Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

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.

Escape from Kamino
The story starts with Darth Vader's TIE Fighter approaching Kamino. Vader enters a large room, with a large, round cell set into the floor. A young man is inside, and is informed that he has been left alone for thirteen days, as an endurance test. The clone is suffering from visions, including a forest burning, and a woman's voice in his head. Vader informs him that they are but memories of a dead man, and that they would fade in time. Telling him that his objective is to kill Starkiller's old Jedi mentor, Vader presents him with two identical red-bladed lightsabers, and instructs him to cut down several training droids, which assume the identities of rebel soldiers and a mysterious woman. Starkiller cuts down all the soldiers, yet realizes that the woman is none other than Juno Eclipse, his old pilot and love interest. He is unable to kill her, prompting Vader to step in. Cutting the last droid down, Vader tells Starkiller that the accelerated cloning process used to create Starkiller is imperfect. All previous clones had gone mad within months. Vader states that he had expected this Starkiller to be the first success, but it seemed that this clone was going to suffer the same fate. After questioning what Vader was going to do with him, Starkiller sees another vision - Vader stabbing his past self in front of the Emperor.

Blasting Vader with Force lightning, Starkiller destroys a portion of the wall, allowing him to escape. However, he is faced with a huge drop, which is filled with perils such as lighting towers, platforms and TIE fighters. Blasting all of them out of his way, Starkiller crashes through a glass roof to another part of the facility. He begins to carve his way through various Imperial troops: Riot troopers, Stormtroopers, two Carbonite War droids and Jump Troopers. After avoiding an Imperial Dropship, Starkiller comes to a large tower, which he knocks down by throwing several TIE fighters at it. The tower crushed one of three AT-STs guarding his master's starfighter. Destroying the remaining two, Starkiller managed to steal the fighter, just as Vader blasted his way to the landing platform. Vader watches as the fighter soars away into space.

Cato Neimoidia and Rahm Kota
"By the Force... I knew you were alive..."

- Rahm Kota

Meanwhile, on Cato Neimoidia, a Massiff prepares to charge at a competitor in an arena. As it charges, it is cut down mid-leap by the competitor, who is revealed to be Rahm Kota. After striking down a Feeorin Gladiator,  Kota shouts up to an observation canopy, informing a 'Baron' that he was 'running out of executioners'. The Baron requests that they 'try the Corellian slice hounds'. He is informed by one of his Neimoidian aides that Vader's ship was approaching. Tarko, under the impression that Vader himself was coming, requests a squad of stormtroopers to be assembled in the hangar.

However, it was not Vader that had arrived, but Starkiller. Tarko, immediately suspicious of the young man, asks him for the sector's security codes. After Starkiller fails to give the codes, Tarko orders the troopers to attack him. Starkiller easily kills the troopers, yet Tarko flees back to the immediate safety of the city. Starkiller proceeds to enter the city after destroying an AT-MP and two Imperial Sith Acolytes. Starkiller kills many more Imperial forces on the way, but he is attacked by Tarko's gunship, the Nemesis, which promptly destroys a bridge, killing Imperials and destroying buildings relentlessly. Starkiller evades the ship, but it would not be the last time he would face the ship. After entering a gambling hall, filled with many game machines, he came across several Carbonite War Droids in the lower levels, which had seemingly frozen many unfortunate Neimoidian citizens. After going through another, smaller room with three game machines, the Nemesis attacks yet again, destroying the bridge Starkiller was standing on. Starkiller manages to reach a cargo tram, and utilizes it as a passage to the Eastern Arch. He is forced to destroy many TIE Fighters in order to save the tram, but the Nemesis catches up, firing a gattling gun, and several missiles. While unable to deflect the laser blasts, Starkiller manages to redirect the missiles back at the ship, eventually forcing it to flee. The tram had suffered too much damage, however, and it plunged off its power supply line, with Starkiller only just managing to leap off it to reach a platform.

