Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered Review – A Renewed Hope

The original Star Wars: Dark Forces released on MS-DOS and Mac-OS back in 1995 and was followed by a port to the PlayStation a year later.

It received universal acclaim for creating a first-person shooter, set in the Star Wars universe, that offered more than just blasting Stormtroopers and pegging it from A to Be.

Star Wars: Dark Forces, told an original story that weaved into George Lucas’ space opera seamlessly, connecting the Star Wars trilogy to an expansive world that stretched beyond the scope of three films and combined superb gunplay with navigational puzzles.

Now, almost thirty years after its debut, Star Wars: Dark Forces is back and fully remastered thanks to the team at Nightdive Studios. If that name rings a bell, you may be familiar with their faithful and fantastic work on revamping the classic Turok games, Doom and the subliminal Quake II.

There’s a high bar to clear with their latest work then. Star Wars is perhaps the most well-known and well-loved franchise in the world, so expectations for this remaster have been understandably lofty.

The biggest question surrounding this remaster of a classic boomer-shooter is ‘how has Dark Forces transitioned from 1995 to 2024? Prepare the jump to lightspeed and let’s find out.

A Long Time Ago…

Dark Forces sees players step into the wise-cracking space boots of former Imperial Stormtrooper Kyle Katarn and blast their way through Imperial troops while liberating the plans for the original Death Star.

The open segment was later retconned with the theatrical release of Rogue One, but thankfully Katarn’s legacy is greater than being Princess Leia’s personal courier.

Star Wars Dark Forces quickly jumps forward in time to a year after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope where a new Imperial threat emerges, in the form of the deadly Dark Troopers.

The story takes Kyle and his comrades all over the galaxy on a quest to uncover the secrets of the Empire’s latest technical advancements.

Galactic Gunplay

Kyle makes his investigations into the Empire’s latest plot with all the subtlety of a Rancor at a dinner party, and to be fair, I can’t blame him one bit.

While several levels open with the suggestion that stealth would be the best option, sneaking around like Obi-Wan deactivating tractor beams doesn’t fly in Dark Forces, but the stunning gunplay never makes that an issue.

As Kyle Katarn players will collect a wide variety of weaponry during this ten-hour adventure. Your standard good blasters (hokey religions and ancient weapons can’t compete) are reliable death dealers throughout the game but mortar guns and thermal detonators are more than capable of explosive dismissals when used correctly.

The ability to move the crosshairs up and down (not always a given in classic shooters) also adds a layer of complexity to firefights with Stormtroopers able to overwhelm you from above, forcing you to take cover and line up your shots accurately.

Combat feels great throughout regardless of weapon choice. There’s even some hand-to-Kell dragon combat midway through the game that turns Dark Forces into a first-person beat ’em, if only for a moment.

Jump To Lightspeed

If you played the original Star Wars: Dark Forces on PlayStation back in the mid-90s then you’ll be relieved to hear that Nightdive Studios’ remaster shows none of the horrendous slowdown that plagued the PS1 version.

Far from it, in fact, Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster runs as smoothly as rain dripping down Darth Vader’s helmet. Players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can run the game at a fluid 120fps with a compatible display whereas the Nintendo Switch version that I tested sticks to around the 60fps mark although with notable dips.

Thankfully, Samuel Villarreal, the Lead Engine Developer at Nightdive has already confirmed a patch to fix the framerate dips on Switch, meaning players picking the game up on launch day needn’t worry about performance on Nintendo’s hybrid console.

Switch players will be limited to 1080p while playing in dock mode but the game still looks gorgeous in motion. Gamers on the PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will benefit from a native 4K resolution throughout.

Who’s Scruffy Lookin’?

The improvement in presentation is astounding throughout. Much like their earlier work on titles such as Turok 3: Remastered and Doom 64, Dark Forces Remastered retains its iconic, pixelated visuals from the 90s while introducing crisp, high-resolution assets.

Nightdive Studios have used the versatile KEX Engine once again to produce a high-quality remaster that offers buckets of nostalgia and charm in its visual presentation that, when paired with the fluid gameplay, looks and feels brilliant.

Blasters produce a muzzle flash of brilliant light that illuminates dark areas in an explosion of bright chunky pixels as Stormtroopers and Imperial Officers crumble to the ground in blocky heaps.

Pickups, items, and enemies all use 2D sprites that will fill retro gamers’ hearts with delight and they see them spin on their central axis as you’d expect. It’s full of character and harkens back to a time when detailed sprites easily outshone early polygonal models.

Players can even choose between different rendering options in the main menu. Software rendering runs the game in its’ mid-90s glory via an emulation solution while the new hardware render delivers all the bells and whistles produced for the remaster.

It’s lovely to see the option of choice here, and while the rendering solution can be toggled on the fly like the recent Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, it’s still a worthwhile addition for curious or nostalgic fans.

Light And Magic

It’s not just the gameplay that’s looking slick either. The cutscenes have been entirely recomposed with beautifully designed artwork reminiscent of old Flash animations. There are even new 3D visual flourishes that successfully capture the essence of Star Wars.

