Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

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As far as sequels to multi-million selling titles go, Force Unleashed II is one of the most disappointing. It's not that the first game was superb - it was merely an entertaining game set in the Star Wars universe - but that the sequel could, and probably should, have been able to better it. While LucasArts has created a fun, and at times visually stunning game, the campaign is over in next to no time at all and there are very few memorable moments throughout. The Force Unleashed II is, sadly, a by-the-numbers sequel which simply doesn't excite as much as the original.

Despite dying at the end of the last game, you are once again cast as Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Starkiller, but with a twist: you might be a clone. Vader insists you are, explaining how his many prior attempts all ended in grisly failure, but you and many others aren't so sure. With flashbacks indicating that something isn't right, you flee from the dark master in an attempt to find out the truth, and are quickly reunited with your friends. What follows is a fairly forgettable story, one that isn't nearly as interesting as that found in the original, but enough to get you from planet to planet in order to fight endless waves of Stormtroopers, AT-AT walkers and ambiguous robot nasties.

Starkiller is a pretty badass warrior, highly skilled with his dual lightsabers and adept with the Force. This makes him more than a match for whatever Vader throws at him over the course of the five or so hour adventure (that's right: five hours). Combat with your saber is quite basic, with just a single button handling strikes, but you can combo this with Force push and lighting attacks, while well timed blocks will repel projectiles back at enemies. It's no Bayonetta (or even God of War) in terms of combat depth, but it's good fun and, importantly, looks spectacular.

Another offensive option is using the environment. This can simply be pushing a trooper off the edge of a platform to his death, or lobbing an explosive barrel into a group of foes. Takedowns can be performed when up close, and larger enemies can be downed with successful QTE button presses once you've depleted their energy to a sufficiently low level. None of these are particularly taxing, but they generally look exciting enough to avoid becoming tedious.

As was the way in the previous game, your general stats and abilities can be upgraded through experience points, meaning that by the end you're extremely powerful. The Force push is my favourite move to use, especially when maxed out, but the repulse ability - which sends a shockwave all around you - is incredibly handy for taking out large groups of enemies. In an attempt to spice up combat, certain enemies are immune to Force attacks, while others can only be beaten once hit by a certain strike.

Minute to minute gameplay in Force Unleashed II is good, solid fun, with the use of Force powers never becoming tiresome even after you've flung a Stormtrooper off a platform for the 50th time. Seeing a door open with tens of enemies behind it is never a bad thing, as you know it's going to present some great opportunities for carnage.