Back told a complete story and and a third film was already planned beforehand.
This story is so barebones and simple and not really compelling at all. So, it almost seems like a cliffhanger for the sake of a cliffhanger. Plus, the main character of the game, the Starkiller clone, is completely unlikeable. All he cares about is finding Juno, that's it. He rescues Kota just so he can find out where Juno is, goes to Dagobah and ignores the Alliance to find Juno with Yoda...who's there in a cameo. When they go to invade Kamino, he completely ignores and puts Kota and his troops in danger just to rescue Juno. He even willingly would go to the dark side just to save her. It was really pathetic. Overall, the story of the game was a huge letdown for someone who really enjoyed the first game's tale.
Gameplay
When the game first came out, this was the biggest complaint about the game. Many critics said the gameplay was too repetitive. Well, that is true. However, I didnt really mind that too much. The first game was just as repetitive as this one. That being said, the few locations in the game and the few enemy types do drag the game down at points, considering you fight them over and over again. However, the game does control much better this time, it doesn't feel clunky like the first. Also, the game can be fun and offer go a lot of over-the-top force powers at your disposal. However, once you power up Starkiller, you do become overpowered and the game can become too easy.
Overall, the gameplay in my opinion is the same thing you either liked or disliked in the first game, mindless hack-and-slash action. However, I feel I got improved upon in some aspects. There are only three bosses in the game. The first boss against a giant creature called the Gorog, is actually pretty good, it was one of the highlights of the game. The second boss against a giant robot was o.k.
The final boss against Vader and a legion of clones is pretty bad. Vader doesn't even attack you, he just stands there or just jumps from platform to platform. The clones put up more of a fight. However, the final phase of the fight is visually cool, even though it is quick-time events.
Overall
So, is this game bad? Well, contrary to what you may think, I don't think it's horrible. I had fun with this game at moments. However, there were horrible aspects to the game. To me, this game was rushed to market and they spent the majority of the time working on the visuals and effects. If I were going to give this game an official score I would give it a 6 out of 10. It's far from the worst game I've ever played and far from the worst Star Wars game ever made. However, it had so much potential and could have left the series open for more. If you are curious, the game is literally dirt cheap for both consoles and the PC right now.
