Star Wars: Dark Forces

The Good
As a game, "Dark Forces" was one of Lucasarts' first titles for the PSOne, and provided a solid translation of the PC title. It retained the gameplay, the graphics, the secrets, and the storyline which made the title so popular, and actually handled itself well.

The game managed to work well with the PSOne controller. Kyle Katarn was easy to control, and the game flowed at an acceptable framerate. What made the game so interesting was the numerous "Star Wars" gadgets at your command. Everything from Stormtrooper rifles to thermal detonators were at your disposal, and it was necessary to fight against the various aliens (as well as a clash against Boba Fett) and the Empire's secret Dark Troopers.

The sound effects were also lifted directly from the movies, and if you knew where to find them, the programmers snuck in a few amusing in-jokes.

The Bad
There were a few things that definitely detracted from the overall experience, however. The music is ugly. Weak, tinny MIDI versions of popular "Star Wars" themes were painful to the ears, especially when games of the time such as Nintendo 64's "Shadows of the Empire" provided better sound samples (even when that game used tiny samples of themes).

Load times were an absolute bear, leading into long waits when loading the game or going between levels.

Cut-scenes were equally as bad. They looked painfully outdated then at the time of its release, and look no better now. The graphics haven't aged as well, either. The characters are blocky and pixelated with stiff animation. But without a shadow of a doubt, they are still easily recognizable.

And while it was simply the design of the game, in comparison to "Doom", "Dark Forces" was simply a game that screamed for multi-player play. But that's not the port's fault.

The Bottom Line
"Dark Forces" the game was always "Doom" done "Star Wars" style. The PSOne has a commendable port of "Doom", so it's only fitting that "Dark Forces" would appear shortly after.

The PSOne version was an earnest attempt to bring this title home, especially since "Dark Forces II" never graced the console scene. The game had its share of problems then, but it remains a fun game. That in itself is a testament to its overall solid design.

It's a fun game, though it has a few hang-ups that show its age, especially in regards to how far the FPS genre has come in the last few years.

A good game for classic game fans, or "Star Wars" enthusiasts.

The Good
I'll kick this review off by saying that I'm a huge Star Wars fan. I've seen all six movies (and enjoyed them all, even the prequels) and I also yearly visit the FACTS comic, horror and sci-fi convention (a huge chunk of the fair is exclusively dedicated to all things Star Wars). So yeah, I'm quite a Star Wars nerd! Last Monday was also official Star Wars Day and to celebrate this event, I decided to replay one of the first great Star Wars games!

Star Wars Dark Forces takes place between episodes IV and V and focuses on Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer who now works as a mercenary for the Rebels. After successfully aiding in the destruction of the first Death Star, he embarks on his most dangerous mission yet, as he faces off against the Empire's newest and deadliest weapon: the Dark Troopers! These super-powered Stormtroopers, capable of destroying an entire Rebel base in mere minutes, are being massively produced in an unknown Imperial base and it's up to Kyle to find out where that is and thwart the Empire's plans.

Dark Forces is a first-person shooter, playing very similar to DOOM and other FPS games at the time. So you can expect huge, varied levels, filled with tons of enemies and secret areas. Locations you'll visit include the city-planet Coruscant, a Star Destroyer and Jabba the Hutt's personal spacecraft. Every level feels unique in many aspects. Some levels are very industrial, with lots of machinery, conveyor belts and computer terminals. Other levels feel more like caves and caverns, filled with carnivorous critters. In every level of the game you have a set of objectives to complete such as obtaining documents, planting explosives or rescuing a certain character. After all objectives are completed, you can move on to the next level.

The levels themselves not only feel very different from one another but they are also very nicely detailed. The detention center level (mission 6) for example, starts off at the outskirts of the prison and then goes on through various floors, every floor hosting a specific department (entrance, prison cells, command center, even the garbage compactor). Most of Dark Forces' levels are very fun to walk and shoot through and as I already mentioned, they're full of secret areas so that really encourages some deep exploration.

