DARK FORCES

WITH GEORGE LUCAS BUSY PLANNING THE NEXT STAGE OF HIS SCI-FI OPUS AND THE ALL-CONQUERING DOOM FRAGGING GAMERS EVERYWHERE, THE TIME WAS RIGHT FOR A FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER SET WITHIN THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE. WITH A NEW REMASTER RECENTLY ANNOUNCED BY NIGHTDIVE STUDIOS, THE TIME IS ALSO RIGHT TO RETURN TO LUCASARTS' ICONIC GAME 

- GRAEME MASON

It’s a long time ago: 1995. Plans are afoot to resurrect the Star Wars franchise in cinemas with the Special Editions, but it will be four years before fans can finally enjoy new material in the form of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Along with Attack Of The Clones and The Revenge Of The Sith, this was to be the start of Star Wars’ much-maligned prequel trilogy; the pre-New Hope theme continued into the world of videogames as LucasArts released Star Wars: Dark Forces early in this year.

Dark Forces stars Kyle Katarn, an undercover rebel agent and ex-operative of the Imperial Special Operations Division. Driven by a hatred of the Rebel Alliance that supposedly killed his parents, Kyle plunges into the world of Imperial intelligence gathering and operations, slowly discovering the true nature of the Empire. Disillusioned, he realises it was not the Rebels behind his parents’ deaths but the Empire itself, thanks to well-directed reports from a Rebellion undercover soldier, Jan Ors.

Then, disaster: the Empire captures Jan and tortures her as a spy. With her execution imminent, Kyle reveals his own colours, engineering Jan’s escape from confinement and subsequent flight to a rebel base. Experienced in sabotage, combat and subterfuge, Kyle Katarn is now a vital, if slightly indifferent, cog in the Rebel Alliance. “The emotional manipulation he endured at the hands of the Empire has hardened him against causes,” notes Jan Ors in the Dark Forces manual, “and made the idealistic, trusting young man into a deadly efficient saboteur whose loyalty must be earned rather than bought.”