STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

While I often settle on other games being better for various reasons, this game, still, after 23 years, stands out to me as one of the best games ever. The look and feel of the game is very unique. I think it captures that original trilogy vibe better than any other game. From the dirty, boxy retro-looking tech, to the darker environments and emotional tones, to the eerie mysticism and weird characters, to the perfect use of sounds and score, it transports you into a last-ditch resistance against the desperate factions of the crumbling empire. It has awesome level design. The environments feel incredibly real, which is impressive for its time. Staring down into endless pits in enormous galactic warehouses is dizzying. Jumping across wide chasms on space stations and star destroyers is nerve-wracking. Deciphering a labyrinthine arrangement of areas in an outpost requires some dedicated thought. The game world comes alive as you solve the puzzles it presents, rather than feeling contrived and gamey. It's the first shooter that I encountered character building and a morality scale. As you progress through the game you learn and enhance various force abilities that can aid and alter your playstyle. It does this through a very clever mechanic of rewarding you with more powers if you discover more secrets in the game. Then, depending on your actions in the game, and which abilities you choose, the game goes in either a light side or dark side orientation with its narrative, having different mission events and different plotlines. And the gameplay itself is very fun. The shooting feel tactile and responsive, and the lightsaber is awesome. One thing I always appreciated is that the lightsaber is not an "I win weapon" in the game. Other weapons are still highly useful in various situations, and remain relevant for the entire game. Plus it has awful AWFUL 90s live action cutscenes, which are actually glorious. It's a rare game, which gets everything right.

When it comes to the Jedi Knight games, most people tend to point to Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast as their favorite. While I believe every single game in the series is phenomenal (with Academy being my personal favorite), I still believe that the first game is undoubtedly the most underappreciated of the trilogy. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is a classic Quake-era shooter in almost every way. Its controls, while running on the WASD setup, are significantly different than modern shooters. For example, by default, the spacebar activates things whereas RMB jumps. Thermal detonators (grenades) have their own number key rather than pushing G. You carry an entire arsenal with you. The list goes on. However, where this game veers from being every other shooter of the era is that it adds hack-n-slash gameplay once the protagonist, Kyle Katarn, obtains a lightsaber and starts building his Force abilities. This game depicts the transition of Kyle from smuggler & part-time Rebel agent into a roguish Jedi Knight, and it does so in a way that feels like a real adventure. Kyle isn't TRAINING to become a Jedi, he simply becomes one by adapting and learning during the course of his mission to hunt Dark Jedi Jerec, who is attempting to take charge of the Imperial Remnant and restart the Empire. As you progress through the story, Kyle learns more about himself and about the Force, making his journey feel so much more organic. The story isn't anything particularly groundbreaking and the FMV cutscenes tend to feel slightly corny, but the gameplay and atmosphere make those complaints a nonissue. Every. single. moment of this game is soaked in Star Wars atmosphere and despite its nostalgic low-poly 90s 3D, it immediately immerses you into the galaxy far, far away and really takes you on a whole new adventure that feels like the films. If you love Star Wars (in any way) and if you enjoy shooters from the Quake era, you absolutely need to play this game and its expansion!

One of my favorite games ever. The single player storyline is fun. It's a great FPS, and lightsaber combat is good. The live-action cutscenes are cheesy, but they tell the story. And as far as I know it was one of the first major games that had decision making that led to different outcomes (lightside vs darkside). Definitely recommend!

I just love the level desing. Yes it is often maze like and sometimes you won't know where to go but this is the beauty of these old games. Also variety of wepons with lightsaber and force powers is great. Just install OpenJKDF2 (and some other grahics mods if you want) and enjoy this masterpiece. P.S. You can also install bots for multiplayer game!

One of my first pc games when this was released, after moving to pc, after getting my butt kicked too often on our Sega consoles by my youngest son, I still even had the orginal disk until lately it went missing. Now and then I still enjoy it better than the first 'Dark Forces' I did not play until long after this: Even then I thought the graphics were ugly at the time, but the gameplay is AWESOME I think! Others here have mentioned, and I agree, a Remaster would be GREAT. So, having lost my original, and remembering having trouble installing or running it on recent systems anyway, I bought this again here at GOG, and I'm VERY pleased. On my setup it is working fine: an i5 with NV 1050 display on Windows 10. Finally, until somebody remakes or remasters this, there is a 'Remastered' mod I play that also works well with the GOG version here. A VERY good upgrade for this, I am playing this lately, enjoying it VERY much; though after I moved to pc games my son kicked my butt AGAIN on the first DOOM titles. Lol... I play for FUN; and I find JKDF2 is Better than some more popular even later Star Wars FPS titles: Definitely worth checking out for both FPS and Star Wars fans, and I give it the same five stars I would have given it in 1998, when I first bought it. Also HIGHLY recommended for we OLD Jedis, if there are still any of US left shopping here: Thank You again GOG, for keeping GOOD memories and games alive! :-)