Wow...Some Pretty Bad Reviews

[PR-0927]

As expected. LucasArts is potentially one of the worst publishers/developers around now, which is deeply saddening after the masterpieces of the Jedi Knight games, SWRC and KotOR.

 

This TFU stuff is sub-par. Looks like this one is really bad:

 

http://kotaku.com/5672245/review-star-wars-the-force-unleashed-ii

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/26/star-wars-the-force-unleashed-2-review/

 

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1130400p1.html

 

 

Most reviews echo the same thoughts in those...and I agree. TFU was a horrid game, and I expected this to blow. The demo was absolutely unimpressive.

 

And LucasArts continually blowing off PC gamers does not earn them any points.

 

- PR-0927

[jedimike2234]

Yeah,i have to agree,ive read some other reviews and thay have been just bad,the video review over at gametrailers was shocking! Im still playing the pc version and its very repeitative,and lucasarts calls this game their "Empire strikes back" of the force unleashed. I can also say its too console for my tastes but thats lucasarts focus now, the consoles.

[Astor]

This really is a sad state of affairs. This is the first time I haven't pre-ordered anything with Star Wars slapped on it. It's hasn't sparked any enthusiasm in me at all.

 

People have constantly told LucasArts what they want - more Kotor, Jedi Knight and Commando titles. Perhaps with a new President and the loss of the team responsible for this apparent abomination, we may get that, although I'm not hopeful.

 

If The Force Unleashed is the best LucasArts has to offer beyond MMOs, then I'm done with them.

[Master-Kyle-Leeson09]

LA can do better than that!

 

...let us test the games and send feedback, then you'll know what we're really looking for. I'm still getting TFU2 'cause I got an Amazon gift card to spend

[DarthMuffin]

Off the top of my head, it seems like every good or decent SW title that was released post 2000 have one thing in common: they weren't developed by LucasArts. Jedi Knight 2 was made by Raven, KotOR by BioWare, the Battlefront series by Pandemic, Rogue Squadron by Factor 5, Empire at War by Petroglyph and the LEGO games by Traveller's Tales.

 

As far as I'm concerned, I think a game's quality is inversely proportional to LA's involvement. They should just stop trying and focus on licensing SW to companies who can actually develop games.

[Sir Vougalot]

I have to wonder if a lot of this isn't due to people's expectations being high, like they were when the first game came out. For me, I never expected a spectacular story, just really fun gameplay, which I feel I got. For that reason, I was never disappointed by The Force Unleashed, and I have a feeling the sequel will be the same.

 

Granted, LucasArts did hype up the projects quite a bit, especially the first one, which was marketed as the "next major chapter in the Star Wars saga." But hey, that's what rakes in the money. After a while, you just need to learn how the game is played and roll with the punches.

[Prime]

After playing the demo, I'm not surprised at the poor reviews. It seems most of the effort when to visuals and not improving the depth of gameplay. And it sounds like the story deserves to be stricken from canon.

[RoxStar]

The Force Unleashed made a lot of money. Lucasarts sold over 1.5 million units in the first five days of its release. So it's no surprise they churned out another comparable sequel title in a relatively short span of time.

 

Source:

 

http://www.1up.com/news/star-wars-force-unleashed-breaks

[CommanderQ]

Well, this stinks...but unfortunately, bad reviews weren't entirely represented....TFU 1 was good, even if the story needed work, it still went well. But with the relative quick make of TFU2 and the predictability of the plot....oy, I wish they took more time.

 

Still, I'll probably end up purchasing it anyways just to check it out and satisfy my craving for smashing stormtroopers into things...

[Kurgan]

Wow, I just realized the game came out today! Of course my PC is nowhere near able to play this game yet, so by the time I would check it out, it'll be in the bargain bin. Pity though, but my expectations were pretty low considering the first game (and it's lack of multiplayer and dumbed down lightsaber combat, according to all reports).

 

I'm glad we've got a PC version (finally releasing the first game on the PC was a nice step towards trying to win back some PC fans, but they've got a ways to go with us), but still, it sounds like it's not all it could have been. Sounds like the best part of the game is playing around with the "Force" physics in it.

[PR-0927]

Holy crap, Kurgan, I haven't seen you around in a while. I remember playing JA on your server. Good times!

 

But yeah, it's just a let down. TONS of bugs. Really over-simplified combat, nothing more than button-mashing.

 

The worst part isn't that the game sucks - it's that the graphics engine and physics engine downright rock, and are sadly paired with such a horrible game. The potential! There could be some seriously amazing and innovative video games, but LucasArts is no longer capable of doing such a thing. Gah! Opportunities!

