Star Wars expanded universe, Dark Horse Comics

When it comes to the comic book side of the Star Wars expanded universe, Dark Horse Comics has made a name for itself as the home of original, creative tales that enrich the franchise and build on existing mythology in the most fan-friendly ways.
Last year, we brought you the exclusive announcement of "Star Wars: Knight Errant," another addition to the publisher's long list of ongoing and limited Star Wars series. Today, we bring you the exclusive news of a brand new title hitting shelves in May: "Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side."
Featuring a story by Scott Allie and art by Mahmud Asrar (interior/cover) and Stéphane Roux (variant cover), "The Dark Side" follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (played by Liam Neeson in "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace") as he's dispatched to prevent a civil war on the homeworld of Xanatos, the Padawan he trained before Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I spoke to Allie about the series, how it differs from previous Star Wars stories, and some of the familiar faces that readers will see along the way.
MTV NEWS: There are a lot of Star Wars out there, and a lot more of them are written every day. What sets "Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side" apart from other Star Wars stories?
SCOTT ALLIE: We wanted to tell a story with a lone hero out on the edge of space, not dealing with these big galactic concerns, but having adventures on a much more personal level.
MTV: How did you settle on Qui-Gon Jinn for the main character?
ALLIE: We were looking for a Clint Eastwood-type of character. It's always better if you can have it tie into the Star Wars films, to connect with readers, but Luke's story and so many other characters' are bound up in continuity. After discussing it for a while, Randy Stradley - our Star Wars editor here - said there's a character whose story is tied into Darth Vader's back story, which is really the backbone of the whole Star Wars mythology, that might be a good fit: Qui-Gon.
MTV: Given what we know of Qui-Gon's history already, where will this story fit in with his overall character arc?
ALLIE: Well, Qui-Gon makes sense because it's easy to look at Episode I and wonder what he was doing 10 or 15 years earlier. We're going back to an early part of his story and telling a pretty important part of the shaping of Qui-Gon as a Jedi Master.
MTV: So he'll be a Jedi Master at this point?
ALLIE: Yeah, he's already become a Jedi and a Master - he has a Padawan at this point.
MTV: How big of a story do you have planned? Is there a chance it could become an ongoing series?
ALLIE: We're doing five issues to start, and we have a longer story sketched out, but I'm not sure if we'll treat it as an ongoing or a miniseries.
MTV: I have to ask this, because I know you as the guy who handles all of the Joss Whedon books at Dark Horse, too: Was it a bit daunting to jump into another wide-reaching universe and adding to such a massively popular mythology? Are you a closet Star Wars geek and I didn't know it?
ALLIE: [Laughs] I'm not, but I have a 5-year-old son, so I watched the prequel movies way more than a lot of guys my age. My son loves them so much, and we've watched Episodes 1-3 over and over. I know them backwards and forwards. There's also a series of young adult novels called "Jedi Apprentice," about Obi-Wan when he's young and training with Qui-Gon. i've read a bunch of them to my son, and it's been both "good dad" service and research at the same time.
Still, there's so much stuff to know — even at this period when there's not many existing stories. I can't know everything, but fortunately between Randy and the folks at Lucasfilm, they're not going to miss a beat.
MTV: You mentioned the desire to tie things into the movie universe. Will we see any of the other popular staples of the movies? The Sith, perhaps?
ALLIE: No Sith, no. For the Star Wars movie stuff to be meaningful, it has to be special, and the Sith can't be popping up every story. Yoda is in the first issue, giving the mission to the Jedi who are about to set out. There are a bunch of Jedi Council members who would've been around at this time, and something you don't know from watching the movies but you find out if you dig into the expanded unverse, is that Qui-Gon was actiually trained by Count Dooku. My kid loves Count Dooku, and I love Christopher Lee, so it's cool that i'm dealing with Christopher Lee's character. He'll play into the story at some point. Mace Windu and Yoda and others were around at the time, too.
MTV: What about accessibility? Will someone like me, who likes a good Star Wars comic but hasn't read all the expanded universe novels, know what's going on?
ALLIE: A while back, I wrote the first four issues of our long-running "Star Wars: Empire" series. With that, the idea was to make it right for the Star Wars readers who know everything and will find things wrong with it anyways, but really write it for the millions of people who know the films and don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the other stuff. It's my goal not to do anything in these books that you can't immediately get into. There's nothing I want to read that needs to have a huge bag of knowledge to get through page one, and that's not how I'm writing this, either.