As for the graphics, since the game was released in 1995, you can expect a lot of sprites but you can see some 3D models (the ships in Couruscant, for instance are fully animated and in full 3D). The game's house-made Jedi engine also features floors-over-floors (a neat, new feature back in those days) and can show huge environments without hurting the frame rate. All these bells and whistles sometimes make me believe that the game uses an early version of the famous Build engine (the engine used in Duke Nukem 3D). And since that engine is so awesome, that definitely is a good sign!

Your weapons include a blaster, stormtrooper machine gun, grenades, mines and even a Mortar cannon. You also get a few gadgets such as night vision goggles, ice skates and a gas mask. Every weapon and item serves its own purpose. Some weapons are useful up close, while others are more effective from a distance. All weapons feel very satisfying to use and the blaster weapons gunshot sound effects are identical to those in the films! Ammo is plentifully available throughout the levels and trust me, you'll need everything you can find if you want to even the odds against what the Empire will be throwing at you in this game. You'll encounter regular Stormtroopers, Imperial officers, various types of droids and of course the aforementioned Dark Troopers! Some enemies are mere cannon fodder, but others will put your skills to the test!

Music and sound effects are virtually all borrowed from the original trilogy. The music tracks are MIDI remakes from John Williams' soundtrack and the musical score changes depending on the situation you find yourself into. During quiet moments, the music will be slow and brooding, while during firefights the music gets very epic and orchestra like. The sound effects include the aforementioned famous blaster sounds and the Imperial forces shouting things like "halt" or "you're not authorized in this area" in their typical stormtrooper voices. The authentic music and sound effects, added with the weapons, enemies and well-designed levels all help in giving the game a true Star Wars atmosphere.

The Bad
You can't save while playing through a level. So if you start a level, you better damn sure finish it if you don't want to start all over again. You have a limited number of lives (more can be found in secret areas) and if you die, you respawn at a checkpoint close to where you went out for the count. But if you lose all lives, you have to start the mission all over again. For me, it isn't a real issue since it adds to the challenge and thrill, but just remember this when you're going into this game.

Some levels have tenacious platform sections. The game's first person perspective makes it quite difficult to make certain jumps without falling to your death on the first try. I wished that the developers added an optional third person mode, that would have made these jumps significantly easier.

The Bottom Line
Overall, Star Wars Dark Forces is a very enjoyable and engaging shooter that I can warmly recommend to Star Wars and FPS fans alike. Hell, I would even say that non Star Wars fans should also play this game, as its gameplay is good enough without the Star Wars setting added to it. Anyway, thank you for reading this review and I'll see you all again in a galaxy far, far away!

The Good
This was an early, and extremely good, clone of 'Doom'. It was single-player only, and there was no light sabre, but the 'Star Wars' setting, effective, semi-animated 'X-Wing'-style cutscenes made up for that, as did the great levels designs and attractive graphics. Rather like the later 'Build' engine, as used in 'Duke Nukem 3D', this game allowed you to look up and down, and also allowed multi-levelled environments. The levels themselves were nicely-designed (a dash through a docking tunnel sticks in the memory, as does a level set partially within one of the 'blockade runners' from the beginning of 'Star Wars IV'), and were larger and more complex than those of Doom. It's overshadowed now by the superior sequel, but is still good fun, and available as part of a Lucasarts compilation of classics.

The Bad
It wasn't perfect, though. One level in particular had an off-puttingly hard set of puzzles, and the fact that you could not save a game until the end of an episode made some of the harder bits (in particular, the last episode) drag on too long. After a while it suffered from the same problem as other FPS games - the endless corridors and similar environments seemed to blur together in the mind, leaving less of an impact than they should have. The contemporary Playstation version was awful, but that's something else.

The Bottom Line
A fun, early 'Star Wars'-based FPS - with probots!