After destroying several more Imperials, Starkiller finally reached his goal; the Arena. Before he could enter it, however, the bridge he was standing on was partially destroyed: The Nemesis was back. Starkiller manages to crush its engines, finally destroying it. He uses it to leap across to the other side of the destroyed bridge, and into the arena's entrance. He uses a lift to access a gateway into the arena. He enters, finds Kota, and tells him that he 'can sit this one out'. Kota is overjoyed to find Starkiller seemingly alive. Tarko, on the other hand, is enraged, and tells his aide to 'send out the Gorog. His aide panics, informing Tarko that the restraints of the arena had not been properly tested. Tarko insisted that the Gorog gate be opened. A Rancor enters the arena. Starkiller ignites one of his lightsabers, and looks smugly at the Rancor. Just before the Rancor could attack, however, an immense hand emerges from the floor, crushes the rancor, and pulls it below. Then, the same arm emerges, pulling with it an immense creature: The Gorog.

Starkiller was forced to damage the creature's manacles, and push them into chains hanging on the walls. Once this was done, he gripped the creature's neck chain, and managed to pull it towards the floor, slamming it down twice. This seemed to be the only way of greatly damaging the beast. The Gorog pulled its hands free, and Starkiller had to repeat the process again. He then leaped at the Gorog, slicing off a metal plate on its forehead. He stabbed at a gash that has hidden behind the plate. The Gorog, now fully enraged, pulled its wrist free, completely shattering the manacle. It flung Starkiller on to the arena's side wall, pulled its other wrist free, and proceeded to climb the arena. Kota, who had gone after Tarko, suggested damaging the arena's restraints. Starkiller realized this would bring down the whole structure, but did it anyway. Just before the arena gave way, he proceeded towards Tarko's observation box. Kota was already dueling Tarko and three stormtroopers. The Gorog punched its way into the box, still seeking to kill Starkiller. Tarko was promptly eaten, yet Kota was trapped in the beast's grip. He was pulled down with it when the arena gave way. As Kota was the only one who knew where Juno was, Starkiller dived after him, dodging debris on his way down. Unable to kill the Gorog, or at least harm it in such as way that it would relent its grip on the suffocating Kota, Starkiller used the Force to charge towards the Gorog at an insurmountable speed, punching a hole through the Gorog's chest with his own body. The Gorog finally let Kota go. Kota chided Starkiller's lack of an escape, yet he showed he had his own escape; A ship plummeted towards the two men, rescuing them, just as the Gorog and the rest of the arena fell to the bottom of the chasm.

Starkiller, assuming Eclipse to be at the helm, barged into the bridge, yet discovered that she was not there. Kota then revealed that Eclipse's ship was out of his reach, and they had lost contact. He then suggested that Starkiller create a major diversion in order to rally the troops. Starkiller interjected, revealing that he was a clone, grown in a vat to take Marek's place. Kota laughed at this, stating that it was impossible to clone Jedi. When Starkiller revealed that he had come from Kamino, Kota requested information on the cloning facilities for a major strike. Starkiller refused, and said that he needed a place to meditate. Kota snapped at him, yet inadvertently inspired Starkiller to visit Dagobah. After dropping Kota off at Malastare, Starkiller traveled to Dagobah.

Deal with a bounty hunter
"He has a healthy head start."

- Boba Fett

Meanwhile, on Kamino, Boba Fett was examining the damage caused by Starkiller in his escape. Vader, who is also in the room, orders Fett to find 'the woman' (Juno Eclipse), and to bring her to him, hoping that Starkiller would follow her. Fett requested a squadron of Stormtroopers from Vader, stating they would not be coming back. Vader instead offered him some Terror Troopers, and an enormous four-legged walker. Fett looked at them, then stated that 'they'll do'.

The Cave
"Brought you here, the galaxy has. Your path clearly this is."

- Yoda, to Starkiller

Meanwhile, on Dagobah, Starkiller found a small, green being outside the entrance to a cave. Starkiller thought this being to be a guardian, yet the being revealed himself to be nothing more than a watcher. He suggested that Starkiller was looking for something lost, 'a part of [himself], perhaps'. After being told that the thing he had lost was inside the cave, Starkiller entered, his TIE Fighter garb changing to more traditional Jedi robes as he did so. Inside, he encountered several clones of himself, entangled in vines. A little way on, Starkiller saw Juno standing in a fog, which turned into a bridge of a ship. Starkiller saw Juno get attacked, and called out to her. She limped towards him, but then faded, as did the rest of the vision.