Official solicit info for "Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side":

STAR WARS: JEDI—THE DARK SIDE #1 (of 5)
Scott Allie (W), Mahmud Asrar (A/Cover), Stéphane Roux (Variant Cover)
On sale May 18
FC, 40 pages, $2.99, Miniseries
Twenty-one years before the events in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is dispatched to prevent the outbreak of a civil war on the homeworld of his Padawan Xanatos—whose father is king. It is a mission that will lead Qui-Gon into close contact with the dark side and start him on a quest that will have a major impact on the future of the Jedi Order!
• Here is an opportunity for readers to get onboard a new series, set in a wild and wide-open era of the Star Wars mythos!
• The story of Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn’s Padawan, before Obi-Wan Kenobi!
© 2011 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Jedi—The Dark Side are © 2011 Lucasfilm Ltd.

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KINGSBRIDGE HEIGHTS — If Darth Vader was spawned a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Ghetto Vader came into being five years ago in Southern California, under the influence of drugs.

It was then that the Bronx-born DJ, rapper and graffiti artist realized that, at age 35, he stood no closer to fame or fortune than he had as a teenager in the 1980s, when he first began to spray and scratch.

Out of ideas, he turned to hallucinogenic drugs. Suddenly, a vision appeared — Darth Vader’s iconic, bug-eyed helmet covered in bright, psychedelic street art.

Five years, two albums, shows in a half-dozen countries and 200 painted masks later, Ghetto Vader is a full-fledged Jedi Knight, given to the weird side of the Force, who has returned to The Bronx to make music and art for the open-minded.

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(YouTube/Ghetto Vader)

“People aren’t going to be bopping to it in the clubs and remembering the lyrics,” Vader, 40, said outside his mother’s condo, where he has been living since June. “But people dressed up in costumes — they’ll like it.”

Vader, whose persona involves concealing his legal name and his face, grew up in a high-rise near the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. That he wasn’t admitted into Bronx Science proved to be a blessing — Vader attended nearby John F. Kennedy High School, where 80s hip-hop culture was flourishing.

Before long, Vader was trekking downtown to all-ages rap shows and spraying his tag — SPX, for “special perceptions xceptions” — across the city. When he was 16, he “interned” for a renowned graffiti artist who airbrushed clothes in the back of a Westchester Square shop that sold cutting-edge rap records.

“That stuff like touched my heart,” Vader said about the heyday of Bronx hip-hop. “It stained my brain.”

In his 20s, Vader moved to California, where he scoped out the West Coast rap scene while he worked in clothing design and, later, produced skateboard videos. He also continued to experiment with music, sampling beats with an early four-track cassette mixer.

But by his 30s, with a wife and three children, he began to feel like he had squandered his talents as an artist. So he ingested some peyote and, in a cloud of aerosol, created Ghetto Vader — a one-man production team, performance artist and brand.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120725/kingsbridge-heights/ghetto-vader-is-force-of-hip-hop-jedi-weirdness#ixzz21latKEUu

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Darth Vader Robotic Arm

Toys are definitely different from what they used to be before. Uncle Milton created this little gem called Darth Vader Robotic Arm under the Star Wars collection. Star Wars saga has inspired a generation and more. Each robotic arm of this toy has 45 parts which can be easily assembled and which can grip and hold lightweight objects using interactive controls. This Darth Vader Robotic Arm can be a perfect gift for any Star Wars fan. Available at ThinkGeek for $39.99. http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/

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“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II” PSP 3 top of this Christmas

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Platform • PlayStation 3

Rated • T for Violence

Also Available On • Wii, DS, Xbox7 360, iPhone, PC

In the months following Starkiller’s death at the end of “The Force Unleashed,” Darth Vader ventured to the cloning facility on Kamino to resurrect his fallen apprentice. “The Force Unleashed II” begins after months of trial and apparent failure. Once again, you assume the role of Starkiller. Filled with the memories of your former self, you escape Kamino and set out to rescue captured Jedi Master Rahm Kota.

I’m not going to waste time griping about the specifics of the storyline or how it doesn’t exactly fit into the Star Wars canon, because it works well enough for the purpose of the game. Let’s just say that it starts off strong but the ending, particularly if you choose the “light side,” leaves much to be desired.

