Take a walk on the dark side

GAME OF THE WEEK:STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED II
16 cert, LucasArts, Xbox 360 (also PS3, Wii, DS)

As a fan of Star Wars, The Force Unleashed IIhas been a long-awaited release since I saw some footage of it at E3. Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice, returns for the sequel. This time around, however, you're a Starkiller clone – one of many, as the previous clones went insane.

Escaping just before Vader can kill you, your mission is to track down your lost love, take revenge on your former master and generally wreak havoc.

You do have some new tricks up your sleeve, including a Jedi mind trick that turns your enemies against each other. You can crush Tie Fighters with your Force abilities and use them as projectiles, throw storm troopers and cause plenty of serious destruction around you. You also have Force Fury for supercharging all your regular abilities.

This game is far from perfect. It’s a little too easy to defeat your enemies, mainly due to your impressive Jedi skills. They do get harder to defeat as you progress, although the combat can be a little repetitive.

But most of all, it’s let down by an overly short campaign. Going back and doing it over on the higher difficulty settings does give it some replay value. Perhaps some DLC in the future might go a little way to soothing ruffled feathers. It barely scratched the surface of what it might have been.

Despite these flaws, Force Unleashed IIis definitely worth playing. The graphics are stunning, particularly in the opening scenes. The battle detail is impressive. And though it's a short enough campaign, I'm still working to master the most difficult setting.

Put it this way: I’m not anticipating trading this one in any time soon.