STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

Oh you can jump in this one!

Legend

Whats Cookin Good Lookin I know nothing

When I was a wee lad playing at the internet cafe's of yesteryear, there was a star wars game that seemed absolutely amazing, strange, and novel that I would play in-between bouts of Starcraft or Total Annihilation with friends. It was loosely based on a previous title called "Dark Forces" that I had played the first two minutes of on a neighbor's computer running Windows 95 and had loads of bootlegged DOS titles on floppies or CD's since he worked for a programming company back in 1998. Of course at the time I thought a lot of these games were fantastic, but time has a different story to tell and unfortunately I'm starting to agree with it.

Jedi Knight, a.k.a. Dark Forces 2 (which is a terrible title) is a borderline experimental first-person or third-person shooter that happens to vaguely coincide with the time that Star Wars was still interesting and subsequently right before the prequels were farted out by George Lucas. So obviously, it's not a great video game, it was just a good time to be into Star Wars. I guess the biggest problem with it was how actually dated it was for 1997. It used it's own unique in-house Lucasarts 3D engine, which looked atrocious back then and you can merely use your own eyeballs to compare it to modern graphical fidelity to see that it hasn't aged in a capacity that I would call anything less than "frighteningly badly." It is however, totally feasible to imagine why it looked so cool when I was a kid due the primitive block-like early polygonal nature of the enemies sort of more-or-less looking like their movie counterparts if you squint or don't look right at them for too long. The FMV sequences also date the game, but I'd argue they were necessary to actually connect giant pointless levels with very little continuity together, otherwise I'm not sure anyone could've made heads or tails out of the supposed "story."

The story is you are Kyle Katarn, who is not really associated with anyone in-particular in the Star Wars universe, he's just some guy really. Jan is just some lady with a spaceship, 8t88 is a character with way too much fan-fiction and somehow exists in "Shadows of the Empire" as well as this title, but I digress. There really isn't a plot per-se, it's some villain who nobody has ever heard of, with his included entourage of "colorful" evil Jedi accompanying him are dead set on a place called "The valley of the Jedi." Which is a suspiciously ominous location in the Star Wars universe considering Luke Skywalker has never heard of it and it was only brought up in one other game which basically follows the same plot- 2002's Jedi Outcast. I can't say it's a terrible story, its more like if a comic book writer had to make up a Saturday morning cartoon villain for one issue and put a bunch of "star wars" themed stuff in said comic book. So you'll fight some Jedi who are not very nice, fight some aliens who are not very nice, and probably save the day or whatever until the next installment. From the way the FMV's are presented, the villains are sort of ridiculous looking for the most part, but nobody knew what they were doing in the mid 90's so I'll just chock it up to trying things out. Most of the dialogue is serviceable, but I often get the feeling that the wooden dictation combined with the mediocre green screen and costumes creates this blur of dumb novelty to the whole thing. I wouldn't say those elements help or hinder the story, they're just there.

The gamplay however takes the cake as being some of the most arduous, frustrating almost maniacally designed combat coupled with very uneven level design. At times it's difficult to even figure out where to go when levels are pointlessly large, or filter you into segments that roughly all look overly symmetrical or repeat textures to the point where you can easily mistaken a direction or angle to be a diffeerent corridor you haven't been down yet (unfortunately it's the same one you just ran down). The movement speed feels like some sort of ice skating competition that the main character is the only competing in, and even toggling walking feels strangely gimped- like your suddenly capped at a very inappropriately slow pace. There is no compromise with movement speed and it feels terrible. The physics of the game also allow you to actually take health damage from bumping into walls at high speeds as well, though this rarely happens unless you activate force speed. I personally don't like the thermal detonators in this game in particular. They don't act correctly, or like you would expect grenades to function due to their spherical shape. They have some sort of stupid physics combined with a very large explosive radius that often kills you before it kills enemies. I have no clue how their damage is calculated, but I hate them.