Gameplay is essentially the same except that you are now able to wield two lightsabers rather than just one. However, unlike in “The Force Unleashed,” you don’t start out as an apprentice but as a full-fledged Jedi with the access to all of the powers that implies. In theory, this is a good idea and while I do enjoy being able to clear six or seven stormtroopers from my path from the get go, it does take some of the challenge out of the game. After an hour or two of being all-powerful, I realized that all the button mashing is rather repetitive and mundane. The last thing I want is to be bored by the power of the Force (or the dark side).

Darth Vader dancing in Tokyo

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darth vader luke yo soy tu paddle o padre?

Star Wars Keychain

You all must be using keychains to keep your keys – be it your house keys, car keys, closet keys or any kind of keys which are important to you. The Star Wars keychain comes in the shape of two Star Wars characters – Boba Fett and Darth Vader. This keychain looks cool and is made with lots of detail work to make it look quite real. http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/

• Boba Fett Keychain – Available for $5.99
• Darth Vader Keychain – Available for $9.99

Darth Vader Character Computer Figures

For every one of you who loves watching Star Wars series, here are wobble head Star Wars character computer figures for you. These Computer figures or toppers come in three different characters shape – Boba Fett, Yoda, and Darth Vader. These toppers are made from plastic and are made to sit on your computer screen, overlooking you and your work. Available for $9.99. http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/

s LA GUERRA DE LAS GALAXIAS: EPISODIO I LA AMENAZA FANTASMA 3D

Darth Maul vuelve en Star Wars Episodio I: La Amenaza Fantasma en 3D - Estreno 10 de febrero 2012

El próximo 10 de febrero llega a los cines españoles LA GUERRA DE LAS GALAXIAS: EPISODIO I LA AMENAZA FANTASMA 3D, os ofrecemos un clip de la película.

Con LA GUERRA DE LAS GALAXIAS: EPISODIO I LA AMENAZA FANTASMA 3D, George Lucas nos devuelve al origen de la historia de La Guerra de las Galaxias, cuando Darth Vader no es más que un ilusionado niño de nueve años llamado Anakin Skywalker y Obi – Wan Kenobi es un joven y decidido caballero Jedi. Este primer capítulo, espléndido por el arte, los diseños, el vestuario, la arquitectura y la tecnología, narra el peregrinar de Anakin cuando se lanza en pos de sus sueños y hace frente a sus temores en medio de una galaxia que es presa de la confusión.

Dark Horse Comics has planned for Spring 2011.

http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #3 (of 5) Written by Haden Blackman, Pencils by Rick Leonardi, Inks by Dan Green, Colors by Wes Dzioba, Cover by Tsuneo Sanda On sale March 30th. 40 pages.
Haunted by recurring visions of what his life with Padmé might have been like if he had not succumbed to the dark side, and guided by the Ghost Nebula's mysterious priestess, Vader and his troops become embroiled in a disastrous battle on a tar-pit world.
Worse, the hard-fought battle brings Vader no closer to locating Moff Tarkin's missing son -- but it does put him in the deadly sights of a traitor!

Star Wars: Legacy -- War #4 (of 6) Written by John Ostrander, Pencils and Cover by Jan Duursema; Inks by Dan Parsons; Colors by Brad Anderson On sale March 30. 40 pages.
The allies launch a series of maneuvers designed to lure Darth Krayt into a trap. Only who is trapping whom?
As Jedi and Imperial Knights fight shoulder to shoulder against the Sith in defense of the Hidden Temple, Cade Skywalker can't help but think of his father and the horrible losses the Jedi suffered the last time the Sith attacked . . .
The tide of battle turns, and the future of the Jedi hangs in the balance!

Star Wars: Blood Ties -- Jango and Boba Fett Written by Tom Taylor; Cover and art by Chris Scalf On sale May 18th. 96-page trade paperback;
Here begins a multigenerational tale of honor and redemption, starring two of the heaviest hitters in the Star Wars galaxy -- the father-and-clone team of Jango and Boba Fett!
A mission that begins with Jango Fett -- before the Clone Wars -- will affect the course of Boba Fett's life some twenty years into the future. When an important assignment with a big payday from Count Dooku goes awry for Jango, Boba will be tasked with picking up the pieces . . .
This volume full collects issues #1 - #4 of the comics series Blood Ties!