The Salvation
"Stay on guard. A powerful glimpse of the future like you experienced is rarely wrong. And if it comes to pass, you'll be glad you picked me up on Malastare."

- Rahm Kota

Starkiller collected Kota from Malastare, and Kota revealed that the types of glimpses into the future that Starkiller experienced were hardly ever wrong. After finding and boarding the Salvation, Kota and Starkiller made their way towards the bridge. Along the way, Starkiller was informed by Kota that it didn't matter whether he was a clone or not. Starkiller then gave Kota an encrypted code cylinder, with the coordinates for Kamino, and schematics of the secret cloning facilities. Just at that moment, the Salvation came under attack. Kota and Starkiller entered the bridge, where they find a battered, yet still functional, PROXY, who is missing a photoreceptor and an arm. Starkiller tells Kota to order the attack, and just before he heads off, PROXY warns him of Boba Fett being on board.

Starkiller encounters several small spider-like robots and Terror Troopers on his way towards a scientific room, where he finds Juno unconscious. His way through barred, Starkiller tries to find another way through, encountering yet more Terror Droids and Troopers. He accesses the scientific room, only to find that Boba Fett is taking Juno away. Just before she exits the room, Juno sees Starkiller. He blasts his way through, and after fighting yet more droids, he sees an entire corridor 'melted' by an unseen creature. The damage appeared too great to be done by the small Terror Droids, and similar damage was throughout the ship. It served as an excellent guide for Starkiller, and he was able to access the engine room, where he encountered a large, terror-trooper like droid, which he easily defeated. It was after this that he accessed the hangar, where he witnessed Boba Fett's Slave I leave, taking Juno with it. He threatened leaving Kota behind if he didn't order the attack, but Kota had already ordered the attack. They agreed that Vader probably wasn't expecting the entire Rebel fleet converging on Kamino.

Starkiller then noticed the source of the tremendous 'melting' damage - the enormous Terror Walker. He pursues it, and manages to offline its shields by causing an energy burst from a nearby reactor. The walker manages to offline the reactor, powering its shields once more. Starkiller managed to bring the reactor back online, off-lining the shields again. After causing more damage, Starkiller leaps atop the machine's 'head', and goads it into the reactor. His plan works, and the walker is fried - its body serving as a step to get him out of the reactor room and back towards the hangar.

Assault on Kamino
"Head to the Rogue Shadow. I'm pretty sure those shields can't take a direct hit from a cruiser."

- Starkiller

The Salvation arrived above Kamino, where it becomes apparent that the Imperial fleet was expecting them - the Rebellion suffered major casualties. Five boarding pods deployed Imperial troops onto the Salvation. Starkiller killed the invading Imperials, which included two AT-STs and three AT-MPs. After clearing the hangar of the boarding pods, several Y-Wings were able to launch. Starkiller then progressed back the way he came, going through the drive core, clearing Imperials out of the engine room, and accessing the gunnery area. A lucky shot from a nearby Imperial I-class Star Destroyer rendered the Salvation's main gun offline. Starkiller used the force to power the main gun, firing at the Star Destroyer with a shot so powerful, it cleaved it in half. From there, he proceeded to the bridge, where Kota ordered the fleet to keep up the assault, despite numerous casualties. After informing Starkiller that Kamino's Planetary shield was preventing any ground assault, Starkiller told him that the shield would not survive a direct hit from a cruiser, and also advised him to get to the Rogue Shadow. Kota took the advice, but not before ordering everyone to abandon ship. Starkiller used the force to clear debris out of the way during the ship's descent. Before the ship hit Timira City, Starkiller bailed out, and watched the ship hit the city.

Plunging into the city, Starkiller came across Imperial walkers, and several Incinerator war droids, which he had also encountered aboard the Salvation. He aided Kota several times, who in turn assisted Starkiller by capturing the security center and deactivating security screens. An Imperial bombing run took out a nearby bridge, but Kota and Starkiller were able to reform it, allowing the two Jedi to meet up. Kota said that the upper levels had been sealed off, though Starkiller went up there anyhow. Kota, unable to bear the conflict of Starkiller going to face Vader alone, risking his life for Juno's, begs Starkiller to rethink his actions, and to leave Juno behind. He also requests Starkiller join the Alliance. Starkiller, however, informs the General that he cannot join the rebellion, as he loves Juno.

