As many of you know, I’m a big fan of Star Wars. The earliest Star Wars video games were often very basic and rather awful. Though I heard some very positive things about Dark Forces. It was a FPS putting you in the role of Kyle Katarn, a former storm trooper working for the Rebel Alliance.

I honestly didn’t know much about Dark Forces before, and as soon as it started I remembered why most FPSs were once called “Doom Clones”. Instead of demons, you fight storm troopers and other soldiers from the Empire.

Perhaps the more impressive part of Dark Forces is the original story and cut-scenes. Granted this probably was way cooler in 1996, but the cut-scenes are admirable for the mid-90s. Also taking an original character and making him blend in well with the classic movie trilogy was also commendable.

Sadly despite all that, Dark Forces is a pretty terrible game. The graphics are ugly and this is the first FPS in my life to make me motion-sick. I also really dislike the classic FPS style of almost pointless exploration and key-finding. While games like Doom helped start the genre, I believe games like Half-Life and Halo mastered it. Though to be fair I hear the original PC/Mac version was a much better game.

Score: 4 out of 10