 

- PR-0927

[Astor]

But yeah, it's just a let down. TONS of bugs. Really over-simplified combat, nothing more than button-mashing.

 

Further to what I mentioned earlier, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the real reason why Blackman left and LA let the development team go - We all know LucasArts has had more than its share of shocking games, but perhaps this was one game too far for a team that had worked on most of them.

 

The worst part isn't that the game sucks - it's that the graphics engine and physics engine downright rock, and are sadly paired with such a horrible game. The potential! There could be some seriously amazing and innovative video games, but LucasArts is no longer capable of doing such a thing. Gah! Opportunities!

 

- PR-0927

 

Star Wars has never lacked excellent visual direction with its games - It's just very sad that the developers seem to spent more time working out what would look cool as opposed to ensuring a stable and enjoyable release.

 

I've no doubt that this will still sell by the truck load, however much I'd like this to fail hard to shake LA out of their complacency.

[jrrtoken]

Although I harbor feelings of incompetence towards nearly all video game "journalist" firms, it's still rather unsurprising that TFU2 is yet another waste of time-money. LucasArts used to be a decent publisher and developer, but both aspects are seemingly incompetent, apathetic, and careless. I'd really love LA to sack their entire team and outsource all projects to respectable third-party developers (with not many strings attached), but that seems improbable given LucasArts' stubbornness.

 

Maybe - just maybe - TFU2 will make them realize that they need to start making games that the fans want rather than all of this frills-'n-gimmick-laden marketing ploys like TFU, Clone Wars, and TOR. Maybe we'll get a new X-Wing/TIE Fighter, or JK4. Or not.

[Prime]

I don't understand how we can keep going backwards like this.

 

Jedi Outcast (and JA) had great lightsaber combat complete with different styles, combos and the ability to control the path of your saber. It had effective force powers that were fun without being so over the top you were unstoppable. TFU has one saber swing button that you just mash. I'd even argue that the RotS game has a better lightsaber implementation that TFU does.

 

Where is this supposed need to oversimplify things coming from?

 

Can you imagine just remaking JK or JO with TFU visuals?

[Endorenna]

Well, I thought I would be the last one to ever say TFU II is horrible, 'cuz I loved TFU 1 and the demo for TFU II. In fact, I had such high expectations for TFU II that I pre-ordered it--the collector's edition, no less--making it the first game I have ever pre-ordered.

 

This game is terrible.

 

I never understood why everyone hated the plot for TFU I. I found it enjoyable, and no worse than many other Star Wars stories. The plot for TFU II...umm...well, let's put it this way. When I was about, oh, twelve and started writing, I quickly learned that characters needed reasons for pretty much everything they did. It seems that the person who wrote TFU II managed to miss learning that very simple principle. I can think of five stupid plot points in the game after about one second.

 

Also, this game ruined Starkiller. I loved Galen in the first game, but in this one, I ended up throwing him off cliffs repeatedly by the end of the game just to watch him fall.

 

Hrm. I may just make an entire thread about the deficiencies of the game.

 

Here's to hoping that a) they make TFU III so Lucasarts can almost make up for this terrible excuse of a game and b) that they actually make TFU III good...which will be difficult 'cuz it has to finish the mess left of the story at the end of TFU II.

[PR-0927]

Oh dear God no. We don't need a TFU III. That would be an absolute retrenchment from...everything they've accomplished in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 

What we need is a new JK game or a new SWRC game. SWBF III could be good, but seeing as how SWBF II was a step-down in quality from SWBF (and was much more console-ized/arcade-ized), I would expect SWBF III to suck too.

 

LucasArts needs to either return to their former glory, or just cease to exist. I'm not expecting the former.

 

- PR-0927

[Alexrd]

Jedi Outcast (and JA) had great lightsaber combat complete with different styles, combos and the ability to control the path of your saber. It had effective force powers that were fun without being so over the top you were unstoppable. TFU has one saber swing button that you just mash.

 

JO and JA are not hack and slash games.

[GeneralPloKoon]

It is unfortunately to see such reviews, but alas I had little interest in TFU 2. Lucasarts is in trouble, I do plan to play TFU 2 someday. When it is in the bargain bins. I thought TFU 1 was decent but way to short to support a full price purchase. It seems TFU 2 is shorter. I don't understand why Lucasarts didn't put more effort into the game.

[truJedi]

wow....im soooo confused now, i was all hyped up about buying the collectors edition this weekend. but now im not so sure, is there any point in getting it anymore. Judging from what you guys have said...yeehhh no.... so dissapointed

[deesnyder]

hmph... I hope all you guys who still believe hayden did a great a great job on both titles finally reached realization... For god's sake, there was no creativity involved.

