Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is LucasArts' sequel to 2008's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game. A trailer announcing the game was shown December 12, 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards. The game will be released across multiple platforms on October 26, 2010.
Gameplay[]
The Force Unleashed II will refine gameplay elements from the original Force Unleashed, and add more variance with such features as puzzle solving and, at one point, piloting a TIE fighter. Combat will be modified to include the ability to wield dual lightsabers and learn new force powers such as "Mind Trick" and "Force Fury". Force powers from the first game also return, including choke, lightning, and jump. Players will have access to all new combos, and new enemies have been added to the game.
Plot[]
The game will take place about six months after the events of the first game, and a year before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The Force Unleashed II will be the "dark entry" in the series, and a more personal story for the game's protagonist than the first game.
Players will control the clone of Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice and the protagonist killed in the first game. Starkiller escapes from captivity on Kamino where Darth Vader has again betrayed him by placing him in shackles and ordering his execution. After eliminating his stormtrooper captors, Starkiller embarks on a quest to understand his identity and to find his love interest from the first game, Juno Eclipse. Meanwhile, Darth Vader has produced elite clones of Starkiller to kill destroy their template (Starkiller), the Emperor, and defeat the Rebel Alliance.
Development[]
Starkiller using Force lighting on Euphoria-encoded Stormtroopers
Haden Blackman, who served as executive producer for the first Force Unleashed game, is also executive producer and writer for the sequel. LucasArts considered but decided against using a different protagonist for the sequel. The developers hope the story "stands on its own" and will be enjoyable even by people who have not played the first game.
Like its predecessor, The Force Unleashed II's engine uses Havok, Euphoria, and Digital Molecular Matter. Blackman feels the second game takes better advantage of the powerful engine than does the first game. LucasArts acknowledged players' frustration with the first game's targeting system, and worked to revise it in the sequel; Blackman said fixing the Force grip feature was the developers' top priority. The game will also include fewer enemy types, instead focusing on making enemies more "'special and unique'"; the game will also have "epic" boss battles. The game will also allow players to dismember enemy characters. The developers have also improved menu speed. The Nintendo Wii version will have a multiplayer mode in which four players can challenge each other in a fighting-style combat game.