• What: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• Where: Steam
• Current Price: £3.74
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II price comparison
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

It was looking so promising...and then everybody left and the game fell apart and the story was balls and there turned out to only be about three or four actual environments in the game and....and....and....

Suffice to say, The Force Unleashed II is not the greatest game you'll ever play. But then again, for the price of a London pint it really doesn't need to be. You can still fling Stormtroopers around with the Havok physics engine and a few of the Force powers have been tightened up rather nicely. It's just a shame that the overall package is a bit of a letdown.

• What: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• Where: Play / Amazon
• Current Price: £9.99
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Wii price comparison
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

Play and Amazon have helped bring this one down to a tenner, and it means you’ll be getting a saving of almost £7 in comparison to the next beast over at Base & co. Is it worth it though? Tom’s review goes into far more detail than I ever could here, but it seems only the hardcore Star Wars fans need apply with this sequel. With not much progression in the gameplay mechanics and a plot so ridiculous George Lucas HAD to have been involved somewhere, it’s not the good Star Wars game we were looking for. Still, if you really want to give it a go, this is the current best price available. Thanks to Rhys135 @ HUKD!

• What: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• Where: Play | PS3 / Xbox 360
• Current Price: £14.99
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II PS3 / Xbox 360 price comparison
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

The latest adventures of Starkiller and his crazy lightsabre antics have now plummeted in price to the £15 mark. Is it worth it thought? Tom’s review goes into far more detail than I ever could here, but it seems only the hardcore Star Wars fans need apply with this sequel. With not much progression in the gameplay mechanics and a plot so ridiculous George Lucas HAD to have been involved somewhere, it’s not the good Star Wars game we were looking for. Still, if you really want to give it a go, this is the current best price available. Thanks to Syzable @ HUKD!

• What: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• Where: Amazon
• Current Price: £17.91
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II PS3 price comparison
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

Amazon are yet again doing their “let’s chip away at the price every other day” tactic, leapfrogging Jon’s deal from the start of the week by a few pounds. Is it worth it thought? Tom’s review goes into far more detail than I ever could here, but it seems only the hardcore Star Wars fans need apply with this sequel. With not much progression in the gameplay mechanics and a plot so ridiculous George Lucas HAD to have been involved somewhere, it’s not the good Star Wars game we were looking for. Still, if you really want to give it a go, this is the current best price on the PS3. Thanks to RS2011 @ HUKD!

• What: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• Where: Amazon
• Current Price: £19.82
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Price Comparison
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review

I must admit to not being a huge fan of the original Force Unleashed, but I’m willing to admit that it was a solid if uninspiring brawler. Unfortunately Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 manages to squirt out a terrible story and only incremental upgrades to the formula (many of which take the gameplay backwards instead of improving it). Fans of killing things with lightsabers will probably still find a lot to like- especially now that the poxy lightning shield is no more- but I’d urge you to read Tom’s full review before taking the plunge.

• What: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
• Where: CDWow
• Current Price: £21.99
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Review
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Price Comparison

The Force Unleashed 2 was a major disappointment for a lot of gamers last year, including our own Tom Silkstone, who chose Lucasarts' tepid adventure as his Most Disappointing Game of 2010. Ouch. However, if you simply can't resist force wrangling Storm Troopers while wedged in-between sweaty commuters on the train, your PSP sown into the very flesh of your hands to avoid any sudden theft attempts, then The Force Unleashed 2 on the PSP is now just £21.99 at CDWow. Still a little expensive for what isn't a very good game on a not particularly good hand-held - in my humble opinion - but it's the cheapest you'll find at the moment.

Game Of The Year: Red Dead Redemption

Years ago I sat down in front of my Xbox and slotted Red Dead Revolver into the disc tray and spent many an hour romping around the various Old West environments that the game offered, so it was a great day when I discovered a sequel was in the works, however it was also extremely frustrating as I knew it'd be a while until I finally got my hands on it, but boy was it worth the wait!

Red Dead Revolver blew me away with its gritty unconventional characters, masterfully woven plot, and a massive landscape to roam around in where things could unexpectedly jump out at any moment to test your skills as a gunslinger.

