STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995)

The main criticism I have with Dark Forces is the obtuse puzzles, being almost as confusing as the ones from System Shock (1994). As far as the rest of the game goes, it's short compared to Doom or most Doom-likes (which works in its favor, the story is really good, and the enemy designs and little touches are good, too. I'd recommend using TFE and a guide if you want to play it, it helps a lot.

A childhood friend of mine recommended this game to me about 18 years ago (he was Polish and had all the stuff from his cousin) and it was just now that I finally had it and a system to play it. I played through the Linux package from GoG, just changed the controls to WSAD and horizontal mouselook without movement. I usually play those old Doom style games with game engine recreations in HD with HQ-Texture packs, but since the one for this game is still in alpha state, I went the retro route. The low resolution wasn't much of a problem since it still looks good enough in motion. The mission design as well as the weapon balancing is surprisingly good and although just like most games from this time quite hard, it is possible to beat it even if you're not the best gamer. A well designed FPS overall, it just lacks vertical mouselook and the possibility to deactivate auto-aim. Hopefully, someone will finish the game engine recreation someday, so I can play this again in HD widescreen and with proper aiming. I may have to add, that this was the first game ever that gave me motion sickness, maybe because of the combination of low resolution, set of colors and fov. I had to take rests. It hasn't aged too well and isn't for everyone but it's really not bad.

Really good FPS game with a great and creative Star Wars flavour. It’s perfectly playable through DosBox/Boxer on a Mac – so I don't really see why GOG isn’t offering that as well.

This was one of my favorite games growing up. I can't remember how many times I've played this game. It's easy to write off this game as a Doom clone, but it's good in its own right. Dark Forces also set up for the Jedi Knight series with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors. It's also unique in that you don't play as a Jedi. The graphics and controls do feel a bit dated, but I feel that it aged better in some ways than Jedi Knight and Mysteries of the Sith If you are a Star Wars fan you should consider playing this game.

Show of hands! Who’s here has already seen Rogue One, the new Star Wars™ movie? Wow, all of you? I shouldn’t be surprised; it’s freaking STAR WARS™ after all! As you all know, Rogue One is the story of how the Rebel Alliance got their hands in the Death Star plans. But in the old canon (before Disney bought the rights to Star Wars™ and decreed the Expanded Universe as non-canon), those plans were stolen by perhaps the most famous character outside the movies: Kyle Katarn. In fact, you do just that right on the 1st level of Dark Forces (which was basically the demo). Yes, there’s a Star Wars™ Doom clone. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GO AND PLAY IT! … I suppose I should tell you more about it. Continue reading this review in my blog: https://retrofreakreviews.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/star-wars-dark-forces-review/