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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II by LucasArts
Product SummaryBrand: LucasArts Audio: English (Unknown) Published: 2010-09-30 Release Date: 2010-10-26 Platform: PlayStation 3 Model: 34138 Color: One Color Publisher: LucasArts Product features: - Fight through challenge levels designed to test and hone your fighting and Force power skills while you skillfully manage your combat techniques to defeat brand-new enemies, which will culminate in epic boss battles
- Continue the galaxy-altering journey of Starkiller, Darth Vader's fugitive apprentice, that shapes the key events between Star Wars: Episode III and Episode IV
- Unleash the Force with more power and precision through improved controls and new powers, such as the deceptive Mind Trick, which turns enemies against their allies
- Discover the true power of Starkiller with Force Fury, where his attacks and Force powers are exponentially increased
- Take combat to the next level with the ability to wield dual lightsabers and punish enemies with all-new combo attacks as well as expanded customization options such as new costumes and power-enhancing lightsaber crystals
Video Game Reviews of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed IICustomer Review: A visually stunning disappointment Summary: 2 Stars
First off, I must say that I really enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Sure, it wasn't a perfect game. It did have some highly annoying game play moments such as the section where Starkiller has to make a frustrating jump on Raxus Prime. I'm sure if you played the 1st game you know what jump I'm talking about. It's the jump where you have to bend a piece of metal a certain way to make the jump. If you don't bend the piece of metal the specific way, then you will get a chance to watch Starkiller fall to his death numerous times until you get it right. Then there's the part of the game where you have to pull a Starship out of the sky. This simple act took far too long for a Jedi on Starkiller's level to perform. Even though these game play moments where huge annoyances in the 1st game the rest of the game more than made up for these inadequacies with a compelling storyline, great use of the Force, beautiful-interesting cinematics, varied environments, and likeable characters like Star Killer, Proxy, and General Kota, and the game has high replay value. I enjoyed going back through the game finding things I missed the first time, replaying with better force abilities, getting new costumes for Starkiller to try on, and experiencing the story over and over. This storyline felt like it belonged in the Star Wars universe and was tragic yet captivating.
Unfortunately game 2 suffers from the same fate as most modern movies. Just like a lot of modern movies a lot of time and money was spent on the visual aspects and not enough attention was given to character development or storyline (movies like G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra, Transformers, and The Clash of the Titans remake immediately come to mind). The result for the player is a great looking game with an inferior storyline. This game was heavily advertised as being about Starkiller discovering is true identity and finding himself; however, by the time the player finishes the game Starkiller doesn't learn anything new about his identity, he doesn't find himself, nor is anything resolved. Starkiller has an anticlimactic battle with Vader and then shortly after the game just ends. If this was somehow supposed to make me look forward to another sequel then the developers failed miserably. If anything I'm more inclined to skip a sequel. The sort of lazy storyline that this game has is unacceptable in a modern video game world where the competition is turning out great games that have a storyline, character development, look good, have an actual ending, and fantastic game play (Uncharted 1 and Uncharted 2 immediately come to mind).
Another problem with the storyline is it focuses on the power of love. Having a story that focuses on love wouldn't be a problem if the romance was well done unforunately in this game it's not. The problem with the love between StarKiller and Juno is that it is poorly done. The two have zero chemistry together. The writers are partially responsible for this, but the other part of the blame lies with Sam Witwer (who I actually like as an actor and in the part of Starkiller) and Nathalie Cox who both fail to convey any passion for one another in their performance in either game 1 or 2. If you compare their performance to that of Nolan North as Nathan Drake and Emily Rose as Elena Fisher in Uncharted you'll see a huge difference. North and Rose did such good jobs in their roles that the chemistry between the two is so hot the player can feel the heat. So again, this romance aspect in the Force Unleashed II only adds to the game's mediocrity. It is completely unbelievable that Juno is the only reason Starkiller would find Vader and face him again. It is also unbelievable that he would risk the future of the rebellion for said woman. To me if they wanted make the romance a heavy part of the storyline then they should've done 1 of 2 things. They should've have either replaced Nathalie with a woman Sam has chemistry with or writen better material for the actors to work with.
Getting to the game play aspect this time around StarKiller starts the game off so powerful that leveling up isn't as rewarding as the first game, which makes replaying the game for this reason a waste of time. StarKiller can now move multiple objects at the same time. He can also use the Jedi mind trick, which only seems worth the effort against the clones. StarKiller has two light sabers instead of just one like in the 1st game which changes the way he interacts with enemies in a good way. He can also use Force Fury in a cool way. I found the combat to be enjoyable. Slicing and dicing enemies was fun and so was using lighting attacks and force fury on them since the targeting system is even better in this game than the 1st one. This aspect could've been better utilized if the developers had bothered to include a greater variety of enemies for StarKiller to dispatch. Since they choose not to do so the the fun combat isn't fully utilized, which is a shame. Also fighting Darth Vader wasn't much of a challenge. He was much weaker this time than in the original game, and the meeting between the two wasn't emotionally charged either which I think was another wasted opportunity. If the game had better writing leading up to this battle and the eventual confrontation was presented better their fight could've propelled this game to greatness.