The sheer number of things that you can do in the game is definitely one of the major strings to its bow and means that you can hop in for whatever you're in the mood for, whether that's a few hands of poker, or a quick horseback ride into the desert to rope yourself a couple of outlaws to name but a few of the activities on offer.

You'll now have to excuse me for turning a bit soppy at this point because whilst the game portrays the Old West in a light similar to Deadwood, which is pretty much how I imagine it would have been rather than the tamer, politer imaginings of old John Wayne movies, it also captures the romance of that period in America's history allowing you to ride off into the sunset and putting you in the shoes of a character who simply wants to settle down with his family and earn an honest living.

Ok back to guns and explosions and the like, grrr! The multiplayer is infuriatingly addictive, especially if you form a posy with a couple of friends, pile into a fort, man the guns and cannons, and then see how long you can hold up for before getting yourself into a Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid moment.

Also, seeing as I'm quite a big fan of horror movies and the zombie genre, one small criticism that's always in the back of my mind when playing games is 'Yeah this is good, but there aren't enough reanimated corpses roaming around for my liking!' Luckily, The Undead Nightmare expansion pack ticked that particular box and didn't disappoint in any way in my opinion.

All in all, it's the sum of its parts that makes Red Dead Redemption the best game I played in 2010 and once again I find myself crossing my fingers and toes in hope of sequel.

Personal Favourite Game of 2010: Dead Rising 2

This is a particularly difficult decision for me and as I'm writing this I've got all the games I bought and more importantly kept hold of over the course of 2010 sitting on my desk. So, do I go with the deliciously gory co-op experience of joyously decapitating zombies with friends that Dead Rising 2 offered; the cut throat worlds of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Call Of Duty: Black Ops; the continuation of a truly marvellous story in Mass Effect 2; the chance to dive back into the terrifying yet also wondrous city of Rapture in Bioshock 2; the fantastic multiplayer mayhem featured in Halo: Reach and UFC Undisputed 2010; or the chance to settle any lonely adventurer's curiosity of another wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas? Hmmmmm.

Well you've all seen the title and picture for this section! The winner is of course, Dead Rising 2, simply because it's the game that's led to some of the funniest things I've seen in a video game this year; jumping around with a friend throwing traffic cones on zombies so that we could turn around to see a sea of confused undead corpses blindly bumping into one another left me in stitches of laughter. The Gladiator / Running Man style format of the multiplayer was something a little bit different that was good fun if you became bored of the main game. Finally, whilst it certainly wasn't one of the best games to grace our screens last year, I could jump into it for a quick bit of zombie killing if I was in a rush, or I could settle in to try and discover what caused the outbreak this time around if I had enough time to discover the illusive truth.

Biggest Disappointment of 2010: Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2

I don't really want to spend much time talking about this useless addition to the Star Wars games franchise because the trailers, TV spots, and even the demo had me jumping for joy at the prospect of wielding the force as Darth Vader's apprentice once more. Sadly, the game itself fell way way WAY too short of the mark, and for me it's not only one of the most disappointing games of 2010, it's also one of the most disappointing games I've ever played, and the fact that I had to pay £40.00 for this abomination left me filled with enough rage and hatred to give even The Dark Lord of the Sith a run for his money.

Favourite Gaming Moment of 2010

This is an easy one! Imagine if you will, it's Christmas day, there's a present shaped like an Xbox accessory sitting under the immaculately decorated tree, you rip it open to discover that you've been given Kinect for Christmas! For me that initial joy was just the beginning of one of the funniest experiences I had during 2010. There's nothing quite like watching your family immerse themselves quite so deeply in the new gaming technology that Microsoft've given us, especially when you've got a living room with low ceilings which led to mild concussions being inflicted whilst playing Kinect Adventures. However, the comedy piece de resistance came on Boxing Day when my Brother and I finally managed to get my Mum to give Dance Central a whirl! As you can imagine her performance led to everybody else in the room falling off their chairs in stitches of laughter, whilst Lady Gaga's Poker Face blasted out of the TV's speakers.