Each scene now features voice acting with wonderful performances selling each character, from the snarky Katarn to the stoic Mon Mothma and the imposing Lord Vader. Each is distinctive and they all feel like they belong in this universe.

Again, players can choose to play the game with the enhanced cutscenes or toggle the original sequences that appeared in the 1995 release.

Gamers can also opt to listen to the soundtrack in one of two different flavours. The General Midi option is the default choice and successfully recreates the dark and powerful motifs of John Williams’ Star Wars score, while an OPL3 can employed for a lower-quality rendition.

Sound effects are universally excellent throughout and mimic the sound of Star Wars brilliantly. Blasters produce distinctive ‘pew-pews’ when fired and Stormtroopers shout at Kyle, berating him for being where he shouldn’t be, and proclaiming him as ‘Rebel scum’ never gets old.

Lost In Space

Dark Forces Remastered does an excellent job of making you feel like a mercenary, taking on missions for the Rebel Alliance and traipsing across the galaxy in search of answers.

I certainly got my steps in during my playthrough, largely thanks to the amount of time I spent wandering around each level looking for my next objective.

Unlike other boomer-shooters, Dark Forces Remastered features a greater emphasis on puzzles, rather than simply defeating every opponent in your way.

I’m all for this approach, and while the puzzle elements are rudimentary, featuring lots of ‘flip switch to shot down forcefield’ and ‘find the red key card to open the red door’, actually finding my way towards my next object was often the hardest part.

Switches and interactive panels blend seamlessly into the environment and it’s often not obvious what is a doorway and what is merely set dressing.

There’s enough trial and error here within some of the labyrinthine level designs that I occasionally found myself feeling frustrated by my lack of progress toward my goal as I circled back around levels looking for a switch hidden in plain sight.

Forced Entry

The fourteen levels in Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered are huge, with faithful recreations of the 1995 layouts complete with their pixelated surface textures. The limited variety of those textures can make navigating each level a disorienting chore.

Levels set outside fare even worse, with plain rock textures often masking critical pathways, discoverable only after repeatedly circling the level and stumbling upon the way forward.

Brute forcing your way through levels, sprinting around each area hammering the interact button in the hope a door will open or a switch will be activated feels unrefined in a game that otherwise nails the Star Wars vibe perfectly.

There is a simple map that can be toggled to appear over your view during gameplay, and while it does help with moving around the various planets and Imperial bases, it doesn’t highlight interactive objects.

Nightdive Studios’ sublime update of Quake II includes a helpful objective guidance mechanic, an optional assistance tool to guide players toward where they need to be.

It’s a shame that Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered doesn’t include a similar feature as the lack of tutorials and obvious interaction points can seriously hamper the otherwise terrific sense of momentum here.

Punch It, Chewie!

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered isn’t entirely without new gameplay mechanics, however. A newly introduced weapon wheel makes switching between Katarn’s arsenal on the fly easier than ever.

There is a pleasingly overwhelming assortment of control options to fiddle around with too. There’s autonomy to bind actions to whatever button configuration feels the most comfortable, various tweaks applicable to the joysticks, and even the choice of varying HD rumble intensities, or the ability to turn it off entirely.

Players can tinker to create their own unique control scheme that feels just right. For me, that meant switching off motion-sensitive aiming and disabling head bobbing while in game. Purists may enjoy the gentle swaying of Kyle’s eyeline as he scoots around but it’s something that makes me nauseous, so I was thankful for an option to disable it.

FPS fans will also rejoice at the inclusion of new field-of-view options and a choice of adjustable crosshairs. Nightdive have provided a suite of customisation options that make the game extremely accessible to pick up and play and have set a high standard for control scheme personalisation.

A Whole Galaxy Of Extras

The front-end is brimming with an impressive amount of new and previously unreleased content, and a new vault crammed with extras is accessible from the start.

There’s concept art of key characters, monsters, the Dark Troopers, and weapons that all feature descriptions and insights into how they factored into the games’ creation.

The cutscene development menu offers a peek behind the curtain of the game’s animated scenes, with previously unseen footage of Dark Forces original lead designer Justin Chin acting out scenes prior to rotoscoping along with several unused 3D rendered snippets.

One of the most thorough sections of the vault explores the story behind the game’s development in the early 90s. Players can examine a sample of the game’s original maps and view a range of screenshots from the development team.

The Avenger, a playable prototype is a highlight. The short level used to demo the game at CES back in the day, its assets ultimately stripped and recycled, with the Avenger level cut entirely after initial concerns that it was too difficult.

The vault is everything that a Star Wars geek such as myself could dream of and more and a fantastic inclusion within this remaster.

Final Thoughts

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered continues Nightdive Studios’ winning streak and further cements their legacy as the masters of the remaster.

A few navigation niggles aside, Dark Forces is the same, authentic and thrilling Star Wars experience. The unique story, beautiful cutscenes, and frantic gunplay all work together to deliver a fabulously fun experience, and those additional extras element this remaster into orbit.