Again, this is a beautiful game to look at. The only problem with the cinematics is that they aren't as interesting to watch this time around. I found the cinematics in the original game to be much more captivating to view. Also the two cinematic debut trailers weren't even in the game, which was a major letdown especially since they were much better (by better I mean exciting) than any of the cinematics in the actual game. Talk about false advertising.
Another major problem with the game is the length. This game is extremely short maybe 5 or 6 hours long at best. The first time I passed the game, I thought that I must've missed something. I thought to myself that there was just no way that the game was over considering that it felt like it ended in the middle and nothing was discovered or resolved. I played through again and this time I choose the dark side ending. Nothing much changed and again the game just ended abruptly. This game is definitely not worth $60. My recommendation for any gamer who is considering buying this game is to rent it first or purchase it once the price drops. You'll be less disappointed.
Rating: D (73%)
Description of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed IIThe Star Wars Saga continues with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the highly anticipated sequel to the fastest-selling Star Wars game ever created, which has sold more than seven million copies worldwide. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the world was introduced to Darth Vader?s now fugitive apprentice, Starkiller?the unlikely hero who would ignite the flames of rebellion in a galaxy so desperately in need of a champion. In the sequel, Starkiller returns with over-the-top Force powers and embarks on a journey to discover his own identity and to reunite with his one true love, Juno Eclipse. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Starkiller is once again the pawn of Darth Vader?but instead of training his protégée as a ruthless assassin, the dark lord is attempting to clone his former apprentice in an attempt to create the Ultimate Sith warrior. The chase is on ? Starkiller is in pursuit of Juno and Darth Vader is hunting for Starkiller. With all-new devastating Force powers and the ability to dual-wield lightsabers, Starkiller cuts a swath through deadly new enemies across exciting worlds from the Star Wars films - all in his desperate search for answers to his past. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is a single player action game for PS3 and sequel to 2008's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Following a unique storyline revolving around Darth Vader's secret apprentice, that parallels the events of Star Wars: Episode III and Episode IV, The Force Unleashed II revels in addictive and over-the-top Force-based gameplay powers which include those seen in the first game as well as new powerful additions like Force Fury and the Jedi Mind Trick. Additional features include dual-wielded light sabers, increased puzzle-solving gameplay, expanded customization and all-new combo attacks. The Epic Saga Continues The Star Wars Saga continues with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the highly anticipated sequel to the fastest-selling Star Wars game ever created, which has sold more than seven million copies worldwide. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the world was introduced to Darth Vader's now fugitive apprentice, Starkiller-the unlikely hero who would ignite the flames of rebellion in a galaxy so desperately in need of a champion. In the sequel, Starkiller returns with over-the-top Force powers and embarks on a journey to discover his own identity and to reunite with his one true love, Juno Eclipse. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Starkiller is once again the pawn of Darth Vader-but instead of training his protégé as a ruthless assassin, the Dark Lord is attempting to clone his former apprentice in an attempt to create the Ultimate Sith warrior. The chase is on - Starkiller is in pursuit of Juno and Darth Vader is hunting for Starkiller. Continue the adventures of Darth Vader's fugitive apprentice Starkiller. View larger. | All-New Abilities and Tactics With all-new devastating Force powers and the ability to dual-wield lightsabers, Starkiller cuts a swath through deadly new enemies across exciting worlds from the Star Wars films - all in his desperate search for answers to his past. Along with using the power of the force to puzzle-solve by creating paths where there once were none, players can also look forward to a new explosive abilities. A few of these are Force Fury, a temporary ratcheting up of standard Force powers far beyond normal levels, and the Jedi Mind Trick that can make enemies either act as allies in combat, or cause them to take their own lives. Key Game Features - Continue the galaxy-altering journey of Starkiller, Darth Vader's fugitive apprentice, that shapes the key events between Star Wars: Episode III and Episode IV
- Unleash the Force with more power and precision through improved controls and new powers, such as the deceptive Mind Trick, which turns enemies against their allies
- Discover the true power of Starkiller with Force Fury, where his attacks and Force powers are exponentially increased
- Improved targeting system enhances precision use of Force powers and greater interaction with puzzles and the environment
- Take combat to the next level with the ability to wield dual lightsabers and punish enemies with all-new combo attacks
- Experience the most lifelike interactions with Pixelux Entertainment's Digital Molecular Matter (DMM) coupled with euphoria from Natural Motion LTD and the powerful Havok Physics system
- Expanded customization options such as new costumes and power-enhancing lightsaber crystals
- Fight through all-new challenge levels designed to test and hone your fighting and Force power skills
- Skillfully manage your combat techniques to defeat a variety of brand-new enemies, which will culminate in epic boss battles
- Immerse yourself once again in the story that was honored with awards from the Writer's Guild of America and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
| Additional Screenshots:  Force powers old & new. View larger. | |  Dual wield light sabers. View larger. | |  Run for your life moments. View larger. | |  All-new powerful enemies. View larger. | | |
Adventure Games
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