Star Wars: The Old Republic Volume 2 -- Threat of Peace Written by Rob Chestney; Art by Alex Sanchez; Colors by Michael Atiyeh; Cover by Benjamin Carr#233;. On sale May 4. 96-page trade paperback.
A look at the era of Star Wars: The Old Republic, written by one of the writers behind LucasArts and BioWare's wildly anticipated massive multiplayer online game, Threat of Peace unveils a galaxy on the brink of destruction three hundred years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic!
This trade paperback includes bonus behind-the-scenes content found nowhere else!

Star Wars slippers Yoda and Darth Vader.

Star Wars Slippers

Are you bored of your old boring slippers and are thinking of replacing them with nice and comfortable ones? Then here are the Star Wars slippers, which are cool, comfortable and the best thing – they come in the shape of your favorite Star Wars character – Yoda and Darth Vader. These slippers will surely keep your feet warm and will make you smile whenever you look at them. Available for $29.99. http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/

Star Wars expanded universe, Dark Horse Comics

When it comes to the comic book side of the Star Wars expanded universe, Dark Horse Comics has made a name for itself as the home of original, creative tales that enrich the franchise and build on existing mythology in the most fan-friendly ways.
Last year, we brought you the exclusive announcement of "Star Wars: Knight Errant," another addition to the publisher's long list of ongoing and limited Star Wars series. Today, we bring you the exclusive news of a brand new title hitting shelves in May: "Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side."
Featuring a story by Scott Allie and art by Mahmud Asrar (interior/cover) and Stéphane Roux (variant cover), "The Dark Side" follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (played by Liam Neeson in "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace") as he's dispatched to prevent a civil war on the homeworld of Xanatos, the Padawan he trained before Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I spoke to Allie about the series, how it differs from previous Star Wars stories, and some of the familiar faces that readers will see along the way.
MTV NEWS: There are a lot of Star Wars out there, and a lot more of them are written every day. What sets "Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side" apart from other Star Wars stories?
SCOTT ALLIE: We wanted to tell a story with a lone hero out on the edge of space, not dealing with these big galactic concerns, but having adventures on a much more personal level.
MTV: How did you settle on Qui-Gon Jinn for the main character?
ALLIE: We were looking for a Clint Eastwood-type of character. It's always better if you can have it tie into the Star Wars films, to connect with readers, but Luke's story and so many other characters' are bound up in continuity. After discussing it for a while, Randy Stradley - our Star Wars editor here - said there's a character whose story is tied into Darth Vader's back story, which is really the backbone of the whole Star Wars mythology, that might be a good fit: Qui-Gon.
MTV: Given what we know of Qui-Gon's history already, where will this story fit in with his overall character arc?
ALLIE: Well, Qui-Gon makes sense because it's easy to look at Episode I and wonder what he was doing 10 or 15 years earlier. We're going back to an early part of his story and telling a pretty important part of the shaping of Qui-Gon as a Jedi Master.
MTV: So he'll be a Jedi Master at this point?
ALLIE: Yeah, he's already become a Jedi and a Master - he has a Padawan at this point.
MTV: How big of a story do you have planned? Is there a chance it could become an ongoing series?
ALLIE: We're doing five issues to start, and we have a longer story sketched out, but I'm not sure if we'll treat it as an ongoing or a miniseries.
MTV: I have to ask this, because I know you as the guy who handles all of the Joss Whedon books at Dark Horse, too: Was it a bit daunting to jump into another wide-reaching universe and adding to such a massively popular mythology? Are you a closet Star Wars geek and I didn't know it?
ALLIE: [Laughs] I'm not, but I have a 5-year-old son, so I watched the prequel movies way more than a lot of guys my age. My son loves them so much, and we've watched Episodes 1-3 over and over. I know them backwards and forwards. There's also a series of young adult novels called "Jedi Apprentice," about Obi-Wan when he's young and training with Qui-Gon. i've read a bunch of them to my son, and it's been both "good dad" service and research at the same time.
Still, there's so much stuff to know — even at this period when there's not many existing stories. I can't know everything, but fortunately between Randy and the folks at Lucasfilm, they're not going to miss a beat.
MTV: You mentioned the desire to tie things into the movie universe. Will we see any of the other popular staples of the movies? The Sith, perhaps?
ALLIE: No Sith, no. For the Star Wars movie stuff to be meaningful, it has to be special, and the Sith can't be popping up every story. Yoda is in the first issue, giving the mission to the Jedi who are about to set out. There are a bunch of Jedi Council members who would've been around at this time, and something you don't know from watching the movies but you find out if you dig into the expanded unverse, is that Qui-Gon was actiually trained by Count Dooku. My kid loves Count Dooku, and I love Christopher Lee, so it's cool that i'm dealing with Christopher Lee's character. He'll play into the story at some point. Mace Windu and Yoda and others were around at the time, too.
MTV: What about accessibility? Will someone like me, who likes a good Star Wars comic but hasn't read all the expanded universe novels, know what's going on?
ALLIE: A while back, I wrote the first four issues of our long-running "Star Wars: Empire" series. With that, the idea was to make it right for the Star Wars readers who know everything and will find things wrong with it anyways, but really write it for the millions of people who know the films and don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the other stuff. It's my goal not to do anything in these books that you can't immediately get into. There's nothing I want to read that needs to have a huge bag of knowledge to get through page one, and that's not how I'm writing this, either.


