Check out our review of Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, a brand new update of the 1995 classic…
We’ll reveal everything you need to know about the story, the gameplay, the updates introduced in the remaster, and whether it’s worth playing in 2024.
We’ll also tell you how Star Wars: Dark Forces directly affects The Mandalorian, and plays an important role in the Star Wars story.
Transcript
If you’ve been following this channel, you know I love a Star Wars game. I’ve talked about most of the big’uns, but I’ve never got round to covering Star Wars: Dark Forces. And with Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered introducing it to a whole new generation to swoon over Kyle Katarn, let’s find out what it’s all about.
We’ll take a look at the story, the gameplay, all the new features in the remaster, and most importantly if it’s worth playing today. We’ll also reveal how this plucky little game directly plays into The Mandalorian.
Come for the reviews, stay for the obscure lore. What more could you want?
So what happens in Star Wars: Dark Forces?
Taking place immediately before and after the events of A New Hope, you assume the role of Kyle Katarn, a former Stormtrooper now working as a hired agent of the Rebellion. And for anyone saying he’s just a discount Han Solo, that’s ridiculous. He’s more like a svelte Dash Rendar.
Anywho, the game starts with you stealing the original Death Star plans (Jyn, who?), before taking on a series of missions in the time after the Battle of Yavin. I won’t spoil more than that, in case anyone’s curious about checking it out for the first time, but you can expect to meet a lot of classic characters over the game’s 14 missions, including Jabba, Boba and big daddy Vader himself.
While very different in both genre and style, this game would effectively launch the Jedi Knight series, which would spawn some of (if not the best) games in the franchise.
If you’ve been watching the gameplay so far and been thinking “this is just Star Wars Doom”, you’re not far wrong. It’s an early first person shooter (the first set in the Star Wars universe), mixing 3D environments with 2D sprites. But to say it was just a clone of what came before would be doing Dark Forces a massive disservice, as it was actually quite revolutionary for the time.
LucasArts hired a small, inexperienced team to design not just the game, but the Jedi Engine to build it in. This groundbreaking system allowed players to look up and down, jump, and crouch. While this sounds quaint by today’s standards, this was crazy impressive in 1995.
This allowed for more complex, immersive levels, which incorporated puzzles and objectives beyond the simple “find the key” mechanics prevalent in FPS titles at the time. Each stage felt like a mini-story, giving the impression that you were really playing through a Star Wars adventure.
And this is all augmented by the use of great visuals, sound effects direct from the studios at Skywalker Sounds, and cutscenes that flesh out the narrative between gameplay. It’s pretty easy to see why it spawned its own series of games, novels and tasteful to questionable submissions on DeviantArt.
As for the gameplay itself, sure it’s a bit antiquated by today’s standards, there’s still a lot to love. It’s a lot slower than the frenetic madness of Doom, but this more calculated style allows for a much more involved experience, rich with puzzles and variety. You can also expect the usual affair of power-ups and items to help you on your way.
But that’s the original release. What about the remaster?
Well, you can expect the usual graphical updates, now up to 4K 120fps. This makes everything pop and look better than ever, while preserving the original charm and style. When you see it all nice, bright and buttery smooth, it’s easy to forget that this game is touching 30 (which means so am I and isn’t that just bloody lovely).
But what’s arguably more significant is the improved controls for modern inputs. With a new weapon wheel and rumble, it’s a little change that makes a huge difference to the whole quality of life experience.
But what about that link to The Mandalorian?
One of the major enemies introduced in Dark Forces is the Dark Trooper, designed to be the next evolution of Stormtroopers. Tougher, smarter and more suited for stealing small Jedi in training. Yup, these are the horrible child abductors used by Moff Gideon to capture Grogu in season 2 of The Mandalorian.
While much of the plot, characters and events of Dark Forces might now be lost to Legends canon, it shows it’s lingering legacy that it can influence Star Wars projects all these years later.
And yes, it’s absolutely worth playing in 2024, and not just as a relic of video game history. It stands up as a super fun experience, both gameplay and story, and I would encourage any Star Wars fans to check it out. It’s a timeless adventure, and you never know – if they’ve brought back Dark Troopers, could our boy Kyle be far behind?
A man can dream, a man can dream.
But have you played Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to read your thoughts. And while you’re down there, don’t forget to like and subscribe, and you can always visit upsidedownshark.com to keep up with everything else we’ve got going on.
Until then my name is Tom, this has been UDS and may the Force be with you.
While you’re here, please subscribe to Upside Down Shark on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!
Tom Baker
I like Star Wars, heavy metal and BBQ Pringles.
