Star Wars: Force Unleashed II not the sequel you’re looking for

Force Unleashed II

Star Wars: Force Unleashed II, much like its protagonist, is a poor imitation of the original. I was hoping that the outcome would be different, but before its launch, I heard rumblings that the sequel would be a disappointment. It was coming out too soon. (It was two years since the original.) Colleagues who played it claimed that it was incredibly short. (They said there weren’t too many locales.)

I braced myself for the worst and though the follow-up wasn’t horrible, it was indeed not what I expected. Video games sequels are usually bigger and better than their predecessors. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind more of the same because the first game held so much promise.

The original Force Unleashed used Digital Molecular Molecule to mimic destructable matter. The hero, Starkiller, could break open doors or destroy the environment in realistic ways, giving the world a feeling that it was alive. Meanwhile, the Euphoria engine created fascinating AI enemies that didn’t react like ragdolls during combat. The combination left players with unscripted and unique interactions with the game world. Sometimes enemies would latch on to each other while they hung on to platforms. Other times glass would shatter open in an unexpected way. There was a randomness to Force Unleashed’s world that made it stand out.

The sequel lacks any of the this. Force Unleashed II is more direct, conventional and, yes, brief. It begins with Starkiller or rather what appears to be his doppleganger on Kamino, the planet from Attack of the Clones. Again, Darth Vader is training him, but this Starkiller is different. He’s no blank slate; instead, he’s a man haunted by memories of his past.

Plagued by these dreams and his visions of Juno Eclipse, he breaks free of Vader in one of the few fresh moments of the game and skydives to an escape. He goes off to track down Rahm Kota, the Jedi master from the original,. Starkiller finds Kota forced to compete in a gladitorial arena and he rescues him, so that he can lead him to Juno.

What suffers the most in the sequel is the level design, which is even more linear and repetitive. It’s a lot of filler as Starkiller goes from point A to point B along narrow, winding corridors that seem to recycle art and concepts. There’s no imagination or creativity in how the levels shape up. Worse yet, there’s a big lack of open areas. What passes for puzzles are simple grab a key with a Force Grip and move it to the lock. The game lacks much strategy to take on foes or creativity in using the Force powers.

The only improvement lies in the boss battles, which are grander. The fight against the building-sized Gorog is especially notable but despite the awe-inspiring scope, LucasArts still seems to be playing catch-up with other action games such as God of War III and Dante’s Inferno. I would have sacrificed these epic confrontations for more cleverly designed levels or an extra stage or two on Dagoba instead of a fleeting cut scene with Yoda.

Force Unleashed II is a missed opportunity. It’s a game that could have capitalized on the ideas of the original but fails to do so. It could have expanded how Force powers are used or maybe introduced more new characters. Believe it or not, the game even had a more compelling storyline. Throughout the game, players are wondering in the back of their mind if Starkiller is the real one or just a clone.

Even when it comes to the ending, there’s some short-changing. The game no longer has much of a morality system. Players just upgrade the powers they want and none of their actions have much consequence save for the final decision. (Here’s a tip: Choose the evil ending.) In the end, Force Unleashed II seems ancillary, more loud bluster than substance, when compared to the rest of the Star Wars universe. Instead of a game, it could have been just a footnote in this epic saga rather than a full-fledged game.

  • WHAT: Star Wars: Force Unleashed II
  • PLATFORM: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
  • RATING: Teen
  • GRADE: C-

Gieson Cacho