There is so much more to the galaxy than Disney-era Star Wars lets on, and the Dark Forces games are a great way to reconnect with many expanded canon elements that have been largely forgotten. The canon elements uncovered and explored here make these titles truly special and offer a fresh appreciation of Star Wars - particularly in the modern era. This gameplay success is paired with excellent stories that show dedicated Star Wars fans new corners of the galaxy.
RELATED: Star Wars: Squadrons - Everything Coming in the November Update The Legacy of Dark Forces The learning curve is a bit higher, but the gameplay is all the more rewarding as a result. As such, returning to the Jedi Knight games gives the player an entirely different style of Force gameplay with which to experiment. There is a level of depth and nuance to this combat that has been exchanged for spectacle and simpler mechanics in later titles, like The Force Unleashed.
To this day, many still regard the lightsaber and Force combat in Jedi Knight as the best out of any Star Wars game. Of course, when players get into the Jedi Knight titles, the appeal is truly about flexing those Force abilities. That experience was made better by the game's excellent retro aesthetic, and due to those factors, Dark Forces' old-school shooter combat still holds up. The shooting was certainly best in the original Dark Forces, when every blaster bolt packed a resounding punch. It remained an element of gameplay, but not the primary one. Of course, just because Dark Forces' shooter gameplay began to lose relevance to the lightsaber combat doesn't mean it faded entirely. Related: Before the Mandalorian: Boba Fett Was the Empire's Most Wanted The plot still focused on Kyle Katarn (although the player created a custom character for Jedi Academy), but the gameplay shifted to be more about Jedi combat and Force powers.
From there came Jedi Outcast and then Jedi Academy. What began as Dark Forces morphed into the Jedi Knight series, with Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. From the first mission of Dark Forces where the player steals the plans to the Death Star, Katarn's notoriety grew, as did his series. It introduced one of the Expanded Universe's most iconic faces, Kyle Katarn.
Launching in 1995, Dark Forces wasn't much more than a Star Wars-flavored DOOM-style shooter, but it still offered an engaging experience for fans.Ī lot of the game's success could be attributed to the license and the way Dark Forces expanded the Star Wars canon. A long time ago in a decade far, far removed from 2020, Star Wars: Dark Forces was released.