After their stellar work remastering the likes of Quake, Quake II and the Turok series, Nightdive Studios is back with another look at the world of retro first-person shooters. This time we go to Star Wars universe with Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, an intriguing game in more ways than one. On the one hand, it offers a view of one of the many, a lots of so called. The ‘Doom clones’ that emerged after the huge success of id Software’s seminal shooter, and others represent an era of the Star Wars Expanded Universe that, in the wider context of the franchise’s canon, no longer exists.
However, to call 1995’s Dark Forces a mere Doom clone would be doing it a disservice. Yes, the game owes a lot of thanks to Doom, but given LucasArts’ prowess in the adventure genre, the developers have managed to elevate Dark Forces to new heights, incorporating story elements through cutscenes and mission summaries, while ensuring that the gameplay isn’t simply a case of ‘go here, shoot it’. It features actual objectives which were a refreshing change of pace at the time and allowed for more player action. You didn’t simply infiltrate an Imperial stronghold for fun; you were doing it to further the cause of the rebellion. For galaxyFor God’s sake.
However, chances are that a good number of you reading this have not yet experienced the dark forces. Until now, the game was left for dead on MS-DOS, Mac and PS1, but thanks to the efforts of Nightdive, it has now been resurrected and is honestly better than ever. To paraphrase Poe Dameron: “Somehow the dark forces have returned.” But while Palpatine’s revival in The Rise of Skywalker gone faster than Ben Quadinaros’ pods, Dark Forces Remaster is a resounding success, bringing the quirky FPS into the modern era with revamped visuals, a more modern control system (with optional gyro aiming – yuck!) and tons of options that allow veterans and newcomers alike to appreciate the game. in full glory.
Divided into 14 levels, Dark Forces provides an experience that feels meaty, but also doesn’t overstay its welcome. There is a wide variety of environments, from Imperial detention centers to ranked underground hideouts with hideous tentacled beasts. What’s great about the overall aesthetic is that it’s based solely on the original trilogy, and that’s about it. Teaching The Phantom Menace up to four years, Dark Forces isn’t bogged down by the iconography and lore introduced in the prequel or sequel trilogy, and it makes for a more grounded experience (albeit one that’s no longer part of the official canon).
You can get through each level fairly quickly if you want, especially if you opt for the lower of the three difficulty options available, but there are also plenty of secrets hidden in each environment, such as new weapons and extra lives. It’s worth taking your time when you first go around — you never know what’s behind a cracked wall if you throw a thermal detonator at it.
Otherwise, your goals are generally self-explanatory. Some may require you to locate a prisoner in the depths of an Imperial base, while others will require you to steal a specific item locked behind several doors. With objectives completed, the game will often force you to quickly return to the start of the level where your spaceship will pick you up. By default, you’ll have to press start and manually exit the level to go to the next mission at this point, but Nightdive saw fit to include an option in the ‘Accessibility’ menu that allows this to happen automatically if you don’t want to take that extra step.
However, the true joy of the dark forces lies in combat. As you progress, you’ll build up a decent arsenal to destroy enemies with, and the handling of each weapon is great. Every shot from the Stormtrooper’s laser rifle is enhanced by a short burst of vibration from the Switch Joy-Con, and you’ll even find that some environments allow your lasers to bounce off walls, making for some truly chaotic encounters. Framerate drops slightly from the 60fps benchmark during combat, as previously pointed out by Digital Foundry, but gosh, it’s such a minor glitch that we barely noticed it during our time with the game. Playing is, for the most part, a real pleasure from start to finish.
The same applies to the visual representation. Nightdive somehow completely overhauled the aesthetic while staying incredibly true to the original game. The view has been expanded to match modern displays, while a modernized 3D effect — a subtle ‘wrapping’ of the environment around the player’s view that gives a better sense of depth than the OG visuals — has been implemented to increase immersion. However, if you happen to be a veteran of the original, there are plenty of options to make the game even more faithful, such as a switch that changes the overall look from ‘hardware’ to ‘software’, essentially removing the updated visuals while maintaining gameplay improvements.
Speaking of options, you can fully customize the controls to suit your needs, while accessibility toggles such as ‘view scroll’, ‘weapon flash’, ‘HUD flicker’ and ‘subtitles’ are available. Heck, there’s even a ‘menu transition speed’ slider to mess around with, proving that Nightdive really thought of everything. In short, whether you’re looking for a completely modernized version of an FPS classic or would prefer a more authentic experience closer to the original 1995 release, you’ll find both and more here.
Conclusion
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster is another huge success for Nightdive, bringing a quirky FPS steeped in nostalgia into the modern age with bells and whistles. With enhanced gameplay, revamped visuals and plenty of accessibility options, this is simply the best way to experience the dark forces and revisit an often forgotten era of Star Wars. Minor framerate flaws aside, this is an absolute must-have game for fans of far-flung galactic conflicts.
