STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

a classic

I am surprised how much I enjoyed this game. The gunplay is very fun, the level design mostly great and full of surprises (at least to me), the cutscenes were very charming and cool, but the lightsaber combat could definitely be better, the Dark Jedi boss fights were annoying, and I definitely found myself a little too lost now and then.

Surpisingly fun game that can be completed quickly and almost with no trouble, something that I didn't expect considering it's age and the shabbiness of predecessor. [i][b]The gameplay's[/b][/i] very enjoyable: enemies walk around and can close distance when needed during the firefight, they are not a stationary target and possess good enough accuracy, but at the same time it doesn't take much effort to take them down, for the main character is just as mobile and the weapons have a very tangible punch, making short work of any targets. Movement, by the way, feels very pleasant, there is inertia and a bit of sliding to it but at the same time a huge amount of control, and so it feels very natural. The only weird part of the gameplay is connected to the lightsaber: it's a weapon of immense power yet there is absolutely no grace in how main character uses it, swinging such an elegant weapon like a club and sometimes missing targets right in front for no apparent reason, as well as sometimes deciding to not deflect blaster fire. It's also an integral tool in lightsaber duels, which are rather boring and nothing more than a process of running in circles and repeatedly hitting very silly and seemingly confused opponent until he dies. Nonetheless, it's pretty fun to be an unstoppable menace that's able to kill most enemies in matter of moments, if they are close enough. Force powers make their first appearance in the series here and are extremely simple, acting as buffs for the player or harming effects for enemies, depending on which side of the Force main character is aligned with. They are a fine addition to the arsenal and add to the overall fun, even though they aren't all that impressive. [i][b]Level design[/b][/i] is wonderful: there are many details and colours, each location is unique and most of the times it's easy to understand where exactly you need to go, and the level of graphical fidelity of surroundings is mindblowing for such an old game. They are a joy to the eye and follow the style of Star Wars universe well. My only gripe with them is connected to the secrets: they are numerous and extremely, annoyingly difficult to find, or at least that was the case in my experience. [i][b]Performance and stability[/b][/i] are questionable, for high frame rate breaks some animations. Game's FPS has to be manually locked around the values from 30 through 48 (depends on monitor's refresh rate) to avoid visual glitches. Other than that, the game works flawlessly and even supports modern resolutions, with the only exception being the in-game ui (health and ammo indicators) which doesn't scale and can become extremely small on some systems. [i][b]Plot[/b][/i] is as simple as it gets, but is more than just a filler like it was in first Dark Forces. It is enjoyable, because it follows the original Star Wars formula and is supplemented with cutscenes with slightly goofy real life acting set in bearable CGI environment. Overall, Dark Forces II is a short and pleasant adventure with few downsides that can be easily enjoyed by a fan of Star Wars or a gamer who is curious about oldschool games.

This game is in desperate need of a Nightdive remaster. While I recommend this game, the game's controls are from the neolithic age, and there's a bit of clunk. It's a solid FPS though, and for a game that's so ancient, the lightsaber feels pretty good for the most part against non-lightsaber wielding enemies. Against the Dark Jedi though, the fights aren't very fun to play considering there isn't a consistent block mechanic [especially against the smaller of the two brothers]. The final boss fight was super lame too. I love the live-action actors in cutscenes. It's cool to see what studios were trying to do before mocap. The directing is pretty bad though, and I think there's some scenes that could've done a retake. The story is also pretty dumb and all over the place. The level design is really good, but I prefer the smaller scale nature of the first game. I prefer the color palate of the old game. Each level had a different color scheme which made each world you travel to feel distinct, and the variety kept things interesting. One level might be grey, but another might be red, and another is a snowy planet. This game, every level is either grey or brown. I'm not really a fan of of the "striding," it makes movement super awkward. It doesn't break the game or anything, but it's pretty annoying. This is also an early example at head bob, which I think is pretty cool

♥♥♥♥ the lightsaber duels

top comme a lepoque

One of the greatest games ever IMO