The Force Unleashed 2

WARNING- CONTAINS SPOILERS.

For those out there that don’t remember the first Force Unleashed, it promised the opportunity to fight as a bona fide bad ass, Starkiller, trained by the original bona fide bad ass, Darth Vader. Players were told that they could wield the mystical force like a hammer, and pound enemies into the ground with lightning, just like the Emperor. We were even told that in one sequence, we would be able to actually pull a Star Destroyer out of space. Being an evil bad ass never in a galaxy far, far away never seemed as cool as it did back when watching those previews.

The reality is The Force Unleashed ended up being a rather average title in which the player could do things like make stormtroopers their bitch with the force, but had to deal with sluggish control while doing so. It is so very frustrating to destroy a squad of stormtroopers using the force, only to inexplicably jump off a cliff seconds later. The much vaunted Star Destroyer scene, rather than making a player feel powerful, became an exercise in repetition that made one feel less like a bad ass, and more like an assembly line worker. Overall, the game was OK at best, with the platforming segments being frustrating enough to induce controller smashing anger.

Thus, it was with great fear and hope that I downloaded the demo of The Force Unleashed 2. Hope because I still want to feel like a bad ass, and fear because I can’t afford many more controllers.

This Force Unleashed begins with you playing Starkiller again- even though he died at the end of the first game. In the midst of a standard opening tutorial sequence, the fighting system seems the same as before. This is difficult to notice, however, as the screen keeps flashing and the voice of Juno Eclipse, your pilot and love interest from the first game, keeps asking you if you really want to do this. It is kind of annoying, but gets the point across. Starkiller must be schizophrenic and dead. Great.

Eventually, you refuse to kill the image of the Juno Eclipse after she tells you that you are the only hope for the rebel alliance. (I thought Obi-Wan was our only hope?) After this sequence, Vader appears, and gives you some good news and some bad news. The good news is, you are not dead- you are a clone of the real Starkiller, who is actually dead. The bad news is, the cloning process was sped up, and you are going insane, just like several other clones that came before you. Great, I knew I was schizophrenic.

Vader then informs Starkiller 2.0 that it is time to die, and instead of just accepting his fate, he attacks and momentarily stuns Vader. Seizing this opportunity, Starkiller 2.0 jump out a nearby window and begins falling.

Now pay attention, because the game begins to get awesome here.

The cutscene ends, and you begin to control Starkiller 2.0 as he falls. You dodge past pieces of the building as you plummet toward the ground, and occasionally have to use force push to knock other objects impeding your path out of the way. This mechanic is super fun, and totally unexpected, especially after the initial dull schizophrenic combat. Starkiller 2.0 handles somewhat like a fighter, and as he lands, I find myself wanting more of this cool effect.

After landing, Starkiller 2.0 begins fighting stormtroopers, ala Force Unleashed. It is still pretty satisfying at this point to slaughter stormtroopers, but it feels very similar to the first game. Force lightning is a lot more powerful now, actually knocking enemies down in one hit, but other than that, it is essentially feeling like a rehash, at least combat wise.

Then the game gets cool again.

Starkiller 2.0 sneaks up on one stormtrooper, and the player is instructed in the use of the “Jedi Mind Trick,” and told to use it on the unsuspecting trooper. I begin to get excited. The idea of actually being able to use the Jedi Mind trick is cool enough, but this isn’t Obi-Wans, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” light side mind trick. Remember, even though Starkiller 2.0 is fighting for good (he is one of the last hopes for the alliance, remember) he is essentially still only versed in the Dark Side of the force, so when you use this Jedi Mind Trick, the stormtrooper screams and jumps out a nearby window, falling to his death. I’d like to repeat that, because it is awesome. You can convince people to jump out of windows.

I bet he uses that in bars to get laid. “Go home with me you will.”

As this was my favorite force power, I continued to use it throughout the level, and experienced everything from stormtroopers cowering in fear to actually turning around and shooting other Imperials after being told, “You are a rebel spy.” This power is limited, because there are usually a lot of enemies coming at you, but it is still really cool to watch a stormtrooper scream, “I have to get out of here,” and jump off a bridge. It does not get old.

The remainder of the demo is standard Force Unleashed. There are still QuickTime events to take down big War Droids, which are essentially giant droids with shields and flamethrower. (They are terrifying, by the way) You can still pick up stormtroopers and throw them around. Jetpack troopers are still bastards, but they can also still be quickly killed with force lightning, if you can get around the sometimes glitchy 3^rd person camera and targeting systems.

The biggest difference between this game and the original is that this game is polished. The few platforming sequences that exist are crisp, and much easier than before. I only fell to my death once, and that is because I pushed the wrong button. This is a great improvement to the game, and it makes me feel more hopeful about the finished product. It looks like this time, Starkiller 2.0 will actually be a bad ass, not just pretending to be one before launching himself off a cliff. I had so much fun playing this, that at times, it felt like I wasn’t even playing a Star Wars game at all.

My advice on this game is to BUY IT, BUT RENT IT FIRST. I say this for many reasons. The first is, this level did not feature a lot of the platforming that was so bad in the original, so we have no real idea if it is completely fixed, or just fixed in this level. This is also an exciting holiday season, with Assassins’ Creed, Fable 3, and Call of Duty all coming out. After the performance of the last game, I want to make sure that Lucasarts did a good job with this one, and the demo is not just a fluke. It is definitely worth the $9.99 rental from Blockbuster, though. I will say that based solely on the demo, the game actually does feel worth $59.99- but right now it is still behind some other titles on my list of games to actually buy.

Overall, I am hopeful, if tentative about the final game, but only the full release will let me know if the force is with me, or I am just some schizophrenic clone.