Official solicit info for "Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Side":

STAR WARS: JEDI—THE DARK SIDE #1 (of 5)
Scott Allie (W), Mahmud Asrar (A/Cover), Stéphane Roux (Variant Cover)
On sale May 18
FC, 40 pages, $2.99, Miniseries
Twenty-one years before the events in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is dispatched to prevent the outbreak of a civil war on the homeworld of his Padawan Xanatos—whose father is king. It is a mission that will lead Qui-Gon into close contact with the dark side and start him on a quest that will have a major impact on the future of the Jedi Order!
• Here is an opportunity for readers to get onboard a new series, set in a wild and wide-open era of the Star Wars mythos!
• The story of Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn’s Padawan, before Obi-Wan Kenobi!
© 2011 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Jedi—The Dark Side are © 2011 Lucasfilm Ltd.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the spirit of Darth Maul is coming back

Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd

• EPISODE 14 | Darth Maul returns?

Well...possibly. Maybe the tantalizing glimpse we got from Mother Talzin’s crystal ball of a very much alive Darth Maul is just a red herring. A red-and-black tattooed herring. But I know I speak for legions—not just the 501^st legion, but legions—of Star Wars fans who’d love to see a Round Two between Obi-Wan and the Sith Lord who slew his master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Even though we know so little about him, even though he had so few lines of dialogue in The Phantom Menace, even though his screen time in Episode I is relatively brief, Maul remains a source of fascination for many Star Wars fans. If he’s alive, does he have prosthetic legs? Was he kept alive by the same Sith sorcery that ensured General Grievous’ and Darth Vader’s survival? Did he hire lawyer Bob Goldstein to sue the Jedi Order for damages? ("At last we shall have our revenge!") Okay, that last one comes only from the mind of Seth Green.
The moral of “Witches of the Mist,” the last episode of the three-part arc about the Nightsisters that’s all but reinvented Star Wars: The Clone Wars, was “The path to evil may bring great power, but not loyalty.” Over the course of these episodes we’ve seen former Sith-wannabe Asajj Ventress select and train a male Zabrak, a Nightbrother of Dathomir if you will, Savage Opress, to carry out her vendetta against Count Dooku. The plan was that the Nightsisters would serve up Savage to Count Dooku as his new apprentice. With the help of their sorcery, he’d have Force powers and could fill the spot left vacant by Ventress. Then, when Dooku would least expect it, Savage would kill him. But Ventress and the Nightsisters stripped Savage of his humanity (er...Zabrak-ity) in the process, even forcing him to kill his brother Feral. http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/
There’s an important lesson to be learned here—that when we let our hate consume us, we can become the very thing we supposedly most revile. The way Ventress, betrayed and abandoned, uses Savage is no different from the way Dooku used her. And she doesn’t even see it. So when Savage, in confronting both Dooku and Ventress, Force-chokes them both at the end, it’s a powerful moment of rebellion.

