I paid $65 for this?

Why are video games 65 dollars now? They aren't way better than they were when they cost $50.  In fact, I'd say apart from graphics and physics improvements, the games are pretty much the same.  So why this price hike? Why are video games 65 dollars when people have far less disposable income these days?  I tried gamefly, but I had to ditch it.  I'm not a hardcore, 5+ hours a night gamer, so it usually takes me 2 or 3 months to finish a game. The problem with gamefly was that it was 17 bucks a month and I would keep each game for 3 months.  So that comes out to $51 per game. Not really a great deal when you think of it. So now, I usually wait until a game becomes old, used, or DLC priced before I buy it.

There are exceptions. Force Unleashed 2 just came out, and I had to have it, So, I paid the $65 bucks. At first, it was amazing. I was having a blast. Then it was over. I try to savor games and make them last by only playing a little bit at a time, but there was no getting around this.  This game was ridiculously short.

Aside from the length, there were some other glaring problems.

1.  There are 4 levels in this game.  They'll tell you there are 6, but that's nonsense. There's a Dagobah level where there is no action, only cutscenes, so I don't count that. Then, they commit what I consider to be one of the cardinal sins of video game design. They reuse maps. You begin the game in Kamino, and you end the game in Kamino.  I therefore refuse to count that as another level, so there you have it.  4 levels.

2.  Glitches.  A $65 game should have no glitches.  The camera in this game would get stuck during in game dialog sections. You and Darth Vader are crossing swords and screaming at each other amidst an epic battle and all you see his the corner of your shoulder. Or even better, the camera gets stuck inside Vader's helmet where you can see through the actual computer model.

3.  Repetitiveness. Killing stormtroopers is fun. They act unpredictably and that makes things funny. All the other guys you fight do the same attacks every time. You kill them with the same tactics, and the finishing move is the same every time.

4.  Control Problems. Although they fixed most of the big problems from the first game.  Jumping is still a problem.  I personally think the LucasArts Jedi double jump method should be retired.  We never see a Jedi kick off the air in the films, yet this is the way LucasArts has handled force jump for the last 15 years.

So in closing. I paid $65 for a game that is broken, short, and unfinished. It feels like they rushed this one out for a quick buck. The Lucas people have once again successfully conned me out of my money. 

May The Force Be With You

-Richie