To a fault, everyone expected "The Force Unleashed" to play incredibly. And while it didn't live up to the impossible hype, the gifts it gave players to abuse as Darth Vader's apprentice -- better-than-average light saber combat, Force lightning, Force push, the ability to Force grip and fling anything and anyone not bolted to the ground at will, and a combo system that nicely tied these abilities together -- made for a flawed but extremely fun game.
"The Force Unleashed II" brings all of that back, adds a few new pieces, and filters it through a game that finds a much better balance between challenge and frustration.
Starkiller, now Vader's former apprentice, returns -- and if you played the first game and are wondering how, "TFU2" explains it rather well -- and most of his powers from the first game are available to players immediately.
The addition of a second light saber to Starkiller's arsenal doesn't vastly improve combat, but being able to separately customize each saber's attributes (and color) with discoverable saber crystals is pretty handy. Starkiller now can turn objects and enemies into lightning grenades by gripping, electrifying and throwing them, and the ability to play Jedi mind tricks on enemies is, in addition to amusing, a huge help when Starkiller is vastly outnumbered. Also useful when outnumbered: Force Fury, which briefly but satisfyingly jacks up all of Starkiller's abilities.
Like its predecessor, "TFU2" counters Starkiller's immense power by flooding the screen with enemies, some of whom can resist certain abilities. But the enemy types make more sense this time -- grunt enemies can't magically resist the Force, in other words -- and while "TFU2" doesn't roll over, it generally does avoid dropping players into levels and boss fights that encourage cheap enemy behavior.
It helps, also, that the game's interface makes it easier for players to see who or what they're targeting with Force powers before actually deploying them. The number of moving parts and physics in play means things still get nice and chaotic, but "TFU2" does a much better job of maintaining a manageable intensity.
Where the original "Unleashed" exceeded its immense hype was in how polished the story was and how shockingly well Starkiller -- a character who previously did not exist -- bridges the gap between the two "Star Wars" movie trilogies. "TFU2" isn't privy to the same element of surprise, and because the story is more about Starkiller than the events that led up to the first "Star Wars" movie, it cannot compare to the first game in terms of fan service.
But for the second time in two games, the story exceeds expectations. It already was a shame that the events of the first game weren't part of the second movie trilogy, and with these new developments, the story of Starkiller's coming into being has now exceeded that of Anakin Skywalker's weepy development by several lengths.
