Customer Reviews

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sorry to say that The Force Unleashed 2 for the DS is yet another game that is ruined by obnoxious, wonky, forced touch screen controls that make a somewhat fun experience fairly frustrating and pointless. Playing the game is literally uncomfortable; you need 3 hands (at least) to hit every button and make every touchscreen gesture required to play. Memo to game developers: just because you CAN include touchscreen elements in your game, doesn't mean you MUST. Some games don't need it, they can be very fun experiences with nothing more than button pushing. Shoehorning touchscreen elements into a game that doesn't need it makes for a very frustrating experience. Game playing should be enjoyable experience. In some cases, it can even be an elegant experience. The Force Unleashed 2 is an awkward, uncomfortable experience, period. There's too much to do at the same time, to many gestures, too many things to push, touch, etc. All these elements may allow the developer to loudly proclaim them as selling points on the back of the box, but in reality, cramming too many gameplay elements into the same game actually hurts the experience, rather than help it. So be warned: while there are fun aspects to the Force Unleashed 2 for DS, more often than not it's a difficult, frustrating experience. If you must buy, wait until the inevitable price drop. And even then- prepare to be annoyed and frustrated.

There are some games where they are really unique and the fact that they use the DS's touchscreen just makes them awesome?

This is not one of those games.

There are 5 killing modes. Force push, lightning, saber throw, a force thing where guys are lifted up into the air, and regular ol' lightsabering. In order to get Starkiller (your character you control) to fight by swinging his lightsaber, you have to do a bunch of 'flick' motions on the screen, which is really slow and and doesn't work that well. To use the other functions, you have to CYCLE though them using a button or an icon on the screen, which is also really slow.

This game looks like it came from the Donkey Kong era than just a few years ago. The reasons why:

1. Completely sidescroller. No 3D at all.

2a. Enemies have WAY too much life. You use up over half your force power just killing a stormtrooper with the lightning. You can't even kill a stormtrooper with the other force methods. Also, if you try to kill people with your lightsaber it takes way too long and if you need to kill anything with more life than a few stormtroopers, theyre going to end up killing you first.

2b. There is no strategy at all. All it is is you just try to kill enemies with just your 5 ways of killing people. There are no combos or room to experiment and have fun!

3. There are no upgrades. Your character stays exactly the same from the beginning of the first level to the end of the last.

Also: You get XP points but that doesn't relate to your experience level because again there is no strategy. It just refelects how many levels you've completed.

I was about to give this game two or three stars but then I tried to think what this game had going for it and my mind went blank.
So that's why I'm giving this game one star.

I purchased this game as a Christmas Gift for my Nephew. He is a big fan of Star Wars and seemed to enjoy it. It arrived in the time and condition stated when ordering. Overall a positive experience with Amazon.

My son loves this game and plays it all the time. He is a huge Star Wars fan, too! Definitely would recommend!

My grandson loves this game!!!! It came extremly fast and I would recommend it to anyone. If your child is a Star Wars fan then this is for you!

The Force Unleashed II story line was really interesting. And yes, you can wield dual lightsabers.

The game is not at all like the first game. This one is a side-scroller, but I guess the first was kinda the same way.

The first game allowed you to find hidden lightsaber crystals that let you change the color of your blade and, as you progressed, more costumes unlocked. This game, you have no control over such things. Your blades are red the first two levels, then the rest of the game, they're blue. Your costume changes, but it wasn't something I really paid too much attention to this game (they weren't really much different).
On other consoles, it advertises that you can unlock different crystals with different boosts, and the wording sorta suggested the DS version did, too, but it did not.

"Combos" in this game are nothing like the first game. In the first game, you could do a number of combinations of force powers with other force powers, force powers with lightsaber strikes, or jump-strike; there was even a combo that would "bring down" the arena around you (technically, it just struck everyone around you with an object that looked like it was from the area, but the arena was left intact). This game has no such thing; you can combine strokes of your stylus (slide left/right or slide down, nothing fancy, like diagonally left and up) to do a horizontal slash, vertical slash, or an attack that flung them in the air for a few seconds. The lightsaber throw is slightly enhanced, as you can now draw a path for it to fly and strike forcefield generators or enemies hidden by obstacles, but that's the only force power that was really enhanced.