 

For instance, the final blow to the gorog where starkiller charges himself like a bullet... anyone over here who played "x-men origins wolverine" will notice the final blow was copied from the scene where wolverine kills the sentinel in the same manner, except it was a head shot... here its a stomach shot... Seriously though, i've never seen this much denial, if it sucks, just accept it, its not like you're violating the sacred code...

 

secondly, cutscenes were beautiful, but pathetic acting... Kota and juno's. You fell in love with someone, kissed them once, person died, you see that person 7 months later and the best you can do is smile... I mean what about expressions like shock, disbelief??? Thank god meegan kicked the whole dev team out.. Julio Torres should be sacked as well.. He scripted the terrible ending for that hoth DLC in TFU 1.. Maybe TFU 3 might actually become what it was intended to be then... Oh ya, did any of you notice, the stormtrooper's don't catch stuff anymore while you move them about in grip mode.. Infact i don't think there's euphoria at all in this game...

[Master-Kyle-Leeson09]

I swear LA's down. Whatever the income from this TFU2 when it hits shelves (if stores will have them), it's going to hurt.

 

I did watch a few of the pre-release interviews with members of the TFU2 project on YouTube. One thing stood out as I watched them talk...

 

None of them really tried their hardest to improve things. They just re-hashed the familiar, improved the graphics, added a few new twists, and...

 

Somehow expect this game to be an instant best-seller for months?

 

I've concluded LA's out of touch with their target customers. I propose outsourcing all the SW projects to companies that will make a serious effort to make them fun and mesmerizing. KOTOR1 and 2 were great, and I still enjoy SWBF2 once in a while.

 

LA, show us your decision: meet our demands or go out of business.

[deesnyder]

I did watch a few of the pre-release interviews with members of the TFU2 project on YouTube. One thing stood out as I watched them talk...

 

Hayden blackman's nose was getting bigger and bigger... All jokes aside you could actually notice how less enthusiastic he was about TFU 2... Could've been due to tensions at Lucasarts. If you didn't notice, i suggest you check out the youtube footage of the first game(interviews, webdocs anything). You'll actually see him blurting out stuff and grinning like a douche there...

 

Secondly i 'd love to thrash the crap out of that other dev who did the demo at gamescom 2010(germany) He kept saying brand new force powers... WTF you put mindtrick and some ****ty force sense that shows you your next goal and you call that "Brand new force powers???" Also i once posted earlier about how some guy from LA tweeted that he had fun "CHOKING" stormtroopers as guybrush.. DId any of you get force choke??? THese guys resort to misinterpretation to sell their products..

[Titanius Anglesmith]

It really amazes me how LucasArts goes to such extremes to seemingly intentionally piss off their fans. At this point, it seems unbelievable that they would be so clueless as to give us **** like this, thinking we want it, when we've been yelling at them for years to make a new Jedi Knight, Republic Commando, or single-player Knights of the Old Republic. We haven't had a great Star Wars game since 05-06. Here we are coming up on the end of 2010, and this is the best they can give us?

 

The first game was mildly enjoyable for one playthrough, but it's been sitting on my shelf completely untouched for well over a year and a half now (I've played Dark Forces 2 more recently than that game). I figured I'd give this one a rental or maybe get a used copy for $20 6-12 months down the road, but after the bland demo and the depressing reviews, I'm not going anywhere near this game.

[Zwier Zak]

JO and JA are not hack and slash games.

 

This. They were so much more... they ARE so much more. Many people still play them.

 

And I agree with PR-0927. I think TFU outstayed it's welcome.

[Sir Vougalot]

Again, I wonder if a lot of this isn't due to people's expectations being unreasonable, if only slightly. I mean, considering the premise of the story, did anyone seriously not think it wouldn't be cheesy? And given that, isn't it possible to simply enjoy the game for being fun to play, not because it's got a great story? That's the mentality I had when going into it anyway.

 

Granted, I've only had time to play the first level, so we'll see. You all could well be correct. But, having read both the novel and the graphic novel, I already know how the story will progress and how both endings - dark and light - unfold, so I know what's coming. That said, I still say we do indeed need a TFU3 considering how the light side (canonical) ending goes.

 

 

Darth Vader has been captured by the Rebel Alliance! You have to resolve that. If not, I guess the story could be wrapped up in another novel or comic, but it just wouldn't be the same. I don't want another Knights of the Old Republic dilemma.