Did I actually play a full game? Six hours of game-play later I was watching the credits roll by.  The funny thing is I probably wouldn’t have wanted the game to last much longer than that anyway.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the brief relationship I had with this game, but all the over-the-top special effects can’t save poor dialog, repetitive game-play, no new characters, and a completely foreseeable and uninteresting plot line.

But it looks so good.

If you have six hours to kill and would enjoy some intense beautiful lightning-filled saber-swinging force action then I would certainly recommend this game.  If you enjoy interesting story-lines with twists and turns, in-depth characters, and an epic adventure that takes longer than an afternoon and you don’t care what it looks like, then this is not the game for you.

In SWTFU2 you play a clone of Starkiller, the character from the first game.  You have memories of Starkiller’s past that make you fall in love with Juno (the girl Starkiller loved from the first game) and escape from Darth Vader. You proceed to rescue General Kota from the planet Cato Neimoidia where he has been taken captive and been forced to fight in a gladiator style arena. Once you have freed him you join up with the Rebels.  Right after you get there however, Boba Fett (who has been hired by Darth Vader) captures Juno.  Darth Vader’s plan is to capture Juno to lure you back to him.  Well it works.  You and the Rebel Fleet launch a full scale attack at the cloning facilities on Kamino.  After fighting your way through hoards of Imperials, you end up guiding a damaged rebel ship down to the surface of Kamino and crash into the side of a building.  Fighting your way through more of the same enemies you finally make it to Vader.  There ensues a very repetitive battle with other Starkiller clones and Darth Vader.  You’ve almost defeated Vader when he kills Juno (oh wait actually he doesn’t but we’re made to think he did, how original.)  You go into a fit of rage and finally defeat Vader through an epic quick-time battle.  Kota stops you from killing him however and (spoiler!) you CAPTURE DARTH VADER. The end. Somebody is leaving this storyline open for a 3rd game.  (There have been rumors flying around that TFU3 has been cancelled though.)

So now I know you’re wondering: “What’s so beautiful about this game that would cause me to look past the numerous flaws?”

Let me show you. (click the thumbnails to view the full size images)

Tearing Apart A Star Destroyer

At one point you’re steering a ship down toward Kamino after everyone else has abandoned ship.  You’re going to crash it into a city to penetrate its shield barricade, but to “safely” get it to the ground you have to clear your path.  This involves ripping apart a star destroyer with your bare hands (and The Force).

Falling With Style

After entering the atmosphere you jump out of the crashing ship and fall with it.  Dodging items and using lightning to destroy debris coming at you.  Tie-Fighters fly by and you can use lightning to rip through those as well.  It is pretty epic.

The Grapple and Stab

During combat if you ‘Grapple’ an enemy. You grab him with your fists and the camera zooms in to follows you through a cut-scene of you spinning around, doing a backwards stab, and then flinging your enemy using the lightsaber that already impaled him.

Quick Time Events

Now I am not a huge fan of quick-time-events in games. There isn’t really anything rewarding about being able to click the ‘Q’ key a dozen times in a row. Not like sniping someone in the head from across a map the size of Texas. However, I digress. The QTE’s in this game are fun to watch at least.

Lightning Never Strikes The Same Place Twice, It Strikes A Gazillion Times

I have to say that lightning is by far my favorite weapon to use in this game. It can send rocket troopers off in a cloud of fire and smoke, stun enemies, and be infused into your lightsaber. On top of all that it’s also beautifully mesmerizing

The Ultimate Boss

The game has DARTH VADER in it. Need I say more?

It’s Like Watching A Movie

Yes with poor dialogue, yes with no plot-line, yes with no character development, yes it’s shorter than a midget toydarian… but due to the fact that it really doesn’t take up much of your time at all, it is so fun to watch.

If you decide to play this game, I would recommend the easy or normal mode. Due to the repetitive nature of this game, having to do a part over and over again would certainly become so incredibly boring that one may decide to not finish the game. If you’re in it for the special effects then you want to make it to the end. It won’t take long.

I cannot give this game a good rating due to its awful script, its lack of any new characters (Yoda does not count as new, he was in the game for 30 seconds and we already know him, I mean truly original characters), no character development for your companions in the game, and its 6 hour play time. It is beautiful though.