As Starkiller progressed up the main tower, he came across thousands of cloning platforms, each of them containing dozens of clones of himself. Realizing that Vader has cloned an army, he informed Kota of this fact. Starkiller leaps across several of these platforms, fighting faulty clones of himself as he moved towards the top of the spire. He came across fierce resistance in the form of Saber Guards and Sith Acolytes. He asked Kota if he thought that the original Starkiller was within the facility, yet Kota again stated his belief that Jedi cannot be cloned.

Confrontation with Vader
"Where is she?!"

- Starkiller

Starkiller finally reaches the top of the spire, yet when he does, he finds himself plagued by anxiety, fear, hatred and love. He is unable to run, only walk through this self-inflicted nightmare. His anxiety, magnified greatly by the force, crushes neighboring equipment. Visions of Vader himself attacked him out of nowhere, although he was able to repel them, and voices of Juno and Kota echo around him, Juno labeling him a "monster" and a "thing", while Kota brands him "Vader's puppet - just a body filled with the memories of a dead man".

Finally overcoming the visions, Starkiller enters a large cloning chamber, and sees Vader standing on a cloning platform - the clones in this area are fully-grown. Vader and Starkiller duel, with Vader unleashing the clones on Starkiller. One group of clones could only wield lightsabers, while another group could wield force powers, and were therefore, able to deflect Starkiller's own force attacks. The clones however were not mentally stable, which Starkiller uses to his advantage, mind tricking many of them into attacking Vader. Numerous times, Vader throws cloning pods, and even platforms at Starkiller. Throughout his duel, Starkiller sees visions of his (and his template's) past. As the duel progresses, the Starkiller and Vader bladelock just as the clone receives another vision, this time of the future; a vision of him cradling Juno's body, saying that he 'should have stayed here'. Vader uses this distraction to break the bladelock, and push Starkiller away. He then hops onto one of the floating droids in the facility, and floats up to the room where he is keeping Juno, Starkiller hot on his heels.

Arriving in front of Vader, Starkiller demands to know Juno's location. Vader steps aside, and reveals her. Gripping Juno by the throat, using the Force, Vader orders Starkiller to bow before him, else Juno dies. Starkiller obeys, dropping his lightsabers. Juno is set down by Vader, and unseen by both Vader and Starkiller, crawls towards one of the discarded sabers. Vader orders Starkiller to execute Kota, give himself to the Dark Side, and to execute the remaining rebel leaders. If he did not do any of these, then Juno would die. However, Juno ignites the saber she picked up, but before she can attack Vader, she is thrown through a window by him, landing on an electrified platform, seemingly dying. Starkiller lets out a feral scream and charges Vader, summoning back his lightsabers. They engage in a brief lock before Vader grips and throws Starkiller as well, although he makes a perfect landing. Vader jumps down after him.

The final battle
"I will kill you!"

- Starkiller in a rage

The two of them engaged in another duel, with Vader attempting to convince the clone that Juno and Starkiller's connection to her were both meaningless. Starkiller is inconsolable however, screaming that he will kill Vader. During the duel, Starkiller electrocutes Vader several times by pushing him against the electrical pylons surrounding the area. Vader at last disarms the clone and throws him from the platform where the duel was taking place. Starkiller managed to grab onto the edge of the platform, and Vader attempts to dislodge him by throwing his lightsaber at him repeatedly. Starkiller manages to catch the lightsaber on it's fourth throw and toss it back at Vader, severing the Dark Lord's right hand. The injury however, only momentarily distracts Vader, who, after missing Starkiller with a backhand punch, Force Pushes him across the platform and attempts to crush him with one of the pylons. Starkiller barely manages to hold it off himself, and raises another pylon from the platform. Vader glances over at the second pylon, and Starkiller uses the distraction to toss the first pylon off himself. Using the force, he causes the remaining pylons to release a huge amount of electricity, which he then absorbs and uses to blast an incredible amount of Force Lightning at Vader, finally subduing him. Starkiller stands before Vader, intent on killing him, accusing him of taking everything from him. Vader calmly reiterates that the clone's feelings for Juno were not real. Starkiller reiterates that the feelings were real - to him. Just at that precise moment, Kota and several Rebel troops arrive, stopping him from immediately killing Vader. Kota wants to arrest him, and put him on trial for crimes against the true Republic. He also mentions that Vader is the only one who knows if the original Starkiller survived.

