Remasters like this should be left for games which don’t already have a Steam release, because there’s really no reason to buy this over the original. I was hoping to review the game on release day when the original game was still fresh in my mind, but for what they’re charging, that was never gonna happen. If it was half the price, maybe, but even then I’d be apprehensive. At its current price, you can afford to buy the original game AND Jedi Academy so you can play the two best versions, plus you’ll still have half the money left over to spend on whatever the ♥♥♥♥ you like. Meanwhile, Aleph One has ported the entire Marathon trilogy to Windows AND released it for free. The only reason I even own this version of the game is because I got it along with the System Shock remake and five other games I didn’t have for three-quarters the price on Humble. The only way you could justify buying it at full price is if you don’t mind paying a 500% markup to avoid unpacking a single ZIP file.

Pricing aside, let’s briefly talk about the actual game. It’s cool seeing the 3D cutscenes rendered in full HD, although for some reason they’re rendered at a choppy 30fps-framerate with a shocking average bitrate of less than 4k (For context, the average Youtube video ranges from 2k-6k, whilst most high-definition movies sit around the 10k mark), but the 2D cutscenes are arguably inferior and the actual gameplay is no different than the original with TFE installed. It’s still the same linear three-hour experience, only quicksaving has been removed and aim-assist is enabled by default with no way of disabling it. The soundtrack, although slightly improved, is still just a set of MIDI files using an updated soundfont (Which TFE also has an option for). You can technically change the soundfont to whatever you like, but there’s no setting or config file, so it has to be manually replaced and renamed every time you want to switch it up. The very least I was hoping to get out of this release was a full orchestral remake, but I guess I’ll be sticking with the few fan-made covers released on Youtube over a decade ago.

I know this project doesn’t have a big publisher backing it, and it probably didn’t attract a whole lot of investor attention due to Dark Forces being a Legends IP, but after seeing the Jedi Academy mod, Jason Lewis’ reimagining, and most recently the Shadow Art VR project, all of which have either been shut down in silence or died of their own accord, I can’t help but feel like we deserve more than some new cutscenes and allegedly upscaled textures. With Nightdive’s success on the System Shock remake, this seems like a big step backwards for the company. I just hope that eventually Dark Forces gets the treatment it deserves.

Remasters like this should be left for games which don’t already have a Steam release, because there’s really no reason to buy this over the original. I was hoping to review the game on release day when the original game was still fresh in my mind, but for what they’re charging, that was never gonna happen. If it was half the price, maybe, but even then I’d be apprehensive. At its current price, you can afford to buy the original game AND Jedi Academy so you can play the two best versions, plus you’ll still have half the money left over to spend on whatever the fuck you like. Meanwhile, Aleph One has ported the entire Marathon trilogy to Windows AND released it for free. The only reason I even own this version of the game is because I got it along with the System Shock remake and five other games I didn’t have for three-quarters the price on Humble. The only way you could justify buying it at full price is if you don’t mind paying a 500% markup to avoid unpacking a single ZIP file. Pricing aside, let’s briefly talk about the actual game. It’s cool seeing the 3D cutscenes rendered in full HD, although for some reason they’re rendered at a choppy 30fps-framerate with a shocking average bitrate of less than 4k (For context, the average Youtube video ranges from 2k-6k, whilst most high-definition movies sit around the 10k mark), but the 2D cutscenes are arguably inferior and the actual gameplay is no different than the original with TFE installed. It’s still the same linear three-hour experience, only quicksaving has been removed and aim-assist is enabled by default with no way of disabling it. The soundtrack, although slightly improved, is still just a set of MIDI files using an updated soundfont (Which TFE also has an option for). You can [i]technically[/i] change the soundfont to whatever you like, but there’s no setting or config file, so it has to be manually replaced and renamed every time you want to switch it up. The very least I was hoping to get out of this release was a full orchestral remake, but I guess I’ll be sticking with the few fan-made covers released on Youtube over a decade ago. I know this project doesn’t have a big publisher backing it, and it probably didn’t attract a whole lot of investor attention due to Dark Forces being a Legends IP, but after seeing the Jedi Academy mod, Jason Lewis’ reimagining, and most recently the Shadow Art VR project, all of which have either been shut down in silence or died of their own accord, I can’t help but feel like we deserve more than some new cutscenes and allegedly upscaled textures. With Nightdive’s success on the System Shock remake, this seems like a big step backwards for the company. I just hope that eventually Dark Forces gets the treatment it deserves.