Star Wars: Dark Forces (1995) Retrospective

[@ItsNerfOrNathan]

This is a lot like a Gaming Historian or Ahoy video, deep research and actually great editing. Incredible work.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Gaming Historian is literally who inspired me to start making videos, that's a huuuge compliment! ♥️♥️

[@smortonmedia]

Agreed, the level of research and editing is fantastic. Great video!

[@riftshredder5438]

I'm so happy this game is getting a remaster

[@Analog_Nightmare]

It's gonna breath some new life into it for sure!

[@MultiverseAsheville]

I don’t know how you don’t have more subs. One more now, at least! Please do the rest of the Jedi Knight series!

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Thank you! I plan on it!!

[@nicetry9800]

dude, the production quality of these videos is insane, you deserve way more subs! also thanks for finding me a new old star wars game to play lol

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Thank you so much!

[@sebastianhallgrimsson3230]

Can’t wait to see any future Star Wars videos the facts, humor and casual gameplay makes for quality content.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Thank you! Just wrapping up with Sniper Elite and hoping to get some Star Wars content out in time for May the 4th :)

[@mopbrothers]

This game never gets old. I wish there were more than 14 levels. Game has very atmospheric graphics.

[@garrythegamegarry]

Fun review. Rewatch every now and then because video's spirit is the same as the game: something familiar and entertaining with its own soul. And waiting dor the next video to drop 😉

[@fernandasalinas799]

Hey!! I recently started to learn about this Star Wars world and these kind of videos make me learn a lot!! Please keep posting content!

[@Analog_Nightmare]

This is the way.

[@j.charleswelch2395]

Great video! This is one of the best produced, most informative Dark Forces retrospectives I've come across over the years. Would love to see you take on Dark Forces 2, which seems to be more divisive within the series fanbase for its level design and introduction of Jedi chicanery. For my money it's still a masterpiece and deserves to be better known than it is today.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

I'm super down, now that the remaster is coming out I think there's gonna be an influx of new players and I'm fascinated to see how it's changed from 1 to 2. I remember booting it up to check some compatibility and going "Holy shit this is different"

[@jaredsquires25]

Is it just me, or did that final boss look like a super op Terminator? (23:40)

[@Analog_Nightmare]

The steroid is strong with this one.

[@GrimWillows]

Would be glad to see DF2. Loved Dark Forces on Macintosh back in the day. There used to be fan levels on the cover CDs of various Mac Magazines. MAC Action I think? Shame DF had not had a console port. Outcast, academy and various others are playable on ps4/ps5.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

That's so cool! I miss magazine CD's/demo disks, but even then I didn't get to experience them at their peak.

[@russoft]

a friend tipped me off about the elevators in the old days. I figured out the imperial city because I'm S.M.R.T. Okay, it was a lot of trial and error. I may try the fan patch, but I've got those puzzles memorized by now. Besides, I'm about 5 minutes from the end of the game playing everything on HARD. That's not a testament to my skill. It's a testament to the joy of save/load points added by TFE, particularly for Jabba's Ship which is when I was forced to start using them. That level on HARD is absurd. Between all the Kell Dragons and the sadistic mine placement....

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Having played the fan patch it's definitely not essential. I'm curious to see what the remastered version changes but tbh the work put in by the TFE team already makes it look leagues better at a fraction of the price. And Jabba's ship? That's a whooole different level with TFE.

[@johnroscoe2406]

It looked perfectly fine in 1995 on a CRT monitor in 640x480. Games then didn't look as chunky as they look today on 1080p and higher, 1920x1080 and higher flat screens trying to display modes wildly below their capability. It looked chunky as far as what was considered fine for a DOS game in 1995, but chunkiness is exaggerated on modern hardware when not running through a port desiged to compensate for that.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Tbh I've been thinking of getting a CRT I can use as a spare for just such an occasion but so many of the older games I cover have active mod communities that smooth out some of those rough edges (from a modern perspective) that I'm not sure how much use it'd get, always worth a second look though 😁

[@kelbycondie819]

Excellent video I’d like to see you make an in-depth retrospective of Indiana Jones and the fate of atlantis another Lucas arts classic.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

I'll add it to the list! Do you know if it's on GOG or Steam?

