Star Wars: Dark Forces

Even before there was a Doom Slayer in a galaxy far, far away, there was Kyle Katarn, and Star Wars: Dark Forces proved that first-person shooters and Star Wars belong together. This game from LucasArts, released in 1995 (and on PlayStation in 1996), took the template set by Doom and planted it in a beloved world, delighting fans and action players alike.

For its time it was a technically advanced shooter built on the proprietary Jedi engine, which enabled what Doom could not, real looking up and down, stairs, bridges, and multi-level environments. As the mercenary Kyle Katarn, the player infiltrated Imperial bases, facing stormtroopers, dark troopers, and the famous mechanical menace. The atmosphere was rounded out by iconic sound design and music from the Star Wars world, thanks to which every shootout reeked of the films.

The story followed Katarn's investigation into the Dark Trooper project, a new generation of Imperial combat units, and slotted into the expanded universe that fans devoured. Kyle Katarn became such a beloved character that he carried on through the entire Jedi Knight series and became one of the icons of the gaming Star Wars world.

Dark Forces is still prized today as one of the best licensed FPS games of the 90s and as proof that LucasArts could do more than just adventures. It laid the foundations of a beloved series and showed the path that action Star Wars games would take for years to come.

The PlayStation console version brought this experience beyond the PC, though FPS controls on the controller of the day had their limitations. For fans of the galaxy, though, it was an essential stop.

Why play it: A technically advanced Star Wars shooter that gave birth to the cult character Kyle Katarn and laid the foundation of the Jedi Knight series, one of the best licensed FPS games of its time.