Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is LucasArts' sequel to 2008's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game.^[11] A trailer announcing the game was shown December 12, 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards.^[12] The game was released across multiple platforms in October 2010, along with a collectors edition of the game.^[6] The game received mixed reviews, praising the game's aesthetics but criticizing the story and gameplay. LucasArts released a bonus mission as a downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game December 14, 2010. A version for the PlayStation Portable was cancelled for unknown reasons.^[13]

Gameplay

The Force Unleashed II refines gameplay elements from the first Force Unleashed, and adds more variety with such features as puzzle solving.^[14] Combat was modified to include the ability to wield dual lightsabers,^[14] which can dismember or decapitate enemies.^[15] The game also adds more Force powers, such as "mind trick" and "Force fury".^[14]

Platform-specific elements

According to lead producer Vinde Kudirka, the goal of the game across all platforms is to make the player feel like "a super-powerful Jedi".^[16] Executive producer Julio Torres said that while the story is consistent across platforms, gameplay decreases in style across platforms to reflect each platform's uniqueness and strengths.^[16]

The Wii's control scheme is focused on being able to precisely control Starkiller's Force powers and saber combos.^[16] The Wii exclusive "Force rage" power puts the game's protagonist, Starkiller, into a bullet time mode exclusive to that platform; the Wii version also has a Force sight power not included on other platforms.^[16] The Wii version also has a multiplayer mode, inspired by The Outfoxies, in which four players can challenge each other in a fighting-style combat game.^[8][17]

The PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions feature new Force powers, new skins for Force powers that appear in The Force Unleashed, an improved rendering system providing richer colors, and a new audio system.^[16] The gameplay also highlights the potential to "destroy" the game environment.^[16] Neither the PlayStation 3 nor Xbox 360 versions of the game include multiplayer.^[18]

The Nintendo DS version features the same Force powers as the console versions.^[16] The Nintendo handheld is designed around allowing players to quickly get into or out of the game.^[16]

Plot

The game takes place about six months after the events of the first game,^[19] and a year before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.^[11][20] The Force Unleashed II is the "dark entry" in the series,^[21] and a more personal story for the game's protagonist than the first game.^[19]

Players control Starkiller's renegade clone, a failure of Darth Vader's attempt to create a perfect secret apprentice.^[14] After a vision that Darth Vader will kill him due to his inability to kill a test droid (in the form of Juno from the first game), the clone escapes from captivity on Kamino. After eliminating his stormtrooper captors, Starkiller embarks on a quest to understand his identity and to find his template's love interest from the first game, Juno Eclipse.^[14][20] Meanwhile, Darth Vader has hired Boba Fett to track down Juno Eclipse to lure Starkiller out of hiding.^[8] Starkiller rescues Jedi Master Rahm Kota from a gladiatoral arena, and encounters Yoda on Dagobah.^[22] After encountering strange visions on Dagobah, Starkiller rushes to Juno's ship, only to arrive just as Boba captures her.

With help from Kota, the Rebels launch an all-out assault on Kamino. Starkiller crashes a ship into the planet's shield, allowing Kota to stage a ground assault, while he goes after Juno. In a confrontation with Vader, Juno is thrown out of a window, crashing to the ground. Starkiller, thinking Juno is dead, attacks Vader viciously, cutting off his hand and defeating him. Kota arrives with his men, and tells Starkiller not to kill Vader: he wants to interrogate the Sith lord for the Empires secrets, then put him on trial, then later execute him . As in the first game, this allows the player to choose either the light path or the dark path:

• If the player chooses the dark side, Starkiller raises his saber to kill Vader, only to be struck down by a shrouded figure who uncloaks behind him. Kota attacks the figure, but is killed. As the figure removes his cowl, Vader tells the dying Starkiller he lied when he said the cloning process hadn't been perfected, revealing the figure to be a dark, perfect clone. Starkiller takes one last look at Juno's corpse and dies. Vader instructs the kneeling clone to take Starkiller's ship and kill the remaining leaders of the Rebel Alliance. Downloadable content released in December 2010 expands on this ending, with Starkiller's clone participating in the Battle of Endor in which the remnants of the Rebel Alliance desperately attack Endor in the hopes of destroying the Death Star II. The dark Starkiller is sent to eliminate the threat and kills Ewoks and Rebels (including Han Solo and Chewbacca) in the process. Eventually he finds Leia Skywalker waiting for him and duels her. Starkiller succeeds in killing her. Meanwhile, the Emperor scolds Vader for creating the dark copy of his failed apprentice and subdues him with Force Lightning (calling him Skywalker). The Emperor then orders Captain Sarkli to kill the dark Starkiller.