[@kelbycondie819]

@@Analog_Nightmare It is on both platforms

[@Andrew-id1vd]

The 90's to early 2000's was a golden time for Star Wars EU content, especially post-ROTJ

[@Analog_Nightmare]

As someone who's trying to get through all the EU novels (JUST the ones considered essential reading btw) it's absolutely insane how much got pumped out and how much has been "lost". As a kid the big one for me was the animated Clone Wars series (before TCW) but there's just an unbelievable amount of amazing content.

[@Andrew-id1vd]

Agreed, the EU had it's issues but the worldbuilding was amazing, I think that's what got me obsessed with it. @@Analog_Nightmare

[@VictoryVonIngram]

I will never forget sneaking at night to turn on our windows 98 computer to play this game.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Haha my version of that was turning on the original Xbox and wondering what was on TV and how loud it was beforehand...

[@Alph4Falc0]

I'm glad I got recommended this video, I see you gaining more subscribers as you have earned mine!

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Thank you so much!! Is there anything in particular you'd like to see?

[@Alph4Falc0]

@@Analog_Nightmare I’m a sucker for classic game retrospectives and you seem to have a good grasp on that!

[@starslayer2763]

Just finished the original version on the force engine, never thought a 90s game would satisfy me as much, the hexagonal room on the imperial base gave me the most rewarding feeling in the world, considering i did it with no walkthrough 😂

[@Analog_Nightmare]

No patch?? Braaag about it whydoncha 😂😂

[@philipchurch8772]

I always resented Dark Forces being called a "doom clone." It wasn't the first first-person shooter, and it overlooked all the things Dark Forces did differently or better. Things like a story and environmental storytelling. If you cared about storytelling enough to see that as something that distinguished Dark Forces from Doom you were an extreme minority surrounded by "derr shooty shooty it's just a doomclone."

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Agreed, I think it strips away a lot of the nuance of the creative process of a lot of really passionate people. Everytime I read the term "doom clone" while researching this video it always struck me as very derogatory. I knew I would have to use it in the video but I wanted to have as much context as possible.

[@johnroscoe2406]

Just a minor quibble; a lot of the SW themed Doom wads came about BECAUSE of Dark Forces.... And before some Gen Z kid wants to start a cringey argument, I was actually alive and well in to PC gaming in the 90s.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Thank you for the insight!

[@johnroscoe2406]

@@Analog_NightmareSee now you're gonna make me feel bad for going harder than I needed to lmao

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Naaaah you're just providing some perspective I don't have, it's always appreciated 🤙

[@TheGXDivider]

Never finished the game back when I was a kid. Thanks, sewer level.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Haha I had to play in stages with a steady dose of dramamine.

[@HorrorGuy375]

I having a hard time playing this game due to its graphics. I want to ask from a storypoint perspective, should i start the dark force series with dark force 2 since that is when kyle story starts?

[@Analog_Nightmare]

DF2 is very obviously a predecessor to the Jedi games, whereas with DF1 it's just sort of, slightly reminiscent. I would go DF2

[@mrdelaney4440]

I need a portable version of this game, might strip a DS lite and use a raspberry pi zero.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Ayaneo has a DS style handheld coming out in the new year that would be perfect for it!

[@GZiz84]

Subscribed

[@Analog_Nightmare]

Thanks for watching!

[@joshavara]

Back in the good old days when star wars was actually star wars. Disney sucks

[@Analog_Nightmare]

I've been rereading a bunch of legends novels and it boggles my mind how much we lost, so many great stories that could've been told

[@Marc_Araujo]

The Force Engine is great, but at this point you might as well wait for the remaster from NightDive to come out in a few months.

[@Analog_Nightmare]

I haven't read much on it, is it much different than what we get with the force engine? (Besides the console stuff)

[@Marc_Araujo]

@@Analog_Nightmare Runs on modern PCs and all the cutscenes have been re-done with quality-of-life upgrades implemented. If you own the game on Steam or GOG, then you'll get the remaster for free because it'll replace the old version in the platform...like what happened with the Quake remasters.

[@73rmin8r]

That's gotta suck for the Force Engine guys. They've been hammering away on it for years, and it just recently got the the point where it "just works" and now it's kinda redundant.

[@jokerofspades-xt3bs]

at least the game got remastered and is much easier to play

[@Analog_Nightmare]

True! And I believe existing owners either get a deal or get a free upgrade, which is nice

[@SheolAbaddonus666]

Stormtroopers are the best. Why do I have to play as some nerd named KYLE?

[@tyrannozilla]

Kyle Katarn > Cassian Andor.