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Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

 
The Mandalorian digs into Star Wars video games for its latest terrifying enemyDec 7, 2020 - EurogamerIf you've been watching Disney's excellent Star Wars show The Mandalorian, you may have noticed it's dipped into the video games to unearth its latest terrifying set of baddies. THE MANDALORIAN SPOILERS ARE AHEAD. In chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, evil Empire chief Moff Gideon sends a squad of Dark Troopers down to a planet called Tython to kidnap poor old Baby Yoda. They succeed. Read more Record-breaking Half-Life speedrun briefly trades crowbars for lightsabersApr 5, 2020 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun Half Life‘s introduction is famously slow. Long tram rides and lengthy speeches from co-workers preparing Gordon Freeman for an experiment that would destroy the world. An atmospheric start, for sure, but it’s a pain for folks trying to beat the game as quickly as possible. For one speedrunner, though, those dead minutes aren’t an obstacle – they’re the perfect opportunity to start practising for a record-breaking Star Wars run. (more…) If you like Star Wars you should play the 22 year old Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2Dec 2, 2019 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun Past Perfect is a retrospective column in which we look back into gaming history to see whether old favourites are still worth playing today. Star Wars is, for me, first and foremost a video game franchise. I know there are films, I ve seen some of them (seven of the eleven by my count), but I m far more likely to tell you that A New Hope took place between the events of Jedi: Fallen Order and Dark Forces II than the other way around. When I see that title fade away, and the yellow letters begin to scroll, I have that warm glowy feeling of familiarity and happy memories, but they re of the nefarious deeds of Darth Malek or the ripping yarns of Kyle Katarn, rather than Luke and his naughty daddy. (Sorry, spoilers.) It is a peculiar relationship I ll concede, where two of my all-time favourite games have Star Wars in their titles (Knights Of The Old Republic, Dark Forces), but the films wouldn t even be thought of when making my movie list. When I boot up the backwardly named Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, there s immediately a hefty dose of nostalgia. Meanie old droid 8T88, mentions of Dark Jedi (as opposed to Sith?), Kyle Katarn s beard, it s all a warm bath of teenage years. But, I was wondering, is it actually as good as I remember? (more…) Get Ready to Face the Music…Aug 4, 2017 - Community AnnouncementsLove Star Wars Jedi Knight – Dark Forces II, but the lack of a soundtrack is getting you down? Well, you’re in luck, because we just released a patch that fixed issues with the music not playing on Windows 10. Now, Jedi and Sith Lords alike can enjoy the score as they fight their way across the Galaxy.Get Ready to Face the Music…Aug 4, 2017 - Community AnnouncementsLove Star Wars Jedi Knight – Dark Forces II, but the lack of a soundtrack is getting you down? Well, you’re in luck, because we just released a patch that fixed issues with the music not playing on Windows 10. Now, Jedi and Sith Lords alike can enjoy the score as they fight their way across the Galaxy.Attention all Jedi!Jun 30, 2017 - Community AnnouncementsWe just pushed out a patch that should address compatibility issues some users experienced running Jedi Knight Dark Forces 2 on Windows 10. We also added Xbox 360 controller support! So, you can now fight the dark side using your Xbox 360 controller. May the force be with you!Attention all Jedi!Jun 30, 2017 - Community AnnouncementsWe just pushed out a patch that should address compatibility issues some users experienced running Jedi Knight Dark Forces 2 on Windows 10. We also added Xbox 360 controller support! So, you can now fight the dark side using your Xbox 360 controller. May the force be with you!20 years later, Dark Forces and Jedi Knight are still great Star Wars gamesFeb 17, 2016 - PC GamerMore Star Wars! We love Star Wars. We write about Star Wars a lot. For a tour of every Star Wars game on PC, check out our complete history. And for our favorites, check out the best Star Wars games of all time. In the last months of 2015, Star Wars was everywhere. Everywhere. TV ads. Billboards. Sneakers. Mac n cheese. Cars. PCs. It s hard to remember a time when Star Wars wasn t all around us. Even before the Force Awakens marketing blitz, Star Wars has been omnipresent for a decade now, with a steady stream of cartoons and toys and games and books and comics, some good, many bad. This is what we ve come to expect from the Lucasfilm and Disney empires. We don t expect Star Wars spin-offs to be bold and daring, and it wasn t until I spent the holiday break playing Dark Forces that I remembered Star Wars games were once genuinely groundbreaking. After watching Force Awakens, my Star Wars fever drove me to replay Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II for the first time since my childhood. This was actually my first time playing all the way through either; I only had demos as a kid. Despite being released just two and a half years apart, in 1995 and 1997, the games feel like they belong to distinct eras of FPS design. Each is forward thinking in some ways I found fascinating with 20 years of perspective, and comically dated in others. But not really comically. Like, Jar-Jar-and-his-stupid-tongue-funny. It s 2016. We know better. Dark Forces 21 years on, Dark Forces feels almost prehistoric for a 3D game, and its ambition dates it in a way that the arcadier Doom will never age. The 2D sprite enemies, their simplistic AI and repeated audio clips, the labyrinthine levels and obtuse puzzles are the essence of first-person PC games from 1995. Made today, Dark Forces would probably feel like a sanitized Call of Duty clone with lasers. And yet. And yet. The same way Star Wars took the basic structure of the Hero s Journey and turned it into a movie unlike anything we d seen before, Dark Forces cloned Doom and created something amazing from its DNA: a game that placed you into a three dimensional world that was new and yet recognizably Star Wars. LucasArts s Jedi Engine added jumping and looking up and down on the vertical axis, so you could explore Dark Forces world like it was a real place. The stormtroopers and Imperial officers may have been crudely animated 2D sprites, but they looked just like they did in the movies. The blasters sounded the same. The music captured the essence of John Williams in simple MIDI. Instead of revisiting locations from the films or playing out some hackneyed video game version of the battle of Hoth, LucasArts took places we d glimpsed, like the interior of a Star Destroyer, and spun out their own creations with the scope and detail to bring them to life. The world is gray more often than not, but Dark Forces keeps switching out tilesets as you reach new levels. One Imperial base looks different than another...Moby Games Classic: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II community storiesJan 5, 2012 - ShacknewsLast Friday we announced 1997's Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II was the next addition our growing list of video game classics, presented by MobyGames.com. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II finally gave Star Wars fans the power that they've always wanted: the ability to use a lightsaber. Released as a follow-up to LucasArts' first shooter, Dark Forces, it continued the story of the mercenary Kyle Katarn as he raced against Sith Lord Jarec to find the legendary Valley of the Jedi, and realize his true Force potential. Many folks like Shacknews user reznory remembers Jedi Knight quite fondly, especially it's vertigo-inducing level design. He calls it "One of the best FPS of all time," adding that, "The vertical scale in most levels was insane. I actually felt the sensation of being afraid of heights." Shacknews user timmie concurs. "The scale of the maps in that game were awesome," he writes. "The one map where you have to walk along some girders of a bridge freaked me the fuck out when I was a kid. It felt like I was 10 miles up in the air." For Shacknews user jipey, Jedi Knight served as an early inspiration to get into game development. "JK was the game that lured me into editing," he states. "The user community developed a custom level editor (JED), documented JK's scripting language (COG), and shared dozens of tutorials and hundreds of levels and mods. The homegrown nature of the editing community inspired creativity and openness long before any gamers got their hands on engines like Epic's UDK." "I can't believe the game came out when I was 11 years old; looking back 14 years later, it's hard not to smile as I prepare to start a gig at an awesome game studio," jipey writes. "Bigger team, faster computers, but it's still a community of dedicated folks working to inspire and entertain. Thanks for starting me on this journey, Kyle Katarn. Even if you did find a lightsaber in your dad's garage and call yourself a Jedi." Check out the original Chatty thread for more stories and memories from Chrono Trigger. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II on MobyGames.com Kyle Katarn, a former mercenary and now an ally of the rebels, discovers that he is in fact a Jedi, and is on a quest to find his lightsaber and learn the techniques of the Force. The evil Sith lord Jerec, who was responsible for the death of Kyle's father, is on a quest of his own, searching a mythical place called Valley of the Jedi, where his dark powers could be unleashed. Will Kyle be able to stop Jerec and become a true Jedi without falling to the dark side? Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is a sequel to Dark Forces. The game is set in Star Wars universe and its events occur after those depicted in the movie Return of the Jedi (Episode VI). Primarily a first-person, 3D shooter, the game also allows the player to switch to third-person perspective. Kyle can use blasters and rifles to take care of his enemies, and later in the game is also able to fight enemies with a lightsaber. Moby Games Classic is our chanc...Moby Games Classic: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces IIDec 30, 2011 - ShacknewsJedi Knight: Dark Forces II finally gave Star Wars fans the power that they've always wanted: the ability to use a lightsaber. Released as a follow-up to LucasArts' first shooter, Dark Forces, it continued the story of the mercenary Kyle Katarn as he raced against Sith Lord Jarec to find the legendary Valley of the Jedi, and realize his true Force potential. Today we add 1997's classic shooter, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, to our growing list of video game classics, presented by MobyGames.com. MobyGames reviewer Chris Martin highlights two of his favorite aspects of Jedi Knight: the high-quality soundtrack and effects. "John Williams," he states. "The name alone means that LucasArts was smart enough to put REAL soundtracks from the movies into the game, and not just MIDI recreations of them. The weapon fire, the whine of Tie Bombers, and Crunching sound of AT-ST's walking around give the game that much more 'authentic' atmosphere than most 3D-shooters." While fans were excited to try out the lightsaber, LucasArts certainly left some room for improvement. "The game's biggest selling point is, of course, is the chance to brandish a lightsaber, and it is precisely here that the game blows it," notes MobyGames reviewer Zovni. "When it comes to lightsaber fights the game really comes apart," he explains, "since the collision detection between the swords is poorly realized and you simply go at it smashing all the buttons you can and praying that you hit and don't get hit." Tell Us Your Stories! We want to hear about your experiences with Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Tell us your stories. Why did you love it? What drove you crazy? Remember it fondly with us in the comments below. We'll select some of your thoughts and memories and add it to a Weekend Update to this feature. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II on MobyGames.com Kyle Katarn, a former mercenary and now an ally of the rebels, discovers that he is in fact a Jedi, and is on a quest to find his lightsaber and learn the techniques of the Force. The evil Sith lord Jerec, who was responsible for the death of Kyle's father, is on a quest of his own, searching a mythical place called Valley of the Jedi, where his dark powers could be unleashed. Will Kyle be able to stop Jerec and become a true Jedi without falling to the dark side? Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is a sequel to Dark Forces. The game is set in Star Wars universe and its events occur after those depicted in the movie Return of the Jedi (Episode VI). Primarily a first-person, 3D shooter, the game also allows the player to switch to third-person perspective. Kyle can use blasters and rifles to take care of his enemies, and later in the game is also able to fight enemies with a lightsaber. Moby Games Classic is our chance to look back at the games that helped shape the video game industry with the help of our sister site MobyGames.com. It combines a short history lesson on the title and anecdotes from the Shacknews community.

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