Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

"Betrayed by Vader for the last time, a new journey begins with something worth fighting for... someone worth dying for... and I will not stop... I will not rest... Vader can't stop me now! [...] Vader can't stop me now... Nothing can."

- Starkiller escapes the Kamino facility

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is the follow up to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and was announced at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards on December 12, 2009. The story still takes place between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, six months after the first Force Unleashed video game.

Story
After Galen Marek's death aboard the first Death Star, Darth Vader attempted to bring him back by taking his body to Kamino to have him cloned. His motive was to have the perfect Sith Warrior with all of the apprentice's strengths and none of his weaknesses. After various clones resulted as genetic failures due to an initially imperfect cloning procedure, one clone appeared to be more stable than the previous clones before him. Vader told him that he was one of the many attempts to clone Starkiller, and that all of the others before him had gone insane, leading the clone to doubt his mental stability. But when he experienced a vision that showed Vader betraying the original Starkiller, he finally chose to escape Kamino by stealing Vader's TIE Fighter and began to experience memory flashes of Marek's life. Vader soon hired Boba Fett to track down Juno Eclipse, as he predicted that Starkiller would follow her. Fett requested a Stormtrooper squad and warned that they would not survive the mission. Vader, however, provided him with a group of experimental soldiers called Terror Troopers, and droids known as Terror Droids. Starkiller tracked down General Rahm Kota, who had been captured by the Galactic Empire and was held on Cato Neimoidia for execution in the palace of Baron Tarko. He fought his way through the opulent domain, and then proceeded to rescue Kota after a seven-day gladiatorial ordeal. Tarko then released the Gorog, an immense, bipedal creature possessing a hunched stance, two clawed forearms, two hearts, and four tusks protruding from its lower jaw. After killing the creature and rescuing Kota, Starkiller traveled to Dagobah, after being mentioned by Kota, to contemplate his future before pursuing his quest to find Juno. There, Starkiller encounters Yoda outside of the Dark Side Cave. After a short conversation, he entered and encountered visions of other clones like himself trapped behind vines which reached for him as he went through the cave. He then saw a a vision of Juno on the bridge of a ship shouting orders followed by her being injured. He then went back to the Rogue Shadow and retrieved General Kota from Malastare in order to find Eclipse. Kota continued to wonder about Starkiller's origins, stating that Jedi and Sith cannot be cloned. He also began to think that it didn't matter if Starkiller was a clone, just so long as he could use his power to fight the Empire for the Rebel Alliance. Just then, the Nebulon-B escort frigate that Starkiller and Kota were on was boarded by many imperials, forcing Starkiller to fight through many obstacles to rescue Juno. Along the way, he encountered Marek's droid PROXY, whom he thought had been destroyed by Vader. Just when Starkiller had found Eclipse, she was taken by the bounty hunter Boba Fett. After a series of battles throughout the frigate, Starkiller eventually reached Kota and convinced him that the ship was lost. Kota then ordered the crew to evacuate before the ship crashed through Kamino's planetary shields. After the frigate was abandoned, Starkiller stayed aboard so that he could help guide the ship into Timira City on Kamino. After it was on track to hit the city, Starkiller abandoned the ship which hit and formed a huge hole in the city. He then landed within it and made his way through the city fighting many imperial forces and helping out the rebel troops where he could. However, his main goal was to rescue Juno the entire time which often caused him to continue on his way at the expense of rebel lives. Kota tried to convince Starkiller that Juno's life was less important than the Rebel Alliance's need to win the battle on Kamino, but Starkiller was adamant that Juno was all that mattered to him. Eventually he found Darth Vader and engaged in a lengthy duel with him which also involved other clones of Galen Marek, but were extremely aberrant both physically and psychologically. Vader then revealed that he had Juno right by him and threatened to kill her if Starkiller refused return to Vader and give himself to the Dark Side. After Vader set her down, he had begun to give him orders which allowed Juno to threaten Vader with one of Starkiller's lightsabers. Vader then force pushed out of a window. Fearing the worst, Starkiller went into an intense fury and ended up disarming Vader and electrocuting him with a massive blast of force lightning. Kota and a group of rebels then came in and requested that Starkiller spare Vader. That is the point at which the player chooses either the Light or the Dark Side ending.

In the Light Side (canon) ending, Starkiller spared Vader so that Kota and the rebels could arrest the Sith Lord. Starkiller then went over to Juno's body where PROXY was trying to revive her. As PROXY left, Starkiller held her close. Yet as he did so she seemed to miraculously recover and began to kiss him. Vader was captured and Starkiller told him that he was free of his control. Yet Vader replied that he would always control him as long as he had Juno. Juno and Starkiller take the Rogue Shadow and head into hyperspace. Unbeknownst to them, they are followed by the Slave I, which is where the game ends.

In the Dark Side ending, Starkiller is about to strike Vader down before being stabbed in the chest with a red lightsaber by a hooded man. Kota tries to fight the figure, but he and his troops are killed. At this point, Vader reveals that he lied about the main character being the only successful clone, showing that the hooded man is another clone. Before Starkiller's clone dies, he sees that Juno is truly dead. Vader explains to his apprentice that his training is finally complete and then tasks him with hunting down the surviving members of the Rebellion.

The cutscene Distant Thunder The Body - The Burden of Proof, one of the cinematics unlocked after beating the Challenges, shows this Dark Side clone (referred to as the Dark Apprentice) standing before the dead body of the original Starkiller with Vader.