Darth Vader makes his entrance in the 1977 movie 'Star Wars.' Director George Lucas did more than make history. Star Wars' PIC

 

Darth Vader makes his entrance in the 1977 movie 'Star Wars.' Director George Lucas did more than make history. ``Star Wars'' went on to become the second-highest grossing movie of all time, behind only ``Titanic.'' Lucas would also create a modern mythology which influenced a generation in Hollywood and two generations of fans.(AP Photo/ho)

Volkswagen's little Darth Vader Kid Unmasked!!

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Twi’leks are easily the most sexualized of all the Star Wars races

Twi’leks are easily the most sexualized of all the Star Wars races. When they’re not serving as personal slaves, they’re serving as ‘dancers’ or other entertainment. Those that do become Jedi or Senators or any other upper class still end up quite sexualized by writers, artists, etc. This phone cover, of course, is no exception, with the blue-skinned beauty in a sling bikini and sporting torn fishnet stockings: nothing out of the ordinary.

I have a feeling this is the Star Wars phone skin that most of you fans would opt to get, picturing a female version of everybody’s favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett. Maybe it’s the heeled boots. Maybe it’s the tank-top style armor. Most likely, however, it’s the Mandalorian helmet. Even on the male Boba Fett we know and love, it’s a damn good looking helmet.

Unfortunately, after the awesomeness that was female Boba Fett, we get a female Rodian holding up that annoying cackling thing from Jabba’s place (Yes, I know his name is Salacious B. Crumb). Maybe it’s just the monkey-lizard that has me not liking this image, but the spotted skin on this Rodian girl makes it look like she caught something from one of those Gamorrean guards.

While some of the choices here were weird, they’re charming nonetheless if only because they aren’t something we get to see every day in the realm of Star Wars fan art. If any of these slick iPhone skins look like something you’d want, you can find them all here for $26 each. For more cool Star Wars art, check out this Mickey Mouse/Boba Fett Crossover Figure or hunt your bounties in style with Boba Fett Running Shoes.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, our hero, Starkiller

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, our hero, Starkiller, escapes from a cloning facility in Darth Vader’s TIE fighter. The caped arch-villain watches as his failed protégé takes to the air and escapes the Empire’s custody, setting the stage for yet another attempt at rebellion. The scene is beautifully rendered, as all are in The Force Unleashed II, adding a touch of Hollywood authenticity to the production. But this one scene, beautiful and fleeting, breaks any sense of immersion almost as quickly as The Force Unleashed II starts. The paradox: if my character, Starkiller, can grab TIE fighters out of the sky and crush them, why wouldn’t Vader just do the same and spare the Empire the nasty headache caused by Starkiller’s rage? http://laguerradelasgalaxias-starwars.blogspot.com/

I probably wouldn’t have been so bothered by it had I not already been bored by that point and looking for something to harp on. I was pretty close to hating the level design, but it wasn’t particularly offensive in any single way other than being repetitive, and it actually (marginally) improved in the game’s final act. I even thought about railing against the use of the cliché text crawl to introduce the game, but that’s practically sacred at this point, so I won’t go there (but there are better ways to introduce the audience to a property without having to make them read several paragraphs). I was becoming discouraged - I knew I didn’t like The Force Unleashed II very much, but I couldn’t nail down why - until this illogical cutscene popped up.
It doesn’t seem like the developers tried all that hard with The Force Unleashed II. Sure it looks really swell, but I would expect no less from a studio run by a company that makes a bulk of its money doing special effects work. But once you get over the fluid motions of the dual lightsabers Starkiller wields as they slice through waves of Stormtroopers, you realize that the game is thoughtless. It constantly presents players with an endless series of paradoxical, nonsensical situations. Can’t get through the engine room because there’s too much machinery in the way? Just blast at parts with lightning and jam randomly strewn metal objects into moving gears. The ship will certainly run fine!