Reunited - Light Side Ending
"We're alive."

- Juno upon awakening and kissing Starkiller

Starkiller spares Vader, and Kota requests that he be restrained.

Starkiller runs to where PROXY is attempting to revive Juno, to little success. Starkiller cradles her body in his arms, and says that he should have stayed on Kamino, thus acting out his final vision. Juno, however, wakes, and kisses Starkiller. After affirming that they are still alive, the two kiss again. Later, Juno and Kota are having a discussion with Princess Leia Organa. Juno says that they are sending a dozen small freighters in all directions - if the Empire discovers that Vader has been captured, they won't know which ship to follow. Leia tells them that they should be proud, and that the Force is with them. Her image dissolves to reveal a still-damaged PROXY. All three walk towards the Rogue Shadow.

A final conversation
Inside, Starkiller enters Vader's prison room. Vader is restrained on a metal table, with several large, heavy bolt fixing him to it. Starkiller tells him that, despite Vader telling him that he is a clone, he chose to spare Vader - he has finally broken Vader's hold over him. Vader says nothing to that. Just as he leaves, Vader tells him that as long as Juno lives, he will always control Starkiller. Starkiller pauses, but brushed off the remark, and returns to Juno in the cockpit. They share a sentimental moment as Juno says 'prepare for lightspeed', and the Rogue Shadow disappears into space.

However, Boba Fett's ship, Slave I, unattaches from the remains of a Star Destroyer, and follows the Rogue Shadow into Hyperspace.

Betrayed by rage - Dark Side Ending


Ignoring Kota's pleas to take Darth Vader alive as a prisoner for the Rebellion, Starkiller gives into his anger and hatred. As he moved to strike down his former Master, a red-bladed lightsaber emerged from the center of his torso. Shocked and overcome by agonizing pain, Starkiller dropped his lightsabers and fell to the ground in front of Vader. With Starkiller down and mortally wounded, his attacker de-cloaked, thus revealing that he had been secretly watching the duel the entire time. Rahm Kota activated his lightsaber and tried to kill Vader's savior, but his attempts were in vain. The dark assassin skillfully blocked all of Kota's attacks and slashed the general across the chest with one swift strike. While the Terror Troopers dispatched several Rebel soldiers and PROXY, the assassin grabbed Kota with Force and threw him into the remaining Rebels. With a powerful Force push, he sent Kota and his men into the vast ocean of Kamino.



As Starkiller struggled to move despite his fatal wound, Darth Vader slowly walked over to the dying clone and revealed that he had lied about failing to perfect the accelerated cloning process. At that moment, the mysterious assassin made his way over to Vader's side and lowered his hood to reveal his identity. As Starkiller looked at the face of the man who killed him, he saw that it was his face, only pale and visibly corrupted by the dark side. The assassin revealed himself to be a fellow clone of Darth Vader's fallen apprentice, the only perfect clone amongst many failures, including Starkiller. After gazing at the fallen form of Juno Eclipse for the last time, the imperfect clone despaired and died. As the dark clone awaited his new orders, Vader commended him for completing his final test and then commanded him to take the Rogue Shadow in order to search the galaxy for the last of the Rebel leaders&mdash;and to kill them. As the Dark Apprentice turned to leave, he took a moment to stare at the dead body of the woman who loved his genetic template. Having rid himself of the original Starkiller's emotions, the dark clone walked past Juno's body, feeling nothing but hate and disgust. With a small TIE fighter escort, the Rogue Shadow moved through the debris left behind in the space battle above Kamino and entered hyperspace.

