The original Force Unleashed was a beautiful looking game which allowed players to feel like the ultimate Jedi badass, wielding the force in ways we have never seen. Unfortunately the game felt like an impressive demo rather than a full game. Force Unleashed 2 claims to iron out the problems of the first game and be an overall bigger and better package. Is it a case of Star Wars or Star Bores?
The Force Unleashed 2 plays identically to its predecessor, which is no bad thing. The game is a 3rd person action adventure game which sees you play as Starkiller, the main character from the first game. The story carries on from the first game, in a nutshell, you are a clone of Starkiller who goes AWOL in search of his old flame whilst chased across the galaxy by Darth Vader. Fans of the first will instantly be able to pick up and play the game as the controls are the pretty much identical. Lightsaber attacks however are done using the A button, with special attacks done using a simple Wiimote flick. I think this works better than expected as the intense action is just too much which would require way too much wiggling and flicking of the remote if it controlled all attacks.
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The Force Powers, which are the best feature of the game are mainly controlled using the Nunchuck. Force Lightning for example is done by holding C and shaking the Nunchuck. For most of the time they work well, plus you can aim the remote at the screen and pick up individual storm troopers and toss them with a simple flick. This works very well in practice but sometimes in more heated battles, I found this was annoying. On more than one occasion I found myself trying to pick up an enemy and toss them from a high ledge, but the Wiimote would throw them down on the floor instead. Others such as the Force Repulse require two button presses, and a flick of the Wiimote, often led me getting shot as they took too much time to pull off. Some of the powers work really well, whilst others less so. To block enemy lasers, you have to hold the Wiimote sideways, which is very responsive, but takes too long to do when you’re battling. It would have worked much better with a button press. The attacks overall do make you feel like a super charged Jedi, which is awesome.
The levels are very large, and are fairly fun to explore and contain lots of hidden collectables. These can range from lightsaber crystals to change colours to holocrons, which upgrade your powers. The levels are pure Star Wars, instantly recognisable locations and overall style. Enemies old and new litter the levels are a joy to kill. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the developers thought of many new bosses rather than use the Rancor creature over and over like in the first game. I did notice that a few areas seemed to be used over a few times, which gave a common sense of déjà vu, also making the developers seem a little cheap. The levels are so grand in scale however that this is not really a major problem. The enemy variety is also kept fresh so you’re not constantly killing stormtroopers, which is nice.
Graphically, the game is a real mixed bag unfortunately. Having played the 360 version, the graphics obviously will seem much poorer. The visuals are similar to that of a PS2 title, which we know the Wii can do much better than. This is apparent in all aspects of the presentation. Using the title screen as an example, it is just a static screen, which lacks overall polish. The upgrade menus too, are just static screens, with no real explanation of what powers your upgrading. Even the FMV sequences are very poor, very grainy in appearance and just looking dated. Wii gamers probably not even notice these things, but the developers really could have done better. There are some excellent effects in there, such as the lightsabers and laser blasts. Soundwise, the game is fantatstic. John Williams famous scores are all in here and change due to the action on screen. The voices are generally great except Darth Vader, which sounds like a cheap toy.
The Force Unleashed 2 is a very fun game. I felt like a total badass Jedi, which is what the game is all about. The graphics are awful but the fact there are loads of enemies on screen and you pull of lightning quick attacks with ease overcome this. The game is short, but does have a multiplayer mode to add longevity. This mode is fairly average but is a welcome addition. If your looking for a fun but short Star Wars game on the Wii, this is the best.
| Rating | Description |
| 7.0 | Gameplay Very fun and frantic, does start to dull towards the end. |
| 6.0 | Graphics Levels are huge, great special effects, but poor textures and lack of polish |
| 9.0 | Sound Excellent voiceovers & sound effects, music is super throughout |
| 6.5 | Final Score |
