It came as no surprise that David Collins would be the moderator for the panel on The Force Unleashed II considering he's the voice of the image-shifting droid, Proxy. Collins was joined by Art Director Matt Omernick and Producer Brett Rector for a lively panel that looked to be playing to a full house. Before I get into the panel cliff notes, let's offer up a SPOILER WARNING. While I was aware that a good part of the panel would center on the story of TFU II, I was pleasantly surprised that we learned as much as we did. A good amount of the info was already out there, but be warned none-the-less.



- Naturally, we got to see the cinematic trailer on the big screen with some big sound and though I'd seen it on the computer, it was fantastic in its full glory
- Things began with Matt Omernick mentioning that essentially the same team worked on TFU II that worked on TFU I
- Images were shown of the novelization cover art, game cover art, and some nice console controller accessories.



And now on to the story details...

- Vader arrives at his secrect cloning facility on Kamino
- Vader tells Starkiller that he's a clone and not the first and most likely won't be the last
- Starkiller has memory flashbacks of his previous life, including visions of Juno Eclipse
- At some point Vader reveals to Starkiller that General Kota is a prisoner on Kato Nemoidia
- Vader tests Starkiller with droids similar to Proxy who can change their apprearance, yet he can't bring himself to kill the appearance of Juno
- Starkiller then gets a bit upset, blasts out of the room, and fights his way off Kamino
- In order to leave the planet Starkiller steals Vader's Advanced TIE fighter
- Starkiller now has a purpose and the main thrust of the game seems to be about his identity crisis...and finding Juno Eclipse




- Starkiller then heads to Cato Nemoidia which is run by an Imperial representative named Baron Tarko who has turned the planet into a seedy gambling type of a place
- Kota has been gladiator fighting for 7 days straight
- The huge monster from the original teaser trailer, Gorog, is the first big boss battle (that thing "eats Rancors for breakfast")
- The battle culminates with Starkiller and Kota defeating the Gorog in a freefall
- An updated Rogue Shadow swoops in to save Starkiller and Kota from falling to their deaths but Juno Eclipse is not onboard
- General Kota doesn't believe Starkiller is a clone and Starkiller ultimately heads out on his own to find himself
- This search leads him to Dagobah where he meets this little dude named Yoda
- It doesn't seem like Yoda fully reveals who he is to Starkiller but that doesn't prevent him from imparting some wisdom on the troubled clone
- Starkiller enters the infamous cave from Episode V and has visions of multiple Starkillers as well as Juno Eclipse in trouble
- But then there's Vader who's never been too good at letting anything go. He wants his clone back!
- Vader enlists the help of Boba Fett to track down Juno in order to draw out Starkiller








Gamplay Footage:

- Gameplay footage from the Cato Nemoidia level looks incredible.
- Starkiller fights with two lightsabers now (including when he throws them)
- The overall lighting of the levels have been enhanced
- Enemies are smarter as is evident by them dodging Force Push
- Starkiller throws missles back at AT-MTs with the Force
- Force Fury enhances Force powers when the meter is filled
- Dismemberment of enemies is fun! Makes things that much more realistic
- More gameplay footage from Kamino shows Starkiller blasting things out of his way while freefalling (Incredible!)
- The Jedi Mind Trick is demonstrated with a Starmtrooper throwing himself out of a window
- Finally we see a short video on the story of Starkiller featuring Julio Torres and Haden Blackman (who has since left LucasArts)

And just a few notes from the Q&A period that rounded out the panel...

- No DLC to be announced yet
- There will be more Light Side/Dark Side choices like at the end of TFU I
- The Force Unleashed II has a similar amount of gameplay time on the main game but mini games add a bit more
- No multiplayer on the PS3 or Xbox 360.
- The Wii graphics and multiplayer have been improved
- When asked if there will be jaw dropping moments like Starkiller single-handedly taking down a Star Destroyer, the answer was yes.
- The time period for the game is roughly 6 months after the first game and 2 years prior to ANH.