A sequel that definitely doesn't surpass the original.

Oh wow, what happened here? I found myself mostly enjoying the original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, even if it had a few flaws that kept it from being a great action title, but I was really taken aback by how disappointed I am in this sequel. I'm sure you've heard by now that it's a short game, which is totally true. I picked it up Wednesday night, sat down to play it around 8:30 pm, and was finished with the story mode by around 12:30 or 12:45 am. So yeah, that's a pretty short experience right there. And I'd probably be somewhat ok with that if it really felt like it managed to deliver something in that timeframe, but it absolutely doesn't. Instead, it feels like someone just cut off the development time and pushed this out the door, and that's evident in both the gameplay and the story.

The game literally has four stages, two of which are the same location but in different areas. And while you do get cameos from the people promised in the trailer, namely Yoda and Boba Fett, they're in the game for about a minute or two, if that. The Dagobah section can hardly be called a level, it's more of an interactive cutscene, and from a story standpoint makes little to no sense at all (other than being what it is, that being complete and utter fanservice). I enjoyed the narrative of the original game, the whole concept of Vader being inadvertently responsible for the creation of the Rebellion by his wayward apprentice was a neat concept to me, and I thought it actually fit into the existing timeline pretty well. The plot for this game though is completely tossed out the window at every available opportunity, from the whole Jedi cloning angle to some of the ridiculous things that Starkiller is able to do (they outclass the whole tearing a Star Destroyer from the sky thing here). I'm ok with the character being overpowered, but one sequence is way over the top. I can only imagine how disappointed Leia would have been in Luke's abilities throughout the original trilogy knowing that Starkiller could literally ride a starship through the planetary shield of Kamino and drive it straight into a city. Kind of hard to live up to that expectation when Luke had trouble making his kicks connect with actual people in Return of the Jedi, eh?

The only thing that I feel the sequel really improves upon is the combat, which is a bit repetitive but feels a little more responsive this time out. The game still makes use of the Euphoria engine, which does cause things to implode, explode, and deconstruct quite nicely, but its Starkiller's Force based abilities that really steal the show. Tossing a squad of Stormtroopers off of ledges is just as much fun here as it was in the previous game, and visual effect of maxed out Force Lightning chaining from one enemy to another is pretty entertaining to watch. The addition of a Force Fury ability, which is completely ripped from the Rage of The Gods meter in God of War, does make for a neat visual effect, and it's fun to rip through AT-ST's in just a couple hits with it activated. The lightsaber combat, of which you can now hold two, also feels a little improved this time out, with some more noticeable feedback when you hit or finish off a foe. The annoying off camera enemies aren't nearly as bothersome in this game either and it's far easier to spin the camera and catch foes off screen than it was in the first game. The only thing that's still a little iffy is the ability to either single out a target in a large group of enemies, or pinpoint a particular object to be lifted, as the game doesn't give you a focus button for objects, instead opting to highlight things that you're close to and facing (which can confuse the system if there's a lot of stuff in front of you).

It's a shame that the small improvements in the combat weren't met by improvements in enemies, in fact, I'd say this game takes a step back. The original Force Unleashed at least had some variety in the enemies you'd face, but here there are little more than a handful of variations that you'll encounter. Basically it's your standard Stormtrooper, Scout Troopers, AT-ST's, Force adepts, and some other Sith or evil Jedi guy that wields a couple light sabers. Even the boss fights are lacking, with only three real bosses to speak off, all of which are pretty awful. The end boss encounter is particularly bad, with spotty platforming mixed in with a really tedious fight segment that'll take far more time than its difficulty level requires.

If you were planning on picking up this sequel, I'd definitely advise you to wait it out. I'm not going to be at all surprised if there's a "Sith Edition" down the road that includes various DLC, character skins, and all that stuff, and I think that version will feel a tad bit better content wise. What you get here will take you no time at all to complete, and it's hard to feel like there's not a sizeable amount of content missing from this particular game. Granted, any additions aren't likely to enhance the really awful plot, but I enjoyed the gameplay enough that I think tossing in a few more levels and notable boss encounters would definitely improve things a bit.