It’s been a little over 20 years since the original Star Wars: Dark Forces release, and as a big fan of the franchise, it is a game I’ve always wanted to play. But due to being a console player, I’ve never had the opportunity to experience what so many had described to me as “one of the best Star Wars games.” Thanks to Nightdive Studios, I could finally experience it for myself and play it in a way that’s faithful to the original 1995 release yet polished to modern-day standards.
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Developer: Nightdive Studios
Price: $30 USD
Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
MonsterVine was supplied with Xbox code for review
I was immediately hooked on the game before I even loaded into the first level. From the main menu, you can look through the game “Vault,” which gives a plethora of behind-the-scenes glimpses of the original Dark Forces development. Even if that isn’t something you’d be interested in, it’s still worth checking out because it gives a great glimpse of how this game was initially made, and it’s nice to see early footage of Dark Troopers.
The game itself was nothing short of amazing and did a phenomenal job of capturing the nostalgia of what made retro games so enjoyable. Whenever you hear the same songs being played repeatedly, you risk getting sick of it and begin to tune it out. Usually, I tend to do that, but that wasn’t the case for this game. The 64-bit music constantly being played is part of its charm and adds a level of love to the project that stays with you to the very end. Truthfully, it’s hard to imagine this game without the constant loop of music being played throughout missions.
As for the gameplay itself, it was nothing less than exceptional. It was nice that it still followed an old trend for games of that era of not explaining how anything works. Although it can be a bit annoying initially, half the fun at the start of my review was figuring out what did what whenever I pressed a button on my Xbox controller.
What was especially nice is that it played just as I’ve seen it multiple times online. Inspired by the classic 1993 Doom, it does enough to make it stand on its own, and on top of that, it has the backing of Star Wars to do something unique. I never thought I would see a brushed-up polygon CGI Stormtrooper or Imperial Officer stand awkwardly in a hall while shouting “Freeze!” at me in 2024. But the fact that I can and enjoy seeing it is a testament to how great of a job Nightdive Studios did at bringing this game back from the dead.
Something that I didn’t expect was how well some of the puzzles held up after all these years. One would think that with the mature mind of a 27-year-old, I’d quickly solve many of these puzzles. But lo and behold, I found myself stumped more than once on several occasions. Despite my struggles, I was still able to find rooms and puzzles, thanks to clues scattered around the game.
Even though this game is nearly 30 years old, it does an exceptional job at visual storytelling. I often found myself shocked to see burnt-up bodies whenever I was in a town invaded by the Empire or whenever I ran into a prisoner trying to throw hands with me the second I opened their cell. This was just one of many small things that added to my enjoyment.
As a long-time Star Wars fan, it is nice to see what road the franchise was going down pre-Disney. Seeing the early stages of Dark Troopers was something I didn’t know I needed, but I’m glad I did, as well as seeing a complete layout of Jabbas’ ship.
The final icing on this remastered cake was the cutscenes. Every time I saw one play out on the screen, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. By no means was I laughing at it, but rather laughing with it. The old-school CGI had this power over me that made me feel like a kid waking up early to watch cartoons. On top of that, the cheesy voice acting made it that much more enjoyable.
The Final Word
Nightdive Studios did a fantastic job at bringing Star Wars: Dark Forces back from the grave. With older games becoming less and less playable, it’s nice to see Dark Forces get a proper port to modern platforms, and I can’t wait to see what the studio does next.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