Laser guns make their debut, some of them are even laser guns from star wars (probably). The signature blaster rifle is one you'll use most of the time, but there are others too. Gunplay isn't actually that bad, it's just that due there projectile nature and the way enemies move, it's often a bizarre tango from left to right as you try to feebly narrow in on your target. All the guns have a sort of built-in inaccuracy, so they take some getting used to. I guess they are a decent arsenal, but are in now way anywhere NEAR the original Half-life's gun selection. I found that the repeater gets very little ammo for some reason until you find an entire level where only enemies carry them, so all of a sudden there is enough ammo. This is an issue across multiple levels and adds to the uneven design, which creates an inconsistent single-player experience. The boss fights also forgo most of the laser guns due to the fact that they block most of your projectiles a lot better than you can block enemy laser blasts. Oh no! I almost forgot the lighstaber!

The lightsaber is very rudimentary. It's probably the first time anyone every tried to put a lightsaber into a video games, so I can't fault Lucasarts for that. It functions as best as a lightsaber in a videogame could for 1997. It is however required for most of the boss fights, so I hate it. Force powers are also extremely clunky, with loads of shortcuts that take up the entire row of F1-F12 keys on your keyboard. It's SO dated with all these dumb shortcuts. It makes me think the force powers were an afterthought or that maybe they weren't even sure if you were going to use them since so many aren't even necessary to completing the game. I can't even remember using them to be honest, maybe two or three throughout. They also connected some of the upgrade amounts, presented at the end of levels after you aquire the lightsaber, to secrets you find in levels. Why? I'm not going "secret room" hunting for nobody.

I personally think the game is just sort of unplayable in the current era we live in. I'm not saying it's bad, I even come back to it once in awhile because it's sort of a fascinating time capsule of where things were going. In even had multiplayer, but that was improved upon in the sequel to this game. I think the best thing about this game is the excellent (FREE) star wars soundtrack. It's great to hear some of the pieces in their entirety outside the original films, as you really have to pay money to hear most of these tracks on a CD or digital download. So it's kind of fun to have a real soundtrack included. I wouldn't recommend you play this game unless it's via openjkdf2, since it won't even run on modern machines well. I think it has a lot of concepts and mechanics that were really only explored with a few more titles before sort of vanishing, which is unfortunate. Overall it's really only for historical reference at the end of the day.

Pretty much one of the most epic mercenary tales in the Star Wars era. Contains rougelike Jedi balancing on the light and dark side, evolving through Kyle's embrace of his emotions through out this awesome series. The story continues through Outcast and Academy which finally found a solid playstyle for the franchise aswell! I comeback to this game once a year to just as any SW fans watch A new hope everytime the SW feel is overwhelming.

ok

While I would 100% recommend Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy before Jedi Knight Dark Forces II, this is the first video game that allowed players to run around as a Jedi and light-saber duel enemies. For that reason alone I feel like this game is worth it if you're a Star Wars fan. Jedi Knight Dark Forces II is the sequel to Dark Forces and has all the irritating 90's shooter puzzles of its time but I still recommend it. It came out right before there was a push for realistic and proportional geometry and yet I can still tell there was an effort to make things as realistic as possible. For me, this game is historic due to it being the first light-saber dueling game ever and its fun to see the evolution of the Jedi Knight series unfold with this installment.

There are some things I like about this, the enemies are alright, weapons are mostly alright, but the movement is so god awful, the level design can be questionable, its very very jank, pass it, there are way better early 3d shooters out there.

Worthy sequel to the original Dark Forces. Not the best gunplay in the world and the lightsaber is a bit janky but the levels are super big and fun to explore, plus the Star Wars music is always enjoyable.

Become The Jedi Knight!

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II picks up where the award-winning Dark Forces game left off, with even more features and firepower in dazzling 3D graphics. set in the Star Wars expanded universe one year after the film Return of the Jedi, follows returning protagonist Kyle Katarn, a mercenary working for the New Republic, who discovers his connection to the Force and "The Valley of the Jedi", an ancient source of power. With his father having been murdered years prior by the Dark Jedi Jerec and his followers over the Valley's location, Katarn embarks on a quest to confront his father's killers and find the Valley before they do.

