Anthony's Film Review - Star Wars: Dark Forces (Video Game, 1995)

Star Wars enters the world of first-person shooter video games, and this one is fun...

When the first-person shooter video game Doom came out in 1993, it forever changed the industry. The game introduced a whole new exciting game genre. The enthusiasm for it led many game companies to ride the wave of that success, by producing their own first-person shooter games. The game developer LucasArts was no exception. With the Star Wars franchise being a cash cow, there would no doubt be a first-person shooter game set in the Star Wars universe. After all, if the Star Wars movies feature laser gunfights, why not a video game that lets the player engage in those kinds of battles?

Star Wars: Dark Forces, released in 1995, is the first Star Wars game of the FPS genre. Here is a chance for players to wield blasters and other powerful weapons in their fight against the Empire. Imperial officers and Stormtroopers are everywhere, along with other enemies such as creatures seen in Return of the Jedi. Although Darth Vader appears in the game, he appears only briefly and in certain cinematic cutscenes between the game's levels, so you won't get to fight him. In fact, I should mention that this game is not a recreation of any of the original three Star Wars movies, but rather it centers on a new original story.

The player assumes the role of Kyle Katarn, a mercenary who had worked for the Empire but is now hired by the Rebel Alliance to collect Imperial intelligence. Through a variety of dangerous missions, Katarn gathers key information about a secret Imperial project. The Empire is working to develop the Dark Trooper, a new kind of Stormtrooper that is far more powerful than the ordinary Stormtrooper. In fact, the Dark Trooper isn't a human in white armor, but rather a powerful robot with heavy weaponry. The Empire would certainly be more powerful if it could build an army of Dark Troopers.

The gameplay features are what you'd expect in a first-person shooter game. You run around and jump, while picking up weapons and wielding them. Weapons include the basic blasters, like the Stormtrooper blaster rifle, and some more sophisticated stuff like thermal grenades, proximity mines, and plasma rifles. On the way, you may have to activate switches and find keycards in order to get into areas that are initially inaccessible. There's a bit of thinking and exploring involved, but otherwise, the game is mainly running around and shooting enemies you come across.

The game is also cool for providing a variety of worlds to navigate. Across 14 missions, you as Kyle Katarn will have to battle your way through places like a robotics facility, a mine, the Imperial capital of Coruscant, a ship belonging to Jabba the Hutt, and even a sewer system. As the story progresses, the game gets more challenging. The final two levels are especially tough, as there is a pretty large total number of Imperial foes you have to face, so much that your survival instincts will really be put to the test.

Overall, Star Wars: Dark Forces is a pretty fun game to play. Thanks to Doom, Star Wars games would no longer be limited to flight simulations and two-dimensional platformer games. The Star Wars video game universe has opened up to let the player live the excitement of gun battles in the Star Wars movies. There's no doubt that you will enjoy this game if you love both Star Wars and first-person shooter games. Among first-person shooter games, this one is certainly one of the good ones. If you want to make a list of games in the genre that you must play, be sure to include Star Wars: Dark Forces.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Star Wars: Dark Forces, visit the Internet Movie Database and Moby Games.