• If the player chooses the light side, Starkiller lowers his blade and allows Kota's men to capture Vader. Starkiller discovers Juno survived the fall, they kiss, and the two travel into hyperspace together aboard the Rogue Shadow, taking Vader prisoner. Starkiller confronts Vader again saying that because he made the conscious choice, of his own free will, to spare Vader's life, he is finally free of the Dark Lord's control. Vader's response is that as long as Juno lives, Vader will always have control over him. Unknown to Starkiller and Juno, Boba Fett in Slave I is following them.

Development

Haden Blackman, who served as executive producer for the first Force Unleashed game, was the executive producer and writer for the sequel until his July 2010 resignation from LucasArts.^[23] Julio Torres replaced Blackman. LucasArts considered but decided against using a different protagonist for the sequel.^[19] The developers hope the story "stands on its own" and will be enjoyable even by people who have not played the first game.^[24] LucasArts worked closely with Lucasfilm's licensing office to ensure Boba Fett and Yoda were appropriately integrated into the story.^[25]

Technology

Like its predecessor, The Force Unleashed II's engine uses Havok, Euphoria, and Digital Molecular Matter for motion and physics.^[20] Blackman feels the second game takes better advantage of the powerful engine than does the first game.^[26] LucasArts acknowledged players' frustration with the first game's targeting system, and worked to revise it in the sequel;^[14] Blackman said fixing the Force grip feature was the developers' top priority.^[26] The game also includes fewer enemy types, instead focusing on making enemies more "'special and unique'"; the game was also designed to offer "epic" boss battles.^[26] Other adjustments include allowing players to dismember enemy characters and improving menu speeds.^[14][27]

Reception

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC

The Force Unleashed II received mixed reviews, with praise for its visuals and sound design but criticism for several gameplay elements. IGN said The Force Unleashed II is visually appealing, with an impressive sense of scale.^[42] Game Informer said the game's mechanics are more fluid than the first game's, and praised the textures and animations as "among this generation's best".^[29] GamePro and GamesRadar highlighted the game's variety of lightsaber crystals and their ability to boost Starkiller's powers.^[31][55] GamesRadar observed that LucasArts seemed to take player feedback from the first game seriously, and made numerous subtle improvements for the sequel.^[56] GamesRadar also praised "substantial" improvements to the Force grip power, although Eurogamer did not detect any improvements.^[28][55] The Writers Guild of America nominated the game for its Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing recognition.^[57]

Eurogamer said the game overall "feels like it was created out of obligation rather than inspiration", and points toward Blackman's departure from LucasArts before the game's release as a potential sign of trouble.^[28] IGN criticized the game's repetitive level design and underdeveloped story.^[42] Game Informer criticized the story and the dissatisfying appearances by Boba Fett and Yoda.^[29] IGN's reviewer said that because Starkiller begins the game as a powerful character, leveling up does not feel as satisfying as in the first game; while the game does offer increased variety in enemy types that "occasionally present a challenge", defeating them eventually becomes formulaic.^[42] GameSpot called the final battle repetitive, and that the game's end sequence erases the story's dramatic tension.^[36] The Force Unleashed II was later one of GameSpot's nominees for "Least Improved Sequel of 2010".^[58] GamePro faulted several performance issues and the game's brief, unfocused story.^[31] The downloadable content was poorly received by Kotaku, which criticized the expansion's murder of Han Solo and Chewbacca.^[59]

Wii

Nintendo Power and IGN praised the Wii version's multiplayer mode,^[44] although GameSpot called the multiplayer mode "unspectacular".^[37] However, GameSpot did praise the game's art, combat, and control scheme.^[37]

Further reading

• Williams, Sean (2010-10-05). Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0345511546. 

References

External links

• Official website
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II on Wookieepedia: a Star Wars Wiki