Preview: Force Unleashed 2 – E3 Demonstration
Force Unleashed 2 Preview dialogue is also available on GameCrashers Radio, Episode 50 Part II (1:41:30)
My Review for the original Force Unleashed can be found on GameCrashers Radio, Episode 47 (27:50)
During our time at E3 we got the chance to watch demonstration gameplay of the Force Unleashed 2. I had a lot of issues with the original Force Unleashed. I thought the platforming was sloppy, the force grip auto-targeting was awful, and the use of Digital Molecular Matter was unimpressive. Generally, what made me most annoyed about the first game was the fact that the enemy’s strength scaled so much with the player’s character that ultimately, the player felt weak. To me the point of the game was “unleashing” the force to become absurdly powerful and it didn’t translate. Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical going into the demonstration. I had my eye out to see if these issues were being addressed in the sequel, and I have to say, it looks promising.
The story is thus:
*SPOILERS*
Darth Vader created a series of Starkiller clones having killed him in the first game. The Starkiller clones unfortunately have a tendency to go crazy with the memories of the original Starkiller’s life. You play as one of the clones. Darth Vader has told you directly that you are a clone and your mind will eventually deteriorate, so you must die. You break out of captivity and pursue him in what we hope will be an action packed, force filled ride.
*END SPOILERS*
The team at Lucasarts stated right off that they were proud of the reception of the story in the first game and wanted to deliver a story in the sequel that lives up to the original. It sounds like they’re off to an interesting start and I look forward to see what they do with it. The demo began with a free fall down the side of the tower where Starkiller had been kept captive. He uses his force powers to destroy obstacles, all rendered with DMM, and platforms with enemies soldiers on them.
Think happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts!
When Starkiller lands at the bottom of the tower, we see the first big departure from the first game, dual lightsabers. Starkiller is able to slash, jump and throw the dual lightsabers around, not only taking out the enemies but severing limbs as well, a feature not seen in the first game. The severing doesn’t seem to be dynamic however. The limbs sever at the same spots regardless of where you hit them, though it’s unclear if this will remain the norm upon the game’s release. It’s still nice to see the lightsabers in this game actually have the capability to slice, giving them a greater sense of strength. The lightsaber felt far too weak in the first game.
None Shall PASS!!
As Starkiller moves around, we see his traditional set of moves, lightning attack and force push. One of the new moves is the ability to grab a large enemy, like an AT-ST, and crush it up like a paper ball, then throw it at other enemies. This is definitely a display of power which makes the character feel much stronger that the previous version of the game. The player can also combine lightning with the force push, projecting the lightning over distances and has the ability to push using either hand, making a rapid fire force push possible.
Rather than having a targeting reticule appear over your enemies or objects, the targeted subject becomes outlined in blue. The auto-targeting priority seemed to be improved as the demonstrator never had to try more than once to pick up his intended target. It’s hard to gauge how well it works in this game being a hands off demo, but it looks to be improved.
There seems to be a bit more focus on the strategy in this game too. Certain enemies are going to be weaker to certain attacks, so it becomes in the player’s best interest to experiment with moves throughout. Hitting a jetpack Stormtrooper with a lightning attack will ignite the fuel in the jetpack and cause him to fly uncontrollably to his death. There was an element of this present in the first game, but it ultimately started to feel like, rather than there being a best weapon to use against a certain enemy, that there was only one weapon that would work against a certain enemy and it wasn’t particularly powerful anyway. It looks like the tactical edge is a bit sharper with part 2, but we’ll have to see.
Tickets please.
Even in the event that only certain weapons work, there’s a new mode that will hopefully be a game changer, Force Fury. When you initiate force fury mode, everything gets amplified tenfold. If a force push would send an enemy 20 feet, it now sends him 200 feet. I have to say, this is incredibly satisfying. When the player throws the lightsaber, it will sever the heads off of anyone in its way. This is the power I’d been hoping to have the entire time, to be able to pull off obscenely devastating force moves on droves of Stormtroopers.
Even with my original skepticism and my issues with the first game, I’m genuinely excited about this game. It looks like it has a number of the things I thought the first game lacked. There were some great set piece moments even in the short demo they showed, one being the sky diving sequence, another featured running through a hallway with tie fighters shooting through the windows. The game feels tighter than the first game and I’m ready to give it a try. Hopefully they will impress. Look for it when it comes out in October
RELEASE DATE: October 26th 2010
PUBLISHER: LucasArts
DEVELOPER: LucasArts
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