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[table]
[tr]
[th]About[/th]
[th]Description[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]💾Graphics[/td]
[td]NOTE: I was using the upscaled texture mod to improve the visuals. The link to the fixes and upscaled textures are linked in the bottom of the review. Now for the graphics section review! I don’t mind the original graphics. For a 1997 game, it’s actually not that bad. For people who don't want to play on the dated visuals, then the remastered mod will improve the look of the game by a mile! It’s mostly just texture improvements, but it makes a huge difference. So in terms of visuals (with the remastered mod), the game looks really sharp. With the updated high res textures and models, this mod makes the game look like a legit remaster. Lighting is also pretty solid here, although still kinda dated. I do really enjoy the atmosphere this game has. It has that old school Star Wars look to it. It might be a classic game thing because these older Star Wars titles really do capture that Star Wars aesthetic perfectly. Overall it’s a great looking game if you are using the remastered mod. The original look has obviously aged, but the remastered mod fixes that completely (in my opinion).[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🎮Gameplay[/td]
[td]Gameplay is actually pretty good for the most part. The overall gameplay is straightforward. Levels are linier, with puzzle solving and backtracking, but the levels are fairly small and don’t take long to complete. You have a decent arsenal of weapons to use, which are all pretty good (besides the mines which felt useless). The AI are actually not that bad in this game. They behave naturally and can be a challenge at times. You also have Jedi powers you can unlock throughout your playthrough. Depending on your actions throughout the game, you may lean more towards the dark side, or light side. This will influence how you pick certain force abilities. Being too evil may lean to you only having dark side abilities, etc. The abilities are okay for the most. Some do feel useless like force pull. Another complaint is the lightsaber. I didn’t like it, and felt inferior to use compared to other weapons. Maybe I’m using it wrong, but the combat with the lightsaber just feels bland and not satisfying. Also kinda janky and annoying. The level design for the most part is good. Some annoying sections that make no sense, but overall they are pretty good.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]📜Story[/td]
[td]The story is pretty good actually. I absolutely really liked the live cutscenes in the game. Yes they are a bit corny, but super entertaining! The cutscenes are miles better than the cutscenes from Mysteries of the Sith. The overall story is fun to go through. It’s nothing special in terms of Star Wars, but I did enjoy it. The pacing was good and never got stale. I also enjoyed the ending in this game. It felt rewarding to go through, and enjoyed the overall experience in terms of story.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🕛Playtime[/td]
[td]The game is around 10 hours of playtime. There’s really not much replayability unless you enjoy finding all the secrets and just enjoy the game overall. If you play on a harder difficulty, it may take a bit longer, but not by much.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🎧Sound[/td]
[td]Sound design is good! The weapon sounds are classic and iconic, and that goes with the music too. I love the classic Star Wars music and it’s just so cool to hear it in this game (and that goes along with many other Star Wars games too). The voice acting is questionable to say it lightly, but it adds some charm to the experience.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]❗Bugs❗[/td]
[td]I had some annoying softlocks in this game. Also the lightsaber has an odd hit detection that does feel buggy as well. Besides that, the game didn’t have a ton of bugs from my experience (besides those two inconveniences).[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🔅Performance[/td]
[td]Performance is good. I had no issues with frame rate or crashes. The game ran really well for me. Now granted you may need to install a patch to get this game working well, but I will provide that in the links below.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]✔️Pro’s[/td]
[td]

• Decent gunplay
  
• Pretty good story
  
• Amazing classic soundtrack
  
• Fight in many different locations/planets
  
• Corny live action cutscenes (entertaining af)
  
• Has that amazing STAR WARS atmosphere
  
• Able to use many force abilities from dark side & light side
  
• Decent visuals for 1997 (Do highly recommend the remastered mod)
  

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]❌Con’s[/td]
[td]

• throwing grenades is clunky
  
• Softlocking can be an issue
  
• Lightsaber is pretty bad (hit detection can be inconsistent)
  

[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🏆Rating[/td]
[td]7.5/10
This game is worth the full price![/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]🔗Conclusion[/td]
[td]STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is an amazing Star Wars game! It does have some old school gaming flaws, like questionable level design and some odd jank. Besides that, the game is a great experience, and if you are a fan of Star Wars, then this is a must play. Also the live action cutscenes are just so cool to see in a game (even though they are a bit corny at times). Try this game out, if you are intimidated by the visuals and age, then install the Remastered mod![/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/32380/STAR_WARS_Jedi_Knight_Dark_Forces_II/

