It’s a long time ago: 1995. Plans are afoot to resurrect the Star Wars franchise in cinemas with the Special Editions, but it will be four years before fans can finally enjoy new material in the form of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Along with Attack Of The Clones and The Revenge Of The Sith, this was to be the start of Star Wars’ much-maligned prequel trilogy; the pre-New Hope theme continued into the world of videogames as LucasArts released Star Wars: Dark Forces early in this year.
Dark Forces stars Kyle Katarn, an undercover rebel agent and ex-operative of the Imperial Special Operations Division. Driven by a hatred of the Rebel Alliance that supposedly killed his parents, Kyle plunges into the world of Imperial intelligence gathering and operations, slowly discovering the true nature of the Empire. Disillusioned, he realises it was not the Rebels behind his parents’ deaths but the Empire itself, thanks to well-directed reports from a Rebellion undercover soldier, Jan Ors.
Then, disaster: the Empire captures Jan and tortures her as manual, “and made the idealistic, trusting young man into a deadly efficient saboteur whose loyalty must be earned rather than bought.”
