STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995)

Let me get one thing out of the way first (because this small review won't be all hype and dandy): Apart from the Battleground series and XvT, I've played every single Star Wars game which came out since 1993, including the MMORPGs. I truly am a Star Wars freak. So: Dark Forces is a must buy for any die-hard Star Wars geek. Because it's an important part of the Star Wars legend. Everybody else should think twice. Here's why. I'll take X-Wing as an example for comparison, a game from 1993. It's even older than Dark Forces. And yet, despite its age of more than 20 years, X-Wing still hits bullseye when it comes to game design, storytelling and interaction. See this review of the classic X-Wing: http://www.gog.com/forum/star_wars_xwing_and_tie_fighter_series/extended_xwing_review Unfortunately, despite all the great memories I have playing it, from today's perspective Dark Forces is not a game which aged well. The reason is simple: The DF genre (3D-Shooters) has advanced a lot more when it comes to gameplay and innovation than for example space action simulators like X-Wing. Theres not really that much you could improve X-Wing upon. Looking at its successor, X-Wing Alliance, there are some nice, non-essential content additions (plus better graphics) which only slightly affect immersion or gameplay. X-Wing from 1993 for me still is a benchmark, even for today's games. Looking at Dark Forces and comparing it with Jedi Academy or even some recent non-Star Wars shooters, these games are worlds apart. And I'm not counting graphics because for me that isn't much of an issue. I'm mainly talking about immersion and interaction. In that regard, DF is just old and outdated and not as much fun as it used to be when there was nothing better. And there's nothing anyone can do about it. I'll probably but it anyway, to support GOG and because the old retail floppies I bought are long dead and gone. Three stars because I have great memories. A fair vote would be two stars.

Even when the game came out, the first point critisized by testers was the lack of levels, it only had 14!!! Also they said the cut scenes were bad, that every puppet on a string felt more natural But ... what a game it was. A Doom clone? Well, if we call every 3D shooter a doom clone, then a doom clone it is, but a very good one. The "Jedi" engine was so much more elaborated than IDs engine. It allowed rooms above each other, scripted events, moving walls, crouching, looking up and down, moving lights (remember the staircase with the wandering light), and ... (hardly anyone remembers that): textured 3D models. Sure, the enemies are still sprites, but even in the first level you find the Molding Crow flying in to pick you up. As far as I remember, this was the first time ever we saw a real 3D model in a 3D shooter. Later in the game we also find turrets and Tie Fighters. Luckily at that time the game came out I already had a Pentium 90 PC with enough RAM to play this game, others had to buy additional RAM. I also had the music play over a Terratec Sound Board (my hint: You can still use general MIDI for this game if you start the imuse configuration tool and have any general MIDI device in your system, I reccomend Virtual Midi Synth with HQ Orchestral Soundfont Collector, configure your dosbox configuration file accordingly) But enough of the tecnical geek stuff: I enjoyed every single level of this game. When the demo came out I played it over and over again and learned to play through it without being hit one single time. Not all of the levels are as good, but most are and some are even a lot better. If you don't already own it, this game is a must buy for sure.

I rarely write reviews, but this game was so amazing in it's day (and still holds up). I played it so many times that I can pretty much remember mission by mission what was required, the layout of the map and how to best accomplish each mission. A true classic

One of the brightest star in the Lucas Arts catalogue, which fuses the adrenalinic action and the inspired level design of the great classics by ID Software with one of the deepest sci-fi setting ever created. As a result, Dark Forces was a big further step in the FPS genre, adding improved graphics, a compelling soundtrack and some appreciable animated sequences. Fourteen missions that unfold the story of the imperial renegade Kyle Katarn, infiltrated on behalf of the rebellion after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope.