Return of the Space Cowboy (The Force Unleashed II)

It pleases me immensely to know that The Secret Apprentice / Starkiller / Galen Marek will be (SPOILERS) returning to life (/OH NOES) for another go at Star Wars infamy. The bad news is he'll be doing it using a clone, but then cloning has been the defacto plot device for everything Star Wars for the better part of 10 years. Even before then, fan boys were masturbating over Palpatine, Thrawn and even Vader cloning theories to keep proper villainy in the series canon, but despite less than 10 minutes of film time to its credit, Kamino has practically become the single most important location in the film scope of that entire galaxy far far away.

Which is disappointing because according to all the people who get to make canon Star Wars decisions The Force Unleashed writers are up to snuff. The last time, they let Starkiller's little sojourn stand as its own episode within the otherwise movie only canon, and it worked perfectly. I would think the guys who functionally re-wrote the origins of the Rebellion could come up with something better than "Darth Vader made a clone and the clone went rogue". There's no reason he couldn't have simply barely survived the explosion with The Emperor, and it could've just taken an inordinate amount of time for him to recover or be recovered.

In a better world, they would come up with a story in-between the later movies, involving The Apprentice in some Shadows of the Empire style hijinx during the era of Star Wars history not horribly poisoned by the clone wars. Maybe they could explain how Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc, or properly explain why Yoda chose to hide in a damned swamp instead of doing anything ever. In a perfect (or at least more awesome) world, they could have him be brought back after the rebellion succeeds, maybe enter into some conflict with Luke and the reborn republic. I know Lucas lacks the balls to actually write his own story, but DLC has already pit The Apprentice against the likes of Ben Kenobi and even Luke Skywalker in simulators and side stories, so why not?

I see in my head a fantastic story where Luke comes across this half-dead relic of the force being kept alive in some secret stasis chamber. Why did Vader keep him? What has he since done to him? Did Palpatine even know? Starkiller's upbringing by Vader is almost like the father-son bond Luke himself never had, while his betrayal and quest for vengeance mirror Luke's own internal struggle with the Dark Lord. Does he rescue and revive The Apprentice, who from a certain point of view, could be called Luke's half brother? And maybe The Apprentice doesn't want to live in a world where Juno Eclipse is long dead, and Luke Skywalker is the leader, if not symbol of a rebellion he started. A rebellion that bears his own family crest.

Both characters are so similar, and they could play so well off one another in a well tempered drama. With Leia doing the family thing with Han, Luke is alone with the weight of being the sole Jedi in the galaxy. Would he reach out to Galen? Would Galen's brutality and "unleashed" mastery over the force turn him off? And who could dare oppose them? What would Leia think of the sudden resurrection of this mysterious figure from her past?

I see a game where you play both of them, enemies at first and then allies, until it finally comes to a head and you have to decide which of them will guide the direction of the Republic and the new Jedi Order. Clearly The Apprentice loses, but does he die? Does he sacrifice himself? Does Luke kill him? There's just so much gold to be mined in this potential property. Its a shame I'm just spit balling here.

Instead, TFUII will be a fairly good game full of dual lightsaber battles and over the top force powers, but unfortunately we already know the story. TFU1 had a nice neat ending for a midquel. Sure, The Apprentice had to die to keep from disrupting canon, but he does so for a meaningful reason. His role in the past is done. Now we have a clone waking up and doing everything he did again. Rebelling, growing more powerful, and then vanishing into obscurity to maintain the canon. Maybe they craft a decent love story throughout, but at this point Juno's 10 years older than him, and he's been "dead" all that time. Is she just going to be that happy to see him? Is he going to kick the shit out of Vader and Palpatine again? Is he just going to "die" again in the end? /sigh. What a waste.

Still, I don't want that rant to come across at tarnishing my horrible excitement for the game, just a general disappointment in its plot. Maybe they'll impress me. I am currently experiencing similar regret over the Mortal Kombat franchises latest iteration, it too being a retread of material already covered, but that doesn't mean I'm not fired up to play it. A good story "helps" a game, but it doesn't "make" a game, and if the guys at LucasArts fix the few problems the first had, I don't care if they want to turn Galen into an Gungan and have the entire game take place in generic deserts fighting sand people so long as I get to lightsaber, lightning, and light . . uh, shove my enemies into oblivion. And the rumor mill says they're gonna get dismemberment going? Count me in.

-F.

I'm on a horse.

It's not Grand Theft Auto on a horse, I'm so tired of hearing that as the description for Red Dead Redemption. Now I can freely admit that this game is in no way a sequel to Red Dead Revolver other then in name and the fact its in the "wild west"; Red is no where to be found. This game is a very plot driven narrative and is as much story as it is game play. It's sooooo much more then a wild west GTA.

The characters in this title are multi-dimensional and very interesting. As you complete mission branches for them, their back story and reasons for doing what they do gets fleshed out. Even the sub-character side stories (not random "stop the horse thief" type ones) actually make you want to go out of your way to see what happens. I'm about 11 hours in, crossed the border to Mexico and the story just gets better and better...... It probably wont take you 12 hours to get this far, but I get distracted hunting animals and selling their meat and hides for profit.

We all know the story is useless if the game play makes you quit trying. Thankfully the controls are tight, the aiming is spot on, and bullet time errrr..... dead eye mode makes getting out of a jam that much easier. Riding a horse has never been this easy, but unfortunately you cant ride them backwards. My only minor gripe is sometimes the horses and the clifs dont get along well. I've gotten stuck and I have had my horse walk over an edge and land in the bottom of a canyon. I survived then skinned the dead horse for his hide and meat before pressing up on the D-pad to get a new one.

Lastly Achievements. I am a former Gamer Score whore, I used to totally flex my E-Peen but it just doesnt mean that much to me anymore. Yeah having a high score was neat, but playing hundred of hours of lame beach volleyball and gift buying in DOAXBV2 wasnt worth the 1k. Much to my relief, the achievements and rewards in RDR are spot on. Theres a mix of single player story , gun usage (X amount of kills per gun), mini games (toss a ringer in horseshoes), multiplayers ones, and a viral one just for good measure. Theres 5 avatar clothing unlocks to boot (2 men, 2 women, and 1 unisex item)

Apparently theres some multiplayer DLC coming soon, in the mean time I've gotta go hogtie a woman and put her on the train tracks for 5 gamer points.

~Malenko