Dark Forces' gameplay expands on the FPS standards set by Doom in 1993, and features gameplay elements that are now common in the FPS genre. These include the ability to look up and down, duck, and jump. A variety of power-ups are made available to the player, including health, shields, weapons and ammunition. The game also features several non-combat items to aid the player. The head lamp illuminates the area in front of the player, but will reveal the player's position to enemies in dark rooms. Ice cleats provide traction in icy areas, and an air mask protects the player from areas with toxic atmosphere. Many inventory items are powered by batteries (separate from weapon ammunition types) which can be found around the levels.
For combat, the player may use fists, explosive land mines and thermal detonators, as well as blasters and other ranged weapons. All player weapons except the fist require ammunition, which can be collected in power-ups. All weapons, again with the exception of the fist, have a secondary mode which makes it have a different effect than in primary mode. The player has health and shields which are damaged by enemy attacks and some environmental hazards, and may be replenished through power-ups.
In addition to combat, Dark Forces provides physical obstacles for the character, such as jumping from ledges or traversing across flowing rivers, and includes multi-step puzzles such as mazes controlled by switches.
Plot
The storyline in Dark Forces follows Kyle Katarn (voiced by Nick Jameson), a mercenary employed by the Rebel Alliance. Before the game begins, Katarn was a student learning the skills required to follow in his father's career of agricultural mechanics. While he was studying at an academy, he was told by officials that Rebels had killed his parents. The pain from this caused him to enlist in the Imperial army.
Subsequently, Katarn met Jan Ors (Julie Eccles), a Rebel working undercover as a double agent in the Empire. Ors uncovered the real information about Katarn's parents' death; that the Empire was behind it. The Empire eventually discovered that Ors was working for the Rebels and she was taken prisoner. Katarn helped her escape, thus ending his career with the Empire. He soon became a mercenary and, due to his hatred of the Empire for killing his parents, he began to take on jobs from the Rebel Alliance. Dark Forces begins with Katarn being recruited by the Rebel Alliance to recover the plans to the Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying an entire planet. The Alliance use the plans to find a weakness in and subsequently destroy the Death Star.
One year later, the Alliance hires Katarn again, this time to investigate an assault on one of their bases by a new type of Imperial soldier. His investigation reveals the Imperial Dark Trooper project, led by General Rom Mohc (Jack Angel). His mission to stop the project takes him to the sewers of Anoat City, where he captures Moff Rebus, an Imperial weapons specialist who developed the Dark Trooper weapon. Rebus' interrogation leads Katarn to a weapons research facility in the mountains of Fest and the Gromas mines where minerals are extracted for the Dark Troopers.
After learning of Crix Madine's (a former Imperial Commander, who had defected to the Alliance) capture and imminent execution, Kyle proceeds to a high security detention center on Orinackra to rescue him. Madine provides the Rebel Alliance with information about the smuggling of Dark Trooper materials, leading Katarn to investigate the Ramsees Hed docking port on Cal-Seti. He then destroys a robotics facility on the icy planet Anteevy, the second stage of the Dark Trooper production line. After being captured by Jabba the Hutt and having to escape his ship, Katarn infiltrates a computer vault on Coruscant which reveals the location of the Ergo fuel station, the final stage in the smuggling route. He masquerades as a smuggler, gaining access to the Super Star Destroyer Executor, which brings him finally to the Arc Hammer starship, the headquarters of General Mohc's Dark Trooper project, where he successfully destroys the operation and kills Mohc.
Reception
Critical reviews
The PC and Macintosh versions of Star Wars: Dark Forces were well received, with the MS-DOS version holding an aggregate score on GameRankings of 77%. Publications compared Dark Forces to Doom, a significant video game in the first-person shooter genre at the time, but also indicated that Dark Forces improved upon Doom's features. Criticisms tended to focus on the game being too short, as well as lacking a multiplayer feature.
Steven Kent of The Seattle Times believed that the general aspects of the game appeal to most computer gamers, not just Star Wars fans. Kent argued that the Star Wars setting is a high point for the game, saying that the level designs recreate the Star Wars style well: "Though most of the Dark Forces sets are original to the game, they were created in the 'Star Wars' spirit."
Dark Forces' gameplay has been described as "challenging" and has generally received praise. Ron Dulin, reviewing the game for GameSpot, highlights the implementation of puzzles within levels: "The levels are diverse and ingenious, with plenty of creative obstacles standing between you and your goal. While they can be occasionally frustrating, Dark Forces' diverse gameplay requirements make this title more mentally challenging than your average key hunt." The graphics and sound were both praised as helping to immerse the player in the environment.
The PlayStation version of Dark Forces received less positive reviews. It holds an aggregate score on GameRankings of 59.57%. GameSpot wrote, "Though the speed of the Playstation allows for smooth movement, Dark Forces boasts a horrendously choppy frame rate." IGN made a similar point; "Unlike the PC and Mac versions, PlayStation Dark Forces is grainier than a loaf of bread. Close up, everything is blocky and pixelated, but even from far away the walls and textures look like big, chunky blocks. Even worse than the graphics, though, is the frame rate. Or lack thereof. The choppy motion takes so much away from the enjoyment of actually playing the game." The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly agreed that the choppy frame rate interferes with the gameplay, which in combination with some control issues make the game frustrating to play, and a disappointment in light of its strong performance on PC. Alex Constantides of Computer and Video Games offers the same view, saying that the game is "visually dated." GamePro's Major Mike praised the action, depth of gameplay, weapons, sound effects, music, and graphic effects, but said the choppy frame rate and slowdown "plague most of the game", and compared the game unfavorably to Doom and PowerSlave. Next Generation noted that "Dark Forces fails on some technical levels as a port", but commented positively on the variety of level designs, challenge level, and use of audio, and concluded more favorably, "Not quite as intense as Doom or Disruptor, but surely better than crap like Kileak, Dark Forces will certainly satisfy Star Wars fans looking for their own little touch of the force."