The bulk of the game consists of fighting through a couple of waves of enemies in a locked room, going through a door, following a corridor, getting locked in a room, and then fighting through a couple of waves of enemies. Early on, barred paths require that the player use the Force Push power to move objects out of the way, but by the end of the game this mechanic is dumped in favor of force-fields that magically drop as soon as you kill every last enemy (and not a second sooner). There’s very little in terms of character development, making the plot, which focuses on Starkiller’s attempt to rescue his girlfriend from the Empire, all the more forgettable. There is no subtlety to this Jedi - this is the narcissistic, psychopathic side, and he’s very one-dimensional.
I will say, I appreciated the fluidity of the combat. Starkiller wields two lightsabers (how two are better than one, I’m not sure) and six Force powers adeptly. The game controls very comfortably despite a lot of different abilities, and switching between Force powers on the fly to respond to the different strengths and weaknesses of the dozen or so enemy types that you’ll face is quick and painless. Frustration does crop up in combat when attempting to target particular enemies; the auto-lock feature will often target everyone and everything that you don’t want to focus on. This can become particularly annoying when trying to pick up explosive barrels to fling at your enemies or if you’re trying to focus on the most significant threat in a group.

My biggest gripe with The Force Unleashed II is that it doesn’t really seem to try to be anything special. There are a few memorable segments, but these are few and far between. Having finished the game, only one segment, an epic boss fight as you’re falling thousands of feet from a floating city toward the ground, stands out. The rest is just a blur of identical corridors. There are only four proper levels, and save for a very brief trip to Dagobah, there’s no diversity to any of them. There’s nothing that stands out like the ice fields of Hoth, the deserts of Tatooine or the forests of Endor. You’re instead stuck inside soulless military bases, and it feels like you’re wasting your time.
The lack of diversity extends to the gameplay. While technically a hack-and-slash platformer in the same vein as God of War or Dante’s Inferno, platforming in the game is rare and certainly never challenging. Even the final platforming segment, which actually had moving platforms and required the player to ascend upward toward the final confrontation, was a letdown. Just like everywhere else, opportunities to expand the game were ignored. This design extends into the combat, too. Battles against the bigger droids almost always present an opportunity to enter a QTE to take down the mechanized foe. While flashy and beautifully animated, they require nearly identical inputs from the player. At least mix up the buttons I have to press over and over again to keep me on my toes. I should have to look at the button prompts.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II looks great and the controls work well, but almost every other part of the game is underwhelming. The game just feels uninspired. It’s a quick sequel, probably pushed out without too much time in development to capitalize on the success of the first game. The mechanics behind the game are solid, but it doesn’t seem like much thought was put into anything else. To top it off, an experienced player can get through the game in five hours, and there isn’t much in terms of replay value. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is a poorly executed, thoughtless game that is best to be avoided.

darth vader on vacation image

DARTH VADER BEBE EN SILLITA DE COCHE IMAGEN

TROPAS IMPERIALES OCUPAN TODOS LOS ESTADIOS DEPORTIVOS DE USA EN EL DIA DE STAR WARS

AP Photo/Henny Ray AbramsChewbacca's curve is wicked, but Darth Vader's fastball has Force (heh).

Etsuo Hara/Getty ImagesAmanda Lucas, daughter of George, is an MMA fighter who doesn't deny her "Star Wars" connection.

Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesEven an oversize Mark Grace can't help but bow down before Darth Vader.

Gene Duncan/Disney Parks/Getty ImagesUnconfirmed rumor: Dwight Howard is trying to get Han Solo fired as captain of the Millennium Falcon.

Damien Meyer/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat better pit crew for a Grand Prix than an organized set of Storm Troopers?

Christian Petersen/Getty Images"Star Wars" characters at a Suns game, with Steve Nash as wise old sage Obi Wan Kenobi.

AP Photo/Charles KrupaWalk with a Yoda backpack while a member of the Padres, Evan Scribner did.

Christopher Hanewinckel/US PresswireAnd here's ex-Padres pitcher Mat Latos with a Storm Trooper backpack. San Diego, everyone.

Getty ImagesAll right, we're confused -- which, Raiders fan or Broncos fan, is the "Star Wars" character?

Scott Cunningham/Getty ImagesHe once was a New York Met, but Jose Reyes since has joined the Dark Side (Miami Marlins).

Adam Rubin/ESPNNewYork.comOr are the Mets the Dark Side? We're confused.

Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty ImagesGet it? Seattle Storm? Storm Trooper? Gotta admit, actually -- that's pretty clever.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty ImagesWith Pete Carroll a bit Yoda-esque, is it any wonder Seahawks fans are on the "Star Wars" train?

Steve Mitchell/US PresswireScout and Storm Troopers enter a 2011 Marlins game. They were the only people in attendance.

AP Photo/Jeff ChiuFans storm the field at baseball games, and look at what happens.