Dark Forces

When LucasArts released Dark Forces for the PC, it was met with resounding success. What could be better than reenacting Star Wars, shooting Stormtroopers in tha face, and blowing up those silly mouse droids? Putting the Star Wars universe into a Doom-style game was pure genius, and the gaming world reponded in kind. The Mac version was better yet, running in beautiful high resolution mode. So what happened?

You are Kyle Katarn, former Imperial agent and mercenary for hire. You1ve been contracted out by the Rebels to infiltrate the newly built Death Star and steal the plans to the killer spacestation. Once this is accomplished, and the Death Star destroyed, you learn the Empire has begun work on a new breed of Stormtroopers, the Dark Troopers.

There1s something undeniably cool about participating in any Star Wars adventure, no matter how poor the game may be. Shadows Of The Empire, for the Nintendo 64, is a perfect example. Dark Forces, at its heart, is a good game, but the execution is mortally flawed in both graphics and fps.

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.

To their credit, Dark Forces should1ve been a really fun game. All of the elements that could make any game successful - solid control, first-person perspective, Star Wars - can1t override the pitiful graphics and frame rate.