Links to help you in STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II:

1. STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Remastered Mod
   
2. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Walkthrough
   

Specs for Review:

• GPU: RTX 3080 (Laptop GPU)
  
• CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H 4.6 GHz
  
[*]RAM: 32GB Ram

This game was probably the most advanced fps of its time, doing things that would only be topped the following year by the one and only Half-Life. It is fun, but quirky. The live action FMV's are something to behold (in the best possible way) and the game really does take me back to a time when Star Wars was good. It reminds me why I loved the first Dark Forces, and this genre in the first place. Yeah, it might've aged a little poorly, but its still worth checking out if only for seeing what was considered "bleeding edge" in 1997.

This is a good game, first time you could wield a lightsaber as far as I know and the live action cutscenes are cool if cheesy, the story is okay, Kyle is still a badass, the guns feel pretty good for the most part, and the force powers and lightsaber are pretty fun to use. There are problems though, #1 YOU CANNOT PLAY THIS GAME, it will crash on modern systems, you will have to find your own way around that #2 on harder difficulties some of the bosses are total B.S. and #3 there is no number 3. If you can get past those first two then you're golden and can enjoy a classic star wars experience in the guise of a slightly janky early shooter.

Was good when it first came out and still fun. Worth playing, especially with remaster mods.

Remember the time when Star Wars was owned by LucasArts, and Star Wars didn't suck?

This is a great game, with a good story and character cast. Kyle Katarn is the kind of classic male lead that "current day" Western AAA-companies SHOULD be having in their games, and that "normal" fans and players actually want. You know, NOT Concord, Forspoken, Redfall, Far Cry 6, Veilguard, SW Outlaws etc.

Using Jedi Knight Remastered v3.0 is highly recommended. The upgraded visuals look like an official release, and is completely stable and functioning well on modern computers.

This is a really good game from before the "current day" crapification of sci-fi and fantasy began. Imagine a new Dark Forces/Jedi Knight game with Kyle Katarn and classic SW storytelling. If only... Give me Kyle Katarn over Cal Kestis or Rey every day of the week.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/jedi-knight-remastered

Greatest game ever made. Multi-player on this back in the day was chefs kiss.

Played using OpenJKDF2

It was alright, I liked DF1 better

7/10

Great game. It's a little dated but still a classic.

this game brought back serious nostalgia of playing this on my father's desktop with that good ole fahioned dial-up internet with a 56k modem. good times. anywho, 10/10

No Dork Trooper, but still good.

This is a bit of nostalgia, and a bit of niche segment of the foundation of pre-Disney Star Wars media. The graphics haven't aged well, and the combat is rudimentary for a FPS with fists and a Lightsaber, yet this game is a solid entry in the evolution of the lore of Star Wars. Don't feel guilty for using the cheats - like some of the "secret areas" they're barely a hidden game mechanic really.

this game is peak fiction

Childhood classic
Kyle Kartan is the Goat

LOVE THIS GAME. Even after so many years it still holds up

The level design is fantastic and an experience in itself, ahead of its time.
The game is worth playing for the "The Ship Crash level" alone.
The soundtrack is the best (it's classic Empire Strikes Back era Star Wars)

The graphics (and weapons) obviously are dated, but you will adapt and remember the experience you had when all is said and done.

A bit of time capsule since it contains live action cut scenes that were more common in games made during this time, and that don't have the best acting or CGI. But game play is solid and has a unique story that puts it among the best games in the franchise (with possibly the highest stakes, higher than in any of the movies). It's also revolutionary in it's system of how your actions in game and what force powers you work toward affect your ultimate alignment toward the light or dark sides.

Play this game with the latest remastered mod and enjoy it in 4K widescreen with upgraded textures etc. By now the mod is easy to install with a simple installer. Otherwise get bummed by not being able to run this game on modern systems easily.
Its a must have for any (older) Star Wars fan to re enjoy. I always thought of the gameplay to be advanced for its time with the combination of ranged weapons vs lightsaber and force powers to engage in action and puzzles. LOVED the live action cutscenes. Cheesy as they are the fit the original trilogy vibe perfectly and I would much have liked to see a movie about this game with these actors than having to watch the abysmal sequels again.
Anyway great game with the remastered mod. Otherwise nearly unplayable on modern systems.

