Support NeoGAF

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

---

Game Information

Game Title: Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster

Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (Feb 28, 2024)
• PlayStation 5 (Feb 28, 2024)
• Nintendo Switch (Feb 28, 2024)
• PC (Feb 28, 2024)
• PlayStation 4 (Feb 28, 2024)
• Xbox One (Feb 28, 2024)

Trailer:

• Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster Official Reveal Trailer
• Star Wars™: Dark Forces Remaster - Reveal Trailer

Developer: LucasArts

Publisher: Nightdive Studios


Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 81 average - 67% recommended

Metacritic -76 average based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews


CGMagazine - Justin Wood - 6 / 10

Star Wars Dark Forces is a product of its time, with decent visual remastering, but the gameplay sadly doesn’t hold up.

Nintendo Life - Oliver Reynolds - 9 / 10

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster is another resounding success for Nightdive, bringing a curious, nostalgia-laced FPS into the modern age with bells and whistles to boot. With enhanced gameplay, revamped visuals, and a wealth of accessibility options, this is easily the best way to experience Dark Forces and revisit an oft-forgotten era of Star Wars. Minor frame rate hiccups aside, this is an absolute must-play for fans of far-away galactic conflict.

PC Gamer - Robert Jones - 78 / 100

A great remaster of a beloved, if now very old school, FPS that is handled with great care and attention.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Katharine Castle - Unscored

A handsome remaster of an already modern-feeling Star Wars FPS, but even Nightdive's welcome updates can't disguise some of its older, more obtuse edges.

TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 9.5 / 10

Nightdive has put considerable effort into making Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster a smooth and playable experience. With enhanced visuals and more, Dark Forces' level design and gunplay from 1995 holds up surprisingly well.

WayTooManyGames - Leonardo Faria - 8 / 10

The Force is strong with Nightdive. They took an old, but iconic Star Wars shooter, adapted it to their magnificent engine, remade its assets, tinkered with the presentation and gameplay, and delivered the ultimate Dark Forces experience. A game once touted to be borderline forgotten is now available on modern platforms in way that makes its original build feel like crap in comparison.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 6.5 / 10

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered is a remaster done right. Its main issue is the game it is remastering doesn’t hold up to modern titles well enough. If you have that itch to dive back in and the $30 price isn’t too much then it is well worth the price. If you don’t have those feelings though, it’s tough to recommend.

 

[Madflavor]

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 6.5 / 10

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered is a remaster done right. Its main issue is the game it is remastering doesn’t hold up to modern titles well enough. If you have that itch to dive back in and the $30 price isn’t too much then it is well worth the price. If you don’t have those feelings though, it’s tough to recommend.

No shit? I thought a 30 year old shooter would measure up to Doom Eternal.

 

[Majormaxxx]

Looks great but yeah too expensive.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

For a moment I thought this was the rail shooter. Then I remembered that one was Rebel Assault.

I never played these games at the time. Mildly interested, but I have so much to play already.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Looks awesome. Way overpriced considering what a mod can do to the original. That said, still great to have it available on consoles. Not as much value for the PC. I'll wait for a future sale.

 

[Porticus]

DOA, how they can even think about selling such a prehistoric game at such price.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

That price is just way too high. £15 would have been a bit higher than I'd have liked to be honest, £25 just makes the game easy to ignore.

 

[cyberheater]

Decent review scores

 

[winjer]

 

[Majormaxxx]

For a moment I thought this was the rail shooter. Then I remembered that one was Rebel Assault.

I never played these games at the time. Mildly interested, but I have so much to play already.

The campaign is great actually. I played it twice. Bought it on pc / gog. First time in dosbox. So pretty much the original version. Then last year played on Windows. There's a new engine that runs it and improves it. And this latest version is even better. But I'll wait for sale.

 

[Toots]

For a moment I thought this was the rail shooter. Then I remembered that one was Rebel Assault.

I never played these games at the time. Mildly interested, but I have so much to play already.

Rebel assault on mega cd was crazy at the time.
Road avenger also, it was truly cinematic gameplay before time.

 

[Guilty_AI]

As i mentioned in other threads, if you're on PC just get the original and install The Force Engine mod. Aside from high-res cutscenes and assets, its basically the same experience.

STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995)

Behind a veil of secrecy the evil Empire is creating a doomsday army - one that, if finis

www.gog.com

 

[A2una1]

Would be so cool if it supported psvr2

 

[terintamel]

As i mentioned in other threads, if you're on PC just get the original and install The Force Engine mod. Aside from high-res cutscenes and assets, its basically the same experience.

STAR WARS™ Dark Forces (Classic, 1995)

Behind a veil of secrecy the evil Empire is creating a doomsday army - one that, if finis

www.gog.com

And it will continue to improve as the engine adds voxel support along with a full level editor and support for existing and new Dark Forces user created levels. The Force Engine is even adding support for the DarkForces remaster hd assets, and he is working on full Outlaws support as well as it runs on the same engine as Dark Forces.

Honestly outside of the HD cutscenes and assets The Force Engine is more advanced than the ND remaster, for example it has Quick Save and Quick Load.

Roadmap · The Force Engine

theforceengine.github.io

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I've updated the OP as a few more reviews have trickled in. We also have an OC score now!

 

[Futaleufu]

No shit? I thought a 30 year old shooter would measure up to Doom Eternal.

Doom has aged much better than Dark Forces

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Doom has aged much better than Dark Forces

Nah

 

[ManaByte]

$29.99 US DOLLARS

 

[xrnzaaas]

Does it offer any aim assists on the consoles? Because I've noticed they've struggled to aim properly in one of the official trailers.

 

[Majormaxxx]

I don't believe there is going to be aim assist :/

On pc it's mouse and keyboard and aiming is not a challenge.

I remember Jedi Outcast on ps4. No aim assist there and it's not ideal.

 

[Majormaxxx]

Doom has aged much better than Dark Forces

This remaster is much more intricate than what you see from doom on consoles.

The sprites are recreated in higher resolution.

 

[March Climber]

No shit? I thought a 30 year old shooter would measure up to Doom Eternal.

To use as an analogy, I'd argue that Mario 64 runs laps around multiple modern platformers of today, especially in terms of smooth controls, even within it's own franchise.

I think that reviewer did a bad job of saying 'the game is not as timeless as others'

 

[amigastar]

Looks great, but not 29 bucks great.

 

[RAIDEN1]

The biggest issue with the game though is that there is next to no replay value in this...once you completed it there is no incentive to go back, no DLC that came originally etc...

 

[StereoVsn]

Doom has aged much better than Dark Forces

I disagree. Dark Forces is very well designed game and has capabilities that OG Doom 1&2 do not have. It’s a great game for its time.

The remaster is just too expensive for what it is. Even at $20 it would have been much better received.

That aside, the couple of sites reviewing the remaster of this game as if it is from 2024 are ridiculous.

 

[StereoVsn]

The biggest issue with the game though is that there is next to no replay value in this...once you completed it there is no incentive to go back, no DLC that came originally etc...

There used to be a decent amount of mods. And it looks like the Force Engine supports them.

 

[Cattlyst]

I paid 20 for it on Switch as I had a bunch of those Nintendo tokens or whatever. The game is good and I never played the original…but these comments are making me wonder if I still got fleeced and should have gone with the Steam original and Force Engine mod…

 

[YeulEmeralda]

To use as an analogy, I'd argue that Mario 64 runs laps around multiple modern platformers of today, especially in terms of smooth controls, even within it's own franchise.

I think that reviewer did a bad job of saying 'the game is not as timeless as others'

Personally I don't think that shooters from that era were really good. It wasn't until Unreal or Half-life when levels began to look like real buildings, got a decent story and had a non MIDI soundtrack.

 

[shaddam]

I thought it would be a free update like quake 1 and quake 2, or atleast it would have a decent price

 

[Sp3eD]

Said this in the announcement thread, but the game was barely any good back in the 90’s. Most of the levels are just bad and turned into just terrible mazes where everything looked the same. My memory of this game was getting lost way worse then any doom or wolfenstien 3d level. Thankful some reviews are calling out that part.

Some games are best left in the past.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Personally I don't think that shooters from that era were really good. It wasn't until Unreal or Half-life when levels began to look like real buildings, got a decent story and had a non MIDI soundtrack.

Nah. Doom, Duke, Dark Forces, Heretic even Wolf are still fantastic.