Lets not forget that Kinect, whilst also serving as a though roughly enjoyable comedy tool not only for the above reasons but also for the photos and video footage that it captures of you playing, is also a remarkably clever bit of kit that allows you to throw your controller away and shed the pounds instead of piling them on during extended video games sessions. Having now tried it out, I'd also go so far as saying, I think that it marks a dark time for the Wii and could even lead to the beginning of the little white box's eventual demise, but that's just me.

Most Anticipated Game Of 2011: Test Drive Unlimited 2

For me this is another pretty close call between a couple of worthy sequels including Test Drive Unlimited 2, Batman Arkham City, Crysis 2, and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

In the end though I have to go for Test Drive Unlimited 2 though because whilst Skyrim is the sequel to one of my favourite games EVER, Crysis 2 is the follow up to one of the most visually beautiful games I've ever seen on the PC, and Arkham City looks quite frankly like ass kickingly good fun, I know that at any point I can drift into TDU2 fire up the engine to a Pagani Zonda R, Ferrari 458 Italia, or Aston Martin DBS, and let go of all my worldly worries as I cruise along listening to the car purr, or call up a couple of friends for a quick drag race.

Formats: PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PC, iOS

Developers: LucasArts (PS3, Xbox 360), Aspyr Media (PC), Red Fly Studio (Wii)

Publisher: LucasArts

After playing the demo, watching bits of gameplay footage, and seeing a whole host of ridiculous trailers, I charged into The Force Unleashed 2 thinking that I was going to be rewarded with a satisfying, well rounded title, which would definitely be an improvement on the original. How wrong I was! The opening cutscene is filled with promise as Darth Vader lands on Kamino and triumphantly strides through a battalion of submissive imperial troops to meet Starkiller, and the first level really pulls you back into the story. Sadly, from this point on things start to go downhill.

In theory the plot behind this instalment of the series is incredibly intriguing and should have eclipsed the original's, but in practice all it really does is builds your expectations up and never gives you anything back. The campaign is surprisingly short, you'll only need a couple of hours to complete it, and as a result the story feels a little bit rushed, which is annoying because you don't really feel like you've been given your money's worth and you're left wanting more but not in a good way. I was excited at the prospect of Yoda and Boba Fett dropping into the fray this time around, but you only get a few brief glimpses of them in a couple of cutscenes and it feels like the developers have just included them to parade around in the trailer to lure us in and to remind us that these games do in fact take place in the Star Wars universe. Finally the whole 'is Starkiller a clone this time around or isn't he?' plot thread is ruined by the ending; it would have been far more interesting if Vader had just been playing one big mind game with Starkiller to tempt him back to the dark side and there were no clones in sight, rather than forcing you to take on a load of incomplete Starkiller replicas! Also, if Vader had been trying to create a cloned army of dark Jedi, surely The Emperor would have something to say about it, especially considering he isn't exactly being subtle about the whole operation!

Big hitters are starting to emerge from their developmental cocoons of late, and the trend continues this week too. Star Wars fans can rejoice as The Force Unleashed 2 hits shelves, THQ are back with their long running wrestling series, The Sims 3 finally comes to consoles, Scribblenauts gets a sequel that actually separates out the movement and interaction buttons (thank god!) and the polarising Deadly Premonition hits UK shores at last.

NB. As merchant calendars are often devoured by gigantic time-travelling dinosaurs, dates are often subject to change.

Video Game	PC	PSP	PS3	X360	Wii	DS
BlazBlue Continuum Shift 29nd October 2010
CSI Fatal Conspiracy 29nd October 2010
Deadly Premonition 29nd October 2010
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition 29nd October 2010
Fable III 29nd October 2010
FIFA Manager 11 29nd October 2010
Grand Theft Auto 4 Complete Edition 29nd October 2010
Ivy the Kiwi? 29nd October 2010
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 29nd October 2010
Rock Band 3 29nd October 2010
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II 29nd October 2010
Super Scribblenauts 29nd October 2010
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest 29nd October 2010
The Shoot 29nd October 2010
The Sims 3 29nd October 2010
The Sims 3: Late Night 29nd October 2010
Tony Hawk: Shred 29nd October 2010
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 29nd October 2010

Finally a demo that I've been waiting to get my hands on since the end of the original game has hit Xbox Live; The Force Unleashed 2! For the multitude of Star Wars fans out there, this should herald at least a couple of hours of button taping mayhem as you bound around as Starkiller causing havoc and terror amongst the imperial forces once more. I'm happy to say from the looks of things so far, the sequel's shaping up to be a truly epic instalment of the series and I'm hoping that, like the original game's demo, it's only given us a brief taste of the gameplay we'll hopefully be treated to come 26th October.

