Nostagia gaming >> Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:29 pm

Ah, who can forget Kyle Katarn's return, and your first chance to wield a light saber?

Level design, while not as nicely textured as the current crop of FPS, still holds up as some of the most vertigo-inducing levels ever created for PC's. And let's not forget the Jedi powers! Dark side or path of light? And the secret areas! Find ALL the secrets on a level and you get an extra force star to be allocated as you wish to your force disciplines!

Too bad this had only 2 light saber moves (slash, double-slash), not like the Jedi Outcast or Jedi Academy with the bazillion wall-walking / spinning / twisting / pretzel moves, but it's interesting nonetheless...

And each of the dark jedi have a different style... and requires very different strategies to defeat... Plus the ever lovable stormtroopers as targets, and lots of them.

What's not to love?

(And this is from a NOT-Star Wars fanboy)

RodeoRanch · Post by **RodeoRanch** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:31 pm

I love this game. I still play it from time to time. Can you imagine a remake using the Source Engine? AWOOGA!

I'm quite fond of playing multiplayer with my brothers over the LAN. Canyon Oasis is a rocking multiplayer map.

warning · Post by **warning** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:04 pm

Many of the levels I can remember as clearly as if I were playing them. I loved Nar Shadda, the crashing ship, the boss battles. It was just the perfect game for me at the time.

Veloxi · Post by **Veloxi** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:33 pm

I still play Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II at least once a year. It still has a hold over me that few games have. The tumbling ship level is one of my favorite FPS levels ever next to the parachuting level in NOLF.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:51 pm

One of my all-time favorite games.
And definitely my favorite of this series.
The vertigo is yet unmatched by any game. As is the Star Wars atmosphere.

Hmm. I should really play it again. And I should be able to run it at maximum resolution by now...

Does that game run on modern computers all right? I seem to recall having some issues with hardware acceleration back in the day. It would either run ONLY on my Voodoo pass-thru card, or ONLY on my Direct X one. Can't remember which.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:55 pm

Giles Habibula wrote: The vertigo is yet unmatched by any game. As is the Star Wars atmosphere.

I have height issues. This game caused me to break out in sweats and cringe during some of the high levels. Thinking about it still gives me the chills. Awesome game!

Eel Snave · Post by **Eel Snave** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:21 am

Yes. Vertigo.

As far as I know, it runs great on computers today, too. I never had a problem.

Head · Post by **Head** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 4:00 pm

All that and I loved to full motion video too. I sure wish they got the same actor (Jason Court) to voice Kyle in Outcast and Jedi Academy. Ahh, remembering the very first time playing and coming across a dark Jedi for the first time... Yun. What excitement!!!

~Head

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 6:14 pm

I lucked out at EB just before Christmas..I got Dark Forces and Jedi Knight Dark Forces 2 both new for 25 cents each.

warning · Post by **warning** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 6:48 pm

The original Dark Forces was great but it suffered from consolitis way ahead of its time: it had no save-anywhere.

Eel Snave · Post by **Eel Snave** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:52 am

warning wrote:The original Dark Forces was great but it suffered from consolitis way ahead of its time: it had no save-anywhere.

You had five lives per level, I think. Ugh.

warning · Post by **warning** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:30 pm

Eel Snave wrote:
warning wrote:The original Dark Forces was great but it suffered from consolitis way ahead of its time: it had no save-anywhere.
You had five lives per level, I think. Ugh.

Yep and Boba Fett pwned me soundly. I quit at that level.

Bandero · Post by **Bandero** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:09 pm

The expansion pack was awesome for this game also.

However, the final level of the expansion pack was very annoying I thought.

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:12 pm

Dark Forces was great on so many levels. The mission where there are spotlights on the roof of a building: if you snuck by w/o touching the lights there was no opposition, but if you got caught then you had a slew of bad guys to fight. Then there was the dark trooper gun that obscured part of your view. Back then this was all innovative. The only mission I hated was the sewer level, with all the going back to the main hub.

When I get home today I'll post the link, but there is a remake of the first two or three Dark Forces levels done with a new 3d engine. I played the first couple of levels and they were very well done.

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:14 pm

Bandero wrote:The expansion pack was awesome for this game also.

However, the final level of the expansion pack was very annoying I thought.

I must have beat on the end boss for hours before accidentally figuring out what to do to win.

Eel Snave · Post by **Eel Snave** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:18 pm

Vinda-Lou wrote: When I get home today I'll post the link, but there is a remake of the first two or three Dark Forces levels done with a new 3d engine. I played the first couple of levels and they were very well done.

Please do! Glee!

Eel Snave · Post by **Eel Snave** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:22 pm

Oh, and another thing: One of the most fun gaming I have ever had was cranking up the difficulty on the first level (Stealing the Death Star plans) to it's highest level. You feel like such a badass after doing that, I'm not kidding.

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:32 pm

http://darkforces.jediknight.net/index2.shtml

Enjoy!