Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Impressions

Turns out things haven't been going too well for StarKiller, our anti-hero from the previous instalment. Betrayed by his mentor (and Daddy figure) Mr. Vader, the young apprentice is held captive by the Empire and sentenced to death. Pretty rough considering everything StarKiller has done for Darth... including slaughtering innocent Jawas.

But as we all know, StarKiller is a hardened, uber-powerful Sith warrior now and isn't about to go down without a fight. For some strange reason, Darth Vader leaves the execution of his super apprentice in the hands of a couple of Stormtroopers.

Needless to say, it isn't long before there are little white armoured body parts flying around the screen. In fact the opening cinematics of StarKiller's initial escape truly convey just how powerful he has become, squishing AT-ST walkers into cubes and ploughing his way through hordes of enemies with ease. The game kicks off with you escaping Vadar's clutches and being a fugitive of the Empire, hunted down by your old master and his mysterious army of genetically created clones.

Apart from his improved force powers, StarKiller now carries dual light sabers that open the doors to a lot more combat variations. He can also use the Obi Wan-esque mind-control capabilities of the force and turn his enemies against each other, or simply cause them to leap off ledges to their deaths. Other force abilities like lightning, push, pull and saber throwing have all been upgraded as well.

The demo we saw here at E3 was an early sequence of StarKillers escape from Vader. One memorable sequence introduced a new enemy droid that projected liquid carbonite, the goo that imprisoned Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back. It finished with a display of StarKiller's ability to unleash “Force Fury”, which is basically like opening a can of whoop-ass of Force power. In this Sith-driven rage, large spacecraft and entire structures can be turned inside out and tossed around like a cat toy.

It is due out in October this year across a whole heap of platforms, we'll be keeping our eye out on this promising follow up to a great franchise.