Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (Hard)
0Hot take: This is way better than the first game. Yes, it is shorter and, yes, the story isn't as well done, but everything else about the game stands head and shoulders above the first. Gone are the unresponsive controls. Gone are the muddy textures and blurry cutscenes. I personally like the story and do enjoy stories of self doubt and discovering ones self. Is Starkiller a selfish asshole that is risking the Rebels just for personal reasons? Sure, but I don't mind it. Does the story and Vader's motives make sense or fight in with the atual lore? Nope, but who cares. The game is freaking fun. Combat is fluid and buttons do what they are supposed to do. The only fight I didn't enjoy was the gigantic behemoth, Gorog. It was long and tedious, just way too much waiting to attack. Cool idea and very God of War-esque, just maybe a bit less tiresome. There is nothing worse than having to wait around to attack. Sometimes gimmick fights can be well done, this is just not one of them. The second phase to me is a bit more fun than the first and at least the developers realized the fight was a bit rough and gave some fair checkpoints. I appreciate that. The level design is just as straight forward as the first. There is still a slight RPG mechanic and you can level up your powers. You also can fight lightsaber crystals that add some really cool benefits to your character like stealing health or powers taking less energy and you can mix and match them, very cool. The graphics are also a massive step up from the first Kamino in the rain is absolutely stunning. I sure would have loved this game to be even more fleshed out, but I am happy with what it is. There are two endings and you have to replay the Vader fight to see them, but the game atleast lets you skip right to the fight without having to replay the whole level again. You can't skip cutscenes though. I was a bit sad at how easy the final confrontation with Vader was, but it was epic as hell. It's a shame we probably never will see another one of these games again. One can dream. Enjoy my playthrough.
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