Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

A good sequel with superior controls, some new features, a steady pace and a lot more action compared to the first game. With its short playing time of roughly five hours it fails to create as much atmosphere as The Force Unleashed 1 though and there are still some technical issues, e.g. the mediocre collision detection. Overall The Force Unleashed 2 will satisfy both Star Wars-Fans and those who enjoyed the first game.

To summarise if you liked the first game then you'll love the second. Whilst the game is extremely short (having me finish it in a single sitting), quite repetitive in places and the mere eight challenges do little to add the much desired replay value, it's a blast whilst it lasts.

Following the first game's successful expansion of the universe, TFU2's narrative direction is a Death Star-sized let down. Thankfully, its polished gameplay generally overshadows this flaw.

The Force Unleased II is a good game. However, I would be hesitant to call it a good Star Wars game. The original Force Unleashed did a good job building on Star Wars' mythos in a way that was interesting but non-intrusive. It presented a simple story that featured plenty of thematic elements seen in both the original and prequel trilogy. However, the follow-up just doesn't capture the original's spirit, and that is what ultimately holds this title back from being something great.

Takes nearly every complaint we had about the original and fixes it or gives us something better. We finally feel like a proper, force-wielding one-man army. It's still short and doesn't take us on a truly grand tour of the Star Wars universe, but the storytelling holds up in quality and fits right in to the existing mythology.

While The Force Unleashed II doesn't push new boundaries in enemy confrontations or replay value, it's still a fun weekend romp, with plenty of enemies to kill and a great cliffhanger ending to wash it all down with. Let's just hope that the next chapter in the saga uses more development Force.

A shadow of its former self. The graceful gameplay offers a higher level of excitement, but the plot and characterization - two large components from which I expect great things from any Star Wars journey - makes this experience one of 2010's biggest disappointments. [Nov 2010, p.92]

The narrative fails to hit the first's heights. [Jan 2011, p.78]

Star Wars Unleashed 2 is a good game which manages to improve over its predecessor's shortcomings. It's still too short and samey as a whole. Fans will enjoy it for sure.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

As we wrap up our adventure through the Star Wars Universe, it's important to note that this game has some amazing aspects to it, but in the end, it's the core story that disappoints most.

Unleashed II is a decent enough effort and will please fans of the series, but the expectations were far higher.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 doesn't live up to the expectations. The graphics are stunning, but the story as well as the atmosphere are disappointing and do not justify a fully priced game. Still, it's a must have for true Star Wars fans.

It's not a total failure, and there are some improvements worthy of note, but the way it so callously steps on the toes of the previous title's story is a huge disappointment.

The Force Unleashed II isn't a bad game, it's just a disappointing one. There was a lot of hope and excitement for it prior to launch, but it really fell short. If you liked the original, you should play this, but frankly, a rental is probably all you need.

Star Wars the Force Unleashed II makes up for most of its predecessor flaws, and delivers some terrific action sequences. It's a shame though that the story is simply non existent and the whole adventure lasts some 5 hours. It really seems like the developers can't make this saga right, leaves us waiting for a new hope.

It is impossible not to say that Force Unleashed II disappoints even those who liked the first game, not for being a bad game because it is not, but because it could have been so much more.

The new Star Wars games shines for its awesome graphics and refined controls, but it's not enough to overcome a boring and short story and very repetitive gameplay.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is, for the most part, an enjoyable action game that is sadly short lived due to its overall length and un-realised, poorly crafted story.

There were high expectations for this game, however it is inferior to the first one, shorter, more monotonous, not replayable and with a really forgetable story.

The Force Unleashed only just barely won us over. Holding back this late in the game is an epic misstep.

Shallow but entertaining gameplay tied to a staggeringly disappointing plot renders The Force Unleashed II a weekend's worth of popcorn entertainment.

It really should have come as an add-on for the original game, and not as a full priced, stand alone product.

It's disappointing that The Force Unleashed 2 not only fails to tell an interesting yarn, but also somehow manages to make the cool combat mechanics feel relatively pedestrian by failing to have enough variation in combat, or enough outside of combat to break up the pacing.

There's just no finesse required to overcome the overwhelming odds the game throws at you. You can definitely add quite a bit of flair to the slaughter, but in the end, there's no disguising the routine, monotonous action at the heart of the game.

The Force Unleashed II never really gets to the same heights as its predecessor and it almost feels like a sequel was rushed out just for the sake of it, as the story and combat never really feels that fleshed out. There is still some fun to be had, but it's almost inevitable that you'll become bored of the game by the time you finish it, which says something considering it only lasts a few hours.

Any fan of the Star Wars brand will probably enjoy the 6 hours campaign, but if you're not among them you surely won't be able to ignore the game's technical flaws and inconsistent gameplay. Better luck next time, Jedi wannabes.

Despite being solid and fun-to-play Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 is poor in a lot of game aspects, for example gameplay (really repetitive), level design (linear) and enemies variety and AI. All this aspects configures a game that is recommnended only to the strongest fans of the Lucas franchise.

