Star Wars: Dark Forces

The Good
Now, my friends, this is a prime example of how to make a so-called "clone", but make it really good. Dark Forces is easy to criticize because of it looks and/or plays "like" Doom. These people haven't played this game enough. First of all, DF has a story, and a moderately well written one at that. It's fleshed out by well done cut-scenes and the occasional in game commentary. the levels are quite well designed, atmospheric, and continually interesting. Each level provides different challenges and obstacles to overcome. The graphics, while using the same basic engine Doom did, are far from "Doom-esque", which utilized a palette of browns and grays. The textures are very good and make you feel like you're in a Star Wars movie. The enemies, while not really clever, do react to more than your presense, such as sound. They also look good, and although the animation could've use a few more frames, they are otherwise quite crisp. The sound is also well done. While you have your generic "zot" from the blasters, there are also interesting sounds following in the wake of the unique weapons. Some enemies make idle sounds as well, such as the probe droids.

The Bad
The best I could think of was that it gets rather difficult towards the end, a problem compounded by the appearance of an extremely powerful enemy. Also, the levels confused me here and there. The map was a nice feature, but I still got lost occasionally.

The Bottom Line
A very good game. If you like Star Wars or FPS games, it should definately be in your collection. And even if you only casually play games, it's still very much worth your time.

The Good
Star Wars: Dark Forces is one of the most interesting FPS games of the mid 1990s that I’ve played. Released in 1995, it is not simple enough to be classified as a DOOM clone, yet it is not quite as fully realized as Half Life. It is also the first FPS set in the Star Wars universe.

The timeline of the games story takes place before and during the Original Trilogy. You play as Kyle Katarn, a former imperial officer who is recruited by Jan Ors to work for the Rebel Alliance after he discovers that the Empire is responsible for the death of his parents.

Kyle’s first job for the Alliance is given by Mon Mothma who asks him to retrieve the plans for the Death Star – which leads into the events of the first film (now retconned- see Rogue One).

After the Death Star’s destruction, the Empire begins planning its retaliation against the Rebels with General Rom Mohc leading the creation of the Dark Trooper project- which aims to create a new army of Storm Troopers armed with exoskeletons.

Kyle is once again summoned by Mothma, and this time to investigate an attack by the newly discovered Dark Troopers. At his request, Kyle is reunited with Jan and it is their investigation into the origin of the Dark Troopers that forms the basis of the games plot.

For an FPS that was released in a time when games in the genre were referred to as DOOM clones, Dark Forces has a number of elements that place it several steps ahead of its contemporaries.

For one thing, it makes excellent use of the Star Wars universe to tell the story which is done via cutscenes, in game dialogue, and mission briefings. What results is this feels like a complete story and not just a collection of levels with a Star Wars themed tacked on.

Now that I’ve mentioned the existence of the mission briefings, I should point out that the game has objectives for each mission that Kyle must fulfill in order to complete them, and sometimes they involve puzzles for him to solve – rather than just grabbing a blue or red key to unlock a door.

Another thing worth noting is that the game makes extensive of the IMUSE music engine which allows for the games music to change on cue and play suitably familiar Star Wars themes based on what the player is doing. For instance towards the end of the final mission, players can hear the same dramatic melody that was used in the first film when the Death Star was about to explode.

Dark Forces runs on the Jedi Engine, which while still being a 2.5D engine- has a number of notable advantages over the DOOM engine. The most notable of these is the ability to layer rooms on top of each other to create multi-level floors which allows for really intricate exploration. Other features include the ability to jump and look up/down.

The Bad
Just about the games only weakness is that sometimes it does not properly notify you if you’ve found an important item that needs to be used. I found this to to be particularly egregious in the snow level which takes place later on in the game. That and the engine looks best when handling levels that only take place indoors. In outdoor areas – not so much, particularly in situations where you have to aim up and down which results in the graphics appearing warped. This is an issue owing to the 2.5D limits of the engine which uses y-shearing to facilitate looking up and down.

The plot itself while engaging, does feel a tad underdeveloped especially with comparison to the games sequels and other games made by LucasArts in the 90s. It doesn’t detract much from the experience but it does leave one with a sense of wanting more.

The Bottom Line
Overall, Star Wars: Dark Forces is a highly enjoyable game in the Star Wars canon that offers plenty more than the standard DOOM clones of the time. Whether you’re a fan of Star Wars or classic FPS games- Star Wars: Dark Forces is a fun ride and a compelling reminder of how good Star Wars is when done right.

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.