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Demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 unchained before game's release
A LucasArts representative told Joystiq that there may be some tweaks before it's set free, but Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 will be getting a demo that's very similar to what we played at Gamescom. We were also told that the forthcoming game's demo will be made available publicly prior to retail launch on October 26. The demo we played begins with returning protagonist Starkiller attempting to escape his cloney confines on Kamino. He plummets down a tower, avoiding obstacles en route, busts through a giant dome, and then fights his way out of the facility. Force pushes, mind tricks, and force lightning follow as the Dark Apprentice redux attempts to steal a Tie Fighter and get off the planet . And it appears there won't be too long of a wait before you try the demo yourself -- that is, if you're not already in Germany attending the public days of Gamescom.%Gallery-95704%
The Force Unleashed 2 dev diary strikes back
The second installment of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 dev diary is out and once again focuses on the game story. Of particular note, the video delves into the roles of Yoda and Boba Fett, as well as the parallels between TFU2 and The Empire Strikes Back.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 unleashes Yoda, too
Thrilled, Star Wars fans will be, when in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 a beloved character appears. ... okay, we're not going to do the Yoda voice the whole time. We'd like you guys to be able to read this stuff. LucasArts revealed that Yoda will appear in The Force Unleashed 2, in a segment taking place on his home planet of Dagobah. Angsty Force unleasher Starkiller senses a powerful presence, and goes to the planet to investigate. There, he finds everyone's favorite Jedi Master, who helps him deal with, you know, all the angst. With this being ... a Star Wars game, the presence of Yoda actually makes sense this time. If more Yoda you would like to see (we can't help it, apparently!), we have screens in our gallery and a video after the break.%Gallery-99323%
Force Unleashed 2 canceled on PSP
Though Star Wars: The Force Unleashed sanctioned the abuse of stormtroopers on your PSP, The Force Unleashed 2 has jettisoned Sony's handheld system before its multiplatform launch on October 26th. According to IGN, LucasArts did not offer an explanation for the late cancellation. The PSP version of the original game didn't fare too badly with critics, so we're left wondering where the sequel's development took a wrong turn -- assuming it wasn't simply a consideration of profitability on a platform that has been known to struggle with piracy. We'll let you know if we hear anything that more closely resembles an actual reason.
Today will be a day long remembered: Haden Blackman resigns from LucasArts
13-year LucasArts vet Haden Blackman, the writer and producer on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and creative force behind Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 and Star Wars: Galaxies, has resigned today, IGN reports. "I've had a fantastic time working with the team at Lucasfilm and am really grateful for their ongoing support," Blackman said. "While the decision to leave LucasArts did not happen overnight or come easily, I really feel that now is the best time for me to move on and explore new creative challenges and I look forward to the next phase of my career." "Oh, sure, Joystiq," you might say, "go with a Star Wars joke as the headline. Real original." Well, look, we spent all freakin' day down at Toshii Station because Luke had to have this one power converter -- no, this one wasn't good enough, it's gotta be that one -- so excuse us if we're a bit off our game ... uh, this is kinda getting weird. If you wanna join us in pouring one out for our departed comrade, we'll be down at the local hive of scum and villainy.
No need to hunt, The Force Unleashed 2's Boba Fett is right here
We saw Boba Fett's appearance in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 teased at the Comic-Con panel last week. Now, thanks to LucasArts and the magic of the internet, so can you! While the complete scope of his role in the game has not been revealed, it does involve Mr. Fett picking up a bounty on your head. (Don't fret -- "you" are a savage master of the Force, remember?) Check out a pair of new screens in the gallery below and the Boba Fett teaser cinematic after the break. %Gallery-98313%
Preview: The Force Unleashed 2 at Comic-Con
During the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Comic-Con panel, LucasArts producer Haden Blackman led a gameplay preview for the assembled crowd, showing off some new elements of the sequel which again stars fallen Vader apprentice Starkiller. The demonstration built on last month's E3 preview, with plenty more scenes of messy Stormtrooper cleanup -- it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. As he showed troopers sliced, diced and Forcefully obliterated, Blackman noted that the development team has worked to diversify enemy AI. Player feedback from the first game criticized the different types of enemies for all acting the same, so LucasArts has created separate AI behavior for almost all of the enemies in the sequel. Of course, this also goes for the new enemies, of which Blackman introduced a giant walker equipped with a shield and a Carbonite gun. To defeat the menace, Starkiller must first use his Force power to rip off the shield, and then take on the vulnerable walker while dodging its freeze ray blasts. %Gallery-95704%
The Force Unleashed 2 dev diary certainly does unleash the force
We knew the Sithdi (Jedith?) known as Starkiller had some serious Force-wielding prowess in the series' first installment, but if the dev diary for The Force Unleashed 2 posted below is any indication, we haven't really seen anything yet. Force Push is great -- but Force Disintegrate is better.