Promotion
The first trailer depicts a hooded man walking along a hall, apparently oblivious to the fact that he is using the Force to destroy everything around him while the voices of Yoda and Darth Vader are speaking about the light and dark sides' paths. As the voices conflict, the man appears to become more confused and frustrated, as the destruction he leaves in his wake becomes more chaotic. The man stops when the voice of Juno Eclipse is heard. He stops destroying the hallway, and as he lowers his hood, he appears to be Galen Marek. He enters an arena on Cato Neimoidia while a dead rancor is thrown in the air and lands near him. A Gorog then appears from the gate and Galen charges his Force lightning before firing it at the massive beast. He subsequently pulls out two blue lightsabers and jumps onto the beast. The background fades and the lightsabers become the Roman numeral "II" behind the Force Unleashed logo. 

The game was also advertised by its own website featuring the trailer and the press release from LucasArts. On May 26, the website was modified to feature a first-person perspective of someone in a Cloning tank, known as Subject 1157. The tank featured a holographic display where users could click on and play minigames which periodically unleash visions. In two medical entries, there are passwords to unlock: KAMINO and JUNO. On July 28, the website was updated once again to include an interactive menu.

The second trailer was premiered on June 11, 2010. It shows Starkiller chained to the floor surrounded by stormtroopers. Darth Vader tells him he has served his purpose and he has no more need for the apprentice. Ordering his execution, Vader walks out. As the stormtroopers move in for the kill, Starkiller grasps his chains and the lights go out. He jumps around and takes out the troopers one by one. Walking into the hallway, Starkiller meets more troopers and an armored flamethrower droid, which he destroys by splitting the gas tank on it's rear and firing Force lightning into the escaping gas, causing an explosion. He then meets more troopers and a giant four-legged walker, all of which he mercilessly destroys, vaporizing a large number with a violent Force repulse. Surveying the damage, Starkiller is surprised by a Terror walker. The droid attacks the warrior with a laser blast, but Starkiller absorbs the laser and uses lightning to damage the droid's leg. As the droid topples, Starkiller slashes the droid's front legs off and jumps on top of it, viciously stabbing and slashing the droid apart. Jumping off, Starkiller lifts the damaged droid into the air, crushing it before leaping up and slicing it in half. As Starkiller leaves, he declares he has something to fight for, and no one, not even Vader, can stop him. Meanwhile, levels below, Vader walks into a room filled with cloning tanks, and one of the clones wakes up.

On October 6, 2010, a new gameplay trailer was released, showing more detailed cutscenes/cinematics of Kamino, Cato Nemoidia, and The Salvation. Apparently, as seen in the trailer, Starkiller will face unstable clones of himself with silver lightsabers. Also, many new and unidentified enemies appeared in the trailer. In October 12 the demo for the game was released for both Xbox 360 and PS3, the demo is focused on the planet of Kamino at the first level where Starkiller escapes from the cloning facilities and steals Vader's TIE Fighter to get off the planet.

Characters

 * Sam Witwer as Starkiller / Dark Apprentice —The only character to physically appear in the first trailer. Although much of the game's story implies that he is a clone of the original Starkiller, it remains currently unknown whether this Starkiller really is a stable clone or the real Galen Marek from the first game. Nevertheless, Starkiller is greatly affected by Marek's memories during his time on Kamino, thus prompting him to break free of captivity to find Juno. In the non-canon Dark Side ending of the game, Starkiller is killed by another clone, one that is completely subservient to Vader, although the actual canonical existence of the Dark Apprentice character is debatable as he did not appear in the Light Side ending.
 * Matthew Sloan as Darth Vader — Returning as master to Starkiller, Vader is determined to create a more powerful and obedient version of his former apprentice, surprised at Starkiller's turn at the end of the last game.
 * Tom Kane as Yoda — Starkiller will meet Yoda when he travels to Dagobah. He suggests to the troubled young man, who is unaware of the Grand Master's identity or Force sensitivity, to search for whatever is missing from him inside the Dark Side Cave.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Boba Fett— Fett is hired by Vader to track down the escaped Starkiller by kidnapping Juno as bait. He is also provided with Terror Troopers and tools from the Empire to help accomplish the job.
 * Nathalie Cox as Juno Eclipse
 * Cully Fredrickson as Rahm Kota
 * David W. Collins as PROXY

Gameplay
A new fighting style has been revealed which shows a more realistic style of fighting. As well, the targeting reticule has been shown, which is more precise and is now more defined. Also, lightsaber dismemberment has been confirmed.

The Force powers from the last game will return with a couple new ones. One of these is the mind trick, which makes enemies fight along side the player or run off a ledge killing themselves, depending on the situation.

Anyone who purchases the collectors' steel box special edition of the game will have the opportunity to play as the "original Starkiller" as designed by Ralph McQuarrie in early drafts of Star Wars.



Those that make a pre-order for the game from participating Gamestop stores and website will be given a code to unlock the exclusive "Maulkiller" skin. This skin is said to be a creation of the DNA of Darth Maul and Galen Marek. Also included in the pre-order is a silver Lightsaber crystal which decreases force consumption. Maulkiller is only available for PS3 and Xbox 360. Players will also be able to unlock a "Guybrush Threepwood" skin from the Monkey Island series.

At Gamescon 2010, it was announced that there would be a light side/dark side choice in the game like the first Force Unleashed. As of October 19th the game's demo is available to all Xbox Live members.

Rating
The game has been rated T due to violence (killing, dismemberment, etc.). (Rating by ESRB)

Behind the scenes
The clearance code to dock on the Salvation is Talus Haroon 10-11-38. The two final numbers are 1138 which is a recurrent in-joke in subsequent George Lucas films and Lucasarts Games