Oct 14, 2010
Yesterday, (Oct. 12th) the demo for the Force Unleashed II was released & like many others I jumped on it. Was the demo worth the excitement? Does it keep the excitement of the final release in two weeks at high levels? Well, maybe…
The demo opens on what is very likely the first level of the real game. Starkiller is in a training room with Vader on the water planet Kamino. Not much is revealed that was not already in teasers & trailers. Starkiller has been cloned repeatedly by Vader & is suffering flash backs from his original self that hinder his usefulness to Vader.
After familiarizing the player with the game’s controls, which remain the same from first game, Starkiller makes a hasty escape & we are treated to some spectacular visuals as he falls down a tower. It becomes evident quickly that a lot of effort was put into visual design. The constant rain comes down in believable sheets with lightning crackling in the background. Starkiller is obviously soaked from the downpour & remains that way, allowing no cheap quick dry off while indoors to spare the graphics engine work. While visually pleasing, the actual game play is only particularly impressive.
Starkiller has been slowed down considerably. While this makes navigating & switching targets easier, it makes movement from place to place very slow. Starkiller seems to heavily plod as he runs – like he is tired & barely hanging in there. A stark contrast from the previous game where his movement felt natural, like he was at the peak of athletic ability. The slow down does greatly benefit jumping, which retains the ever popular double-jump, making this the first game I have played where jumping feels natural & I am 100% confident I will hit my goal.
Perhaps the saddest change was cutting out auto-blocking. Starkiller no longer automatically deflects incoming lasers, forcing you to hold down the block button. Previously the block button only provided full defense at the expense of movement. Now, it provides full defense with a slow walk, further frustrating the pace Starkiller moves. The absence of auto-blocking & the stiff movement make going in for melee attack with the new dual lightsabers frustrating & detracts from the overall feel of being a powerful Sith/Jedi. There is still a lock-on feature that allows dodging, however the acrobatic dodges have been replaced with short hops that still leave Starkiller in range.
In regards to being powerful, Force abilities seem to be the center of attention. Starkiller retains all his powers from the previous game with the addition of the Mind Trick that sends an enemy out to commit suicide & the Force Sense, a very minor power for locating your goals. Mind Trick is loads of fun & will easily shine as one of the highlights of the game. The first game allowed Force powers to be strung in with melee & presented a loose ‘do as you wish’ approach to combat with the majority of enemies able to be taken down with melee, power or a combination to allow your own style of play. The demo of FU II presents a different side, requiring you to take down enemies with your powers. Direct melee is useless on some enemies who block all of your attacks until a power is either used directly or strung in. Timed blocking allows a counter attack that can also help against enemies with impenetrable blocking, but it still feels cheap. I for one feel cheated when I’m not allowed to fight how I want because of over-powered enemies, because when it’s between taking the easy route or the impossible, the answer is obvious. To help further the required Force power overuse is the ability to temporarily utilize all powers at full potential with unlimited usage. While an awesome feature, it’s more of a required tool to advance in the game than a cool gimmick.
So, what to take from all this? I hope this is just typical demo rough edges. With the full release only two weeks away, the only way to accept this excuse is to assume the demo has been sitting around for awhile. Hopefully when the game is released on the 26th of October things will run better. If not, maybe the graphics & storyline will help carry the game along well enough to ignore the flaws for at least one play through.
I LOVED the demo and the first game. I thought that the improvements (more general badassness of force powers) were obvious and felt incredible. The visuals and the story seem to be at a very high level just like the first game. I was very impressed with the demo and will be buying SWTFU 2 Oct. 26
I know this game does not provide our clan with much to do since it does not have MP, but I think that excellence in game developing should be rewarded and mediocrity should be punished so that the game developers learn that we want quality not crap.
Nice write up Syms. Never played the first game, but the little time I have spent on the demo has been fun for me.
The write up on this was well written but I have to disagree on some points. I feel that there are no disadvantages but improvements to Starkiller’s abilities and the “feel” for the game is spot on to say the least if not better than the previous offering. I have played both the demo and actual first game repeatedly and it’s my opinion that the developers have improved upon the previous game. Though keeping in mind that this is just a demo and like the first demo, was just a sampling of what things are to come. Though I am a fan since I can remember there is no disappointment expected from Lucas Arts. Again, no jab intended towards the author of this write up which as I previously stated was well put together but lets see what the final product reveals. And like the author, I too can’t wait til 10/26 to pick this up. Thank You..
I suppose I should make up one of those fun little messages saying “these are just my opinions”. Raven, I appreciate your input for sure. I have a desire to write reviews for more of a discussion starting purpose rather than to have people listen to what I think. This demo just shot down a lot of my excitement, but I guess we’ll see next how it the final comes out…or at least sometime around next week for me when Gamefly decides to send it out.