Star Wars: Dark Forces

The Good
I had played other FPS games of the time, but "Dark Forces", like many other reviewers here, was the first I played to completion. The storyline was exciting- keeping me guessing about what was happening next, and where I might be going. The enemies, from stormtroopers to bounty hunters, offered variety in attacks and tactics, and the graphical engine for the time was outstanding- easily surpassing the other non-true 3D engines that were being produced. Dark Forces came alive with dynamic lighting and rooms that served purposes. I will never forget the various guard rooms I encountered, the pumping stations, control rooms... and once even the head, where stormtroopers and a few seedy types were making use of the urinals.

The Bad
My only complaint about this game isn't really a complaint- just that it didn't include some of the cool places I was hoping to see, like the interior of a sandcrawler, or moving AT-AT walkers. The lack of multiplayer support did not bother me at all. Today, my grumbles include the lack of SVGA (the Mac version had that), and a poor control interface. But those are to be expected.

The Bottom Line
I would recommend this game to everyone- even modern players, even though this game is now nearly 10 years old as of the writing of this review. It set a new standard for FPS excellence in level design, balance, color and art. Truly the best early first-person shooter to be released.

The Good
This is a First-Person Shooter of the oldest age, yet it was solid enough to spawn the trilogy that was just getting better and better. I remember first time I played this game, I merely enjoyed first couple of levels and then tossed the game away when it came to those swamp stuff and such, guess I was under impression of games like Doom and such, didn't even stop to consider that LucasArts is smarter than to make that sort of crappish deja-vu with monsters and such. They just added various creatures from Star Wars universe to break away a bit from all the vast Stormtroopers you get to meet across the game.

The story itself isn't that bad, and it especially sounds good if you read the prologue in the manuals, and get to know the infamous Kyle Kattarn we all know from numerous sequels to this game which started it all. The only thing this game missed from its universe was the Jedi powers, but adding those would be too much, since Kyle was just a mercenary at the time. Jedi Knight takes good care of continuation to that matter. It was also the first such game where enemy actually communicated with you, even through the insults. There was no just yiking and groaning like in Id's games, but some cool Stormtrooper's yells like "Stop Rebel scum!", or "Surrender immediately!". None which had any meaning, 'cos they'd shoot you on sight anyway, but it was a neat boost for the atmosphere.

Levels are very rich and vary constantly so you can admire the scenery all the time, and occasional cinematics are just as cool, especially with Darth Vader in them. It's a great miss he wasn't in Jedi Knight though, when cinematics were made with live-actors and were really dazzling.

The Bad
I was quite unfair first time I played this game, but hey, I was only fifteen back then. It wasn't until 21st century that I bought this game, and played it fully around the time second Star Wars movie was in the theaters. Amazing as it may seem, I enjoyed it at that time as much as I would some recently released game with cutting-edge technology.

The Bottom Line
Star Wars universe is rich. The reason we like it's movies because they are rare (what, 5-6 altogether thus far) and hence they are done with utmost level of details, there are no SW series of all kinds like there are ST ones. However, on games' account, Star Wars franchise is rich and prosper and it entangled almost every genre it could, except the pure adventure (real pity, though), and these games amass almost all the time. Why do people like them? Sometimes they just create a feeling of being in the movies facing Lord Vader himself, sometimes it's just a part of the franchise, so why not getting it, and sometimes, just sometimes, the game becomes something else than the big whoop and actually presents itself two steps ahead of the others. Star Wars: Dark Forces is on of those SW titles, that breaks the mold of just being a part of the well known franchise, and becomes something more.

The Good
I will be brief and simple...

Before:

• Find the exit and kill anything that threatens you.

After:

-Star Wars! Find the Death Star plans, fight with Boba Fett, kill Stormtroopers, feel the TIE flying over your head.

-3D objects: Holograms, mouse droids, TIEs etc.

-Jump, Crouch, Look up/down, get inventory items.

-Scenario: Briefings and missions that advance the general story.

-Realism: Where you are is a Rebel base, now a Star Destroyer, now Jabba's ship. 'Gain access to the control room, turn the power on and find the bridge controls to rotate it and move to the other part of the base'.

-Cutscenes. Hand drawn and 3D.

The Bad
Brief again:

-Maybe I'd like a normal save system? But ok, it was a deliberate challenge for the players.

-The Look Up/Down algorithms distort the view. Not very helpful.

-No multiplayer

The Bottom Line
Put Doom next to Pacman, now put Dark Forces next to Doom... the difference is even bigger! Lucasarts just found what the FPS of that time lacked: realism and plot, and set in a preexisting franchise.

What else to say? Yet another classic :)