Classic Star Wars shooter Dark Forces is getting a remaster

One of the earliest Star Wars games is getting the remaster treatment.

Nightdive Studios, the studio behind this year’s acclaimed System Shock remake and Quake II remaster, is developing a 4K version of the 1995 first-person shooter, Star Wars: Dark Forces. 

Originally developed by LucasArts for the MS-DOS and Macintosh and later ported to PlayStation, Dark Forces follows Rebel Alliance mercenary Kyle Katarn as he investigates the Empire’s secret Dark Trooper Project one year before the events of A New Hope.

Gameplay-wise, Dark Forces features the classic Doom-style duck-and-cover shooting and power-ups littered throughout the environment.

The original Star Wars: Dark Forces. Image credit: Disney

Like its Quake 2 remaster, Nightdive’s Dark Forces adds a 4K coat of paint, 120fps, widescreen support, and modern controls. Otherwise, the game is being left as is, with Nightdive telling IGN that its approach to rereleases has always been about “preservation.”

The Star Wars: Dark Forces remaster is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam). Nightdive didn’t confirm a release date, but said it will make an announcement sometime “later this year.”

In terms of legacy, Dark Forces is generally regarded as a solid, albeit rather challenging, early entry to the Star Wars’ gaming pantheon. That said, its biggest contribution to the saga was Katarn himself, a fan-favourite rogue-turned-Jedi went on to appear in several more games, including the celebrated Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy. 

However, the Katarn-era lore became non-canon “Legends” material following Disney’s 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm, and the company hasn’t used the character since in any media outside of Star Wars: The Card Game. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether this remaster of Katarn’s first adventure might lead to additional remasters of his games or, perhaps, even a new title entirely.

Image credit: Disney/Nightdive