Star Wars: Dark Forces

As Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett has often mentioned, LucasArts’ Dark Forces is the “most Star Warsy game of all time.” Nothing quite so powerfully evokes that sense of being inside the universe of the original trilogy, not even almost 30 years later, than this game. But what mustn’t be forgotten is that it’s also one of the greatest FPS games ever made, and that’s despite coming from a developer that was famous for its 2D point-n-click adventures.

When talking about the most important evolutions of the FPS, it’s tempting to skip right from id’s Doom to Quake. The former took 2.5D first-person shooting from shareware obscurity to mainstream dominance, while the latter sped all of gaming into a 3D future. But in-between came Dark Forces, and it did something that too often gets forgotten: it added story. Oh, and looking up and down. And verticality. And ducking. And jumping. Seriously, this game was pivotal to the genre, and most of its advancements are taken for granted, or misattributed.

Of course, innovations aren’t quite so relevant to the player three decades on, but it’s wonderful to report it really holds up. This begins the tale of Kyle Katarn, a Rebel mercenary whose story took place contemporaneously with that of Luke, Hans and co. In Dark Forces he’s integral to the stealing of the Death Star plans, then becomes embroiled in the Dark Trooper Project, all of which sits in my memory with far more importance than anything a Skywalker ever did. Katarn would go on to appear in many Jedi Knight games, as well as cropping up in novels and comics ever since.

You’re definitely going to want to make sure you add a mouse-look mod, easily found here. You may even want to play it with this fan-made modern overhaul that just got released. But I recommend keeping it as true to the original as you can, because it shines. Just beware if you have vertigo: this was the first game to make icy cliff tops truly terrifying.