Star Wars: Dark Forces
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| Star Wars: Dark Forces | |
| Missing image Dark_Forces_box_cover.jpg Box cover for Dark Forces | |
| Developer(s) | LucasArts |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
| Release date(s) | February 15, 1995 |
| Genre | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | PC, Macintosh, PlayStation |
Star Wars: Dark Forces is a video game produced by the LucasArts Entertainment Company. It was released in 1995. The game is a first-person shooter for the PC, Macintosh, and PlayStation.
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Description
Often labeled a "Doom clone", it is believed that Dark Forces was created to counter the many unofficial Star Wars-themed WADs for Doom, and rumored that LucasArts reverse-engineered the Doom engine to find out how to build their own. The "Jedi Engine," as it was called, was in the end more advanced than the Doom engine, containing features such as rooms over rooms, polygonal objects, haze and fog and the ability to look up and down.
The game was successful and was followed by novelisations and a sequel, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Jedi Knight spawned an entire series of games which includes the expansion, Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, and most recently, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. This series, with the exception of Jedi Academy, focuses on the continuing exploits of Kyle Katarn, many of which take place after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Storyline
The game introduces the character of Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial agent, now a mercenary for hire in the service of the Rebel Alliance.
The story takes place both before and after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. The first mission (which was also released independently for the game demo) was an infiltration to an Imperial base in order to claim the original plans of the Death Star, those that would be later given to Princess Leia and would lead later to its destruction in A New Hope.
After the Battle of Yavin, Kyle is contacted again to investigate an Imperial assault on the Rebel base of Talay, with a never-seen-before kind of troopers. Kyle's investigation reveals the Imperial Dark Trooper project, led by General Rom Mohc. Each mission brings him closer to the Arc Hammer, the source of the project.
Unlike many other Doom-based games, Dark Forces attempted a realistic approach: The missions followed a certain storyline, sometimes interrupted by videos to progress the tale. Each mission had its own briefing and objective. The levels were designed to represent actual bases, mines, facilities and other known places from the Star Wars universe, like Star Destroyer interiors, Jabba's ship, Coruscant etc.
The enemy sprites were Imperial Stormtroopers, Gamorreans, Kell dragons and other Star Wars creatures.
Cameos of Star Wars characters
Other Star Wars Jedi games
- Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II — (1997)
- Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith — (1998)
- Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast — (2002)
- Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy — (2003)
Places visited
- Danuta Secret Base
- Talay Tak Base
- Anoat City
- Fest Research Facility
- Gromas Mines
- Orinackra Detention Center
- Cal-Seti Ramsees Hed Docking Port
- Anteevy Robotics Facility
- Nar Shaddaa
- Jabba's Ship
- Coruscant Imperial City
- Ergo Fuel Station
- The Executor
- The Arc Hammer
Trivia
George Lucas appeared on CNN's Future Watch show and demonstated/promoted the game. Lucas and Daron Stinnett also promoted it in Disneyland when they travelled there for the opening of the Indiana Jones train.
Dark Forces was the 11th best selling computer game of the period 1993 to 1999, with 952,000 copies. However, some criticized the game for lacking a multiplayer mode.
References
- Turner, Benjamin & Bowen, Kevin (December 11, 2003). Bringin' in the DOOM Clones (http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/december03/doom/clones/index2.shtml) (page 2). GameSpy.
- Dunnigan, James F (2000). The Complete Wargames Handbook (Year 2000 introduction) (http://www.hyw.com/Books/WargamesHandbook/Introduc.htm)
External links
- Official Lucasarts' Star Wars: Dark Forces web site (http://www.lucasarts.com/products/darkforces/splash.htm)
- DF-21: Taking Dark Forces into the 21st Century (http://www.df-21.net)fr:Dark Forces