STAR WARS: DARK FORCES Archives

The LucasArts Archives are a series of CD-ROMpersonal computer game re-releases and compilations from publisher LucasArts.

List of LucasArts Archives[edit]

• The LucasArts Archives Vol. I (1995)
• The LucasArts Macintosh Archives Vol. I (1995)
• The LucasArts Archives Vol. II: The Star Wars Collection (1996) was released as part of Lucasfilm's promotion of the then-upcoming expanded theatrical re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy. The Star Wars Collection contained:
• The LucasArts Archives Vol. III (1997)
• The LucasArts Archives Vol. IV: The Star Wars Collection II (1998)

Later games published under the LucasArts Archives brand were budget-priced reissues of individual games, with the exception of Monkey Island Archives, which was a compilation of The Secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, and The Curse of Monkey Island, released with The Curse of Monkey Island's box art.

Many of the games that were released in these Archive collections are not directly compatible with modern operating systems, but can still be played using the ScummVM software.

Reception[edit]

The LucasArts Macintosh Archives Vol. I was the top-selling Macintosh game for March, April, and May of 1997, selling over 15,000 units over those three months.^[1]

References[edit]

Developed by
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC
Released
Nov, 1996
Also For
DOS, Linux, Macintosh, PlayStation 3, PSP, Windows
Published by
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC

ESRB Rating
Teen
Genre
Action
Setting
Sci-Fi / Futuristic
Perspective
1st-person
Gameplay
Shooter
Interface
Direct Control
Misc
Licensed

Description

Kyle Katarn is a former Imperial officer turned mercenary, now hired by the Rebel Alliance. After having stolen the Death Star plans from a remote facility, he is tasked with investigating the sudden destruction of a hidden Rebel base. This leads him to face off against Imperial General Rom Mohc and the various iterations of his Dark Troopers - cybernetic soldiers with the armor and firepower to turn the tide of the war.

Dark Forces is a close prequel to the original Star Wars movie trilogy. The game marks LucasArts' first attempt to enter the first-person shooter market. Instead of licensing the DOOM engine, like many competitors, LucasArts created its own internal Jedi engine. The Jedi engine contains advanced features over similar tech, including the ability to look up and down, jump, crouch, and limited support (in the build used for Dark Forces) for rooms (sectors) over rooms. The 3D models also make occasional appearances inside the game, as turrets or Kyle's ship dropping him off or picking him up from each mission.

Most levels have a fairly complex, often maze-like structure, and include various switches that need to be activated to change the layout of the level. Jumping is integrated into the gameplay, as certain areas can only be accessed in that way. In addition to weapons, Kyle can use shields to protect himself from damage, a head lamp to illuminate dark areas, as well as specific items used to counter environmental hazards. The player character is given a certain amount of "lives" per level; he dies permanently once he runs out of all of them. Game progress can be saved only between missions.

The game features fourteen substantial levels as Kyle works to disarm the Dark Trooper project. Many levels reference characters or areas from the Star Wars movie trilogy, such as a visit with Jabba the Hutt, a trip to Coruscant, and a battle through the interior of a Star Destroyer. As opposed to most first-person shooters of the time period, every level has objectives for Kyle to complete, ranging from grabbing a clue and getting out alive, to planting charges around a facility to demolish it. Cutscenes appear between key missions to update the plot.

The Star Wars license gets plenty of use, as the game features imperial officers, stormtroopers, and a collection of aliens seen in the films as enemies. Blaster rifles and thermal detonators are used as weapons, along with other firearms inspired by the tech of the films. Dark Forces also uses the iMuse engine to dynamically change the music during action scenes, with much of the music based off or directly replicating, John Williams' original film score.

The game is entirely a single-player campaign; no multiplayer is included or supported.

From Mobygames.com. Original Entry

Amazon.com

A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. --Yoda In Dark Forces, Kyle Katarn, a young mercenary successfully infiltrated the Empire. Jedi Knight continues the story of Katarn in Dark Forces 2 as he embarks on a quest into his past and learns the mysterious ways of the Jedi. With this knowledge, he must stop seven Dark Jedi from unlocking the powers of a hidden Jedi burial ground. This task forces Katarn to decide his destiny. If he chooses the Dark side, he will come into enormous power. If he chooses the Light side, he faces seemingly insurmountable evil. Whichever path Katarn chooses will change the face of the galaxy forever.

Review

Like many first-person action fans, I regard Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II as one of the best single-player titles the genre has ever seen. Unlike most action fans, I also happen to like Outlaws a whole bunch. So when I heard that members of the Outlaws design team were working on a Jedi Knight expansion pack called Mysteries of the Sith, I was elated. With new levels, new enemies, better multiplayer support, and even a few new 3D engine tweaks, Sith is a solid effort. Unfortunately, it is also a bit disappointing in some areas and proves just how difficult it is to improve upon a classic.

Sith is set five years after the events of Jedi Knight. Kyle Katarn is now a goatee-wearing Jedi Master and has taken on a new apprentice - Mara Jade. Die-hard Star Wars fans will recognize Mara as the hard-nosed assassin-turned-smuggler from Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. I should note that the woman they chose to provide the voice of Mara was an excellent choice. In Sith, you'll play through the first four missions as Katarn, then finish the game's final ten missions as Mara.

