Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

The Force Unleashed 2. This game, after the success of the first was eagerly awaited. I was hoping they were going to build of the pros and correct the cons of TFU1. Sadly this did not happen and TFU1 on the Wii at least, remains the better game.

If you were to judge TFU2 on it's own and not compare it to TFU1, then it is a good game. The graphics are very good (better than TFU1...although I'm not meant to be comparing), the force powers are fun and bashing the daylights out of stormtroopers with the lightsabres is somewhat satisfying. The storyline is ok but doesn't tie in with the trilogies.

So, yeah on it's own it is a good game but it should have been so much more...

Firstly,

The swinging of the Wii controls etc were going to change with the introduction of a second lightsabre, that I can understand. But the combo attacks in the first game were great, like combining a Force Push attack with Force Electricity. Sadly, there is none of this in the new game. No Force choke, no holding a storm trooper while throwing your lightsabre into him at the same time...you get the picture.

Secondly,

The game is far too short. This was a critism of the first game, so what did they do to resolve this? Make TFU2 even shorter!!!!!!!!!!!

Thirdly,

There are no real bosses...at least there are no Jedi/Sith Bosses to fight apart from Vader at the end, which is too easy. Even the cloned Starkillers are far too easy to beat. When you choose the 'evil' ending just before you are about to kill Vader, you are killed by the evil 'perfected' clone of Starkiller. Why wasn't this the final boss, who you could have an epic battle against and be on a equal footing with?

TFU 2 on Wii has got to be one of the most disappointing sequels I have ever played, as I expected the same as the TFU1 but with more enhancements, more difficulty, longer gameplay and an equally compelling story. Having said that, looking at the game purely on it's own merrit, it is a good Wii game and is worth playing especially if you are a Star Wars fan.

First, let's us start with a positive, Amazon delivered it a day before release. Well done. Which means I've had two evenings to ponder this.

If you're not the type who reads long reviews, because I'm not sure how much of a rant this is going to turn into then, PLEASE, SAVE YOUR MONEY! IF YOU DON'T OWN THE FIRST, BUY THAT. IF YOU DO, PRETEND THIS 'GAME' NEVER HAPPENED...

Right, in anticipation of the sequel to an enjoyable game that any Starwars fan bought purely to immerse themselves in a saber wielding frenzy, I dug out the old game to familiarise myself with the controls and combos, WASTE OF TIME... I spent a fair while replaying the first edition to upgrade everything, withoout the cheat mode. Never got bored!

UNLEASED II:

I might as well get the positives out the way first:

+ It's Star Wars...

the mediocre:

+/- Dual lightsabers
+/- Dark rage

and now everything they catastrophically did wrong with this game (this is not in order of importance, but it'll drive you mad)

- Saber Control:

The whole point of owning and playing a game like Star Wars Wii is to be able to wield the light saber around in motions, as if you had one. Well, FORGET IT! Now you just tap (A), kill joy right there. In fact you have absolutely no control over slice, thrust, slam, just (A)...

Second, if you are going to introduce dual sabers, arguably, the nunchuck could perfom independent moves

- Combos:

They've really dumbed everything down big time, no more fancy moves where a variety of attacks culminates in a massive blow, NO, (Btw this is rated 16 for violent reasons, the violence being you generally want to kill the person overseeing this whole project), now you just have a meter that goes up, (A) (A) (A) you gain more XP then you shake the remote like a wet dogs tail and voila, it decides what to do.

- Story / Plot:

Save the girl. That's the in's and out's. I enjoyed the addition to the double trilogy with Unleased (I), this provides absolutely NOTHING! The game is so linear that light itself would bend to avoid it on a shelf.

- New Powers:

They've included, mind control (sounded promising), force sight (reveals all hidden objects - ironic, you're supposed to hunt for them) and force rage. All of which could have easily been added easily to the original control layout by a simple [shift] buttton. The latter is kinda cool but only because the rest is so hidiously dull, you build up a meter, when full, you point at your targets n get slow motion execution moves. This is definitely half baked to say the least. What I would've liked to have seen is a an 'Enter the Matrix' (Gamecube) like mode where you chose the final blows in succession of your victims, and then play it out in glory. Too much to ask.

- Controls:

Apart from the formentioned Saber disaster, 'Push' is just a shake n point, same with 'grip' and 'lightning', and saber throw might as well be heat seeking missiles.

- There's no 'Choke', an amazing Dark power, so important and cool in the films and previous game, GONE!

- No Map, speaks for itself but the scenery is so monotonous.

- Crystals and Costumes:

Only 8 colours, 11 improved abilities. NO SHIP so it's all in game modifications with no break (as if a Jedi is going to carry around 21 crystals). Smaller variety of outfits which look worse.

- Cheats:

There are four, STOP. You can no longer enter codes for costumes etc. There's no keying in device, thanks Amazon for that selling point of unlockable powers if you pre-order! Playing as Vader, Han, Luke or the Emperor was cool, to name a few.

- Bosses:

Well, there isn't any really. Before you'd have to work out their week spots, dimishish their life n then finish them off with a combination of swings, GONE! Some quite lengthy. Now there's the occasional cut sequence, which involves one or two swings, no build up, just a STUPID transition. If you fail one you just shake those remotes a bit longer, NO SKILL! No Sith to kill. No Jedi to kill, nothing... Unleased I had loads of intricate characters to pass.

- If you manage to die in this game it's because you've fallen off a platform, that's you biggest challenge...

- Puzzles:

They were having a laugh when they tried to introduce this as a new feature, an amputated toe has a higher IQ than the slime that put that into to place, "slide one box to next box, no touchy laser"! (Long live Zelda!)

- Graphics:

Obviously, they should look at the trade describition acts, new engine, better dynamics, the lighting (a fraction maybe, I guess they were talking about a PC version). The environment is not as interactive as the first installement, you blast things, but before they were objects you could throw, now just JUNK, like this 'game'.

- On the box:

"The best bits of Star Wars rolled into one" (Gamemaster). They obviously were talking about the playability and story of the first edition.

"An intricately planned and crafted sequel" (The Guardian). Are they high? Intricate and crafted are the last things that come to mind, retarded and shafted fit the bill...

I HOPE YOU NEVER HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THIS DISSAPPOINTMENT

The worst purchase I've ever bought, and I'm going back to the Sinclair 128 (tape deck)!

On the advert it looked like it had loads of levels but in fact it only had 3. Even though those levels were fun, I had hoped for more. I also think the age given for the game should have been 12. But if you love star wars your enjoy this game.