PC Game Review: Star Wars – The Force Unleashed II

Last year, LucasArts released Star Wars – The Force Unleashed, a highly ambitious videogame that aimed to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the recent prequels. The game utilized several new, revolutionary engines and had a story that was going to enter the official Star Wars canon. When it released, players unanimously praised its storyline and graphics but there was criticism over its flawed gameplay. Although the story didn’t particularly demand a sequel, the outstanding sales meant that LucasArts announced Star Wars – The Force Unleashed II and finally, an year and some change after the first game, the sequel has arrived. How is it?

Simply put, The Force Unleashed II is a series of bad choices, from basic conceptual decisions to plot to its utilization of the Star Wars license. The game is a huge disappointment, one that frustrates and saddens in equal measure. Read on for the explanation.

This game takes place some 7 months after the original, and we find that Starkilller (who had died at the end of Part 1) has been cloned by Darth Vader. The reason given behind this is that perplexed by the Resistance forming and hero-like status given to Starkiller, an evil clone will shatter Starkiller’s image and dampen the Rebel Alliance’s morale. After numerous failures, the present incarnation is the 1st successful clone. But, clone Starkiller is haunted by memories of his past, especially that of his love, Juno Eclipse. He breaks free from captivity and escapes from Vader’s prison, and sets out to search for Juno and uncover his past.

The problems begin right here. While the original game had a terrific storyline (arguably better than that of the prequels), this game’s plot is mediocre. Last time around, we had a sweeping epic with believable character arcs, events that had startling consequences on the Star Wars mythology, and an totally grand scale. This time, there is no “arc” for any character, the things that happen rarely make an impact and the scope is very parochial. The game ends on a lame cliffhanger that doesn’t leave one drooling for more, but instead let-down.

Whatever the problems with the plot, the game looks gorgeous, sounds great and feels awesome. Right off the bat, this is a much better port than the original, which had framerate issues, a bloated installation, yawn-inducing load times and more. This one plays smoothly, is smaller in size and although the load times are still substantial, let’s take what we get.

The graphics are excellent and the environments, characters, animations are brilliantly done. The world of Cato Neimoidia in particular looks beautiful. But, it should be noted that some characters, like Princess Leia, look horrendous. The score, using the iconic John Williams theme, is nice and adapts to the situation well. The voicework is uneven, with Samuel Witwer (who voices the protagonist) being the major culprit. He says half of his lines under his breath and will make you thank God that there are subtitles. The sound effects are pretty good, with all the booms and crashes sufficiently loud.

It’s the gameplay that is a very a big problem. It is too similar to the original, evoking sensations of déjà vu, and the changes made actually deteriorate the end product. For example, the types of enemies has been reduced this time around, and in lieu you’ll get more numbers of each type. This decision is absolutely awful, as combat becomes boring, repetitive and mechanical, with no entertainment value. The same droids, same rudimentary strategies, same quicktime animations get on the nerves an hour into the game.

There are far too few bossfights (just 2 actually). The first, against a big bad brute in a gladiatorial arena is awe-inspiring, but the finale, against Darth Vader, is extremely long, tedious and overtly simplistic. In fact, this game, as a whole, sorely lacks epicness. In the original, you took down TIE Fighters, battled Rancors et al, but this time, it’s just running through corridors, killing nameless and faceless enemy hordes and moving on. The worlds themselves are very restricted. Although the animators have done excellent work and provided great detail to the cities, spaceships and other locales, the you’ll only be confined to corridors and passageways and alleyways, which is very frustrating.

The levelling up and RPG elements are streamlined, and much better this time. There are different types of holocrons you can collect, and they help you in varied ways. You get experience points, extra health and force strength, new costumes and lightsaber crystals. You can upgrade your lightsabers and your Force powers, something that’s handled much better than in the original.

Another complaint I have with the game is the blatant, and unnecessary, fan-service. Characters like Princess Leia Organa, Yoda and Boba Fett drop in but for little-to-no purpose. Yoda is a big let-down. His part in the game just serves as a deus ex machina, an especially transparent one at that.

And the biggest drawback of the game is its length, or rather, lack of length. I wandered around, searched for extras, back-tracked and more, but still finished the Story Mode in 4 hours flat. If you put your mind to it, I bet you’ll do it in less than 3 hours. The entire plot seems to be a first act of a whole, and is very unsatisfying. Yes, you can replay the Story Mode with different difficulty levels, but why would you? One time is more than enough.

To conclude, I just want to say that Star Wars – The Force Unleashed II isn’t a bad game, per se. Its production values are astounding, and it has more action than you can shake your controller at… but when you look at the potential, and the possibilities, it is a staggering misstep. Average plot, insipid gameplay, and a Story Mode that ends as soon as it starts are the ugliest blots on this sequel.

(2/4)

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Photo Credit: LucasArts