 

[IDKFA]

That price is shocking. £24.99 in the UK.

For comparison, Quake 2 remaster released for £7.99 complete with expansions and the N64 version of the game included!

Does the publisher just think people will pay anything because it's Star Wars? I dread to think what they'd charge for a Dark Forces 2 remaster.

 

[IDKFA]

Personally I don't think that shooters from that era were really good.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Said this in the announcement thread, but the game was barely any good back in the 90’s. Most of the levels are just bad and turned into just terrible mazes where everything looked the same. My memory of this game was getting lost way worse then any doom or wolfenstien 3d level. Thankful some reviews are calling out that part.

Some games are best left in the past.

Dark Forces is still great. It's challenging in a different way, but it's also free from modern AAA story focused amusement park ride bullshit. It puts a lot on the player to explore and figure things out on there own, and it's wonderful for it. The hate on the sewer level is way overblown, it's pretty straightforward.

 

[Laptop1991]

The game basically has a new lick of paint but does show its age a lot, its not worth the price for me, i would of preferred a remake instead.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Dark Forces is still great. It's challenging in a different way, but it's also free from modern AAA story focused amusement park ride bullshit. It puts a lot on the player to explore and figure things out on there own, and it's wonderful for it. The hate on the sewer level is way overblown, it's pretty straightforward.

I think it is a big generational divide in many cases where some gamers were brought up with super fully featured minimaps and waypoints up the wazoo and some grew with games expecting them to learn a level layout and/or explore it.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

I think it is a big generational divide in many cases where some gamers were brought up with super fully featured minimaps and waypoints up the wazoo and some grew with games expecting them to learn a level layout and/or explore it.

It's a bit strange, as people seem to embrace FROM games, which inhabit some of this design space. I think people need to just think about these games a bit different and engage with them on their own terms.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Would be so cool if it supported psvr2

No it wouldnt. Its a 3 decade old game with a few adjustments. It'll make you sick within minutes in VR.

 

[Buggy Loop]

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 6.5 / 10


No shit? I thought a 30 year old shooter would measure up to Doom Eternal.

Xbox era are dumb fucks

The reviewer’s bio says :

Favorite Games:

• Halo
• Mass Effect
• Battlefield

They don’t hold up to modern titles either, do they?

 

[phant0m]

Yeah I’ll get this when it’s $10

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Meh its $4 on Turkish gamepass store

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I'm likely going to break down and buy this. Very overpriced. VERY, but dammit do I want to play it and support Nightdive.

 

[Team Andromeda]

The price is taking the piss

 

[Majormaxxx]

Rebel assault on mega cd was crazy at the time.
Road avenger also, it was truly cinematic gameplay before time.

I played Rebel Assault on Dos back in the day.

In recent years played the mega cd version on ps3 (emulated) and the sega mini. Great game!!!

 

[Panajev2001a]

It's a bit strange, as people seem to embrace FROM games, which inhabit some of this design space. I think people need to just think about these games a bit different and engage with them on their own terms.

Some maybe do because it is popular too perhaps?

 

[Alexios]

I played Rebel Assault on Dos back in the day.

In recent years played the mega cd version on ps3 (emulated) and the sega mini. Great game!!!

There is a second game. It was pretty neat. Good stuff for a rental back in the day. But at the end of the day they're just average FMV games, if well produced, Dark Forces is actually a legit good boomer shooter that did things others didn't, whether folks like Star Wars or not.

Edit: oh wow, had no clue it was by Factor 5 lol, I never made the connection. They sure went on to do great things.

 

[Majormaxxx]

There is a second game. It was pretty neat. Good stuff for a rental back in the day.

I played the second game but a bit late because in the 90s my 386 was too slow for it.

It had awesome 640x480 graphics.

The PS1 version is 320x200 but it has 3d models for the ships. So you can choose cockpit or 3rd person view.

 

[Majormaxxx]

Edit: oh wow, had no clue it was by Factor 5 lol, I never made the connection. They sure went on to do great things.

Only the ps1 port was by factor 5, but as usually they went above and beyond by adding the 3rd person mode for space fights.

 

[AJUMP23]

The real story of how the death star plans were stolen.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Does it offer any aim assists on the consoles? Because I've noticed they've struggled to aim properly in one of the official trailers.

The auto aim is great on PS5