Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (Wii) Review

Star Wars has been one of those franchises that I grew up with, and as such, have a bit of a fondness for. Additionally, and this may seem like blasphemy, I really enjoyed the prequel trilogy for what it was. With the creation of The Force Unleashed media project, I managed to discover a very decent Star Wars action game set in one of my favourite worlds, however I was unable to fully enjoy the original game due to a few nitpicks. With the release of The Force Unleashed II, no matter how unnecessary you may feel a sequel was, a few things have changed, but not a lot. Still, it’s very competent.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II takes place sometime after the original game, and about a year before the events of the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. Players step into the shoes of Starkiller once again, although there’s something a little bit strange about this Starkiller, and those who played the original game will know why. Essentially, Starkiller escapes from Kamino and Darth Vader to find Juno Eclipse, his lost love from the first game, as well as Rahm Kota, a Jedi who helped steer Starkiller away from the way of the dark side in the previous game. There’s not a whole lot more that I can tell you about The Force Unleashed II, it’s an incredibly short adventure, and there’s not a whole lot of story to pad it out either.

The first thing that I noticed about The Force Unleashed II is just how odd the artistic direction is. The game employs a pseudo-realistic, caricature style method of presentation with the characters looking somewhat similar to those from the recently released “The Clone Wars” cartoon and animation series. Characters facial expressions are nowhere near as detailed however, which is quite disappointing when you compare it to the previous game and other titles on the Wii. This is particularly more evident when the game shows pre-rendered cinematic sequences between levels and during major moments, which are of better graphical quality but still missing, well, detail and life that would make them look believable.

Environments are well replicated in a scaled down manner from their movie counterparts too, although some of them are lacking the effects to make them feel really alive. One particular nitpick is having a level with tall walls (assumedly to prevent rendering a large open space) and yet rain was still falling on the locale. It was a bit distracting, and a clear sign that the hardware was probably holding the game back from being as great as it could be. This is also quite evident when hundreds of sparks are flying around the room during any combat situation, and the game slows to a rather jarring image. Having seen much better stuff happen on the system without failings, it’s a bit of a letdown.

Surprisingly, the gameplay is actually quite fast paced and utilises the motion controls in a much more mature way than you’d expect. While it would be easy to just shoehorn motion controls into the fray, all lightsaber attacks are performed with a simple press of the A button. Attacking and destroying enemies builds up a combo meter, which not only multiplies experience points earned, but also allows Starkiller to perform a fatal combo with the wave of a Wii Remote. The combat system is extremely fast and there’s never a point where you’ll feel “down”, and although this is great, it removes a lot of challenge from the game. As previously mentioned, experience points can be earned to upgrade force powers and purchase new combo attacks too, a nice touch, but it really adds nothing major to the affair.

Of course, as the name would suggest, Starkiller is quite well versed in the ways of the Force and has a multitude of powers to use against enemies. These include, but are not limited to Force Lightning, Force Push and Force Grip. Uses of these powers are all mapped to rather intuitive combinations of button presses and motion controls. A force shockwave is charged with a button on each controller component, and then released by shaking the Remote and the Nunchuk for devastating damage. Shaking the Nunchuk while holding the Z button allows for Starkiller to channel force lightning, while pointing the Wii Remote’s pointer at certain things allows Starkiller to focus on specific targets. The force powers are, for the most part, quite impactful and feel really powerful, although sometimes their practicality is unmatched when compared to just simple lightsaber dueling. I found myself using lightsabers much more throughout the game than force powers. Force powers are pretty interesting to use on the environment, which is partially destructible and even bendable under the right circumstances – a nice touch.

The game also features some pretty nice boss battles, although a lot of the cooler fight scenes are only given to the player in the form of quick time events. While they aren’t particularly annoying, it’s a bit sad to see that the very worthy Starkiller isn’t given a chance to take things down without the need of an automated sequence initiated by random motion controls, which, by the way, are quite accurate.

There’s many compositions that players would be familiar with if they were Star Wars fans, and most of them have made it into The Force Unleashed II, although it’s a bit odd to see themes that are usually played in the likes of Tatooine or Hoth on some of the newer locations in The Force Unleashed 2. Still, they’ve definitely stood the test of time. Voicework is passable, and it’s also nice to see that the development team managed to get back the original voice actors for most of the characters from the original game, although it’s a bit sad to see some of the trademark characters with some very awful sound-alikes.

The Force Unleashed II, is, unfortunately, a very short game. There’s probably around about 5-7 hours worth of play time here, but most people will be falling at the lower end of this spectrum. There are, of course, collectibles and such to unlock but most of these are really pointless in unlocking once the game is over unless you’re a hardcore completionist – and I would probably say that’s nobody. There’s two endings available depending on your actions towards the end of the game, and this is a nice incentive to replay through the game, although you know that one of these endings won’t even be carried through if a sequel ever arises.

There is a multiplayer mode available exclusively to the Nintendo Wii version too, continuing the tradition from the first game. Players can duel in up to groups of four, and duel in familiar levels from both Force Unleashed games. There are “hazards” also available which range from massive lasers filling the rooms, to star fighters closing in and shooting characters off platforms. To say that this idea borrows from Smash Brothers would be a bit of an understatement. Each character, however, has unique force powers and stats (speed, power and force), which is a nice touch. To add to the game’s re-playability, collecting certain collectibles and completing certain stages allows players to unlock more arenas and characters to battle each other with. Ultimately, it’s a bit too shallow to keep anyone’s attentions for long sessions, but it’s still a very nice mode that I’m surprised hasn’t been included in any other versions of the game elsewhere.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is a very decent action game and a moderately so-so Star Wars game that utilises the motion controls of the Wii and effectively plays to the system’s strengths in a manner that isn’t cheap or horribly forced. That being said, a lot of older players will find it a bit too easy to breeze through and a bit to short, but younger fans of the series are bound to love it. I’m a bit torn between just how good this game is, but looking at it objectively as an action game, it’s very decent.

Graphics 6.0

There are some nice effects, and recognisable environments. However, the obvious scaling back of locales to compensate for the Wiis hardware and very simplistic artistic direction makes it a bit disappointing.

Gameplay 7.5

I suspect the aim of the game is to make you feel like a bad ass Jedi/Sith master, and in this regard, Force Unleashed II has nailed it. Force powers and lightsaber combat feel great, although the heightened practicality of using a lightsaber makes the gameplay a bit boring and repetitive at times.

Sound 7.0

Returning voice actors and classic Star Wars tunes are welcomed, no matter how old theyve become. That being said, some sound-alikes for more signature characters to the franchise are disappointing.

Tilt 5.0

The Multiplayer mode adds a lot to my score for this one, as the campaign is just too short and lacking in proper and substantiated storyline.

Value 8.5

Despite some of its glaring flaws, I really did enjoy The Force Unleashed II. It was a very fast paced game with some interesting use of the Force powers to move it along. The story, for me, was a bit of a letdown though.