Seems we’re doing PC games now, and if we’re gonna start with one, I’m glad it’s this.
And yeah, that’s the “title screen.” LucasArts didn’t mess around. It even starts with this:
Sweet.
After first-person shooters took off like crazy in the mid-90s, it was only a matter of time before someone dared to ask “What if Doom was Star Wars instead?” The result of that question was Dark Forces, a PC game that combines all the coolness of Star Wars with the fun of doing murders with your keyboard.
Dark Forces stars the non-movie character Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer turned Rebel and mercenary. He’s pretty cool. As with many things Star Wars-related, his story is detailed, interesting, and worth checking out. This game begins shortly before the events of A New Hope and, at least at first, has a plot similar to that of Rogue One – Kyle has to obtain the plans for the Death Star. Unlike Rogue One, however, these Death Star plans are not especially well guarded.
From there, the story details his pursuit of the Dark Trooper project, led by Rom Mohc. He looks like this:
When not busy being a clone of Tommy Lee Jones that someone left in a microwave, Rom Mohc is a cybernetics-obsessed weirdo who becomes a general for the Empire after the Clone Wars. His Dark Troopers, which are Stormtroopers but also robots (and also dark) pose a serious threat to the galaxy, which is why our pal Kyle is around to save the day.
As far as gameplay goes, Dark Forces plays out a lot like other early FPS games – you run around, kill and break stuff, and get progressively cooler weapons with which to do so. It does all that with improved sound, graphics, and other aesthetics as well, thanks to LucasArts’ expertise and the vibrant and immersive nature of the Star Wars universe. There are a few other enhancements, too, including the ability to jump. Jumping! It’s the coolest. I know this doesn’t seem like much, but rest assured – “You can jump” was a pretty innovative thing to encounter in a 1995 shooter.
Dark Forces also makes it possible for one navigable area to be above or below another. Some early FPS hits, like Doom, can’t do this, which was a bit of a hindrance when it came to level design. Without that problem, the explorable buildings and such feel more like, well, buildings. It’s a surprisingly big thing.
That said, the level design in Dark Forces still suffers from some of the same “old FPS” tropes that plague a lot of games of the era. Somewhat like Duke Nukem 3D, there are a lot of levels with wide open areas with nothing of substance in them (these exist to make the game feel “big,” I guess? I’ve never understood this). Big areas combined with simple textures leads areas that look pretty cool, but also a tad repetitive. While I can’t knock the game itself for missing innovations like radar, maps that aren’t painfully confusing, and additional game modes, it’s hard to not to find yourself wondering what the game would be like if it had them.
Despite feeling a bit dated, Dark Forces holds up pretty darn well. It feels delightfully Star Wars-y, has a cool story, offers up combat that’s acceptably engaging considering the game’s age, and takes you to a bunch of different and interesting places. There are plenty of ways that this won’t measure up to a Halo or Modern Warfare (or even a GoldenEye, really), but this is still a great single-player experience for any fans of the genre or the source material. Mid-90s LucasArts games are among the best in the retro world.
If you never checked this one out, or would just like to do so again, you can get Dark Forces on Steam right now! The same is true for its also excellent sequels, including Jedi Knight and Jedi Academy. If you enjoy Star Wars content, these really are must-haves.
Next week’s game is a 16-bit thing I have genuinely never heard of. So, it’s probably awful. Unless it’s not? See you then.