As the game begins, both Katarn and Mara are on a Rebel base that is - surprise, surprise - under heavy attack and preparing for an evacuation. In order to clear the way for the fleeing Rebels, Katarn must destroy a pair of laser-equipped asteroids (yes, asteroids) orbiting the planet. These first four levels are fairly well done and are among the game's most challenging.

After disposing of the killer rocks, Katarn announces that he is off to find a long lost temple of the ancient Sith - the dark order of Jedi to which Darth Vader belonged. How and where Katarn discovered the secret files describing the location of this temple is never made clear - just one of many sharp and unexplained turns in Sith's story.

So, now you get to play as Jade. Through your first seven missions, you will fight your way past wave upon wave of smugglers and pirates, with a few Stormtroopers thrown in for good measure. Starting off by infiltrating a Hutt's palace, you'll proceed to a spaceport, a shipyard, a New Republic corvette, and a pirate's stronghold. The level design throughout this portion of the game is rather plain, with lots of large single-texture walls and big empty rooms. Some of the wall textures are even quite poor (particularly the brick walls in the courtyards of Ka'Pa the Hutt's palace).

The enemies are at least familiar, with a few new evil faces. You'll see Gamorrean Guards, Tusken Raiders, and grenade-toting Grans, as well as Ithorians (otherwise known as "Hammerheads") and Noghri assassins. There are also two kinds of pirates to face: one who looks like Duke Nukem's wimpy little brother and another who looks like a scrawny, bug-eyed extra from Grease. One of the bright spots here is a lightsaber-only fight against the massive Rancor (though this scene does seem a bit derivative of the dragon fight in the original Dark Forces).

This brings us to the game's final three levels - and the best gameplay Sith has to offer. After fighting her way through a pair of completely unrelated adventures, Mara finally remembers that her pal Katarn is off investigating some mysterious old temple. Going off in pursuit, she discovers a planet where the Force is her only weapon. This is one of the game's true mysteries: Up until this point, you have to rely on the Force maybe three or four times total. Now, it's all you've got. And by the way, you're about to meet the game's coolest and most challenging enemies. You'll face more Noghri (who are a hell of a lot tougher to kill without a gun), Sith Jedi statues, undead warriors (who die extremely cool deaths - like something you'd expect from a Raven game), and a bunch of big, fast-moving Mara-eating cats called Vornskrs. But before you even make it that far, you have to fight past a strangely familiar Jedi - who is far tougher to kill than even Jerec was in the original game.

My question for the designers is this: Why wait this long to make the game so good? And even though the final three missions are quite impressive, why are they so much harder than the rest of the game? It's not that the end of the game is too difficult, just that the change in difficulty seems too steep and the complete reliance on Force powers comes out of nowhere. The designers should have done more to gradually build up to this portion of the game, both in terms of plot points and gameplay elements.

Still, the final showdown, which I won't spoil here, is a good one. In fact, it's one of the more memorable final battles I've ever played through. Action fans may get annoyed and feel cheated by the ending, but I think that hard-core Star Wars fans will appreciate it.

Throughout the game, you'll notice a number of new features and enhancements. For starters, the cheesy FMV sequences are gone. All of the in-between mission cinematics were rendered using the game's 3D engine. They're not spectacular, but they're fairly well done and are a lot better than Jedi's FMV. Also, Sith adds hardware support for colored lighting. Although not nearly as impressive as the lighting effects in Quake II, Sith's added color helps to create a more immersive and sinister atmosphere all around.

Borrowing a popular and useful feature from Outlaws, Sith also includes a rifle scope, which works with the Stormtrooper rifle to provide pinpoint accuracy for long-range shots. Other new weapons include a seeker rail detonator (sort of like a homing rocket) and the carbonite gun. Though long awaited by deathmatch fans, I am sorry to report that the carbonite gun is disappointing at best. Not only is the range incredibly limited, but the weapon effects and the resulting graphic for frozen foes are really quite bad.

As far as new force powers go, Sith doesn't disappoint. Chain lighting, saber throw, and force projection are all handy powers to have in your arsenal. Also, the powers are no longer split between light and dark side, so you can pair up force grip with healing if you like.

Finally, the game features a number of multiplayer enhancements. To begin with, there are 19 new multiplayer levels, including four lightsaber-only maps. Several key locations from the films are represented here, including the Emperor's throne room, the carbon-freezing chamber, and Luke's home on Tatooine. Sith also incorporates a Star Wars version of Outlaws' hilarious Kill the Fool With the Chicken game - in this version you must carry around a Force-dampening Ysalamiri (if you've never tried it, you should). Also borrowing a bit from Outlaws is the new personality feature, which allows you to select different types of characters, each with different advantages and disadvantages, to use in deathmatch. Some of the personalities include Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (still no Chewbacca though - how come?).

In the end, Mysteries of the Sith offers a tremendous number of technical improvements over Jedi Knight. The only significant problems with Sith are the disappointing level design and gameplay through the middle portion of the single-player game. As an expansion pack for a now-classic first-person action game, Sith is very good - but it isn't great. --Michael E. Ryan
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review