Star Wars Bounty Hunter

Developer: Aspyr
Publisher: Aspyr
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $19.99 USD – Available Here

Overview

Long ago, I got really into Star Wars. Oddly enough, I discovered the franchise during The Phantom Menace, and fell in love with the universe Lucas created almost instantly. The thing was, there wasn’t a lot of worthy video game representation until the Playstation 2. One of the finest titles was Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, which put players in the role of Jango Fett. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it did have mechanics that were a sight to behold as well as a pretty interesting narrative. All these years later, Aspyr have brought us a remaster of sorts for the modern era. Is this title worth its weight, or is this one that was better left in the past? Let’s find out.

Story

The story here is worth the gate of entry. Players take the role of Jango Fett as he works to collect bounties and take out a dark force within the Jedi. The whole plot is a bit campy, but works well to give us a tale amongst a little known part of this universe, which for its time was pretty neat. You won’t find anything too groundbreaking here, but the plot is easy to follow and a lot of fun to watch unfold, full of cameos and references to other famous characters in this smaller adventure.

Gameplay

So the main concept of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is to hunt targets by utilizing the gadgets and arsenal Jango Fett has at his disposal. Players have the famed jetpack, which can allow for short flights. They also can shoot different weapons and even tie up enemies. Rewards are provided for scanning targets who may have bounties, so the goal is not just to clear levels, but to make as much money as possible by capturing targets as you progress through the story.

Its simple enough to understand, but man is it clunky. Even walking feels extremely dated here, as at times it seems Jango wants to crabwalk when just targeting enemies. Shooting works fine, but with very little collision detection involved – it seems as if you are just hitting character models that collapse. Capturing enemies however does feel kind of nice as Jango can use a rope to tie up foes, and that works fine enough, but they may break out if left there too long. I say the latter because sometimes the action button has difficulty registering there is an action to make, which leads to the player hitting the command with no result as the enemy begins to get away again. No, this didn’t really happen much during the original, it is an issue with this port/remaster.

Listen, I play older games a lot. I have a lot of nostalgia and even played the ported version of this a while back on the same platform I reviewed this version. Is it clunky? Yes, but that version of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter was playable. I had so many game crashes during my time with this version that I really wonder if testing was involved at all. Aspyr has been doing a few of these ports with mixed results, and this one wasn’t ready yet. On top of crashes, the standard clunk feels even worse now, blending somewhere between frustrating and boring. Bounty Hunter was never a difficult game, but one that now feels too cumbersome in its current state to be worth it. 

Audio

If anything works fine, it’s the audio. The original voice acting and in-game cutscenes look fine, and the music will make you feel right at home in this universe. Could it have used a bit of an upgrade? Yes, as the sound effects are a bit dated and may sound cleaner, but also come off as a bit grating due to their awkward nature. It’s kind of like watching an old 70’s film. There is a lot of cheese in the dialogue delivery, and I think some improvements could have at least made it feel less like that as a whole.

Visuals

This is pretty bad, but the original also had some of the same problems. Characters, including Jango – clip through walls a lot. Through walls, through each other, yeah – there are a lot of rough edges here that are not really acceptable. Important characters sometimes disappear behind scenery, and the shooting looks as stiff as the combat ultimately feels. It’s one thing to port a game from long ago and to keep it in its original state even if it was far from perfect. It’s another to somehow make it worse. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is the latter in this case.

Overall

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is not a good port or remaster. While the original wasn’t known for its quality, it had some groundbreaking techniques used in gameplay that sometimes deserve credit. This release however fails to highlight the jetpack or the bounty options, instead burying everything notable under glitches and crashes. If you can make it through that, there is something playable here somewhat. That said, the original release which was ported on modern consoles is still better than this as it has so much less issue simply playing. Star Wars is great, but Aspyr missed the mark with this version. Wait for a patch or give it a pass, as this bounty is just too steep in this state for entry.

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