STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995)

A different take on Dark Forces 1 (DF1) from a veteran gamer that played the original back in 1995. Happy to report that, this version, after control mapping, runs flawlessly on the Steam Deck with FSR on! These QoL features allow a slight improvement in the gameplay mechanics and visuals which makes DF1 sessions, at least, as fun as they were back in 1995 and on less than 10W!! At the time of the review, currently on level 7 out of 14, and it is a delight playing DF1 on the Deck, to the extent am pondering publishing a "how to guide" in the forum or building a website for a full review as to also share the setup for the GoG version so that fellow gamers can also enjoy the experience - for this and other titles as well. However, for the moment, would like to highlight both the weaknesses and strengths of the game: Strengths: ● SW atmosphere, with strong first level! ● Level design generally ahead of its time! ● Story flow feels natural and consistent! Weakness: ● Despite FSR, aged graphics. ● Some weapons aren't great. ● No save feature, painful at times. For older gamers, the weaknesses are not a surprise and thus not a deal breaker; for modern gamers, it may take a bit of time to adjust and enjoy gameplay without modern standards. Good gaming sessions, more than the lastest and best hw, need a good game and DF1 definitely still worth the hours! Update: now that is possible to edit reviews ;) - have indeed finished the game on the Deck wo any issues!

Never played before, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Install modern controls mod and enjoy.

Star Wars: Dark Forces came out at a time when FPS's were almost all referred to as Doom clones and looking at the screenshots, it's pretty easy to see why. However, Dark Forces changed things up by adding a story throughout the game instead of just book-ending the story at the beginning and end. They also made puzzles an important part of the levels, making players figure out how to get through each area. For the time, these were great innovations for the time but now, it's old news. I'm going to guess that if you're considering buying this game in the 2010's, you are probably wanting to buy it for the story of Kyle Katarn, and to be honest, it just isn't really worth it. Yes, for the time, it had more story than most FPS's but that's not saying much. While Kyle Katarn became one of the most beloved Extended Universe characters in Star Wars, it really wasn't from this game and you'd probably be better off just reading the Wikipedia on this one and then starting with Dark Forces 2, as that's when the series really started taking off. If you are one of those folks that has to play through every entry in a series and just needs to play through this one too, it's not a bad game. It's just not that necessary for the story of Kyle Katarn nor does it do anything particularly interesting with the FPS genre in today's gaming environment.

To my millennial mind, the controls are very strange. I'm not sure how you're supposed to play. z is shoot, x is jump, c is crouch, space is interact, arrow keys are move and turn, this is all fine. I can deal with this. I don't need every game to have the same boring wasd controls. But strafe is brackets, and look up and down are the page keys. These are nowhere near the other keys, and I keep having to reposition my hands. Doing tasks like moving forward while strafing and looking up require some significant finger gymnastics. I don't feel like I have enough hands. There could be something simple I'm missing, but after four levels I still can't figure it out. The levels are maze like with lots of dead ends. I can see some people liking this, having to explore everywhere to find the thing that opens the door. I find it tedious not knowing where I'm going or why. There are other issues with the levels too, for example, There are dark rooms that you can only illuminate briefly with muzzle flare. There are places where you can get stuck and have to restart the level. The music is annoying. The midi isn't the problem, I just find the tunes repetitive. On the plus side, the enemies shoot projectiles rather than hitscan. So, that's something. A word of advice, If you haven't played this before and you decide to pick it up. Play it on easy first, until you get the hang of the controls.

NOTE: Original Review for the Steam Version. This is easily one of my favorite Star Wars games of all time. I've logged at least 50 hours on non steam versions. Yes, it's a DOOM clone, but it's a well balanced DOOM clone that inspired a ton of other Star Wars media. Before this, most Star Wars games were flight sims; this was the first real taste gamers got of Star Wars ground combat. Single Player only, but very well done. I highly recommend using the DarkXL mod to make this game more graphically appealing and have more modern controls. Dark Forces launched the Jedi Knight series of games and introduced the Dark Trooper Project and Kyle Katarn to the Expanded Universe. This game was also THE definitive answer to how the rebels stole the Death Star plans before the Disney Heresy. TLDR: Essential for Star Wars or Jedi Knight series fans, great for DOOM clone aficionados.