Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Remastered Review
‘Star Wars’ has a wealth of beloved games that came out in the early 2000s and before that fans look fondly upon, and ‘Star Wars: Bounty Hunters’ is no exception. Players get to take control of the legendary Jango Fett (voiced by the one and only Temuera Morrison no less) as he takes on a dangerous bounty. The remaster was handled by Aspyr, which immediately (and rightfully) put fans on edge, though luckily the experience isn’t tarnished by them, though it’s not necessarily cleaned up either.
Aspyr, to their credit, haven’t gone in and massively changed the game, leaving it faithful to its original vision from 2002. Players who haven’t experienced the classic game have never had a better opportunity to give it a whirl, and watch its fantastic (Legends) story for the first time. They’re in for a harsh awakening, when games were more difficult and were less willing to make life easy for the player. But that also brings with it a sense of freedom, it’s not a cluttered mess, with more open world busy work or stuffed full of microtransactions.
However, this adherence also brings with it some issues. The rough edges of the game haven’t been addressed at all, so fans can still expect for example a camera that frequently gets stuck in a wall, something that’s even more frustrating during firefights or platforming. The scanner mode to find bounties is also frustrating to use within combat scenarios, of watch the player is always in. Scanning people once everyone is dead isn’t an option, as the game won’t let the player check on dead bodies, which is a particularly annoying issue.
There’s also no option to remap the controls, a surprising oversight as that’s a huge accessibility and comfort option to leave out. For example, the lock-on button is the same one as center camera, meaning if players want to lock onto a target but their camera isn’t dead center and they want to look onto a target, well too bad. It all harkens back to that era were games were just beginning to find their footing, and that has some value, but it makes this title feel more like a port than an actual remaster.
That’s not to say Aspyr have done nothing though. They’ve upped the quality of the graphics, which does make the game look better. Dynamic lighting has been implented, and for those darker moments a flashlight has been added, though in most scenarios it’s quite inconsequential. Oh, and there’s now the ability to replay the game with a Boba Fett game as was originally teased, fulfilling a promise over two decades old.
Yet that’s all they’ve done. Otherwise, this game is simply a port on newer consoles, which does have some value. But it’s a shame that Aspyr couldn’t have tried to strike a better balance between maintaining this game’s feel, and smoothing out some of the more unforgiving aspects. Though at least the game is playable and out, something that can’t be said for some of their other ‘Star Wars’ remakes.
Overall, this remaster has a slavish devotion to its source material, something that fans who wish to play the game for the first time might enjoy, but those who have played the game before will be left wanting. It’s a throwback to 2002 gaming, with all the highs and the vast majority of lows present.
