Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster has been given a 120 FPS mode on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, among other improvements, as part of its new 1.0.4 update. Developer Nightdive Studios has specialized in reviving classic 90s first-person shooters in the form of remasters, remakes, and ports. Games like the Turok trilogy, Doom 64, Quake, and Quake 2 have all been given the Nightdive treatment. Just last year, Nightdive released its System Shock remake on PC.

Nightdive Studios' remaster of the classic 1995 Macintosh shooter, Star Wars: Dark Forces came to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC earlier this year. The remaster mainly focused on upgrading the original game's textures and cutscenes, giving a new hand-painted art style to the game's 2D assets while keeping the menus and music almost exactly the same. The remaster also keeps much of the original game's level design and gameplay the same as well, striking the perfect balance for fans of the original and newer Star Wars fans.

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Now, Nightdive has added some helpful tweaks to Star Wars: Dark Forces in the form of Patch 1.0.4. Most notable is the addition of 120 frames-per-second on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation; the game's launch frame rate was capped at 60 FPS on consoles. Since the game's 2D sprite visuals aren't demanding, it's unlikely the resolution will suffer at 120 frames. Speaking of, the update also smooths out Star Wars: Dark Forces' performance on Switch. The patch makes some fixes to the game's janky music as well. Previously, the score would sound off-tempo, seemingly skipping over parts of itself.

Additionally, Patch 1.0.4 fixes broken door switches in the Ramses Hed level, as well as in Dark Forces Remastered's Avenger bonus CES demo level. While the patch notes mention that the update fixes the ice physics in the Ice Station Beta level where players' walking speed is affected, Nightdive doesn't specify whether the skidding is more or less sensitive while walking. Players come across a pair of ice cleats very early on in the level, negating the ice skidding entirely, so it's likely not a huge deal.

Looking ahead, Nightdive Studios is gearing up for the launch of its System Shock remake on PlayStation and Xbox later this month on May 21. As for what's next, System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition, while not a full-blown remake, is still in development at Nightdive. Whether the studio tackles a remake or remaster of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 in the future remains to be seen, but it's certainly near the top of the wish list for fans of classic 90s Star Wars games.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster Update 1.0.4

• Cheating is now reset when players change levels
• Improve music playback timing
• Fix randomization of scripted music events
• Fix music panning
• Fix random note dropouts (sometimes in music individual notes would just stop)
• Fix ice physics
• Fix some switches not working (like in Ramsees Hed)
• Fix issue rendering mask on GPU renderer
• Fix culling of 3D models
• Performance fixes for Switch
• Fix target FPS on PS5/XSX (used to be locked at 60 FPS, now runs at 120)
• Fix texture offset for floor-based skies
• Fix repeater sound incorrectly stopping when it should loop
• Fix collision at high framerates
• Fix switches on Avenger
• Fix a rare crash when skipping forward through levels
• Slow down homing missiles to match the original game
• Fix some hi-res sprites so they use fullbright effects
• Add HD loading screen
• Weapon Wheel now always has weapons in the same place
• Add animation to Death Star Plans and Nava Card
• (PC ONLY) - Compatibility Fixes

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster

Platform(s)

PC , PS4 , PS5 , Switch , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

February 28, 2024

Developer(s)

LucasArts , NightDive Studios

Publisher(s)

NightDive Studios

How Long To Beat

10 Hours

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