New Star Wars FPS Could Make Dark Forces Canon

A new Star Wars FPS was announced by EA and Respawn the other week, and it could be the perfect way to make Star Wars: Dark Forces canon again. The FPS is one of three new Star Wars games announced by EA, with the others being the sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and the other being a strategy game developed by Bit Reactor and Respawn. The FPS is being headed up by former LucasArts developer Peter Hirschmann, who said that it was a story he had “always wanted to tell“. No other details surrounding the FPS have been revealed, but it could be a great opportunity to make Star Wars: Dark Forces canon again, and specifically the character of Kyle Katarn.

Star Wars: Dark Forces is no longer considered canon, something which disappoints longtime fans of the game and its accompanying Jedi Knight series. When Disney bought Star Wars in 2012, much of the expanded universe became known as Legends. The changes made were understandable as the expanded universe had become somewhat convoluted with various comics, books, and games all contradicting each other. Disney’s adjustments mean that Dark Forces is now part of this Legends universe which exists as a separate timeline from the canon Star Wars universe.

The main character of the Dark Forces game is Kyle Katarn, and his backstory is rich ground for games to use for the basis of their storylines. His is a story of an Imperial officer who becomes a mercenary upon discovering the Empire’s deception surrounding his father’s death and later becomes a Jedi. A new FPS featuring Katarn could not only make Dark Forces canon but be a fascinating game for contemporary Star Wars fans.

The Original Star Wars: Dark Forces Storyline

Dark Forces begins with Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer turned mercenary, being sent on a mission to recover plans for a new Imperial weapon, the Death Star. Katarn and his partner Jan Ors go and steal the Death Star plans, and the Rebel Alliance is able to destroy the most infamous superweapon in StarWars. After completing this mission, the game jumps forward a year to the Dark Troopers’ main storyline.

The Dark Troopers Project is the Empire’s latest attempt at creating the perfect soldier, this time developing powerful new battle droids alongside stormtroopers in power armor. Katarn and Ors follow leads and defeat bad guys in various locations well known to Star Wars fans such as Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa. Throughout Dark Forces, famous characters pop up such as Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt, and even Darth Vader, who comments on Katarn’s connection to the force.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Has Inspired The Current Canon

The Dark Troopers are already officially part of Star Wars canon after appearing in season two of The Mandalorian. Moff Gideon uses the third generation of the experimental battle droids to snatch Grogu away from Tython – a location previously seen in Star Wars legacy games – at the end of Chapter 14: The Tragedy. Two episodes later in the season finale, Chapter 16: The Rescue, the Dark Troopers are finally seen in full action as the sinister Moff then unleashes them on Din Djarin in an attempt to stop the baby’s rescue.

The beginnings of the Dark Trooper Project are also hinted at in The Bad Batch, with Clone Force 99 fighting droids that look suspiciously like early versions of Dark Troopers in the first episode, “Aftermath.” There were previously similar droids in Star Wars Rebels referred to simply as Imperial sentry droids. According to Rebels‘ creators, the DT-series sentry droids were directly inspired by the Phase III droids seen in Dark Forces.

With the Dark Trooper Project now seen on screen, it would not be too difficult to adapt the storyline of Dark Forces and its Legends characters into the new Star Wars canon. A reboot of Dark Forces could neatly sidestep Katarn’s role in recovering the Death Star plans, something that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has retconned, and simply jump straight in with the Dark Trooper storyline. The developers could even alter when the game is set to have Katarn face off against Moff Gideon and the Dark Troopers seen in The Mandalorian if developers didn’t want to have the game during the Empire’s reign.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Needs An Upgrade

LucasArts released Dark Forces in 1995, and it shows as the game has not aged well in terms of graphics and UI. Even back in 1996, when it was released on PC and PlayStation, it gathered mixed reviews over its slow frame rates and visuals. With better technology now available, a new version of Dark Forces would be aesthetically pleasing and could utilize better combat mechanics.

A fan remake of Star Wars: Dark Forces by Survios using Unreal Engine 4 proved that there is an appetite for this fan-favorite to rejoin canon. While some older Star Wars fans may be content to replay the original Dark Forces despite its somewhat nostalgic look, most modern players are accustomed to more polished graphics than Dark Forces‘ crudely animated 2-D sprites. Respawn could use motion capture technology and voice actors from throughout Star Wars canon to create a new and dramatic Dark Forces.

New Star Wars FPS Would Work Better As Dark Forces Reboot

As much of Kyle Katarn’s story has been overwritten by new content, a reboot seems to be the only way to bring him back into the canon timeline. Jyn Erso stole his Death Star mission, and the Star Wars sequel trilogy has Luke Skywalker attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order alone with no mention of other survivors of the Jedi purge or Katarn. However, that does not mean that Katarn will never be a part of the Star Wars universe again as a reboot rather than a remake of Dark Forces could doubtlessly sidestep these issues.

If the new Star Wars FPS was a Dark Forces reboot, then much of Kyle Katarn’s journey could remain intact. The Dark Troopers inspired the Shadow Troopers, force-sensitive stormtroopers seen in the Jedi Knight series and continued Katarn’s story. Although tweaks would have to be made to fit the series in with Star Wars canon, they are not so numerous that the task would be impossible.

A reboot would make sense to see Kyle Katarn working alongside Star Wars Rebels characters such as Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger. It would also allow for the use of some canon characters seen in both Star Wars animated series. Links with the characters seen in Rebels could also neatly tie Katarn to Ahsoka and Sabine Wren’s mission to find Ezra, which could serve as a new series of missions if Lucasfilm Games rebooted the rest of the Jedi Knight series.

With a new Star Wars FPS being made, fans can only speculate if Dark Forces or elements of the game are to be made canon. Star Wars fans will have to be patient to find out what form this new FPS will take. Whether Respawn remake, reboot or borrow portions of Dark Forces and Kyle Katarn’s backstory, it would be a welcome addition to the Disney era canon.

About The Author

Sarah-Jane Simpson
(37 Articles Published)

Sarah-Jane Simpson is a writer for Screen Rant, writing articles for their Games section.
Based in Manchester, England, Sarah-Jane is an avid gamer and Dungeons & Dragons player.
Find her on Twitter as cevvie or Instagram as seeliesarah.

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