Night Dive Studios has, at this point, cemented themselves as the studio for remastering shooters of yesteryear. Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered is not only another notch on their belt, but quite possibly the game with the most amount of nostalgia for some that they have tackled.
Star Wars Dark Forces was initially released for PC back in 1995 and eventually received a PlayStation port in 1996. They were being cast in Star Wars ‘Legends’ after Disney took over the Star Wars legacy; Legends are essentially non-canonical titles in the Star Wars Universe.
Star Wars Dark Forces follows the legendary Kyle Katarn after being hired to recover plans for the Death Star. After a successful mission, Kyle finds himself under the employ of the Alliance as he investigates an assault on one of their bases. This leads to the main thrust of the game’s story: Kyle must work to figure out what the Dark Trooper Project is.
“The most work that NightDive Studios has done is in the cutscenes for Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered.”
While the story is interesting, it tells a story much like Quake 2 but with cutscenes interstitially peppered in. It does have the fact that Star Wars Dark Forces was relegated to legends holding it back. As we know, this has no real impact on the larger Star Wars universal lore. It’s a weird spot to be in where the story is well told, but overall, it has no weight. But who knows, maybe Disney, with this remaster, is looking at bringing Dark Forces back into the fold, but it would have many holes in its story to cover.
The gameplay feels very reminiscent of older boomer shooters like Doom and Quake 2, with the adage that you have the ability to aim up and down, not just on a horizontal axis. Even with this, during the time it was a monumental change, it does not feel great at this point. This is the overall general feel of Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered; it just feels a little too flighty while running around the levels. There is a point where the levels become less interesting as the breadcrumbing isn’t the best in these older shooters. But this is the style that a lot of people who like these games have nostalgia for.
“Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered also suffers from something that plagues a lot of the older shooter genre: lack of variety in weapons.”
The way the game looks is somewhat incredible, especially if you go and look at screenshots from the older release. The most work that NightDive Studios has done is in the cutscenes for Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered. They all look good in 4k compared to the very pixelated scenes from back in 1995. The bigger issue lies in the layout of the levels which I mentioned above. While the levels themselves aren’t massive by any means, without some form of better breadcrumbing, walking through some of the fourteen levels can be a little bit of a pain.
This is partially due to the odd level design, with some of the later levels requiring night vision goggles or gas masks. It doesn’t really seem super important and feels like it’s just an excuse to have a dark hallway but nothing substantial in it. Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered also suffers from something that plagues a lot of the older shooter genre: lack of variety in weapons.
Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered looks pretty good for being a remaster of a 1995 game. The cutscenes clearly got the most attention, and that’s okay, but it would have been nice to see a more involved remake instead of a remaster. The gameplay is fine, but nothing extraordinary. Used as a building block for what the sequel would eventually bring, it feels like just another Quake.