The demo kicks off in one of Vader's training rooms as he and Starkiller discuss a series of visions that the conflicted youngster's been having, which should seem very familiar to those of you who have already played The Force Unleashed. Vader also states that he's captured General Kota and orders Starkiller to travel to the planet he's being held on, in order to execute the visually impaired Jedi Master, following which he cruelly tells our conflicted hero that the ultimate test of his loyalty will be to destroy the thing he loves the most in the universe; Juno Eclipse.

At this point the video ends and a group of holo-droids impersonating Rebel troops surround you, whilst another, posing as Juno, taunts you about returning to Vader's side. The intro to the game flows pretty well and it's great to see Starkiller visibly shaken by what Vader's asked him to do and ultimately break free of the wheezing Sith Lord's grasp to follow his own path in spectacular style, as he blasts Vader with force lightning to give himself enough time to bring down one of the training room's walls, so that he can jump out and free fall to safety.

Gliding down the side of the Kamino building is amazing to watch as you try to avoid lightning bolts and antennae arrays, whilst blasting TIE fighters and platforms littered with storm troopers out of your way with the force. Unfortunately, this crazy chapter has to end, and eventually Starkiller smashes through the roof of an imperial watch tower and you return to a bit of familiar Force Unleashed gameplay.

3DS Features And Release Date Revealed

Rumours about the 3DS release date and potential feature set have been flying around ever since the handheld platform was announced. At their latest press conference, however, Nintendo have finally confirmed that the 3DS is set for a March release here in Europe. There. Finally. Sorry, it doesn't look like we'll be able to play Kid Icarus on Boxing Day after all.

Nintendo also let slip plenty of new details (and confirmed a few rumours)... so it's roundup time!

• The 3DS will have its own virtual console containing legacy Game Boy, GBA and DS titles. It'll also be compatible with DSiWare.
• The enhanced Tag Mode enables proximal units to stay in constant communication and data exchange.
• Real reality not good enough for you? The Augmented Reality function uses the cameras to place virtual objects in the environment (allowing us to shoot aliens in our living room, for example. Six AR cards will be included with the retail release.
• The final design has also been revealed, which is cosmetically slightly different to the prototype we first saw at E3 (and playing around with ever since). Well, the thumbstick and stylus are slightly different colours at least.
• The Nintendo 3DS will be bundled with a 2GB SD card.
• Onboard Mii generation software allows gamers to create Miis by taking photos of themselves. We can't wait to see how ghoulish these turn out to be...
• Nintendo have announced two new titles: Resident Evil: Mercenaries and Mega Man Legends 3. Details are still thin on the ground at this stage, but we're excited to see that the cult Mega Man Legends series will be receiving a long-awaited sequel. We'll bring you more as we hear it.

Play as Guybrush In Force Unleashed II

Yeah. This is happening.

Starkiller is a reasonable swordsman and a powerful force practitioner... but many of us feel that his grasp of combat insults simply aren't up to scratch. To rectify this, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II will feature a stylish Guybrush Threepwood skin. He's the beloved protagonist of the Monkey Island franchise, in case you didn't know.

We can't wait to inform our enemies that they fight like a dairy farmer. [Force Unleashed 2 on Facebook]

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is Too Big For 360

We're delighted that British-based Just Add Water is taking charge of the Oddworld franchise, though the decision to bring the revamped Stranger's Wrath to the PS3 rather than its native Microsoft console struck us as rather odd (especially since JAW have no overt exclusivity or affiliation). However, we've now learned that the eyepopping remake is simply too big for Xbox Live Marketplace; with the current bare build weighing in at a whopping 2.1 Gb that's just over the maximum XBLA file size limit. Remember, that's without most of the graphical detail.

