Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

This game was one of the most anticipated releases of 2010 for me. I'd been watching the trailers on loop and downloading the wallpapers (which is very unlike me). There had been such a hype surrounding The Force Unleashed 2, that, when I actually got around to playing it - it seemed a little disappointing in some areas.

Aesthetically, this game is amazing. The graphics and physics engine really make it a lot of fun to play. Force-gripping Storm Troopers and then impaling them with your dual-wielded light-sabers never got old. The ability to collect and change your saber crystals, effectively enabling you to change your light-saber's colour, was also a fantastic touch which enabled me to give my character a more personal feel. In addition to the colour changes, each crystal had a unique effect. For example, equipping a green coloured crystal would enable your character to heal faster; a white crystal for force regeneration; an orange crystal to set your enemies on fire etc etc.

The downside, however, to this game, is the story itself. You begin the game on Kamino, the cloning planet, where you're told that you are a clone of The Force Unleashed 1's main character - Starkiller. After being declared a 'failure' by your master, Darth Vader, you escape his clutches by jumping out a window, and then commencing to face wave-after-wave of storm troopers. The idea is that your character attempts to discover, or perhaps, re-discover his identity.

Combat in The Force Unleashed 2 is initially a lot of fun, however, after facing the same enemies over and over, you quickly learn how to defeat them very easily, leading them to become more of a hindrance than a challenge. The boss fights are lengthy; unnecessarily so, and I found the game's cut-scenes, whilst impressively pre-rendered, were a bore to sit through as the 'Skip' option wasn't always available.

Overall, this is a great game if you're up for a bit of hack-n-slash before work, however, the combat's formulaic design, the lack of well developed plot and the length of story, left much to be desired. This game took me a total of around 3-4 hours to complete.

7/10