Force Unleashed 2 'Maulkiller' GameStop pre-order bonus revealed
Hardcore preservers of Star Wars canon might want to avert their eyes while we share with the rest of you Gamestop's recently announced pre-order bonuses for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. No peeking! Okay, we good? Cool. Folks who reserve the game will be able to play through the game using the "Maulkiller" skin, which is a genetic fusion of Sith superstars Darth Maul and Starkiller. See -- they took the awesome stuff from both dudes and combined it into a doubly awesome doubledude. Can you handle the power? Pre-orderers will also get the Maulkiller Silver Saber Crystal, which, according to Gamestop, "allows the player to consume less Force energy when using Force powers in order to devastate enemies." It also turns your lightsabers silver, which we all know to be the world's best color. Those chumps wielding red, green, blue and purple laserblades are going to be so jealous.
Preview: Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2
Fair warning for those who have yet to complete the first Force Unleashed title, I'm about to ruin the ending for you. The major question I had walking into my demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 was: Is it possible to feel an emotional attachment to a character we've already said goodbye to? In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, players will be asked to do just that. Although the game's lead character Starkiller -- or Galen Marek, according to Star Wars novels -- sacrificed himself during the true ending of the previous title, the character returns as the playable character in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. During my E3 2010 hands-off preview of the upcoming sequel to the "fastest selling" Star Wars title of all time, executive producer Haden Blackman walked us through the game's opening, which follows a mentally-torn Starkiller as he attempts to escape from his former mentor, Darth Vader. %Gallery-95704%
Rumor: LucasArts quietly scraps multiplayer in The Force Unleashed 2
Earlier this year, when Slant Six enacted "temporary" layoffs to its studio, reports circulated that it meant the cancellation of a current-gen Star Wars Battlefront title rumored to be in development at the Vancouver-based studio. According to a Joystiq source the April 7, 2010 layoffs were a direct result of LucasArts canceling production of the online-only title and, in the same fell swoop, the publisher canceled a multiplayer mode said to be included in the upcoming sequel to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The supposedly canceled multiplayer component in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 was said to have been in development separately at Vancouver-based developer Blue Castle Games (currently developing Dead Rising 2 for Capcom) and was set to be included along with the LucasArts-developed single-player title; similar to the development process of Bioshock 2's multiple game modes. A Blue Castle representative told Joystiq it does not comment on potential business relationships. Today, during a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 demo, executive producer Haden Blackman told Joystiq that the team "definitely talked about all possible features" for a Force Unleashed sequel but ultimately they decided to focus on a "really solid" single-player experience. Blackman says he personally feels that multiplayer and co-op are "hugely important" and he would be "surprised if we didn't see some multiplayer and co-op somewhere down the line" in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed franchise. Specifically addressing the rumored Blue Castle-developed multiplayer mode, Blackman said he "can't talk any specifics about that or even whether they were doing it." A full interview with Blackman is forthcoming.
New Force Unleashed 2 trailer shows Vader doing what he does best
Darn that Darth Vader -- sure, he's a Sith Lord who betrayed his master, will blow up a planet without a second thought, and even threatens to kill his own soldiers, but honestly, you just can't trust the guy. This brand new E3 trailer from LucasArts for Force Unleashed 2 shows the game's protagonist Starkiller getting betrayed by ol' helmethead yet again, and then lightsaber slicing and dicing his way out of a whole heap of space trouble. We already knew that Starkiller would be dual-wielding lightsabers in the game, and while this trailer is vague to say the least, it does hint at why we're seeing him whole and hale again, instead of the (spoiler) less-than-lively state we saw him in at the end of the last game. Looks like it's an Attack of the Clones all over again. At least that force power looks fun -- hopefully we'll see more at E3 next week. Watch the whole thing after the jump.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 collector's edition adds USB Mimobot
What does the $80 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 "collector's edition" get you? Fancier packaging, "exclusive" DLC, and a 2GB USB drive by Mimobot. While we admit the chibi character looks amusing, we question whether it's worth the $20 markup in sticker price. Judge for yourself after the break.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II comic hits Tosche Station newsstands Oct. 6
Many of you likely remember the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a story penned by Haden Blackman which told the tale of Darth Vader's secret apprentice. Now the sequel has been announced and Blackman is not only returning to work on the sequel, but has also been tapped to be the scribe on this 88-page trade from Dark Horse. The first comic based on the first game managed to sell 88,000 copies -- not much compared to how many copies the game sold, but still a figure no Sith should scoff at. You'll be able to grab your own copy for $10.99 come October 6, three weeks before the game's launch. [Via Big Download]
Force Unleashed II beaming down October 26
The worst thing about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is having to write headlines about it. The temptation to say that "screenshots have been unleashed" or "a new trailer has been unleashed" is palpable, but it just sounds weird when the word's already right there in the title like that. As you can see, when we attempted to communicate that the game's official Facebook group had revealed its release date as October 26, our brains panicked and instead called up a reference to Star Trek. We hope that, in time, you can forgive us.