JAW have stated that they'll need a miraculous compression algorithms to shoehorn this game to the 360 (or just nerf the graphics down the line). [JAW]

Konami Unleashes Monster Castlevania Trailer

We're looking forward to Castlevania's first next-gen foray into three dimensions courtesy of Konami and Kojima- and to whet our appetite, they've released a monster eleven minute trailer. It's basically an epic press release with moving pictures, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Portal 2 PAX Footage Details Co-op & Robot Hugs

Valve released a tiny teaser of Portal 2's cooperative mode a couple of weeks ago, whetting our appetite with some cerebral buddy manoeuvres and However, their new PAX developer walkthrough footage has now featured ten whole minutes of co-op awesomeness. Expect monchromatic Portal Guns, copious pinging and heartwarming robot hugs. See it below, courtesy of GameTrailers.

The new 'ping' tool answers the burning question of how exactly to tell your partner where to place their portals... though it still seems to be an extremely confusing experience with a steep learning curve. In the hands of anyone but Valve, I'd be worried- but suffice to say, we have high hopes for this one.

Force Unleashed 2... Brawl? Awesome.

Lucasarts has unveilied The Force Unleashed 2's offline multiplayer mode at PAX... and it's not what you'd expect. Rather than engaging in 3D combat in bleak environments (yawn), the brawling takes place on a 2D plane with plenty of platforms and bottomless pits to contend with. The character roster includes franchise favourites such as Darth Vader and Boba Fett, and plays out much like a certain classic Nintendo crossover franchise that we all know and love. Why not check out the video below, courtesy of Kotaku.

Far from pointing fingers and shouting "ripoff!" at the top of my lungs, I'm absolutely delighted by the new mode. And you should be, too. James Clarendon, Red Fly Studios' creative lead,  has cited many inspirations: from classic SNK franchises to obsure arcade brawler The Outfoxies. Whilst many publishers shoehorn inappropraite online multiplayer elements into singleplayer sequels, it's absolutely fantastic to see Red Fly Studios pulling out all the stops and treating the local multiplayer crowd to some riotous action. Shotgun Darth Vader! Note that this mode will almost certainly be exclusive to the Wii, but here's hoping. [Kotaku]

Project MyWorld Revived by US Company?

We've recently been chronicling the tragic plight of Scottish studio Realtime Worlds, who have recently suffered massive layoffs thanks to the harsh financial climes. The fate of both APB and their current project has been hanging in the balance, but a new report indicates that the social network-based Project MyWorld has been bought by an unnamed American company.

Project MyWorld is a brave attempt to create a massive fully-customisable world to connect with multiple platforms and social networks... and if the Develop report is to be believed, the purchase couldn't have come at a better time for Realtime Worlds. Hopefully the extra money will help the studio consolidate and eventually buy back its IP.

We'll keep you updated as we hear more. File this rumour under "plausible and likely." [via Gamesindustry]

There is a fundamental difference between people who class the little cushioned pods that career wildly around a track at carnivals and funfairs as dodgems, and those who call them bumper cars. One pastime: two outlooks. Similarly, when presented with a Force-aided freefall through more lightning than several electrical storms, swirling clouds of hazardous debris and floating bits of TIE Fighters there are two approaches: you can duck and weave, or use your awesome powers of Force manipulation to punch asteroids into pebbles and fling debris into out into the ether and cause security droids to short circuit and explode with a dose of Force lightning.

The Force Unleashed - that stepping stone chapter between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope - is getting a sequel next month (26th October), and we spent a little time finding out how Starkiller managed to come back from the dead  and just how the team are getting along with trying to rectify the faults of the original.

As Tom's review notes, the first game was something of a mixed bag. It's narrative elements fairly strong, award-winning in fact, the game suffered from being a fairly trivial hack-and-slash with a distinct lack of variety in both gameplay and locales. The difficulty was that, just like Jim in American Pie, The Force Unleashed blew its load before it even began - the demo level that saw the player throwing Wookies from the treetops with a maxed-out Darth Vader proved to be the most entertaining part of the whole game.

Click here to see if TFU2 can improve on its predecessor with dual lightsabers, Force Fury and AT-ST juggling...