The fall of the Alliance
In response to the threat posed by the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Endor, the Dark Apprentice is ordered by Darth Vader to prevent the Rebels from destroying the Endor shield generator bunker so as to prevent any risk of the new Death Star's destruction. In order to preserve the secrecy of his existence, the Sith Lord instructs the clone to leave no survivors in the wake of his destruction, thus including Imperial troopers as targets as well. After landing the Rogue Shadow on Endor, the "reborn Starkiller" navigates his way through the forest-wide moon, killing dozens of Rebels and Ewoks alike. By the time he reaches the Imperial bunker, Han Solo and Chewbacca remained in front of the entrance to stall the Dark Apprentice while Leia and her commandos attempted to destroy the bunker from within.

Using a commandeered AT-ST Walker, Chewbacca tries to kill the clone with the aid of Solo and a group of Ewoks. Their efforts prove to be futile, however, as the Dark Apprentice kills the indigenous creatures and disables the Walker. After climbing aboard the Walker, the clone engages Chewbacca and easily overpowers the Wookiee. While the Dark Apprentice held Chewbacca by the throat, Solo tried to save his friend by shooting the clone but instead accidentally kills Chewbacca, whom the clone used as a body shield. Solo fired several more shots at the clone, only to watch as they were all effortlessly deflected by the clone's lightsaber. The Dark Apprentice then gripped Solo through the Force and pulled him towards his lightsaber, thus impaling the former smuggler. With both Chewbacca and Solo dead, the apprentice entered the base to complete his mission.

Inside the bunker, the Dark Apprentice arrived in time to see Rebel soldiers engaged in battle with Imperial troopers, who were committed to protecting the shield generator. Obeying Vader's orders to the letter, the clone killed all that stood in his path. He eventually encountered Leia, who retreated further into the bunker while her commandos attempted to buy her the time she needed to destroy the generator. But the Rebels failed and the clone pursued the Rebel princess until he finally encountered her at the core of the base. To his surprise, Leia removed her Rebel gear to reveal her Jedi attire and brandished a yellow-bladed lightsaber. According to Leia, her twin brother's death at the Battle of Hoth necessitated her training as a Jedi Knight.

Leia demonstrated remarkable skills in lightsaber combat and Force techniques while dueling her father's apprentice. Using the Force to enhance her strength, speed and agility, Leia was able to hold her own against the clone for a short while. But even Leia training was not enough to enable her to overcome the raw power and superior skills of the Dark Apprentice. Leia, outmatched both physically and in the Force by the clone, tried to use the bunker's defenses to kill her opponent, only for that to backfire as well. When the duel moved outside to the top of the bunker, Leia tried once more to defeat the Dark Apprentice with her lightsaber and Force powers, only to be pushed on the defensive as the clone countered her offensive with a relentless assault of his own. Ultimately, the apprentice merely toyed with Leia by sparing her in a few instances when he could have easily killed her. The end of the duel, and the Rebel Alliance's last hope for victory, came when the Dark Apprentice impaled Leia with his lightsaber, thus killing the last offspring of Anakin Skywalker.

On the Death Star, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader sensed the defeat of the Rebels on Endor. With the bunker secured and the shield generator still active, any chance that the Rebel fleet had of destroying the battle station with the two Sith Lords on it was gone. Just after Palpatine declared that the end of the Alliance marked a new golden age of peace for the Galactic Empire, he revealed his awareness of his apprentice's latest act of treachery. True to his nature, Palpatine gloated about how he knew about Vader's attempts to clone the original Starkiller since the beginning of the secret project on Kamino. In a desperate attempt to rid himself of his Master, Vader activated his lightsaber in order to strike down the Emperor. But Palpatine anticipated his apprentice's intention and countered with Force lightning, calling him Skywalker before doing so. Unable to bear the pain and the damage that the lightning caused to his armor's life support systems, Vader quickly fell to his knees in submission. The Emperor then commanded Captain Sarkli to take his forces to Endor and kill the clone.

As a group of Imperial Star Destroyers converged on the Dark Apprentice's location, the clone sat in meditation while Leia's corpse lay near him. As the vessels approached him, the apprentice opened his eyes with no trace of fear in them as he prepared to deal with the latest threat to himself and his Master's plans.