Star Wars fans will enjoy it, but the rest will keep wondering why is Lucasarts wasting such an attractive franchise.

With its core gameplay kept from the original, this sequel makes no attempt to reinvent any wheels. Enjoyable, yet unfulfilling. [Issue#66, p.82]

Force Unleashed II isn't a bad game, far from it actually. But its very short adventure, lack of polish, and imprecise gameplay prevent it from being anything more than a cheap steam-venting endeavor. Despite some nice ideas (usually borrowed from the killer apps of the genre, but poorly implemented). From a fan service standpoint, though, it clearly works with customizable light sabers, a ton of alternative badass-looking costumes for Starkiller, and additional challenges to have players compete over the internet.

This should have been a superior sequel, but there's not enough here to make it anything than a mildly enjoyable but ultimately underwhelming action game.

It's not a bad game by a long stretch - just a game that's over in a flash and almost entirely devoid of any memorable moments.

When Unleashed 2 is good, it's really good. The stage-long, multi-tiered showdown against the skyscraper-high Gorog, though mechanically uninspired, is guaranteed to take your breath away. But the contrived and insignificant plot undoes the majority of the improved gameplay's good work, and the whole absolutely fails to live up to LucasArts' earlier promises of Empire-grade grandeur.

At only four to five hours, The Force Unleashed II is hardly worth recommending to anyone. Even diehard Star Wars fans will find it hard to spend $60 on a game that is worse than its predecessor in nearly every aspect, including the one that matters the most, the story.

Though occasionally enjoyable, this Force-powered sequel is a mere apprentice to its superior predecessor.

There are one or two interesting set-pieces, but nothing as epic as the first game. There's really only one boss fight (other than the finale), and while it starts out slightly cool, it just evolves into tediousness.

Anyone looking to turn off their brain for several hours and spam some buttons as a ridiculously powerful Force user will do fine. Those who respected the first game for its story, or are looking for quality presentation, combat variety and the feeling like they didn't just get two-thirds of a full-priced product can find better games now in a galaxy much, much closer.

A title that isn't all that great and doesn't make a hell of lot of sense.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II unfortunately did not become what many people hoped. The graphics are beautiful, but in almost all other areas the game fails to impress.

I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I've had fun with several of the games before. The Force Unleashed II just isn't entertaining, though; as soon as you're able to start having fun with it, it pulls out an obnoxious boss fight or another uninspired level on you. I can't honestly recommend this to anyone but the most obsessive, completist fan of the series, and even he's probably going to have to justify this to his friends.

The Force Unleashed II lacks all the story from the original, and is way to short for a fully priced game. This is a rental at best.

TFUII feels like a series of unfulfilled and broken promises that could kill the franchise, even for Star Wars fans. [Christmas 2010, p.92]

While technically superior to the first game, this sequel is a lot less interesting than its older brother. After an interesting first part, the game becomes a faceless repetition of the same actions: fight with enemies, and then some more. Frustratingly imperfect.

A total non-event throughout. [Jan 2011, p.80]

Short games aren't immediately terrible, but even the short ones ought to have something to justify their length as much as the long ones.

Although this fixes many of the problems with the original it then undoes all the things it got right, in one of the most inexcusably brief games ever.

While the original Force Unleashed managed to surprise us with something that was more stimulating then the tech demo we feared and nicely introduced a new plotline, the sequel fails at virtually everything it attempts. The plot feels like a cheap way to extend the series and never delivers any twists, while the game itself is mediocre at the very best of times. A hugely disappointing experience that even the most ardent Star Wars fan will have a tough time enjoying.

C'mon guys, you are the reason we have excellent games such as Monkey Island, Knights of the Old Republic, Sam & Max, Indiana Jones, the Jedi Knight series and so on. Surely, you can do better than produce a half-baked franchise-milking action adventure.

Whilst this sequel may improve some of the technical aspects of The Force Unleashed, the all important narrative is non-existent.

I had a great time dismembering members of the Empire for four hours, and what little story exists has some great potential, but the hugely missed marks and brutal technical problems really bring The Force Unleashed 2 to its knees. It's tough to recommend this to even the most devout Star Wars fan, since they'll feel the sting of disappointment worse than those who'd simply dislike it as a mediocre action game.

A game that feels like it was created out of obligation rather than inspiration.

What you get here will take you no time at all to complete, and it's hard to feel like there's not a sizable amount of content missing from this particular game.

How disappointing to see such potential wasted. What a shame to see a developer so clearly uninterested in their own project. Such is the lack of invention and variety on offer, The Force Unleashed II can't help feel like a cursory cash-grab, more akin to DLC than a fully fledged retail product.

In a year beholden to console gaming's finest offerings, this is impossible to recommend.

The original Force Unleashed shot for the stars, and fell short, but at least you could commend it for trying. Force Unleashed 2 feels sterile and barren in comparison, refusing to try for anything spectacular, and managing to reuse and recycle its few good ideas countless times over its short run.

The Force Unleashed 2 should honestly have never been made.