Even on the easy level of difficulty this game is fun & challenging. It keeps you thinking pretty much during the whole time. It took me a few weeks to beat this game. In the Jedi Knight video game series this game comes before Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast.

one of my favorites from my childhood

yes

the game is good, though the lightsaber combat is nonsense, as are the bosses. The level design is 90% of the time quite good, while the rest is bad. overall I enjoyed this game quite a lot.

Getting this piece of garbage to run is the most despicable thing I've ever done. I needed to compete a 4 year degree in computer science and continue further to aquire a PhD to figure out how to become a game developer and download files to put into the games folder for it to turn on. In 1998 we got half life but Lucas arts gave us a game that doesn't turn on without becoming a hacker and fixing the game for them. I did not get paid for this. I spent a whole day trying to make it work and it finally did. I wouldn't wipe my bottom with this game. Only buy this game if you don't mind unpaid labour. Also don't listen to the people who say this game will run with the mod openjkdf2. It's garbage. Use a wrapper. I used dgvoodoo2 to make it finally work.

Unless you download (and most importantly, trust) 3rd party software, you will _NOT_ get this working on a modern PC unless you settle for software rendering and 8-bit colours. If you tick the hardware acceleration option to play it at its full potential, you'll load into the level and get a black screen.

Very good game. Considered one of the greatest games of all times by professionals.

good game

Classic Shooter, great environments.solid game

Legendary good time

quite good 9/10

The controls and acting definitely aren't the best, but it's a lot of fun to play, which is more than I can say about a lot of games nowadays.......

Sound: 6
Graphics: 3
Story: 7
Gameplay: 6
Commands: 4
Fun: 5
Time to load / lag: 9
Bugs / Problems: 7
Final score: 5

Interesting game, built on the last one pretty effectively. Definitely install the remaster mod. I would recommend anyone new play on easy. I genuinely don't understand how to see the cooldown on force heal. Choosing light side powers also seems to lock you out of the dark side ones which is more limiting than I’d like. I’ll probably never want to play this again.

Amazing game

Played this game when I was a kid on a Windows 98 and it's just as gritty as I remember it.
This one isn't just about nostalgia, I definitely feel like this is one of the best SW games next to Jedi Academy as far as story and gameplay are concerned.
10/10

a classic. you definitely need to fix keybindings and mouse settings, but its worth a play through.

Very jank, but in a cute Late-90's way. I'd recommend playing the game on "Easy" difficulty for the first time through and going from there.

It's not as bad as E.T. was on the 2600 but it's pretty damn close to being that bad.

This game was my childhood. Even after all these years, I still know where each enemy spawns during the first few levels. If you grew up on LucasArts games, you have experienced the Star Wars golden age. Still waiting on that remaster...

It was literally my first Star Wars game, which I got to know in the demo version on the Europa Magazine CD-ROM when I was a child, and in short... the game is clearly a Star Wars DOOM, only infinitely awesome! So I recommend it!

YEEES!

A couple things before you buy
1 - this game is notorious for not working on modern machines. make sure you test it
2 - it is definitely a game of its era and has design limitations based on memory and processing capacity of its time - it's reminiscent of the original doom, but with lightsabers

if you get past those two sticking points, it's still a pretty great game. At the time, It was absolutely one of my favourites (it's one of the first 3D games made).

there are lots of secrets in each level that are quite hard to find - finding them requires a degree of paying attention to your environment that we don't really do these days (just keep your eyes open for places where enemies are or spaces that look like they continue out of your field of view and you'll find many).

also, the use of music is wonderful. since the music plays on a loop, you'll frequently have the perfect music paired up with whatever action you're performing - luke's theme as you jump across a massive chasm, music from Cloud City as you sneak around a corner, and on it goes.

give it a shot to see if it's to your taste. You will definitely know prior to two hours if you want to return it.

I have no idea if this game holds up at all, but it is such a pleasant nostalgia trip for me. This game was my favorite growing up, and it holds a lot of great memories of my first forays into gaming. Dope story, pretty decent live action cutscenes, and exactly the kind of gameplay you'd expect from a 90s pc game (still very fun).