Star Wars: Dark Forces

I would have enjoyed this one much more if i didnt get lost every 10 mins and have to look for a walkthrough of where to go. I didnt progress a lot in it in the couple of hours i have played, and after those it crash always at the same place. It was too be expected that an old game would have compatibility but it was none the less disappointing. The core mechanics of the game are really solid, and overal its a good shooter for the time.

The Empire has commissioned a new type of Stormtrooper known as the 'Dark Trooper'. These pose a great threat to the Rebellion, so a mercenary and former Imperial Officer, Kyle Katarn is sent on several infiltration missions to uncover intelligence and cause general disruption to the Empire's plans.

In the games 14 missions, Kyle Katarn takes on numerous types of enemies including Stormtroopers, Imperial Commandos, Imperial Officers, Probe Droids, Trandoshans, Gamorreans, Grans, Dianoga, Kell Dragons, and Dark Troopers. Other Star Wars characters make an appearance of some form such as Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, and Boba Fett.

You move around using WASD on the keyboard, hold shift to sprint, space-bar to jump, E to interact with switches, tab to bring up the map, and the number-keys switch weapons and equip items.

Gameplay wise, people will always compare to Doom. Sadly, this style of FPS is rather dated and is hard to enjoy its antiquated game-play style. At the start of the game, you struggle to pick out interactive objects like switches since they are only a flat texture placed on a wall. The poor graphics also obscure passageways that are key to progression, so unless you check the map regularly, you will fail to recognise them. Lots of backtracking is required which drags out the game length. Due to the constant feeling of being lost, it becomes frustrating when the mission objective is to get back to your ship and all you remember is trying several paths before progressing and you therefore fail to work out the correct way back. The map could be much clearer and it would be beneficial if landmarks and key doors were marked to help with your navigation.

That said, it is about 18 years old, so maybe it was pretty good at the time. On the plus side, you can differentiate between the enemies even at a distance, so can prepare adequately since they take a different amount of shots to kill.

As you navigate your way around the maps, shooting all the Empires forces in your way, you will come along obstacles to mix up the game-play. These can be switch puzzles, or timed platform jumps but they end up adding to the frustration, especially when you plummet to the floor below and have to climb your way back up to have another go.

If enemies are attacking from above or below, you can, rather awkwardly, use the page up and down keys to reposition your gun. Most of the time, when you are in the heat of battle, you don't need to do this since there is a partial auto-aim mechanic where bullets will travel up or down towards your enemies. It can be rather unpredictable causing you to waste ammo until you reposition, which is annoying as well as looking a bit ridiculous.

In darkened areas you need to activate your night vision goggles which is a nice touch. Sometimes you find that the Imperial Forces have forgot theirs though and are bumbling about in the dark. There's plenty of choice of weapons which are progressively unlocked as you go through the levels. Plenty of pick-ups (health, ammo, shields) are found throughout the levels to keep you stocked up. There's plenty of secret areas to discover which have plenty of pick-ups and sometimes extra lives.

As long as you have lives left, you respawn pretty close by to where you died. When you lose all lives, you have to restart the entire level. There are 3 difficulty levels, and cheats can be activated (as well as a super shield which is strangely enabled in the pause menu), so players with any level of skill should be able to complete the game.

I found Dark Forces to be a very frustrating experience. The level design seemed to have the aim of frustrating you, either by hiding keys, doors, and passageways, or the inclusion of annoying platform sections. All of which slow down progression and drag out the levels far too much, stripping out the enjoyment from the game. If you like old FPS games such as Doom and can work with the dated design, then you may enjoy it, but otherwise I just cannot recommend it.

An ambitious Doom clone with mind-boggling level design and constant interactivity. With Dark Forces there are secret areas to search for, traps to watch out for, some nifty environmental hazards to negotiate, puzzle solving, and navigating the map. Of course, you'll be shooting too, but Dark Forces downplays that aspect a little compared to other 90s first-person shooter games.

Compared to DOOM, the gunplay is a bit hollow. The main weapon in the game is the inaccurate, automatic blaster rifle. It takes away a lot of what made shooting in DOOM so fun when all you have to do is just spam an area with blaster fire. The horizontal auto-aim exacerbates this problem. Overall the shooting is average, but what you're doing most of the time is navigating.

I'm hesitant to call Dark Forces a 'DOOM clone' because you spend more time navigating the levels than you ever do shooting at enemies. The level design is very confusing, and people wanting a faster-paced FPS should look elsewhere. I found the boredom of wandering around is somewhat mitigated by the dynamic soundtrack. All that said, this game is playable, but maybe in bursts rather than all at once. One good thing about the complicated levels is that it adds to the replayability, and that is where this game really sets itself apart from its competitors.

After multiple playthroughs Dark Forces remains fun to play because of the labyrinthine level design. It is hard to remember the layout of the next level because of its complexity. My opinion of this game continues to improve because it refuses to not entertain me. Overall, by far my favorite FPS of the 90s.

One last thing is this game's dialogue. This game is popular in the (now non-canon) extended universe for the memorable quotes yelled by Imperial troops when they spot the player. Various responses include "Halt!" or "Surrender immediately!" or "Blast him!" or the now slightly-famous, "You're not authorized in this area!" and the ever-popular "You're in violation of imperial law!" That last one is by far my favorite, because you usually shoot the person who says it before they finish saying it.

Along with all the visceral thrills of Doom, Dark Forces added on rudimentary puzzles, complex levels requiring exploration, and mission goals—years before Goldeneye 007 blew N64 fans away. Though technology limited the map designers in their ambitions, Dark Forces offers more realistic levels than Doom or Heretic. Levels have a flow to them that serves gameplay but also makes sense logically, such as going from a space depot to a docked space craft. Seeing Jabba’s Palace or the insides of an imperial ship are still great fan service to this day. Despite the now dated graphics, no future entry in the franchise felt quite as true to the source material. The story isn’t memorable but the great animated cutscenes and mission briefings immerse the player as mercenary Kyle Katarn working for the Rebels, taking orders from a space-muumuu-wearing Mon Mothma.

Given this was LucasArts Entertainment Company’ first outing in a genre yet to be explored by many, missteps are expected. Some levels are too labyrinthine for their own good, such as one that requires a leap of faith in an elevator shaft or the infamous sewer level that had many players putting down the game after its initial two levels. Complaints were made about the lack of lightsabers, but the real problem with Dark Forces is the weapon selection. The blaster rifle that can be obtained within the opening minutes of the game remains the best weapon until the end, given its range, fire rate and power. Weapons gathered later in the game feel gimmicky and give little reward for high risk due to splash damage.

Dark Forces is one of the best FPS games of its era, expanding on ideas introduced in Doom while pleasing Star Wars fanatics. It’s well worth playing, but be warned you may have a hard time getting it to run. A fan-made engine update Dark XL is the best way to experience the game these days, but there is a major caveat: you can’t use weapons obtained later in the game and there are a handful of game-breaking bugs. I advise playing the first half in Dark XL, then play the second half via Dosbox following Steam community guides to make the game play and look a bit more modern.