| Star Wars: Dark Forces | |
|---|---|
 MS-DOS cover art | |
| Developer(s) | LucasArts[a] |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts[b] |
| Director(s) | Daron Stinnett |
| Designer(s) | Daron Stinnett Ray Gresko Justin Chin |
| Programmer(s) | Daron Stinnett Ray Gresko Winston Wolff |
| Artist(s) | Justin Chin Collette Michaud |
| Writer(s) | Justin Chin |
| Composer(s) | Clint Bajakian |
| Series | Star Wars: Jedi Knight |
| Engine | Jedi[c] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Star Wars: Dark Forces is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts. It was released in 1995 for MS-DOS and Macintosh, and in 1996 for the PlayStation. The story is set in the fictional Star Wars expanded universe and begins shortly before the original Star Wars film, before flashing forward to a year after the film's events. The game's protagonist and playable character is Kyle Katarn, a mercenary working on behalf of the Rebel Alliance who discovers the Galactic Empire's secret Dark Trooper Project, which involves the development of a series of powerful new battle droids and power-armored stormtroopers.
Dark Forces uses the Jedi game engine, which was developed specifically for the game. The engine adds gameplay features that were uncommon to the first-person shooter genre at the time of release, including level designs with multiple floors, and the ability to look up and down.
Upon release, the PC and Macintosh versions of the game received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its level design and technological advances, though the PlayStation version was criticized for having poor graphics and slow frame rates which make it much less enjoyable than the computer versions. The game also did well financially, selling almost 1 million copies in the United States by 1999. The game's success launched the Star Wars: Jedi Knight series, beginning with the direct sequel Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II in 1997.
A remastered version of the game was developed by Nightdive Studios, and was released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 28, 2024.[5] A community made port entitled The Force Engine reached 1.0 on December 20, 2022.[6][7][8][9]
- ^ "The Game Brain". Games World: The Magazine. No. 12. Paragon Publishing. June 1995. p. 93. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
Dark Forces is already on sale matey, it was released on 10th March and retails at around £49.99. As for the leather-clad Full Throttle, that will see the light of day on 1st May and will also cost £49.99.
- ^ Snider, Mike (March 10, 1995). "New game features 'Star Wars' universe". Battle Creek Enquirer. Gannett News Service. p. 8A. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "LucasArts Milestones". LucasArts. 1996. Archived from the original on December 23, 1996.
- ^ "The PlayStation Galleria". June 11, 1998. Archived from the original on June 11, 1998. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ McCaffrey, Ryan (August 23, 2023). "Dark Forces Remaster Announced for PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 25, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Wheeler, CJ (December 20, 2022). "Classic FPS Star Wars: Dark Forces has gotten a well deserved glow-up". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ Faulkner, Cheri (December 20, 2022). "'Star Wars: Dark Forces' is now playable in 4K thanks to fan-made engine". NME. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ Perrault, Patrick (December 20, 2022). "Use The Force Engine 1.0 To Play Star Wars: Dark Forces". TechRaptor. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (December 19, 2022). "This is the remastered Star Wars game I've waited 27 years for". GamesRadar. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
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