DAY 82 / GAME 82 Dark Forces

DAY 82 / GAME 82

Dark Forces

          Shortly after Doom was first released, it's popularity generated a ton of clones in it's wake.  Some of them were pretty weak, but others took the First Person Shooter genre new places and generally helped it become what it is today.  I remember seeing an article in an old copy of the Adventurer, talking about the upcoming Star Wars FPS game Dark Forces and I got pretty excited.  

            This was released back when LucasArts produced nothing but the finest games for PC.  I remember playing the demo over and over again until I had the money to go out and actually buy a copy.  I absolutely loved Doom at the time and so combining that and Star Wars was like mixing peanut butter and chocolate.  The ultimate taste for a distinguished palate. 

         Dark Forces introduced a new character and a new storyline to the Star Wars universe.  You play Kyle Katarn, a mercenary with a history with the Empire who defects and helps the Rebel Alliance stop an experimental army of Dark Troopers.  Since it's a first person shooter, the focus is more on gunplay than anything else.  Though, certainly less than Doom, it still meant they had to invent some weapons for you to use within the game.  It still features the classic Stormtrooper rifle and Thermal Detonator, but also adds a mortar launcher, Bryar Pistol, concussion rifle and so on.  The other nice bonus is that some weapons have a secondary function as well, so it really adds to the range of attacks.

        The level design was fantastic.  Though it certainly improved with later iterations of the series, even with a very early FPS engine they managed to really capture the cold dark feel of the Empire.  Not to mention, one of the later levels, where you fight a Dark Trooper the combination of SFX and level design really made it frightening.  They also introduced a fantastic new ship, the Moldy Crow.  And as I've discussed before, the ships and tech of Star Wars is almost as important as the characters that use them.  

        At the time, this game was perfect.  FPS games were all about being able to explore a fictional world.  In this case, the brilliant world of Star Wars.  LucasArts really hit all the key notes with this one.  The story felt like it really slotted into the universe and they introduced just enough material to make it fresh and new.  I'm super glad they made this series and I'm grateful I enjoyed it when it was brand new.

Kyle Katarn's Moldy Crow