Distant Thunder


The creation and development of the Dark Apprentice is revealed through a short series of cinematics known as Distant Thunder. As seen with the player character, the dark clone was subjected to a similar training regimen to test the skills he inherited from the original Starkiller, Galen Marek. Like the other clones who preceded him, the apprentice was haunted by visions of his progenitor's life. His initial confusion caused something of an identity crisis, at least to the point where he wondered if Marek's memories were his own. Although he remained committed to completing his training and succeeding where the other clones failed, he was still curious about how many clones preceded him and what his genetic template was like as a person. Vader disregarded the clone's curiosity as irrelevant; all that mattered was if any more clones would be created. As for Marek, Vader regarded his former apprentice as a weak and broken man who was surpassed in power by the dark clone.



As Marek's dark clone progressed through his training, he continued to impress his Master while learning to overcome the memories of his progenitor - the same problem that was undermined all of the other clones, as pointed out by Vader. After finally freeing himself from the influence of Marek's memories, Vader rewarded him by revealing the truth that the dark clone already knew - that he was a clone of a dead man. To that end, Vader brought the clone to a chamber that contained the preserved corpse of Galen Marek, the progenitor of all the Starkiller clones. The clone, having accepted his purpose and the truth of his identity, fully dedicated himself to becoming what his progenitor and "brothers" could not be - the perfect Sith apprentice of Darth Vader. His training came full circle when he struck down a Sith training droid disguised as Juno Eclipse, thus having rid himself of Marek's feelings for the former Imperial Captain. Near the end of his trials, the clone had grown to despise Galen Marek for his weaknesses, and thus developed a sense of pride for overcoming Marek's failings. By proving himself as the only perfect clone of the original Starkiller, the clone had become the Dark Apprentice of Darth Vader.

Before the Battle of Kamino, Vader commanded his new disciple to not interfere in his fight with the other clone, known as "Starkiller," unless he was needed. But Starkiller chose to spare Vader's life rather than kill him, thus theoretically not necessitating the Dark Apprentice's immediate intervention in the duel.

Behind the scenes
As of December 14, two sets of downloadable content have been released. One is a costume pack, featuring four new Starkiller costumes, and skins including Darth Malak, Admiral Ackbar, and Luke Skywalker while he was training on Dagobah. The other is an extra mission following the dark side storyline. The dark clone of Starkiller journeys to Endor to wipe out the Rebellion for good, encountering Han Solo and Chewbacca as well as Princess Leia who has become a Jedi after the apparent (and currently unexplained) death of Luke on Hoth. The DLC is not related to the Hoth mission of the first game, however, because the two dark side storylines are unrelated.

The clearance code to dock on the Salvation is Talus Haroon 10-11-38. The entire sequence is a reference to George Lucas's first movie THX 1138. If one converts the number 10 into its Roman numeral X, the beginning three parts of the sequence can be abbreviated to THX, with the 1138 right behind it.

At the end there is an homage to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back with Slave I hiding in the wreckage of the space battle and then following the Rogue Shadow as it leaves for hyperspace.

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. However, the Distant Thunder cinematics take place before the ending of the game and indicate that the Dark Apprentice is part of Star Wars canon since the choice between the Light or Dark Side ending does not affect what happened before the game's end.
 * 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 lightsaber fighting, with limbs and heads being dismembered. As well, the targeting reticule has been shown, which is more precise and defined.

The Force powers from the last game returned with one addition, mind trick, which makes enemies fight each other or run away, jumpimg off of a ledge and killing themselves provided there is one in the area being played at the time, 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.

For PS3 and Xbox 360 owners, anyone who has already played the first game will get some bonuses: Simply having a HDD save on your PS3/Xbox will unlock the Training Gear costume and the Sith Stalker Armour and Ceremonial Jedi Robes are available to players who have completed the dark and light endings of the first game, respectively.

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

Trivia

 * In the Xbox 360/PS3/PC version of the game, on the Dagobah level, in the Cave of Evil, Starkiller faces visions of himself. However, in the Wii version, he actually faces clones of himself.
 * The clones could quite possibly be the "failed" clones Vader mentioned.