The story line is way too short. Only seven levels. And, unlike the first which had multiple checkpoints. If you die, it will take you back to the last "portal" you went through (not sure exactly what to call it. some doors act kind of like checkpoints) but if you power off and start the game up again, you start at the beginning of that level.

Lucasarts wasted money licensing Yoda and Boba Fett from Lucasfilms. The characters are seen for probably about three seconds each. Yoda is never mentioned again after Starkiller goes to meditate, and Fett is only ever mentioned as "the bounty hunter".

Recommend renting instead of purchasing. Beat the game in 3 days.

the original force unleashed was the most sold star wars video game of all time. its sequel delivers our expectations, without completely blowing our minds (perhaps they're saving that for part 3!!!) the ds version is set in a 2.5D style, so that you no longer find yourself confused as u manuever through levels. the scenes between gameplay have given me and many of my friends mixed feelings.while the original was made by n-space, this was all lucasarts, so the style is different. they have instead beautiful concept art, that may bug you at first, but you will grow into. The only bad thing is that when the do some of the scenes that wouldnt make sense unless a character moved, the art is a little choppy. however, this only happens one or two times, and you will get caught in the action soon enough.
when the in between segments require a lot of action-packed movement, they do a neat three d scene, which sates the thirst for that movie like feel.
you now have more control over your force powers (except you cant combine them) of which there are four: force thrust, force lightning, saber throw, and force grab.
its not that hard if u have a bit of gaming expierience, and it only took me a week.
as for story, its a whole new one- after starkiller escapes from kamino, hes goes off to find kota... and juno. with two possible endings and real dialouge, this video game is a force to be reckoned with.

The Force Unleashed 2 is a big improvement compared to the first title on the DS while still a good game in it's own right. However, this time around, the programmers got it right. Instead of full 3D, poor controls, and no voice acting, they decided to make it a 2.5D sidescroller with 3D elements. At first I was skeptical judging from the screenshots. However, I bought the game anyway on DS and would like to admit, it works and plays very well. The storyline is the same as the PS3 and X-Box 360 versions as well as level designs like the battle with the Gorog. I couldn't believe how much detail and effort was put into it, and there's also dialogue (You read right) spoken during gameplay. Instead of 3D cutscenes, it's animated graphic novel style stills with voice acting this time (YEESSSS!!!!!!!!!) and they are beautifully presented.

The gameplay has improved as well. You now have control of your force grip by using your stylus which was quite leashed in the first game on the DS version. The Force Unleashed 2 DS version also has an exclusive saber throw tracing feature which allows you to draw lines with your stylus on where you want to aim your targets at. This can also be used for puzzle elements and not just combat, or just to toy around and be creative. Force Rage is also a great new feature which is on the other versions as well. Sadly, this version doesn't have mind trick. Oh well, you can't win them all.

This time around, Starkiller is very easy to control and moves very solid compared to the first game where he was clunky, clumsy and frustrating at times. It's basically a Sonic The Hedgehog style sidescrolling adventure like they did with Assassin's Creed 2 Discovery another great DS title. You also get to find collectibles which increases your health bar and longer use of your force powers.

I gave it only four stars though, because I still had some issues with it. The issues I had was the blocking method. Instead of using the top triggers to block, you're given a white bar line between your life line and force powers line. When the line runs out, you become vulnerable and take damage and have to wait a whole minute to fully restore it which was annoying and became rather impatient. So you have to do lots of hiding. There's no extras like multiplayer, costumes or cheats, and Mind Trick is absent in this version. The game is also rather short like the first game, and there's only seven levels compared to the console versions which have nine. Although, two of the levels are extremely long which they must have either added two levels together to save space or somewhat.

Finally, like the first game there's a good ending and a bad ending so there's some replay value there. Would I recommend the DS version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2? If you're a fan of Star Wars, and enjoy playing hand held DS games like myself, or if you're on a budget and don't feel like spending over 60 bucks on a console game that's only going to take 6 hours to win it, then what are you waiting for? You definitely need to pick up this game and it's 30 bucks. This is still a great game and worth adding to your DS collection.

My grandson asked for this game for the holidays. He loves it. I really don't know anything else about it, but I know he's happy.