STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995)

I missed the game when it was released and I finally managed to play it after 25 years. I have to say the game easily stood the test of time. It is visually very rich game with non-linear level design and spot on sound design. Weapons look also awesome. The resolution is low but the graphic itself is very appealing and there were no other FPS games in '95 except Teminator Future Shock that could really match the game in this aspect. The only bad level is the sewer level plus there are few places where you can get lost, namely the prison level. You can use cheat and easily skip these levels if you want. The rest of the levels are fun to explore and quite easy to navigate. The first level where you steal the Death Star plans and the last level where you fight the best Dark Troopers are probably the best of them. Once you have finished a level you can always replay it on a different difficulty. The game is not really hard even on hard difficulty. Before you play the game make sure you set the controls in a setup via dosbox. It is easy to do and it will make the game much more accessible for the most. There is also gas mask and flashlight binded somewhere on F1-F12 keys. You'll need to use it only once or twice in the entire game but it is must!

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.