Why did I even pay money for this?
A Review by Christopher Camz of UnfashionablyLateReviews.blogspot.com I have done a considerable amount of mudslinging at George Lucas in the past, and I regret none of it of course, because he is a fat, talentless, one-trick horse who continues to beat the same franchise lifeless over our heads, and for whatever reason, people still give him money. Every once in a blue moon, however, something of value manages to crawl out of Lucasarts Studios. One such escapee was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a ridiculously named game that was written and developed in order to bridge the gap between the third and fourth movies, during which time the rebel alliance had been formed. The game was shockingly fun and became one of my favorite games in 2009, and I must have played through the game at least 6 times before I finally put it down. It was also the first, and only, game that kept me entertained long enough for me to collect every achievement point. So long story short the game was good. Flash forward to 2010, and George Lucas must have also been shocked at how well received the game was, and a second game followed. This was the first sin of the second game. One of the best parts of the first game was the ending, which was satisfying, enjoyable, emotional, and most importantly, tied up all the loose ends. Starkiller died for the rebellion, which explains why he wasn't part of the movies, and I'm sure nobody believed the rebellion began unopposed by the empire. So everything ended. Yet here we are with a second game starring Starkiller. This pissed me off to the point that I refused to buy the game myself, I watched Starkiller die, I was blown away by the story and watched it end, yet here we are continuing it. Anyway, I spoke so highly of the first game that a friend bought the game for me for Christmas 2011, so I begrudgingly played through it. In summary, I now wish I hadn't.
The gameplay is almost the exact same as was in the first game. This isn't necessarily a negative thing because the first was fantastic, but it would have been nice to have seen a few advancements. The only additions made to the game is a second lightsaber and the jedi mind trick, which, while entertaining, is mostly impractical during combat. The game introduces several new enemies, but they are less fun to kill, and more annoying to fight, such as the invisible teleporters and sith acolytes, which are immune to any force powers (it's even more annoying than it sounds). So the game doesn't mess with a winning formula, but it would have been nice to see some variety. The game, however, is short, like DLC short. I blew through it in less than 6 hours and had already begun a second playthrough by then. The game has 4, count 'em, 4 levels. The first game contained about twice as much, and peppered them with unique enemies and environments. Come to think of it, this probably was a DLC, but for whatever reason was packaged and sold at full price. All of this count as points against it, but the ultimate issue that I have with the game that makes it an unforgivable title that shall ever be remembered in infamy is that, even after all the bullcrap in the game; the short length, the weak additions, the extremely poor story , the game still ends on a **** CLIFFHANGER. That's right, not only was this game weak in every area and artificially continues an excellent story with a phenomenal ending, it ends with Vader in rebellion custody. Where do they expect to go with this? A third game? Or maybe this is a prequel to the movie that has been rumored of late. Only time will tell. Oh, and Lucas has less writing ability than mental patients after several shots to the head.
Gameplay….8
Sound…7
Graphics…7
Replayability…5
Story…3
Average… 6