Report: Krome Studios lays off 30-50 more staff [update]
Aussie developer Krome Studios (Game Room, Blade Kitten, Star Wars: Republic Heroes) has allegedly just completed another round of layoffs, with the number of employees let go this time ranging from 30 to 50. Develop notes that Krome had somewhere around 400 employees before the first known round of layoffs last year. AusGamers reports a possible financial reason for letting people go: Krome allegedly did not receive the license to develop the The Force Unleashed 2 for Wii "as a result of poor review scores for other Krome titles." IGN adds perspective about the impact of the layoffs, estimating that Krome "accounts for some 25 percent of games development in Australia." Krome CEO Robert Walsh made it very clear last year that developers' budgets "have probably doubled or tripled during the console transition," which likely doesn't make it easy to run a studio -- especially such a large one. We've contacted Krome for comment and will update if we receive a response. Update: Krome has responded to Joystiq saying, "We regret to confirm an unspecified number of positions have been eliminated today at Krome. The industry worldwide is facing new challenges and Krome is not immune to the effects of this. Beyond that, we cannot make a comment." Source -- Rumour: Aussie developer Krome hit with layoffs [IGN] Source -- Krome loses more work and more employees [AusGamers] [Via Develop]
LucasArts developing The Force Unleashed 2 internally, hiring for 'other unannounced products'
It didn't take a Jedi Master to conclude that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed would be getting a sequel -- after all, it met with tremendous success, ranking as the fastest-selling Star Wars video game of all time and moving more than six million copies to date. Still, LucasArts laid off a majority of the team that developed it before the game even hit shelves, so many that our source at the time told Joystiq that the remaining group would be insufficient to produce a sequel should one be ordered. So, now that The Force Unleashed 2 is officially happening, we naturally began to wonder: who's making the game? When asked for comment on the topic, LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez told Joystiq, "Our internal team here in San Francisco will be focused on the game in addition to other development partners. The San Francisco team is made up of TFU veterans who are all bringing their hard earned muscle memory to the development process." Rodriguez didn't elaborate on who these "development partners" are, but it's clear that a core team at the company's Northern California HQ is only part of the development effort. Rodriguez did not remark on whether any new staff is being hired to work on the title internally, but did reveal to us that LucasArts is "also currently hiring for some other unannounced products that we are internally developing as well." We're just going to assume that none of the staff who received pink slips last summer will be sending in resumes.
Spike VGA 2009 Wrap-up: The awards, the trailers, the premieres
As you can probably tell by looking at our front page, last night's Spike Video Game Awards show was a pretty prolific source of gaming news. From the big reveals of games like Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, to new trailers for Crackdown 2 and Halo: Reach, to ... well, the actual awards, it was a pretty busy night for all parties involved. We've collected all the stories, trailers, and winners of each award in this post to prevent you from hunting through our archives -- or our hateful, hateful liveblog -- to find what you're looking for. You'll find them all listed after the jump!
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 revealed, intense [update]
The world's coolest Jedi, Samuel L. Jackson (suck it, Yoda) has just taken the stage at the 2009 Video Game Awards to reveal Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. In the announcement trailer -- Darth Vader's once apprentice -- codenamed "Starkiller" steps into a dark arena only to be faced with a creature hellbent on his destruction. Thankfully, Starkiller -- armed with two light sabers -- pounces to attack the gargantuan foe. Sadly, it was all CG, but we'll take any new Force Unleashed we can get. Update: Trailer's out! Check past the jump above to see the blue saber-wielding Starkiller's epic strategy for Rancor euthanasia.
